Detective #288

On the most obvious level, this issue is part and parcel of the horrific "monster of the month" era in Detective Comics that characterized a good part of Jack Schiff's tenure as editor of the Batman family of magazines. And make no mistake about it, that's the primary (and exceedingly silly) plot.

The story starts with a lightning bolt hitting a pool of chemicals causing a strange transformation:

The bit about life arising from chemical wastes is probably inspired by the movie, Godzilla. Batman and Robin encounter the creature and their initial attempt to defeat it reveals that it is more powerful than it looks:

So by this point in reading the story, I'm already yawning at the transparent absurdity. But then something interesting happens. The creature heads towards the house of an old actor who's become wheelchair-bound. Batman moves to help him, while sending Robin to the town to get help.

The actor is somewhat fatalistic, until he sees Batman in trouble:

And in town, Robin discovers that the only official around is a mere clerk, who doesn't think he can handle the crisis until:

There are quite a few Batman and Robin tales from the Golden Age that follow this pattern, and they are among the classics of that era. While the stale art and the monster focus prevent this story from reaching those heights, the subplots did make it quite a bit more entertaining than I expected.

The third subplot involves a bank robbery featuring an ingenious method of escape:

"Nothing can stop us now," is of course begging for trouble, and the creature flies into the blimp, grounding it. Batman and Robin capture the crooks, and help the clerk calm the local citizenry, then electrocute the creature. And in the end:

The Roy Raymond story (one of the last in that long-running series) sees Roy solve the case of an heiress who has been cursed with the gaze of Medusa, causing anyone she glances at to be turned to stone. Of course, it's all a plot by a guardian to steal her inheritance.
The Martian Manhunter story is rather bizarre. MM's good friend Larry Loder has fallen for a swindle. A bunch of crooks sold him some treasure-finding inventions, with which he hopes to pay back the investors who lost money with him earlier. And when you see the inventions, it's not hard to believe that he's a pretty poor financial advisor:

J'onn takes pity on him and makes the inventions seem to work. But it turns out that this was stage two of the crooks' con job:

So the Martian Manhunter makes sure that the final invention works in such a way that the crooks are caught by Larry. The reward money ensures that Loder will have enough funds to pay back all his investors, who presumably reinvested the funds with him in a bagful of magic beans.

1957: Batman Predicts the Quiz Show Scandal

In the mid-1950s, TV viewers were riveted to their screens by the Quiz Shows of the time. However, in 1958 it was discovered that some of the shows (notably Twenty-One) were rigged, with the producers providing the contestants the answers and coaching them on how to make the show more dramatic. The story was immortalized in the 1994 film on the scandals, Quiz Show.

But in Batman #108 (June 1957), readers of Batman comics learned the truth before the rest of the public, in The Big Batman Quiz. In the story, contestant Frank Davis is about to go for the big money:

Batman is a special judge to determine whether the answers to the questions are right or wrong. Davis aces the $75,000 question: How did Batman apprehend the criminal Fenton brothers? Answer: By soaring into their mountain hideout on a kite. But the big question is a shocker:

And even more startling, Davis has apparently deduced the answer, as he writes Bruce Wayne's name on a card and shows it only to Batman. However, before Davis can exit the isolation booth, he keels over and dies. And when they pull him out, the pad on which he wrote Batman's secret identity is blank; it appears that someone tore the top sheet off.

Suspicion immediately falls on Garth, a criminal who was scheduled to appear on another program on that network, and who escaped during the show:

However, as they try to catch the thief, Batman realizes that "Garth" knows too much about the TV business for a common crook and they discover that the real crook has been bound and gagged in a prop room. The killer is obviously someone associated with television, and Batman quickly figures out who it is:

Harmon (the game show's host) had coated the light bulb in the isolation booth with a chemical that turned into a poisonous vapor when heated. Ironically, the vapor also erased the handwriting on the pad, thus saving Batman's real identity.

Based on the timeline of the real quiz show scandal, it appears that the writer had the basics right before the scam broke. The contestants were indeed furnished with the answers, but not in order to split the prizes. The story broke completely in 1958:

The gravy train derailed in August and September of 1958 when disgruntled former contestants went public with accusations that the results were rigged and the contestants coached. First, a standby contestant on Dotto produced a page from a winner's crib sheet. Then, the still bitter Herbert Stempel, Van Doren's former nemesis on Twenty One, told how he had taken a dive in their climatic encounter.

Wikipedia notes that some elements of the story had come out in 1957:

When Enright subsequently told him the promise couldn't be kept because he had sold his shows to NBC itself, Stempel went to the authorities to explain how the show was fixed and his own role in the rigging. As he later testified to Congress, he also agreed to talk to a reporter from the New York Post in February 1957, but the paper feared a libel suit if they went public with Stempel's original accusations at the time they spoke.

