The Brave & The Bold Annual #1 - Batman and the Freedom Fighters - homage to Avengers issue #187

New commission: the latest issue of my Golden Age Team-Up Project series - The Brave & The Bold Annual #1 - pairing Batman with the Freedom Fighters (or most of them, anyway, on the cover). Art by Bambos Georgiou, adapted from the cover to Avengers #187, original art by John Byrne and Terry Austin.

January 1945 - and, as a prominent donor to the President's charitable causes, Bruce Wayne is invited to attend the (scaled down) fourth inauguration ceremony for FDR in Washington, and stay as a guest in the White House.

Although he's expecting no trouble - despite the Axis forces retreating in both Europe and the Pacific, the Washington-based Freedom Fighters will be providing super-powered security for the event - Wayne takes his Batman costume just in case. And it's lucky that he does - as the inauguration starts, the White House is attacked by Gudra and a horde of her fellow Valkyries, who last struck at the US in late 1940!

Bruce Wayne sprints back into the White House and dons his costume, but by the time Batman enters the fray the Valkyries have managed to knock out the Human Bomb, and are on the verge of overwhelming the other Freedom Fighters. After ensuring that President Roosevelt has been rushed to safety, Batman charges into battle, and - as Gudra opens a magical portal - is able to push the heroes and a number of the Valkyries through it, into a snow-covered landscape. Behind them, in Washington, the other shield-maidens fade away - and Gudra reveals that the heroes are now prisoners in Valhalla, the legendary land of the dead! All she has to do is slay them here, and they can be brought back as undead slaves, to fight on the side of the Axis!

The heroes battle Gudra and her fellow Valkyries, but are overcome, and mystically suspended upside-down in mid-air as the Nazi villainess begins her spell prior to killing each of the heroes. She's interrupted, though, by the last-minute re-appearance of the Human Bomb, who dives through the still-open portal, accompanied by USA, The Spirit Of Old Glory! As the patriotic heroine battles Gudra, the Bomb is able to disrupt the spell imprisoning Batman and his fellow heroes with a few well-aimed explosive punches, and the Freedom Fighters and the Gotham Guardian return to the battle.

Just as they seem on the verge of victory, Gudra lunges with her spear, and pierces Batman's heart --- and he dies! A blinding burst of light from the Ray throws Gudra off-balance for long enough that the Human Bomb gets close to her - and his explosive punches finish the fight!

As the other Freedom Fighters carry Batman's corpse towards the rapidly-shrinking portal, Uncle Sam calls on them to halt - and he and USA pool their powers, drawing on the collective spirit of the United States and the American people to reverse the effects of Gudra's attack and revive Batman! As he returns to life, the heroes leap thorugh the magical portal, which seals behind them, trapping the Valkyries (at least temporarily) in Valhalla. With the threat over, Batman and the Freedom Fighters form an honour guard as Franklin D Roosevelt is sworn in once more as the President of the United States!