The Brave & The Bold #223 - Batman and Tarantula - homage to Marvel Team-Up issue #89

New Golden Age Team-Up Project commission - The Brave & The Bold issue #223, pairing Batman with Tarantula, in a Bambos Georgiou-drawn cover adapted from Marvel Team-Up #89, original art by Rich Buckler and Joe Rubenstein.

1946 - and Jonathan Law pays a visit to a Gotham carnival, hoping to do some research for his next whodunnit, "Death Rides The Rollercoaster". Unfortunately, the carnival's ride was damaged the previous night in a clash between Batman, the Vigilante and Deathbolt (as seen last issue), so Law's plans to get inspiration by riding the attraction have to be put on hold.

However, the writer's attention is caught when he spots the costumed figure of Batman high atop another of the carnival's rides and - ducking into an empty tent and swiftly changing into his own heroic garb - Law joins Batman atop the Ferris Wheel, now in his secret identity as the Tarantula! Batman welcomes his fellow hero and fills him in on the events of the previous night, letting Law know that he expects a return bout with Deathbolt, who is clearly working for whoever is trying to extort money from the carnival's new owner.

A cry from below leads both heroes to the big top, and a confrontation with the electrically-powered villain, threatening to let the big cats loose on the audience. Both Batman and Tarantula swing in to take on the villain, and only the fact that they're in mid-air (and therefore not grounded) saves them from a massive shock when Deathbolt blasts them both!

The two heroes fall to the ground, however, and Deathbolt prepares to attack them again --- and is supported by four other figures who rush from the back of the circus tent! Batman recognises them as former foes of the Sandman - the diminutive Midge, Stretcho the Rubber-Man, the strongman Samson, and Presto The Magician (last seen in Adventure Comics #84), and realises that these carnival employees must be behind the extortion plot, seeking to make the new owner abandon his acquisition so that it can be used as a base for the four criminals to renew their old plans!

The carnival criminals are no match for the two heroes, however - Midge is swiftly knocked out a punch from Batman, and a web-line from Tarantula wraps up Stretcho, who has nothing like the pliability of their old All-Star Squadron team-mate Plastic Man. Similarly Presto the Magician relies on sleight-of-hand, rather than actual magical powers, and is no match for a gas-bomb from Batman's utility belt - and Samson is taken care of by a pair of haymakers from Tarantula and Batman.

With the four masterminds of the plot taken into custody, the heroes renew their search for Deathbolt, eventually cornering him in the carnival's animal enclosure - and after Batman kicks him into the pool used to provide drinking water for the animals, Tarantula ties him up in a web-line and suspends him over the pool, unable to escape.

Another adventure with Batman and a Golden Age guest-star - next issue!

Oh, and if "Death Rides The Rollercoaster" sounds familiar - it wasn't one of Jonathan (Tarantula) Law's detective novels - but it *was* an episode of the Superman radio show, airing in 1949.