Originally an anthology series featuring tales of adventure from past ages (knights in shining armour, vikings, Robin Hood), it was reinvented (beginning with #25) as a try-out title for new characters, and again (beginning with #50) as a venue for team-ups between established characters, among which issues featuring Batman teaming up with various other characters soon came to predominate. Batman team-ups featured in #59, #64, #67 then every issue to the end of the run. The final issue, #200, tied the title's Batman-team-up present with its new-character-introduction past with a story introducing the Batman-led superhero team the Outsiders.

Characters and teams that first appeared in The Brave and the Bold include:

Justice League of America - B&B #28
Metamorpho
Cave Carson
Silver Age Suicide Squad
Silver Age Hawkman
Teen Titans

The title has subsequently been used for a number of miniseries featuring superhero team-ups:

A 1991/92 version of the title was a six-issue miniseries featuring Green Arrow, the Question and the Butcher.
In 1999, there was Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold, a six-issue miniseries by Mark Waid featuring the Silver Age versions of the Flash and Green Lantern.

A new version, to be written by Kevin Smith, was planned but seems to have been shelved. Most recently, in 2005, at the annual San Diego Comic Convention, it was announced that Mark Waid would once again take up The Brave and the Bold name after signing an exclusive contract with DC.