However, when we consider the timeframes for publishing comics, it seems unlikely that the scandal could have been public knowledge at the time the Batman story was written. According to the Master List for DC maintained at DC Indexes, Batman #108 hit the newsstands on April 16, 1957. Given the several months' delay between creation of a comic and its actual publication, it appears likely that the story must have been written prior to Stempel's talk with the New York Post. Note as well that the scandal did not become public at that time as the Post did not run with it.

The GCD does not have a credit for the script on this story. I have a vague memory that one of the famous comic book writers appeared on one of the quiz shows of the 1950s. Anybody? Bueller?

Update: Commenter Lee points to this appearance by Leo Dorfman, which is indeed the one I remembered:



Some very funny commentary by the host there.

Still More Schiff Recycling

I've talked a few times in the past about how editor Jack Schiff would take a story from Batman and run it in Blackhawk (or vice-versa). Here's another good example.

Consider these two covers:



And:



Not hard to see the similarities; in this case the Batman story was the earlier one, appearing in the March 1959 issue of that mag, while the Blackhawk version comes from December 1960. Both tales are "dream" stories; that is to say that they did not really happen, but were a dream of one of the characters; Robin and Lady Blackhawk. Both dreams end with disaster. In the Batman tale, Batwoman's identity is exposed, thus indicating to the world that Batman must be Bruce Wayne. And the marriage of Blackhawk and Zinda ends up causing the dissolution of the team.

At the end of the Blackhawk story (after Zinda has awoken from the dream), Blackhawk asks her to go out to the movies with him, but she has a better idea:

Trivia Quiz #39: Answers

1. What did Dick Grayson and Kathy Kane have in common? (No, not that!)

Both Dick and Kathy were circus performers before they teamed up with Batman.

2. Who was Bat-Boy?

Bat-Boy was Midge Merrill, a circus performer who took up crime-fighting to avenge his acrobat pals who were killed in a fire set by mobsters to cover their stealing of the gate receipts. He teamed up with Robin in Batman #90 to catch the murderers of his pals. His "shtick" was that he used baseball bats filled with unusual items (including webbing) to thwart his enemies.

3. Who was Batman Jones?

Batman Jones was a youngster whose parents had named him after the Caped Crusader. This was first mentioned in Batman #92 (June 1955):

The thread was later picked up in Batman #108 (June 1957). It turned out that young Master Jones, inspired by his namesake, was studying detecting as a career and was actually pretty good at it:

But his threat to become a permanent addition to the cast ended with that story as well, as Batman Jones decided that what he really wanted was to become a stamp collector.

4. Who was Mr. Marvel?
Mr Marvel was an alien gambler who had wagered that he could lure Robin away from Batman, and who posed as the new superhero in Gotham City. At first it appears that he has succeeded, but then at a critical moment Robin disarms MM and reveals that he only joined the new guy because Batman's life was threatened.

5. Who was the Eagle?
The Eagle was Alfred, the butler.

In one of Dick Sprang's last stories in Batman #127, Alfred trips over some wires, shines a light on one of those alien jewels that Superman was always bringing back from outer space, and gains (temporary) super-powers.

6. What did Commissioner Gordon like to have every evening? (Golden Age reference).

Commissioner Gordon liked to have a rub-down (massage) every night, which his son, Tony, gave him. Permission to say "Ewwwww!" granted.

Darius Smith got #3 right. Michael Rebain correctly answered #1. Blaze Morgan got #1, #2, #4 and #5. Ed was on the money for #1 and #5. The Strange Sr. Mulder hit the target with #1, #3, #4 and #5.

Batman #162

The penultimate issue of the Jack Schiff era, this comic symbolizes many of the problems that plagued the Batman series for most of the Silver Age. Obviously the cover is a tribute to (or swipe of) the finale of King Kong.

As the story begins, Batman encounters two robbers who seem more like animals than humans:

The pair escape when the ape-looking one grabs a lamppost out of the ground and wraps it around Batman and Robin.

We learn the secret of the animal-like humans here:

When this second pair of monsters attacks, Batman follows them in the Whirly-Bat. He tracks them down to the canyon where the crooks have their hideout, but:

As you can probably guess, it transforms him into the creature shown on the cover. Robin tries to protect him here:

Of course the real likelihood of fighter jet pilots actually hearing him (with their canopies closed, no less) is nil.

Batwoman tames him with tears and fruit, and he helps her and Robin catch the next set of monsters. They let one of the beasts go free, with Ace, the Bat-Hound tailing it back to the canyon. At first things look grim there, with the crooks freeing a rhino and a tiger, which look likely to make short work out of Batwoman and Robin. But Batman arrives as well, and kayos the other two beasts, after which Robin turns Batman back to normal with the ray.

