The Brave & The Bold #237 - Batman and the Human Bomb - homage to Marvel Team-Up #54

Latest Golden Age Team-Up Project commission - The Brave & The Bold issue #237, teaming Batman with the Human Bomb, adapted from the Gil Kane / Mike Esposito cover to Marvel Team-Up #54, as reimagined by Bambos Georgiou.

1945 - and Batman travels to Washington. Briefed by the War Department, he learns that G2 (Army Intelligence) have uncovered information that the Nazis are developing a super-weapon - the Ragnarok Cannon - which could change the outcome of the war! As the secret facility where the cannon is being built is within Axis-controlled territory, no hero who is either magically-powered or specifically vulnerable to magic can travel there, at the risk of being taken over by the Spear Of Destiny and fighting for the Axis - but Batman won't be affected, and can therefore undertake the task of infiltrating Spearhead Base and destroying the weapon.

The Gotham Guardian agrees to undertake the mission, but he asks the War Department to locate another hero who can accompany him without fear of being subverted by the Spear of Destiny - a hero who, by happy coincidence, is usually found in Washington: Roy Lincoln, the Human Bomb!

48 hours later, Batman and the Human Bomb parachute from a B17 as it flies over the site of Spearhead Base, landing covertly near their target and sneaking up to the perimeter fence, where Batman knocks out a guard, allowing the heroes to infiltrate the compound. The two find their way into a tunnel, which leads them to an underground chamber, where scientists are working on a bank of machinery linked to a huge cannon. As the heroes approach it, however, floodlights snap on, and both Batman and the Human Bomb are picked out!

Nazi soldiers rush to restrain them and, despite a battle in which Batman's martial skills and the Human Bomb's explosive punches take out a significant number of their opponents, the heroes are eventually overwhelmed, chained, and dragged before the commander of Spearhead base - the Iron Claw, who had escaped his apparent death whilst fighting Wonder Woman in 1942 (see World's Finest Comics #245).

The Nazi mastermind orders the two heroes to be chained in front of the cannon, to be used as test subjects. If the tests are successful, the Ragnarok Cannon will be used to wipe out the Allied forces currently fighting in the Ardennes Forest, giving the Axis soldiers victory in the Battle Of The Bulge! The Iron Claw explains that the cannon utilises extra-dimensional energies and will be so powerful that it will wipe out thousands of men in a single burst - and will even destroy the super-powered Human Bomb! If Batman is not killed in the blast, then the Iron Claw will dispose of the Gotham Guardian personally...

With the Human Bomb helpless, the Ragnarok Cannon is primed, warmed up -- and fired, in a huge burst of energies which envelop the explosive hero, leaving him slumped to the floor, apparently lifeless! The Nazi scientists speculate that the Bomb's powers had in some way mitigated the effects of the cannon's blast, as Batman remained unaffected, so the Iron Claw orders them to re-prime the weapon to be fired at the nearby Allied army, while he will deal with Batman himself!

As the Iron Claw advances, however, Batman is able to use an acid capsule palmed from his utility belt to weaken the chains which bind him, escaping from his restraints and leaping to attack the Nazi villain. As the two clash, the Iron Claw is unaware that the Human Bomb is slowly recovering, until the Freedom Fighter regains his feet and charges at the Ragnarok Cannon, removing both his gloves and landing a double-handed punch on the weapon!

The resulting - and massive - explosion demolishes the cannon, and the blast knocks out the scientists and the guards. The Bomb turns to come to his fellow hero's aid, but Batman has things in hand - no matter how versatile a foe the Iron Claw may be, he's no match for the fighting prowess of the Gotham Guardian, who pummels the Nazi into unconsciousness and restrains him, before the two heroes escape with their captive, and the Human Bomb's powers are put to good use destroying Spearhead Base!

Hours later, the two heroes and their prisoner cross back over the lines into Allied-held territory, surrender the Iron Claw to the authorities, and await a flight back to the US, content that their mission has been completed and the Nazi threat eliminated!

A new story - next issue!