Team-Up: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #100 (March 1972)

Happy Batman Day!

Yes, today marks the 75th Anniversary of the Dark Knight's debut in Detective Comics #27.  To honor this landmark in comics publishing, I couldn't think of a better topic for today's post than one of the Blonde Bombshell's team-ups with Batman in the pages of The Brave and the Bold.  And, thinking one big anniversary deserves another, what better issue to cover than The Brave and the Bold #100 starring Batman and Robin, as well as the Hard Travelin' heroes, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Black Canary?

"The Warrior in a Wheel-Chair" is written by Zany Bob Haney with art by the legendary Jim Aparo and a cover by the equally legendary Nick Cardy.  The Brave and the Bold #100 is cover dated March 1972 but hit the streets in December of '71.

The issue begins with an unseen sniper spying potential targets on the steps of Gotham City Hall.  When Batman comes down the steps, though, the sniper zeroes-in and fires, cutting down the Dark Knight Detective.  Commissioner Jim Gordon rides in the ambulance with Batman, cursing the drug dealers he believes responsible for this attempt on Batman's life.

The hospital's chief-of-staff tells Gordon the bullet penetrated Batman's chest and stopped perilously close to his heart.  There is only one surgeon who might be able to save the Caped Crusader, according to the chief-of-staff; unfortunately, Dr. Hellstrom is in Zurich and can't arrive in Gotham for three days.  That means Batman has to stay safely on the sidelines for three days while the biggest drug shipment in history is set to go down.

Batman stubbornly tries to rise out of the wheelchair but his body betrays him.  Alfred pleads with him to stay in the chair while Batman agonizes over his newfound uselessness in the war on crime.

While sulking, Batman observes a spider catching a fly in its web and has a sudden epiphany.  "The bat must turn into a spider," he says, and tells his faithful butler to summon Robin.

Later that night, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Green Lantern arrive in Gotham City wondering if Batman's condition is as serious as it sounded when he beckoned them.  And naturally, it doesn't take long for the Emerald Archer and the Ringslinger to start shouting at each other about drugs and other societal problems.

Unseen by the trio of Justice Leaguers, Robin makes contact with his boss, using code names for both of them.

Huh... Robin can't understand what value Black Canary brings to Batman's scheme?  Is this naiveté of youth?  Ignorant sexism?  Or just another Bob Haney-ism that we roll our eyes at and press on with this wacky adventure?  Let's go!

Commissioner Gordon contacts Batman and tells him he can't combat the drug trade by himself while recuperating from his gunshot.  Batman tells him not to worry, that he's brought in his ward and three members of the Justice League of America to help his operation.  Then, inexplicably, Gordon complains that this war on drugs is police business.  Is he objecting to more costumed crime fighters lending a hand in an unofficial capacity?  He knows he's talking to Batman, right?  Haney!!!  Anyway, Batman asks for Gordon's trust and a little bit more time to put his plan into motion, then he hangs up and fights back the pain of his life-threatening injury.

Across the world in Switzerland, Mr. Belknap, the head of the international drug cartel is nervous about the security of his drug shipments to Gotham, so he sets up a test run.  Back in Gotham, we learn that Batman has a coded set of delivery routes and dates.  If he cracked the code, he ought to be able to anticipate the location of every one of Belknap's shipments.

Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, the Bat-Spider sends the Ace-Archer into action.  Green Arrow slips into the Gotham City Post Office and observes the drug traffickers disguising drugs into mail packages.

Green Arrow sends a shaft through the chest of one of the drug runners, killing him; the other punk gets away.  Green Arrow checks the packages full of drugs but discovers that it's only fine sugar.  After reporting in to Batman, the Dark Knight realizes that Belknap sent in a test shipment.  Now they are aware of each other and the operations will get even more dangerous.

Batman gets word that another shipment is coming in through the docks.  Green Lantern watches the ship come into port and unload a foreign car.  He suspects the drugs might be hidden in the car, but when he goes to investigate, hidden gunmen from the ship and the docks open fire.  Green Lantern uses the power of his ring to protect himself and thwart the shooters.  Then he uses the ring to deconstruct the car, only to find no drugs hidden inside.  Once again, Belknap has foiled Batman's plan by sending a false shipment.