Comments: Although the weird transformation bit is one of my least favorite plot devices, I have to admit I enjoyed this story more than expected. Part of it was seeing the devotion that both Robin and Batwoman have towards Batman, and their horror at seeing him turned into a monster:

That's very nice characterization.

The backup story features Robin's New Secret Identity. We learn in the opening that Robin shaves points, not to make money from gamblers, but to keep from looking too good:

We can see that Dick chafes a bit at being unable to show his true abilities. Later, he realizes that there is a way. He disguises himself as someone different and gets into a pickup game where he performs like Michael Jordan's more athletic brother. But late in the game, he's stunned and loses his memory. As he walks around trying to remember who he is, he comes upon Batman saving a woman from a fire. But her baby's still in the house, so Dick (disguised) chips in with a spectacular rescue:

Later, when Batman returns home and discovers that Dick has still not returned, he realizes the red-headed youth he had encountered earlier is his ward. As he hurries back to Gotham City, he spies some gangsters and the Boy Wonder, so he kills two birds with one stone:

Comments: A nice, little story with terrific characterization for Robin.

Towns Without Pity

The appeal of these types of covers should be obvious. As with so many Weisinger-edited magazines, this cover presents a puzzle to the reader. Why does this town of Cyrusville hate Superman?

The answer is somewhat convoluted, but in essence Cyrusville is named after its wealthiest citizen, Bruce Cyrus. Bruce was a fellow orphan at the Smallville Orphanage and has always despised Superboy/Superman because of an incident where Superbaby caused him to lose a chance at adoption:

But as Bruce and Superman observe the scene (apparently invisible), they discover some information that puts a new light on the incident. Moments after Bruce was pitched through the window, a chandelier fell right where he was standing, so Superbaby actually saved his life. And it turned out that the couple who adopted the young baby instead of Bruce did it not because he got muddy, but because they wanted to have the joy of teaching the baby how to speak and read, etc. And in the end, Cyrusville becomes the town that loves Superman.

A year later, the basic premise was recycled in Batman #136:

In this story, Batman chases a crook into a former ghost town. At first the townsfolk seem friendly, but when Batman expresses his determination to locate the criminal in their midst, they attack him and Robin. It turns out that they are aliens planning an invasion of Earth, but Batman foils their plans and captures his quarry.

But that's not the end of the Towns that Hated:

In this story, Smallville turns against Superboy as it appears that he's the reason monsters are appearing all over town, whenever he uses one of his vision powers. But it turns out that Lex Luthor (still a good person in this story) is accidentally responsible for the problem, and with the situation resolved Smallville welcomes Superboy back.

Update: Commenter Twin pointed out this similar cover:


Somewhat different circumstances in that story. A bunch of crooks have stolen a formula that will make people want to attack the person who drinks it. As it happens, the crooks are testing it in coffee at a restaurant, and Bruce happens to be one of the people who drink the loaded java.

BTW, one of the things I noticed while looking through some Superman covers the other day was that the artists certainly liked to depict people attacking the Man of Steel with bazookas; check these other examples:

Single Issue Review: Detective #331

For its first 330 issues, Detective Comics had always published multiple stories, but this issue provides a book-length tale combining the two features that the mag was publishing at the time: Batman and the Elongated Man. It's the fifth issue into the New Look, and the interior (and cover) artwork is by Carmine Infantino, while the story is by Gardner Fox.

As the story begins, Bruce Wayne is visiting a wax museum dedicated to American history, that was funded by the Alfred Foundation (see ending for a discussion of the Alfred Foundation). But when he poses for a picture at the Matthew Brady exhibit something odd happens:

Yet another reminder that Julius Schwartz didn't get rid of all the science fiction elements of the Jack Schiff years. Bruce has temporary amnesia, and around the same time as he's stumbling around the city in a daze:

As you can probably guess, it's a phony Bruce Wayne, who's well-prepared and cons the bank VP into letting him withdraw $500,000 from his account.

Later that night, Robin is forced to battle some jewel robbers on his own. But fortunately for him, Batman recovers his memory and helps out. Now they have to figure out what happened during his amnesia. Robin tells him about the withdrawal from the bank (apparently the bank officer was a little casual about Bruce's privacy).

Meanwhile, Ralph and Sue Dibny have arrived in Gotham and visited the wax museum themselves. Ralph gets curious when he notices a few pictures that his wife took:

Realizing that the man's face had changed dramatically, Ralph smells a mystery. As it happens, about the same time Bruce and Dick have visited the bank, where it turns out that the man in the photograph has been robbed in a similar fashion to Bruce. When they learn that before being robbed he had visited the Matthew Brady exhibit at the wax museum, they change into their fighting togs and head there, meeting up with the Elongated Man inside. The three are attacked by invisible enemies, as shown on the cover. When Batman makes it to the Brady exhibit:

We learn a bit about the "science" involved here from the crook, Boss Baron:

Fortunately, the Elongated Man sticks his face in front of the camera to protect Batman's secret identity. This works, but at the cost of Ralph losing his memory temporarily. Batman and Robin start wiping up the crooks with a little sluggish help from the Ductile Detective:

And in the end, Batman shares a secret with the Elongated Man:

But it's okay, because Ralph will lose his memory of Batman's secret identity when the face-change wears off.

