10 Amazing Comic Books That Should Have Flopped
5. The Brave And The Bold #28
After the successful recreations of characters like the Flash and Green Lantern and the introduction of the Martian Manhunter, DC editor Julius Schwartz must have been feeling bold. He was dreaming big and wanted to reimagine the Justice Society. But he wanted to change the name and update the roster. Favoring the word “league” - as in those in professional baseball - Schwartz asked Gardner Fox to create the new team.
The initial group consisted of Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman. It also included Snapper Carr, a “hip” teen who snapped his fingers a lot and spoke in the “groovy” lingo of the period. It premiered in The Brave and the Bold #28 and the team fought the alien starfish, Starro. The threat was ended by the teen, rather than the heroes, with relative ease in the single issue.
Surprisingly, the comic was a success. After two more outings in The Brave and the Bold, the Justice League received its own title, which became DC's top seller.
At first, the writers held back on using Superman and Batman as they were staring in several of their own titles, as had been done in the Justice Society. But readers demanded their continued inclusion in the series, and the team soon included Green Arrow, Atom, and Hawkman within the next few years of publication.