Of course it's the woman who nearly ruins Batman's carefully constructed scheme!  And of course Robin thinks Black Canary's an idiot, though he is able to recognize her legs from across the street in the rain.

Wait, Black Canary had to get out of the rain because it was ruining her hair?  She wears a wig!!!

Batman wallows in despair that he couldn't catch Belknap's drug deliveries.  Three chances, three misses, and now the Dark Knight has run out of time.  He collapses under the strain and needs to be prepared for surgery.

Back in Switzerland, Belknap learns that Batman will be operated on by Dr. Hellstrom from the same country.  That night, "Hellstrom" oversees the loading of some equipment onto the plane sending him across the ocean.  In Gotham, Robin and Commissioner Gordon watch as Batman is wheeled into the operating room.  Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Green Lantern fume over their inability to stop the drug shipments and head to the hospital to be close to Batman during his surgery.

In the operating room, Dr. Hellstrom points out his elaborate machine that will keep Batman's condition stable during the procedure.  The Dark Knight begins to feel the effects of anesthesia which causes him to hallucinate images of a giant spider web and Belknap at the center.  The vision of Belknap transforms into the vision of a surgeon and Batman feels himself ensnared by webs.

The Caped Crusader snaps out of his sleep and begins to resist the doctors about to cut him open.  He struggles while they try to increase his anesthesia.  In desperation, he signals Robin in the waiting room.

Before Belknap can slice Batman's throat, Green Arrow fires an arrow that knocks the scalpel out of the drug kingpin's hand.  The heroes take down Belknap.  Gordon gets word to Switzerland where they discover that the real Dr. Hellstrom was captured by Belknap's goons.  It will take six hours for him to fly to Gotham, and Batman doesn't have that much time.  So Green Arrow uses his green power ring to collect the surgeon and bring him to Gotham in a much speedier time.

When the real Hellstrom begins to operate on Batman, he realizes that his specialized machine isn't working correctly.  Upon inspection, the heroes realize that the machine is filled with Belknap's drug shipment.

After the operation, the heroes gather around Batman and explain how Belknap planned to usurp Dr. Hellstrom, kill Batman during the surgery, and then take his machine out of the hospital to flood the city with his product.  They wonder how Batman figured out Belknap had taken the doctor's place, and the Dark Knight tells them he felt needle marks on the doctor's wrist and remembered that Belknap was a junkie.  Hmm... that seems like information we should have had earlier.

What to say about this issue?  It's fun and hilarious in all the usual Bob Haney ways.  The story is too complicated by half for its own good.  Why all this ridiculous spider imagery and emphasis on Batman spinning complex webs like a spider?  This doesn't amount to anything profound and the metaphor doesn't even hold up.  The characters are exaggerated and slightly wonky, and sexist in Robin's case, but that's just natural fun.

In any event, the true star of this book isn't Batman or Black Canary or Robin... it's Jim Aparo!

Birds of Prey #3 (Mar 1999)

Previously in Birds of Prey...

Black Canary has been captured by forced to work in a slave labor camp in Rheelasia.  While Oracle looks for a way to free her partner, Canary is looking for her own means of escape... with an old boyfriend of Oracle's named Jason Bard.

Birds of Prey #3: "Hounded" is written by Chuck Dixon with pencils by Greg Land, inks by Drew Geraci, and colors by Gloria Vasquez.  The cover by Land is doubly strange, not for Black Canary's contorted pose, allowing the viewer to see both her front and back parts, but also because it appears that Dinah and Hellhound are locked at the crotch.  I'm not sure if they're supposed to be fighting, dancing, or something untoward, but I've never seen two figures positioned in such a way.  Also, Black Canary never appears in that costume within the issue.

This issue opens with a splash page of Hellhound and his savage-looking pack of killer dogs.  Hellhound is practically salivating with anticipation over Black Canary's inclusion at the slave camp. He can't wait to test his fighting skills against hers.

After Hellhound walks off, Dinah is left alone with Jason Bard, who was blinded by muzzle fire from a gunshot by one of Jackie Pajamas' guards.  Dinah returns to the subject of escaping the compound, noticing that the area isn't secured by a fence; all they'd need to is slip by the armed sentries.  But Jason tells her they would never get through the jungle with Hellhound's dogs chasing them.