Comments: An interesting and fast-paced story. I confess, however, that the plot device of the face-changing machine (electrofaciograph) seems rather far-fetched.

Postscript: The Alfred Foundation was a charity that Bruce Wayne set up in the aftermath of Alfred's (apparent) death in Detective #328. After he was brought back to life (discussed here), Bruce changed the name of the charity to the Wayne Foundation.

Superman and Batman: Synchronized Stories?

This is something I hadn't noticed before and given that it involves DC's two most famous characters, it seems worthy of a post. For starters, consider this famed story:

It appeared in the June-July 1948 issue of Batman. Now why was that particular date chosen? It's just a little over nine years after Batman's first appearance in Detective #27, so it's not like it's some big anniversary.

Well, not for Batman, anyway. As it happens, the comic was dated on the tenth anniversary of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman. And, as you might expect, the anniversary was also celebrated over at the Man of Steel's own mag as well:

So roughly within a month of each other both Batman and Superman had their origins retold in extended forms. But that's not all the story, by any means.

In Batman #127, Professor Carter Nichols came up with an improbable new invention, which projected what a person's life might have been like had he or she not had some particular event happen. Bruce tries it out and a fantasy story ensues where his parents were not killed by Joe Chill. As it happens, they did not survive much longer, dying in a car accident a few years later, and Bruce actually becomes an indolent playboy for awhile, before an incident turns him into the Batman. I discussed this terrific story a little over a year ago.

That issue was cover dated October 1959. That very same month saw the appearance of Superman #132. Batman and Robin want to give Superman a special present for helping them out of a recent jam. They come up with this unique idea:

As it happens, Jor-El and Lara do not survive for long, either. Their rocket crashes on a small asteroid and:

Yep, that's young Kal-El in a Superman suit; apparently the Space Patrol of Krypton would have had the same emblem had the planet survived. The asteroid explodes, killing Jor-El and Lara (and Kal's younger brother Zal-El). It's that weird DC fate working its way again. And in the end, Kal-El becomes the Superman of Krypton with the help of a ray invented by a friend:

Well, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and the third time it's a trend. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a trend, as I have located the third example. It's not a perfect example, because the dates are a few months apart, but otherwise the pattern holds quite strongly. In Detective Comics #235, the famed story The First Batman appeared. This is one of the most-reprinted Batman stories ever, appearing in Batman Annual #4, Batman #255 and The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told. The story shows Batman's father, Thomas Wayne, fighting crooks in much the same way that his son later would, even wearing a strikingly similar costume to Batman's:

The story includes an intriguing additional detail to Batman's origin. It is revealed that one of the mobsters that Thomas Wayne defeated had vowed revenge on him. And sure enough:

As implied, it turns out that Moxon had hired Joe Chill to kill Bruce's parents. But there's a catch; Moxon now has amnesia and doesn't remember the incident. But when Batman confronts him using his father's old costume it triggers the memory. Moxon tries to escape but is hit by a truck and dies.

Now for the Superman tale, we turn to Superman #113, the May 1957 issue (about 7 months after the Batman story).

As you can see, the story involves Superman's father, Jor-El, being a Superman before Kal-El ever took on the role. Superman discovers tapes of his father describing a key event in his life. While viewing other planets, including Earth, Jor-El's favorite alien world, Jor discovers that the queen of the planet Vergo is planning to destroy Krypton. He travels to the alien world and discovers that he has super powers there, which enables him to duplicate his son's later feats and defeat the plan to destroy his home world. But, as with the Batman story in Detective #233, this tale includes a significant addition to the Superman origin:

Yep, this is the moment when Jor-El first learns his planet is doomed. Queen Latora had planned to catapult Krypton into her sun, which was dying. And as it the Batman story, the ending requires Superman to provide the finale. As it happens, Queen Latora's sun has not yet succumbed, and Superman is able to gather up lots of uranium and send it into that star, saving her world.

Incidentally, the Superman #113 story has only been reprinted once, in a Pizza Hut replica edition. Jor-El's costume had not yet become the familiar green outfit with the yellow star in the center.

Note in particular that these are not swipes, which generally require an intervening passage of time. They rather appear to be intentionally synchronized stories. I'll be looking for more examples; if you know of any please mention them in the comments.