The Brave and the Bold Vol 1 168

Batman and Green Arrow: "Shackles of the Mind!"

Cover

The Brave and the Bold Vol 1 #168

Batman and Green Arrow: "Shackles of the Mind!"

Nemesis: "Swift Wing of Recompense"

Letterers

John Costanza

Previous Issue	Next Issue
The Brave and the Bold # 167	The Brave and the Bold # 169

I used to do that kind of thing... until I realized it was hurting my crime fighting! Crooks begin to lose their fear of The Batman if he's too much of a public figure!

— Batman

The Brave and the Bold #168 is an issue of the series The Brave and the Bold (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1980.

Synopsis for Batman and Green Arrow: "Shackles of the Mind!"

The Gotham City Police Department summon Batman to assist them finding the criminals responsible for the new wave of seemingly impossible crimes, where the crooks have managed to break into buildings and rob safes without using force.

Unable to find a solid answer, Batman returns home a bit frustrated, but the anger goes away when his friend Green Arrow shows up unannounced at the Wayne Foundation Penthouse, to ask a favor of Batman. Arrow wants the Dark Knight to appear in the show of Samson Citadel, a young escape artist that is bound to perform in Gotham. Batman agrees on the condition that Green Arrow helps him patrolling Gotham City.

The two heroes go out at night and they spot a crime in progress at the Gotham Museum. Batman and Arrow split to capture the thugs, but one of them manages to escape from one of Green Arrow's Trick Arrows, which was supposed to be fool-proof. Batman becomes suspicious and he deduces that the criminal mastermind behind the recent crimes is Arrow's friend, Samson Citadel, but Green Arrow won't believe it and goes to ask his friend about it.

Batman continues his investigation and finds a connection to the Magicians' Club in Gotham, where he confronts Rhinehart, the master in hypnosis who is behind the crime wave. Rhinehart confesses that he hypnotized Samson to use him on this crimes and to prevent Batman from stopping him, Rhinehart and his henchman Thomas lock the Dark Knight in a deathtrap. Batman is handcuffed and tucked inside a strong fabric before he is placed inside a wood coffin. The villains seal the coffin and toss it in a giant water tank filled with piranhas, making really hard for Batman to break out.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow is asking Samson about the crimes, when the young man is suddenly commanded by Rhinehart to attack Green Arrow. The Ace Archer realizes the truth of the situation and follows Samson until they meet with Rhinehart, who commands the young man to kill his friend. His mind fights back and Samson can't bring himself to kill Green Arrow and falls unconscious. Rhinehart starts to run, but his escape attempt is thwarted by Batman, who jumps at him as a terrible nightmarish creature and knocks him unconscious.

Once Rhinehart has been arrested and the crimes stopped, Samson and Green Arrow ask Batman how did he escape from the death trap. Batman explains that he used the handcuffs to rip the fabric and afterwards, he removed the handcuffs. Then, Batman noticed two separate weights at each end of the coffin, which were there to keep the box underwater. Switching one of the weights to the side of his feet, the box started to float and the upper part of the coffin came out to the surface. Batman then used the weights to break open the wood and he escaped.

Appearing in Batman and Green Arrow: "Shackles of the Mind!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Rhinehart (Single appearance)
Thomas (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

Samson Citadel (Flashback and main story)

Locations:

Gotham City
- Bruce's Penthouse
- Gotham City Police Headquarters
- Gotham Museum

Items:

Vehicles:

Batmobile

Synopsis for Nemesis: "Swift Wing of Recompense"

Searching for information on Ben Marshall's murder, Nemesis comes across a plan to build airstrips for dope-carrying planes for the Council, a criminal organization.

Appearing in Nemesis: "Swift Wing of Recompense"