Jason maintains that he's too helpless, too much of a liability to help Dinah escape, but she swears she won't leave without him.  He was blinded, after all, saving her life.

Meanwhile, Oracle has called the second most computer savvy hero in Gotham City: current Robin, Tim Drake.  They meet in Barbara Gordon's apartment, where they huddle over satellite maps of Rheelasia, looking for the slave compound.  Barbara reveals that she's already paid the ransom for proof that Jackie has Black Canary.

Who's bank account is paying Black Canary's ransom?  Is it billionaire Bruce Wayne, perhaps...?

Nope.  It's Roland Desmond, better known as the villainous Blockbuster!  And he's none too happy about a cyber-hacker transferring illicit funds from his accounts and using it to pay another criminal.  No, he's mad enough to crush a computer with his bare hands.

That night in Rheelasia, Dinah goes to Jason Bard's barracks and wakes him so they can make their escape.  As she ties a rope around his waist so she can guide him, he once more pleads for her to leave him behind.  Dinah refuses.  Jackie will have Bard killed once he figures out that no one will pay him a fortune for Jason's release.  On top of that, Jason saved Dinah's life, and he was once Oracle's lover.  No way is she going to leave him behind.

As they're slipping out of the barracks, they run into a random sentry.  Dinah knocks the guard unconscious before he can sound an alarm, but her escape does not go unnoticed.  Hellhound watches her and Jason run into the jungle.

The next morning, after Dinah and Jason been running for a couple hours, Hellhound tells Jackie Pajamas about the escape.

In the jungle, Dinah does her best Lara Croft, Tomb Raider impression, by traipsing through dense foliage in sweaty, clingy, khaki shorts and shirt.  She asks Jason who he came to Rheelasia looking for, and he tells her about Brendan and Daria, the couple that Hellhound tracked down and killed in the first issue.

Jason asks Dinah about their "mutual friend" and she characterizes Oracle as her best friend in the world, even though she doesn't know the identity of the woman behind the computer.  Before she can explain any more, they hear Hellhound's dogs catching up to them.

Over the course of two days, Oracle and Robin have narrowed their search to half a dozen locations on Rheelasia that might house the slave labor compound.  Now all they can do is scan more recent satellite pictures in the hopes of spotting a familiar face.

Back in Rheelasia, Dinah gets herself and Jason out of the rushing river and back on the land.  Their clothing is basically tatters now covering about as much as a bathing suit.  For the time being, they've escaped from the hunting dogs.  But there are crocodiles on the river bank, so they have to head back into the deep jungle to stay ahead of their captors.

In Gotham, Oracle shows Robin a sat-pick of Dinah and Jason making their way to the coast.  Robin, though, shows Barbara a picture of armed goons less than a mile behind Dinah and Jason.

Dinah and Jason make it to the coast, coming out of the jungle near a Rheelasian Coast Guard base.  But just as they're breaking cover, the armed goons open fire on them.  Dinah and Jason duck down, avoiding the bullets.  The goons have orders to kill Jason, but spare Dinah.

Dinah takes out most of the goons, and Jason manages to club the last one before he gets the drop on Dinah.

Then Hellhound appears, cutting them off from the beach.  His dogs come racing out of the tree-line. Jason tells Dinah to take care of Hellhound while he fends off the dogs.  Jason picks up one of the assault rifles and blindly sprays the ground in front of the dogs.  Mercifully, he doesn't hit either of them, but it's enough to scare them away.

That leaves the two warriors to test their skills, just as Hellhound hoped they would.

It looks and sounds as if Hellhound messes up his knee when he falls back with his foot pinned down by the sai.  (I have some experience with this type of injury, minus the sai, of course.)  By the time Hellhounds slumps over in agony, the Rheelasian army has been alerted to their presence and drives up the beach to save Dinah and Jason.

Later, Dinah calls Oracle to debrief the mission: the Army moved in on the camp, liberating all of the hostages, but Jackie Pajamas escaped.  She says Jason will likely need surgery, and Oracle insists that he'll get the best.  In her apartment, Barbara looks at a picture on her computer desktop of her and Jason together, thinking about what could have been.

