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Review: The Brave & the Bold #184

The Brave & the Bold #184 cover
Cover by Jim Aparo

The Brave & the Bold #184
Published and © by DC, March 1982

Title: “The Batman’s Last Christmas!”
Synopsis: Batman makes an unsettling discovery about his father, but the Huntress is there to help him crack this Christmas case.

Writer: Mike W. Barr
Artist: Jim Aparo

Review: The main plot about Batman’s father is undermined by its reliance on retconning convenient new details into Bruce’s backstory. But Earth-1 Batman’s relationship with his Earth-2 “niece,” the Huntress, is fun, and the Christmas flourishes all work nicely. Jim Aparo’s art, as usual, shines; he’s perhaps the most underrated Bat-artist.

•••

Title: “Outfoxed”
Synopsis: Nemesis tries to rescue his helicopter mechanic’s daughter from the clutches of the villainous Greyfox.

Writer: Cary Burkett
Artist: Dan Spiegle

Review: A rather generic adventure strip featuring rather generic adventure-strip art. Zzzz.

Grade (for the entire issue): B

Cool factor: Batman smacks the taste from the mouth a hoodlum dressed as Santa. A Christmas gift from the great Jim Aparo.

Collector’s note: According to MyComicShop.com, there is a Mark Jewelers variant of this issue.

Character quotable: “I doubt that ‘hot lead’ was anywhere near the top of his Christmas list, punk.” – The Huntress, swooping with a yuletide save

Editor’s note: This review was written July 7, 2020.

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