BRONZE AGE MINUTE: The Brave & the Bold #105

DC; January-February 1973
Cover by Jim Aparo

Title: “Play Now… Die Later!”
Synopsis: When Bruce Wayne gets pulled into a revolutionary conflict in Gotham’s Spanish section, Diana Prince goes undercover to help.

Writer: Bob Haney
Artist: Jim Aparo

Review: Oh, Bob Haney’s stories: They move a mile a minute and are great fun as long as you don’t stop to think about them too deeply. This outing features a convoluted plot dealing with con artists – or are they actually revolutionaries? – from San Sebastian. Haney’s script shows little understanding of global politics but is sprinkled with words like amigos, hombre, and caramba. It also contains ethnic and gender elements that haven’t aged particularly well. As is often the case on The Brave & the Bold, the saving grace is the exceptional work of Jim Aparo, one of the all-time best Bat-artists.

Grade: B

Cool factor: There’s always something cool about Mod era Wonder Woman.
Not-so-cool factor: Batman is not a very good detective in this one, and generally out of sorts.

Notable: The letters page includes LOCs from future comics pros Bob Rozakis and Duffy Vohland.
Collector’s note: According to MyComicShop.com, there is a Mark Jewelers variant of this issue.

Character quotable: “You’re picking the lock with a bobby pin? You’re a wonder, woman!” – Batman (with a free hand and a lock pick in his utility belt)

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