This was a very fast-paced issue, but that's okay, because it was the climax and it had some good action beats.  For pure adventure genre fun and cheesecake, I enjoy seeing Dinah marching through the jungle in wet, ripped-up khakis.

Canary's battle with Hellhound could have been better.  It wasn't bad, but it seemed to lack some intensity.  For that, I blame Greg Land.  His art is more picturesque, his figures more posed.  Fluidity and motion are not his strong suits.

Still, though, I really like Hellhound as a villain for Black Canary.  Yeah, his costume is a little ridiculous, but is it really any worse than most Silver Age super villains?  I wish he could have been established as a major, recurring foe for the Birds and Black Canary.

Maybe the most interesting part of this story is that Oracle's part was superfluous; she effectively did nothing to help Black Canary in this chapter.  Dinah and Jason escaped on their own, unless somehow Oracle got the Rheelasian Army to show up at the end, but that's not made clear.

Come back next Tuesday for a review of Birds of Prey #4.

Brotherhood of the Fist Part 5: GREEN ARROW #135

The Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist cult is out to kill the current Green Arrow, Connor Hawke, but Batman, Robin, and Nightwing have his back.  Lady Shiva has come to Gotham to challenge Connor to single combat, and she'll kill any Monkeys that get in her way.  Meanwhile, ex-CIA spook Eddie Fyers has traveled to Southeast Asia to the headquarters of the Monkey Fist, where Black Canary and Bronze Tiger are being held captive.  Fyers is there to stop the cult, but the hired gun Deathstroke has their back.

Green Arrow #135: "Brotherhood of the Fist Part 5: The Borrowed Life" was written by Chuck Dixon, drawn by Doug Braithwaite, inked by Robin Riggs, and colored by Lee Loughridge.

In the wreckage of a luxury hotel knocked over by the Gotham earthquake, Connor and Nightwing come face to face with Lady Shiva.  She is in town because, like a shark attracted to the scent of blood in the water, she heard that the Monkeys were taking out martial arts masters and she wanted a piece of the action.  Specifically, she wants Connor Hawke, whose status as a Master has risen since he defeated the Silver Monkey.

Shiva incapacitates Nightwing fairly easily, and then she and Connor square off.

While Nightwing, as well as Batman and Robin battle Monkeys in other parts of the hotel, Shiva tells Connor that she will kill him to secure her place as the greatest fighter in the world.

In the headquarters of the Monkey Fist, Fyers and Deathstroke draw down on each other and open fire.  The chaotic shootout in the temple is overheard by Black Canary and Bronze Tiger, who are trapped in a cell below.  Fyers is wounded, but he sets off some shaped charges and the explosion traps Deathstroke on the other side of the temple.

Back in Gotham, Shiva praises Connor's ability even as she escalates her attacks to kill him.

In the Monkey cages...

The original Silver Monkey is also locked up and pleads for Fyers to release him.  Fyers doesn't.  He escapes with Canary and Bronze Tiger, while the Sensei of the Brotherhood saves Deathstroke, but admonishes him for his failure to stop Fyers.

In Gotham, Shiva is about to kill Connor.

Lady Shiva grants Robin's request, and takes off, leaving Connor and the rest alive.  Robin and Nightwing help Connor recover while pumping up his self-esteem by talking about how few people have ever come that close to defeating Shiva.

Batman's praise is more dire and dreadful than the youths.  He tells Connor that his new credentials as a master fighter is going to paint a target on his back.

Connor accepts the inevitability and circle of events: "Win, lose, or tie -- another enemy will be there to take the last one's place."

This was a fun rock 'em, sock 'em little crossover.  I don't think the story needed to be five chapters--three or four could have sufficed perfectly well.  As much as I love seeing Black Canary and Bronze Tiger teamed up, they didn't accomplish anything and their entire part in the story could have been reduced to a couple panels in one issue.  Since I don't care about Eddie Fyers and I've never been a big Deathstroke fan, that whole subplot was uninteresting to me, as well.

