The Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues
The Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues is a blog created by an user named Ross in 2010. It features fake covers of the titular "Lost Issues" of The Brave and the Bold series in which Batman teams-up or fights with characters that never appeared in the series. Many of them aren't even DC Comics properties.
After doing over a hundred of these covers, Ross decided to take a break from Batman and started producing covers of Marvel Two-In-One lost issues, now with The Thing as the star. Later he's gone back to doing Batman team-ups and with December 2011 the world has seen first of the Super-Team Family lost issues, featuring different characters teaming up, starting with Spider-Man and The Creeper.
You can find the site's first post here.
Tropes used in The Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues include:
- Alternate Continuity: Thing and Legion of Super-Heroes has different versions of Ben teaming up with Legions from all continuities.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Scandal Savage telling Ben he will become new sixth member of Secret Six or their new victim, while they're chasing him in an ice truck.
- Ascended Fanboy: The Tick (animation) is apparently one for Batman.
- Bad Future: Batman visits one in his team up with Batman Beyond; Thing does so in team-ups with Terry, Doc Brown, Terminator and Judge Dredd.
- Big Name Fan: Ross; he got messages from many creators telling him they like his work, and Erik Larsen even commissioned Thing teaming up with Savage Dragon.
- Body Horror: For Thing when The Spectre tried to make him even uglier.
- Crossover: All the time.
- Demoted to Extra: Both times Ross did team-ups between Batman and Henry Pym, Wasp was only "Guest Starring".
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Thing, but he just wants to prepare JLA to fight Galactus.
- Enemies with Death: Okay, not that much of an enemy, but Death looks quite happy about Batman being drowned.At last much happier about it that Ben trying to pick her up at bar.
- Enemy Mine: Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow have joined forces to take down their mutual enemy..
- Face Heel Turn: Suggested a lot of times with both heroes, keeping in tradition of dishonest covers. At last we think so.
- And sometimes with other heroes, like with Batman and Raven team-up.
- Zig Zagged with Batman and Captain America (comics), where apparently they both think the other one is a traitor.
- Love Triangle: A common plot with Thing covers is that he and a recurring guest star (like Green Lantern Kyle Rayner or The Tick (animation)) are fighting over Alicia.
- Meet the New Boss: Many superhero team-ups have Ben or Batman taking over some superhero team.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: When Batman takes over The Avengers, he kicks out all but seven members.
- The Mole: Thing in his team-ups with Superfriends and original Justice Society of America.
- Name's the Same: The Thing and The Thing with special guest apperance by Thing 1 and Thing 2. behold
- Batman teams up with Sandman. Or rather The Sandman, Sandman and Silver Age Sandman, one after another.
- One of Us: Ross is a big fan of Jim Apo and Jack Kirby so if he will have a chance to feature their artwork on the cover, he will do it. Many issues during Thing's run were made entirely of Jack Kirby's art. He also likes ranting about featured characters, proving he has a liking for a large variety of comics.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Cain somehow turned Ben into one.
- Red Skies Crossover: The cover for Batman teaming up with the classic Guardians of the Galaxy is really about the Guardians finding the frozen body of Hugo Strange, dressed in a Batman costume.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: A lot of team ups is using this. Thing and Swamp Thing has both characters fighting giant lizards, Thing and Tarzan has them against dinosaurs (Ross counts those two as a two-parter because of similair theme), Thing and Wonder Woman and Batman and Brother Voodoo have heroes attacked by snakes. Subverted with Thing and Animal Man and averted in Batman and Devil Dinosaur.
- The Shadow Knows: There is more about man who faced Batman and Hellboy than meets the eye
- Special Effect Failure: Mostly averted, but there are rare exceptions, like the Thing and Supergirl issue.
- Super Dickery: Common. It's mostly our main stars, but from time to time we get bits like Doctor Strange turning Batman into an actual bat for some reason.
- They Killed Kenny: A common plot point of many Batman covers is the death of Robin. We have Batman and Speedy trying to avenge Robin's and Green Arrow's murder, Batman teaming up with Daredevil after the death of Robin, Cloak and Dagger trying to punish Batman for allowing Robin to die, and so on.
- The Unexpected: Okay, did anyone expected The Thing to team up with Calvin and Hobbes? Or Wallace and Gromit?
- Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: Some of the fights go into this territory, with Thing fighting King Kong and Predator and Batman fighting Wolverine, Dr. Doom or Darth Vader.
- Villain Team-Up: Also often, giving us things like Batmn and Doctor Strange finding out that Bat-Mite and The Impossible Man joined forces.
- Visual Effects of Awesome: It's hard to believe all those covers are made in MS Paint.