Set Description:
Once upon a time, The Brave and the Bold was NOT a Batman team-up title, nor another showcase type title (I mean, DC had Showcase after all). In the beginning, The Brave and the Bold was an anthology series...and it existed that way from August/September 1955 to July 1959.
In those years, the title featured NO superheroes, but rather stories of characters from yesteryear.
Brave and the Bold #1 started out with the trio of the Golden Gladiator, The Silent Knight and the Viking Prince. Issue #5 added adventures starring Robin Hood to what initially started out as three stories per book.
Overall, the Viking Prince appeared in 23 of the 24 issues, while the Silent Knight was in the first 22 issues. Robin Hood appeared in 11 of the issues and the Golden Gladiator was in 5 of the first 6 books and then disappeared from the title.
The Brave and the Bold was initially synonymous with Irv Novick, with his having penned the first 21 covers. Joe Kubert took over the cover duties for the final 3 issues of this set (Jack Adler was also involved as a co-contributor on a few books.
These early issues are extremely hard to find in certified grades at 9.0 or above. In fact, as of early June 2022, the total copies of ALL issues in this mini-run that are graded by the CGC at 9.0 or better is only 33.
Generally, most of these issues have only around 30-40 copies certified in total - adding to their rarity, not just in high grade.
Currently, my set includes 9 issues which are highest graded. Of these 9 highest graded issues, 5 of them are single highest graded. My lowest graded issue is B&B#2 at a CGC 7.0, while my highest graded issue is B&B#10 at a CGC 9.6 (the earliest issue to be graded at this level...and the only copy in this run graded 9.6 or above).
Interestingly, in the twelve month period of June 2021-22, a number of high grade copies were certified by the CGC (after a few years of little change). Just twelve months prior I had 11 highest graded copies (which included 8 single highest graded). I only managed to upgrade one issue in that time period, with my winning the B&B#10 9.6 in June 2022. Seems like a raw collection came out of the woodwork and was submitted to the CGC. How many more out there are like that I have to wonder?
Anyway, as of 2023, this is my collection. I'm pretty happy with where it's at...well, if I come across a nicer copy of B&B#18, I'd probably look to upgrade it...
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