I read Green Arrow #0 as part of the Zero Hour even back in the '90s.  That was the first time I saw Connor Hawke, and I was intrigued enough to read a few more GA issues after that.  At the time, I liked that Hawke was younger and "greener" than Oliver Queen; that made him feel like my generation's Green Arrow, the whole purpose for the Legacy heroes that DC kept churning out decade after decade.  I'm glad Oliver Queen is back, because I've since read more (and I've grown up) and I want him to be the Emerald Archer.

Is there a place for Connor today?  Not in the New 52, not when Ollie and the rest of the heroes have been de-aged to their early/mid twenties.  I guess Connor and Wally West and Donna Troy will have to exist on a parallel Earth somewhere.  Maybe we'll see them again someday.

Brotherhood of the First Part 4: NIGHTWING #23

When Green Arrow Connor Hawke defeated the deadly Silver Monkey in combat, the Sensei of the Monkey Fist cult sent waves of warriors after Connor, Batman, and every other martial arts master in the world.  Connor is now working in Gotham with Batman, Robin, and Nightwing to defend the city from the various Monkey assassins, while Black Canary and Bronze Tiger are tracking the cult back to its headquarters in Asia.

Nightwing #23: "Brotherhood of the Fist Part 4: Paper Revelations" was written by Chuck Dixon, drawn by Scott McDaniel, inked by Karl Story, and colored by Roberta Tewes.  Like Will Rosado's line work in the previous chapter, I think McDaniel's art is a little too cartoonish for the content of this story, but it's not bad.  The inking and coloring keep it from looking too much like an all-ages or junior readers comic.

Gotham's police force is called in to deal with the corpses of two dozen Obsidian Monkeys.  Batman tells Commissioner Gordon that it's not a matter for the police to investigate, that the cops would only put themselves in danger by chasing leads on the assassins.  Connor, Nightwing, and Robin speculate on who could be killing the Monkeys if it's not Eddie Fyers or King Snake, both of whom are out of the city.  At that moment, the Bamboo Monkey challenges Connor to a fight.

In the jungles of Southeast Asia, Black Canary and Bronze Tiger are closing in on the temple of the Monkey Fist.  Unbeknownst to them, though, is that the Monkeys are closing in on them.

Back in Gotham, the Bamboo Monkey fights Connor, Robin, and Nightwing.  He nearly kills Nightwing when...

Robin and Nightwing praise Connor's fighting prowess, then the three of them go to Oracle to get more information.  They figure that the different schools of Monkey assassins--Silver, Bamboo, Bronze, Steel, Obsidian, Emerald, etc.--have to do with matching the properties of the element involved to the fighting style and skill of the warrior.  They continue to press what Eddie Fyers suggested before, that the fewer members of a particular group of Monkeys, the more deadly they are.

Speaking of Fyers, he chartered a helicopter and gets dropped off in the jungle near the Monkey headquarters.  Black Canary and Bronze Tiger are already at the temple, though--as prisoners!

In Gotham, Batman has found the signature of the Paper Monkey who is killing off the other assassins, and he knows who she is.

Eddie Fyers arrives at the Monkey temple and angrily calls them out so he can start killing.

Nightwing discovers the location of the Monkey's Gotham base of operations, an old hotel that went down on its side during the Earthquake.  Batman, Connor, Nightwing and Robin split up and search the hotel.

Connor and Nightwing find the assassins a battle of their own.  The Paper Monkey is killing off the rest, and Nightwing knows that Batman was right about Paper Monkey's identity.

She unmasks and reveals herself to be Lady Shiva Woosan and she tells Connor Hawke it will be the greatest honor of his life to die at her hand.

This issue was okay, but repeated almost everything that happened in Part 3.  The Monkeys haven't felt like a serious threat for a couple chapters now, because Shiva is taking them out for herself before she attacks Connor.  As such, it feels like the heroes are in a holding pattern, just waiting for the time when the enemy strikes.

I was disappointed to see Canary and Bronze Tiger get captured, mostly because it was off page.  I would have loved to see the two of them do some actual fighting, especially if they went up against Deathstroke, but that didn't happen.

The story wraps up tomorrow in Green Arrow #135.

