The Brave & The Bold #219 - Batman and the Sandman - homage to Marvel Tales issue #217

New Golden Age Team-Up Project commission - The Brave & The Bold issue #219, pairing Batman with the Sandman, in a Bambos Georgiou-drawn cover adapted from Marvel Tales #217, original art by Mike Zeck.

1945 - and when New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia vanishes, the Big Apple's police force ask for help from their colleagues in Gotham City. It's not long before Gotham's finest seek Batman's assistance - and after he travels to NYC, he finds that his fellow JSA and All-Star Squadron member the Sandman is also applying his detective skills to the case.

The two conclude that LaGuardia's disappearance may be linked to a number of threatening letters sent to his office, following the Mayor's crackdown on illegal gambling (which had started to affect the performance of workers in the defence industry), and Batman recalls a Gotham-based villain who had clashed with Green Lantern the previous year and who had a modus operandi which seems to fit the crime - the Gambler!

Both heroes use their underworld connections to search for leads, and this leads them to a secret hideout in the unlikeliest of places - Bedloe's Island! Breaking in, Batman and Sandman discover LaGuardia, held captive by the Gambler and his criminal gang - and as the heroes clash with the goons, the Gambler seizes the Mayor and rushes him up the steps within the Statue Of Liberty, and out onto the statue's headpiece!

A lucky shot by one of the Gambler's men grazes Batman's arm as he subdues the thug, but this doesn't slow him down as he and the Sandman ascend the Statue Of Liberty and confront the villain. When the Gambler pushes LaGuardia over the edge, Batman is - just - able to save the Mayor, but dangles precariously while the villain shoots at the Sandman. Despite strengthening winds, Wesley Dodds is able to use his gas gun to send the Gambler into unconsciousness and capture him, before rescuing both Batman and Mayor LaGuardia - and the Sandman accompanies the Mayor back to the mainland while Batman escorts the Gambler back to Gotham, and a well-deserved spell in jail.

Next time - a magical co-star! An Axis villain! And action! Action! Action!