Brave and the Bold #78

Brave and the Bold #78 (On Sale: April 23, 1968) has a very cool cover by Bob Brown featuring Batman, Wonder Woman and Batgirl. I remember as a kid not wanting to read this book because the Copperhead scared me so much.

Inside is "In the Coils of Copperhead" by Bob Haney and Bob Brown. Copperhead, a new crook, gives Batman a difficult time by striking without warning. The mayor of Gotham is anxious to have the thief captured and pressures both Batman and Commissioner Gordon. Batman decides to trap Copperhead using the Golden Casque of Montezuma as bait.

Batman requests the help of Wonder Woman and Batgirl. The female heroes pretend to fight over Batman's affections distracting him from crime fighting. When Copperhead thinks Batman is occupied, he goes after the Casque. Wonder Woman and Batgirl carry things too far though, and the crooks succeeds.

The three heroes then follow a tracking device Batman placed on the Casque. Wonder Woman catches Copperhead first, but she is defeated. Batgirl meets a similar fate. Batman finally reaches the crook and defeats him, but the Caped Crusader is poisoned in the process. This was a popular story reprinted in Brave and the Bold #116, Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB and Showcase Presents:Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.