Brotherhood of the Fist Part 3: ROBIN #55

The deadly Monkey Fist cult has dispatched assassins all over the world to kill Green Arrow and basically anyone with a martial arts background.  Connor Hawke and Batman barely survived an encounter when an avalanche buried them in the mountains outside Gotham.  Former government agent Eddie Fyers related what he knew about the cult to Nightwing and Robin, and Bronze Tiger saved Black Canary from a Monkey attack.  The two are now working together.

Robin #55: "Brotherhood of the Fist Part 3: Monkey Fist" was written by Chuck Dixon, with art by Will Rosado, inks by Stan Woch, and colors by Adrienne Roy.  I can't read the signature of the cover artist, and it's not credited inside so it might be Rosado.  It looks nothing like the interior art, though.  The cover is awful.  Any comparisons I can think of feel like insults to Bobble-Head Dolls or whatever else.  I would look at this cover and never, ever, ever buy this comic except that it's part three of the crossover.

Anyway, Batman and Connor Hawke are stranded in the snow-covered wilderness.  At least, Connor thinks they're stranded.  Batman doesn't get stranded; he's always prepared, right?

How does Batman know the Monkey Fist is targeting every martial artist?  He's been incommunicado with all of the other characters that were attacked.

Far from Gotham, the Sensei of the Monkeys is dismayed that Eddie Fyers is killing so many of his warriors because Fyers uses guns.  So the Sensei hires someone with a gun--Deathstroke, the Terminator--to take out Fyers when he comes for the Sensei.

Later, back in Gotham, the titular hero of this comic, Robin, is on patrol with Connor Hawke, who has taken up with Batman's circle of crime fighters until the monkey business (couldn't help it) is sorted out.  Robin and Connor save a hostage from some street thugs, and then they discuss the damage the earthquake caused to the city, unaware that more Monkey cultists are following them.

Batman goes to see Oracle to find out what she's learned about the Monkey Fist.  She offers the data, but won't tell him where she's getting it from.

Right after Batman leaves, Oracle makes contact with her source--Black Canary.

Black Canary doesn't tell Oracle she's working with Bronze Tiger, but doesn't tell Ben who she was talking to either.  Keeping both of her worlds separate, perhaps?  Bronze Tiger recalls his adjacent connection to Oracle from his Suicide Squad days.

This little scene tickles me.  I accept and expect that Dinah is just playing the part of good intel operative and compartmentalizing her worlds.  Oracle and Bronze Tiger don't need to know of each other right now; this is a security measure for her.  On the other hand, there's a little part of me that wonders if--between the pages--something sexual was going on between Dinah and Ben during this little continent-jumping search for answers.  I've always thought that Canary and Tiger would make an interesting and exciting couple.  Maybe not in the long term, but they have enough in common that a romantic dalliance wouldn't be unexpected or unwanted.

Batman, Nightwing, and Connor meet with Eddie Fyers so Batman can tell the man to get the hell out of his city.  Before leaving, Fyers reveals something he knows about the organizational structure of the Monkeys.  There are different schools and disciplines, and different numbers of members based on how skilled and masterful the school is.  This explains why there is one Silver Monkey who is one of the deadliest fighters in the world, but the Emerald or Bronze Monkeys get mowed down effortlessly by the heroes.

Elsewhere in the city, the mysterious Paper Monkey declares her intentions to fight Connor Hawke in single combat to restore the honor of the Brotherhood.  She tells her underlings to keep Batman and his partners distracted, but insists that no one is to harm Robin else she will kill him.

Speaking of Robin--since this is supposed to be his book--he and Connor are out patrolling again, talking about learning to drive and things like that.  Connor asks Tim if Batman is his father.

Obsidian Monkeys are stalking Connor and Robin, but before they can attack, the Paper Monkey backs up her previous declaration.

Before killing the last of the Obsidians, Paper Monkey makes clear that she is not in Gotham at the behest of the Brotherhood's sensei.  She is here on her own with her own agenda.  Who is this woman?  Why does she have a personal beef against  Robin?  And what will happen when she faces Connor?  Maybe those answers will be revealed in Part 4 tomorrow!

