The Golden Gladiator was a short-lived series of stories in DC’s The Brave & the Bold. Unlike Joe Kubert’s The Viking Prince, Marcus the shepherd lad turned gladiator did not have a long run. He appeared five times in the early issues before being dropped for the more popular Robin Hood. The GG stories were written by Ed Herron, Robert Kanigher and Bill Finger with all art by Russ Heath.
As a fan of Sword & Sorcery, “The Golden Gladiator” does not quite qualify. There is plenty of sword but no sorcery. The comics in The Brave and The Bold were meant to appeal to fans of the comic strip, Prince Valiant. Marcus’s gimmick (all the B&tB heroes had gimmicks) was he often fought unarmed or only with defensive gear like shields. Sadly, after twenty-four issues, The Brave & The Bold turned into a superhero try-out comic.
“The Thunder of the Chariots” (The Brave and the Bold #1, August-September 1955) was written by Ed Herron. The story begins with cunning Cinna plotting to kill the emperor and take over. The plot fails but a shepherd is available to take the blame. Marcus is innocent but no one listens as they send him to the galleys to row as a slave.
On the boats, Marcus grows strong with rowing. When some lions escape the cargo hold, he uses a chain to kill one of the beasts and save the slaves. This gets him noticed and sold to the gladiators. (It is worthy of note that Marcus doesn’t lead a revolt and go pirate like Alpha the Slave Pirate. He is a law-abiding Roman even when the law is not in his corner.)
Cinna hasn’t forgotten the shepherd. He plots to have him die in the arena to hide his secret.
Marcus defeats his assassin and wins the contest despite being armed with only a shield.
The shepherd turned gladiator has won his freedom and a beautiful golden helmet. He will fight again but as a free man.
“The Sword of Attila” (The Brave and the Bold #2, October-November 1955) was written by Ed Herron. In this episode we truly meet Marcus’s love, Lucia, Cinna’s niece. Cinna is still trying to get rid of the Golden Gladiator.
Marcus’s victories in the arena leave him open to Cinna’s plots. The great Hunnish leader, Attila, threatens the empire. There is a story circulating among his clan that he bears a magic sword that makes his invulnerable. If Marcus could steal that sword, Rome would be saved. He sets off alone but is soon joined by Lucia, who arrives in her own armor.
The Huns try to kill the interlopers with burning catapult balls. Marcus defeats them with his shield. Marcus is captured and Lucia escapes.
Marcus and Attila fight for the entertainment of the Huns. Unarmed, with his hands tied, Marcus defeats the great Attila, breaking his sword. The Golden Gladiator escapes thanks to Lucia, who shows up with horses.
“The Invisible Wall” (The Brave and the Bold #3, December 1955-January 1956) was written by Ed Herron. In this story Marcus returns to his hometown to find it under siege. Crassius plans to plunder the town’s temple treasures. Marcus offers to be a wall against the invaders.
Crassius devises a two-prong attack. A ship full of pirates will attack from the shore while his army attacks from the opposite side. Marcus must become two walls.
He accomplishes this with the help of the village boys. They create a small boat and sail it towards the invaders. The boat contains coals, which sets the pirate ship ablaze.
Having defeated the ship, the townsfolk cry that the army is approaching from the mountains. Marcus fools the horde into retreat by tying swords and shields onto goats then stampeding them towards the invaders. The dust and noise appears to be a vast defending army.
Crassius is not fooled by the ruse and is left to fight Marcus alone. The Golden Gladiator is unarmed but wins all the same. The town is saved.
“Captive Champion” (The Brave and the Bold #4, February-March 1956) was written by Robert Kanigher. Caius is a collector of all things gold. Cinna sets him up to take the Golden Gladiator into his collection.
Marcus continues to win in the arena, gaining the name of “King of the Gladiators”.
Caius sets a trap, sending a false note to lead him into the woods. Marcus is captured by a large group of bandits. He is taken to the arena to fight for Caius’s pleasure alone. Lucia is also tricked into attending with another fake note.
Caius sends a chariot against the gladiator. Marcus defeats it by grabbing the reins of the horses. Caius will be punished for his evil plan.
“The Battle of the Pyramid” (The Brave and the Bold #6, June-July 1956) was written by Bill Finger. This tale is a change of pace for Marcus. He is in Egypt with a banner of peace between Egypt and Rome. He is knocked out and the banner is stolen. Marcus declares to the beautiful female Pharaoh he will return with the banner.
Marcus goes into detective mode. He finds a fisherman’s knife then the fisherman. Knocking him down, the man confesses the banner is on a departing ship. Marcus pole-vaults onto the ship.
He fights the men on board but the banner is taken again.
He has a final battle for the banner on top of a pyramid. Peace between Egypt and Rome is saved.
That was the final tale of Marcus. We never get to see Cinna punished for his murder attempt of the emperor, or Lucia and Marcus get hitched. There are any number of missions the Golden Gladiator could have done in the name of the Roman Empire. We might even have seen him go up against some Celtic magic or something supernatural. Thus it was not to be…
Gone But Not Forgotten
Occasionally a DC comics creator with a fondness for the old series will put the Golden Gladiator in a story. The first was “Reconnoiter” (The War That Time Forgot, August 2008) by Bruce Jones. Marcus meets his end in “Blood Peace” (The Judas Coin, 2012) by Walt Simonson.
Conclusion
I have to ask the question: why wasn’t the Golden Gladiator popular enough to hang around longer at the original Brave and the Bold? I suspect it was the lack of one writer fighting for the character. Ed Herron created GG but after three stories, others wrote the scripts. The Viking Prince lasted so long because Joe Kubert fought for the strip. Marcus was relegated to DC’s enormous back catalogue of characters, to be taken out once in awhile (to renew that copyright, of course!). It’s too bad. He really was as much fun as the other warriors of DC.
