Number 2582: “The Golden Gladiator reigns supreme”

The Brave and the Bold was a comic book created as a wholesome entertainment for young readers, those who were now buying censored Comics Code-approved comics, that is. The idea was simple: create three feature characters for the title, make them historical. Even the Comics Code would pass a bit of historical mayhem. Golden Gladiator was one of the characters, along with Viking Prince and the Silent Knight. Of the three Golden Gladiator must not have attracted much attention, despite some excellent (as usual) dynamic artwork by Russ Heath. The Brave and the Bold #6 was the last appearance of the Golden Gladiator.

In this story from The Brave and the Bold #2 (1955), we are told that Golden Gladiator is good in the ring. We don't get to see the bodies piled up as entertainment, but we get the gist of it. Golden Gladiator’s girlfriend, Lucia, cheers for him, while her uncle, “Wily Cinna,” hates Marcus (the Gladiator’s real name).

I wondered if Attila the Hun and his hordes were around during the heyday of the Romans, and then read this online: “Attila the Hun was one of the most fearsome enemies that Romans ever faced.” For me, that is a history lesson in one simple sentence. What got my attention in the story was that Attila took on the Gladiator by himself, while surrounded by his own army, then kept banging with his sword an iron bracelet on the Gladiator’s wrist, which must have been given to Golden Gladiator by an ancestor of Wonder Woman.

Ed Herron wrote the story.