FW Team-Up: Batman and Kamandi

Siskoid and Chris Franklin's coverage of The Brave and the Bold brings them to issue #120 (July 1975), somehow starring Batman and Kamandi the Last Boy on Earth, together for the first time! It's that ol' Bob Haney-Jim Aparo goodness!

Listen to the Team-Up below, or subscribe to FW Team-Up on iTunes!

Relevant images and further credits at: FW Team-Up Supplemental

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17 responses to “FW Team-Up: Batman and Kamandi

  1. I want to read Blaze, the Last Boy in Hell more than any previous amalgam from this series.

    In the character history, one major appearance not mentioned much was the original Crisis, where he was first paired thematically with Anthro, which would be a recurring thing. And where he had some fun interactions with the Legion. For a long time that and the DCCP appearance were my only encounters with Kamandi, but I was wanting more..

  2. Hey Siskoid and Chris, I’m partway through and loving this, of course, but a quick point before I forget: I think “Last Boy on Earth” was hyperbole, like “Last Son of Krypton.”

    If you came to the same conclusion five seconds after I paused this, I will be greatly embarrassed.

    1. We didn’t but obviously, humanity kept going after this point, so he can’t have been (unless space humans returned after this point). But I like the thematic idea of Anthro as the first (homo sapiens) boy, and Kamandi as the last. And I don’t want anything like the ridiculous Garth here to get in the way of that.

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  3. You are not alone, Siskoid. My wife and daughter will sometimes hop on Google Maps to check locations and follow the action, when they are reading books set in the real world.

    Thank you both for another excellent episode.

  4. Back now. Great episode. I especially appreciate Siskoid’s geographical research, Chris’s Kirby-Haney comparison, and the Kamandi knowledge. It was not as much as you wanted to have, but it was still a little more than I had. I always liked the “Command D” etymology they came up with more recently, and I don’t like many recent retcons.

    Chris, Batman is usually so laconic and stoic that your insertion of Apes movie quotes into his dialogue is jarring — more so because you really sound like Batman. You helped me realize that Heston was a total drama queen. I know — everyone else knew.

    As far as Batman’s killing blow, I think the comparison to the arcane dim mak of legend is unwarranted. I think the death touch was supposed to block the target’s energies and drain him of his chi. What we saw in the panel was less sophisticated — a full Aparo-force Bat-blow to the base of the skull. Lots of people can do that — not as well as Batman, of course, but still. Reminds me of what one comedian said about killing vampires: “Stake through the heart? Won’t that kill just about anything?”

  5. Dc superheroes ALWAYS KNOW when “that blow would have killed a normal man just like Marvel heroes always know “that blow would have taken off my head if I HAND’NT rolled with the punch

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  6. Fun show, I was never a big fan of Kamandi, although I bought a few issues when Jack C Harris was writing and Dick Ayers was drawing. The visuals of the Kirby series did look great, though.

    The mentions of Mount Rushmore brought back an embarrassing memory – when I was a kid I thought it was a natural phenomenon, that somehow the people who became President were chosen by the mountain. Which actually sounds a tad Kirbyesque.

    I’m really impressed by your travelling by Google Street Maps, Siskoid – have you checked out our place?

    1. I’ve just become an advocate of ranked choice voting, but I’m willing to consider this system, also. We could try it out on the South Dakota primaries.

  7. Between the subject matter, Siskoid’s narration, and Chris’ role-playing, this episode felt like the audio from a lost episode of VIDEO COMICS. Great fun!

    Batman keeps his mask and costume on throughout the adventure, even though everyone who might know/remember Bruce Wayne are long dead. Way to commit, Bruce.

    Co-sign to Chris: horses are impossible to draw. Aparo could draw anything well.

  8. Great episode as usual, guys. Loved that you talked about the old Professor Nichols stories – when I was a kid I loved them, especially the one with the Man in the Iron Mask! I don’t know where this hypnosis as time travel started either, but we are even seeing it today, albeit in a technological way, in the Peripheral on amazon (taken from the William Gibson book of course, which now I also must read).
    I too am intrigued by the Kamandi = Tommy Tomorrow idea. I never quite was able to reconcile it in my head but who knows, maybe after some crisis or another we will get that team up!
    Keep up the great work!

  9. A great adventure with these two great heroes .
    Was there a ever a team with Batman and character called Alice of a thousand gimmicks?
    As I’ve seen her several the comic based on the Brave the bold comic the one based on the cartoon.
    What I mean is the classic Brave the bold series .
    Also I hope you guys do the Brave the bold issue that’s the metal men and dail h for hero cross over .

    1. You presumably mean Merry, Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks. No, she was strictly Golden Age. Though it was possible for someone like Bob Haney to bring back a Golden Age character (usually Wildcat), Merry wasn’t on his radar.

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  10. Great episode!! But Chris legitimately forgot the name of Princess Ariel from Thundarr?!! What?!? How is that possible? I’d say she was formative in my youth, but that implies that situation is past tense.

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