Overall, this was another good issue, but not as strong as the previous two.  Will Rosado's art is too cartoonish for the heavy themes and seriousness of this story.  For all that this is an issue of Robin, Tim Drake only appears in like five and a half pages.  When he does appear, though, he offers some nice insight into Batman and how Batman respects Connor Hawke's ability even if he would never say it.

Two more major players were introduced in this issue: Deathstroke and Paper Monkey, whose identity will be revealed later for anyone who couldn't guess who she is.  But Deathstroke's inclusion feels more or less like an afterthought, and assigning him the role of bodyguard and waiting for a nobody like Eddie Fyers to show up looking for the Sensei feels beneath his character.  And I'm not even a Deathstroke fan.

I love the pairing of Black Canary and Bronze Tiger, but they only get two pages and not much to do in this issue.  I wish there was more of these two together in the future.

Come back tomorrow for Part 4 in Nightwing #23.

Brotherhood of the Fist Part 2: DETECTIVE COMICS #723

In the first part of "Brotherhood of the Fist", the mysterious and deadly Monkey Fist cult, in an effort to restore their honor and pride--launched an all-out assault on the Green Arrow Connor Hawke and every other renowned martial arts master in the DC Universe.  Connor teamed up with Batman to ward off the Emerald Monkeys, but a self-destruct mechanism in may have trapped them beneath a mountain.

Detective Comics #723: "Brotherhood of the Fist Part 2: Fight Back to Gotham" was written by Chuck Dixon, drawn by Alex Maleev, inked by Bill Reinhold, and colored by Gloria Vasquez.  I first read this issue back in 1998 when it came out, but I completely forgot that Alex Maleev worked on a couple issues of 'Tec in the '90s.  Also, I made such a big deal of Maleev drawing Black Canary in last November's issue of Batman: The Dark Knight that I forgot he had already drawn her in this issue sitting in my old longbox.

The issue opens with Batman and Connor Hawke crawling their way out of the smoldering wreckage of the Kobra headquarters and finding themselves isolated on the snow-capped mountain.  Isolated, but not alone.  More assassins crawl out of the snow and attack.

Meanwhile, Nightwing has returned to Gotham City, which is still recovering from the cataclysmic earthquake that nearly destroyed the entire city.  He teams up with the new Robin, Tim Drake, and the two head out on patrol together.

While Nightwing and Robin fight Monkeys in the city, Batman and Connor fight them in the country.

I love how Batman speaks of Oliver Queen to Connor in these issues.  You can't help but read the subtextual respect and mourning even when it sounds like Batman is criticizing the former Green Arrow.

Before long, the snow Monkeys give up the fight and run from Batman and Connor, choosing to let the mountain itself kill them.

Back in Gotham, Nightwing and Robin are pinned down by spear-tossing Monkeys when Eddie Fyers shows up and guns them all down (the assassins, not the heroes).  Fyers knows Tim Drake from a previous encounter, which is all that keeps Nightwing from attacking the man he calls a "murderer".

Instead, Fyers tells them about the Silver Monkey, the Monkey cult, and the fact that anybody with martial arts mastery (including Judomaster, Katana, and the Question) has been targeted.

After Nightwing convinces Fyers to bug out of town before Batman gets back, he and Robin go to Oracle to confirm the ex-CIA spook's intel.

This issue came out between Birds of Prey: Manhunt and the ongoing series.  Black Canary is still working as Barbara Gordon's field agent.  She was on a simple recon mission working a case when the Monkeys attack her.

Elsewhere, at the Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist's lair, the Sensei tells his followers that Connor Hawke and Batman are dead and that the time is right for the Monkey cult to take its place as combat champions of the world.  Of course, the original Silver Monkey, who is sitting in a prison cell, doesn't believe Connor is dead.  And he's right.

Like the first part of the story, chapter two of "Brotherhood of the Fist" is a fun, action-packed story.  The infusion of Nightwing and Robin into the story brings a youthful energy and levity that could be lost in Batman's brooding and Connor's stoic determination.  Fighting crime isn't a war for the Robins the way it is for Batman; it's a job.  A job they enjoy the hell out of, but a job nonetheless.  Batman can't turn it off, but Tim and Dick can, which gives them a swagger and attitude while they patrol that resonates like Spider-Man or Daredevil.

The other terrific part of the story are the cameos and guest appearances.  Black Canary and Bronze Tiger are two of my favorite characters, and to see them together, actually working together now, is a treat.  Can't wait to see what happens to them tomorrow when I review Part 3!

Brotherhood of the Fist Part 1: GREEN ARROW #134

I'm not sure what this year has in store for Black Canary in the pages of DC Comics or the television series Arrow or anything else.  What I can say with confidence, though, is that 2014 is going to be a great year for Flowers & Fishnets.  I've got three different Black Canary series to review, as well as her adventures in Action Comics Weekly, World's Finest Comics, Birds of Prey and others.  But before I delve too deeply into any of those, I thought I'd spend the first full week of the new year covering a Batman/Green Arrow crossover I recently re-discovered.

"Brotherhood of the Fist" was published in the Summer of 1998 and ran through Green Arrow #134, Detective Comics #723, Robin #55, Nightwing #23, and Green Arrow #135.  All five parts were written by Chuck Dixon, the creator of Birds of Prey.  "Brotherhood" came out in between the Birds of Prey: Manhunt miniseries and the ongoing series that premiered in 1999.  Black Canary appears in four of the five chapters, thus my compulsion to review them.

Green Arrow #134: "Brotherhood of the Fist part 1: The Stalkers" was drawn by Dougie Braithewaite with inks by Robin Riggs and colors by Lee Loughridge.  At this point in the history of Green Arrow, the Emerald Archer is not Oliver Queen but his bastard son, Connor Hawke.

After Connor bests the Silver Monkey in combat, the Master of the Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist cult holds a meeting for all his followers.  He shames and decries the Silver Monkey for dishonoring the Brotherhood with his ignominious defeat.

The Master seeks to restore the Brotherhood's honor by sending wave after wave of Monkeys to kill Green Arrow and everyone he loves (which is less ridiculous than it sounds).

The first wave of assassins are the Bronze Monkeys and their first target is Connor's friends, Master Jansen and Eddie Fyers.  Jansen is Connor's sensei and Fyers is a former CIA spook who first met Oliver Queen and Shado in The Longbow Hunters.  While Jansen prepares for hand-to-hand combat, Fyers ends the fight before it begins by unloading a pair of handguns on the monkeys (which, again, is much less silly in context).  Fyers hits the road to dig up intelligence on why the cult is targeting Connor.

Meanwhile, Connor Hawke has tracked a group of weapons suppliers from San Francisco to Upstate Gotham.  While he snoops around the snow covered cabin, he meets Batman decked out in his arctic weather camouflage.  Batman leads the younger hero through the weaponers' traps and into their secret lair below the cabin.

Connor keeps from geeking out like a fanboy in the presence of Batman, but he is no less impressed by the Dark Knight.  He recognizes Batman's mastery of not only the scientific tools he employs, but the martial arts and covert maneuvers he demonstrates during their reconnaissance.  Batman is less sure of Connor's prowess, though merely allowing him to tag along is an endorsement where Batman is concerned.

Far below the cabin, they find a Kobra command center, and a whole bunch of dead Kobra members.

The three green-colored Monkeys (Jade Monkeys? Emerald Monkeys?) tie up Batman and attack Connor.  Green Arrow takes out two of the three, but the last one gets the drop on him.  Thankfully, Batman has freed himself and saves Connor.

Connor and Batman are caught in the Kobra base when the self-destruct mechanism activates.  The issue ends with the heroes' lives on the line as a massive explosion rocks the snowy landscape above. The story is continued in Detective Comics.

The first chapter of "Brotherhood of the Fist" is a quick, action-packed read.  Dixon has a great handle on the characters.  His Batman is the arrogant, abrasive asshole that everyone knows today.  He would be impossible to like if he wasn't so great at his job.  Also, Batman.  Dixon gets the martial arts corner of the DC Universe about as well as Dennis O'Neil.  Connor Hawke is young, but competent.  He doesn't have the naiveté of a Spider-Man or Firestorm, and he doesn't act stupid around Batman.  The addition of the Monkey cult with different colors/properties makes for a terrific new threat.  Dangerous, colorful, good for fodder in a battle.  Also, Monkeys.

Come back tomorrow for my review of Part 2!