Batman in the 1970s Part 9: January and February 1971

by Peter Enfantino

& Jack Seabrook

The Brave and the Bold #93 (January 1971)


"Red Water Crimson Death"

Story by Denny O'Neil

Art by Neal Adams

Worn out from crimefighting, Batman boards an ocean liner bound for Ireland to take a rest. During the crossing, he saves a young boy named Sean when he is swept overboard in a storm. Bruce Wayne is welcomed by Sean's uncle on the Aran Islands, but late at night the boy walks out and Batman follows. He learns of strange goings-on at the Castle of King Hugh, dead three centuries. Batman follows Sean into the castle and breaks up a gang of crooks who have been scaring the locals in order to gain fishing rights. He is nearly poisoned and shot by the boss, but a heavy, framed portrait of King Hugh falls off the wall at just the right moment, killing the boss and allowing Batman and Sean to escape with their lives.

Jack: I wanted to start this month's post with this Batman story from The Brave and the Bold because it is the first solo Batman story of the 1970s not to appear in Batman or Detective, and because it is the first Batman story drawn by Neal Adams outside of those titles. In addition, it is the first full-length Batman story by Adams, who appears to have done the pencilling and inking himself. The artwork is gorgeous, and it is probably the best Batman story I've read in this series to date.

PE: Good catch on this one, Jack. It's a very odd story in several ways. "Red Water Crimson Death" is a solo story in an otherwise team-up book. I have to believe this was a standard Batman story to run at some time in either Batman or Detective and, for whatever reason, was rewritten with several appearances of Cain, the House of Mystery mascot, overseeing and commenting on the proceedings. Bats never even sets foot in The House of Mystery. The supernatural element was not a taboo in the regular Batman titles (witness "The Secret of the Waiting Graves," the very first story we covered in this column, among others) so maybe a gap needed to be filled in the Brave and the Bold title. This was Neal Adams's final Batman story to appear in BatB (with the exception of 8 penciled pages in #102, July 1972). "The Angel, The Rock and The Cowl," co-starring Sgt. Rock (in issue #84, June 1969) is my personal favorite of the 9 stories he did for BatB. "Red Water" has some jaw-dropping art and some nice twists. You're not really sure until the climax if Bats is teaming with an otherworldly force or Scooby-Doo.

Jack: I am also fond of this story because it takes place on one of the Aran Islands, which I have visited twice. If there was ever a more haunting place to set a Batman tale, I'd like to know about t! The story is narrated by Cain, the narrator of stories in DC's The House of Mystery title. Although the House of Mystery is usually said to be located in Kentucky, Cain explains that a castle is a a house, and this is a mystery, so it's the house of mystery! The story can be read online here.

Detective Comics #407 (January 1971)

"Marriage: Impossible"

Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Neal Adams & Dick Giordano

Reading the paper one evening, Batman is surprised to see a wedding announcement for Kurt Langstrom (aka Man-Bat) and his long-time fiance, Francine. Quickly, The Dark Knight races to the church to be the lone dissenter. Once he's broken up the vows and chased Langstrom away, Batman is astonished to find that Francine is a willing participant in this marriage from Hell. She loves Kurt and will do anything to be with him. Batman soon finds out exactly how far the woman will go when she unmasks and reveals that she's taken the same formula as Dr. Langstrom and become Woman-Bat! Knowing he can't leave the two alone in their present condition, Batman forces the antidote on Kurt and Francine and they once again become human. The Caped Crusader can now leave the honeymooners to their future plans.

Adams? or Robbins?

PE: The way this one opened, I was sure it was a "dream" story but, nope, Frank Robbins is serious. The story's not told in a linear fashion (and it features a three page flashback sequence!) and is seriously confusing. I found it hard to keep track of. When, for instance, did Kurt administer the formula to Francine? Before or after the wedding? Tough to tell. The entire story seems to be told as a flashback at times. The unmasking of Francine is a nice shocker, right out of the blue. I'm at odds about Batman forcing the antidote on the newlyweds. If this is the way they want to live, shouldn't he respect that and leave them be? How is it Batman's place to decide whether the couple is truly happy? Yeah, they're uglier than hell but why should he be the moral compass here? "Marriage: Impossible," by the way, is a silly title but it's much better than the cover-advertised "Bride of the Man-Bat." As with most "permanent cures" in comics, this serum doesn't last and we'll encounter Man-Bat again before the end of 1971.

Jack: Robbins must have known he was onto something with Man-Bat, since this is the third story to feature him in less than a year. The constant "skreek!"ing is annoying! Adams's art looks hurried throughout most of the story, and there is one big shot of Man-Bat that almost looks like the work of (Gulp!) Frank Robbins!

"One of Our Landmarks is Missing!"

written by Frank Robbins
art by Gil Kane & Vince Colletta

Batgirl manages to get herself out of the booby-trapped room she was enclosed in last issue. Once free, she stops hippie bomber Mal's plan to blow up a Gotham landmark. Helping her in her cause is dopey hippie-chick Shelley, who comes out of her 1960s-induced coma just in time to join the human race.

PE: Man, will I be glad when writer Frank Robbins (who was 53 years old by 1971) realizes that the Summer of Love was now four years in the past. Blame Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, I guess. I'd never read any of the back-ups in Batman or Detective before so have no idea if this whole "Campus Aflame with Rebelling Hippie Teens" cycle of stories ends soon. Cross your fingers. A synopsis and critical commentary on "One of Our Landmarks is Missing!" would run longer than the story itself. It reads like a thumbnail sketch for a longer story. Back-ups aren't known for their characterizations or advancement of mythology, but these Batgirl stories are not worth reading but for their gorgeous Kane/Colletta art. I'm not one given to fanboy droolings such as "Ooh, that Jean Grey is such a babe!" but Kane sure could draw a woman's behind so's you'd notice!

Jack: Oddly enough, I selected the panel reproduced here before I read your comment, Peter, so we're clearly on the same wavelength.

PE: I love that Julius Schwartz has the balls (or good sense) to print letters that don't always tow the party line. Yeah, I know Stan would do it from time to time but most of the letters columns we've been through over at Marvel University have been taken up with "Gee willickers, I love The Human Torch, can ya give him and Medusa their own title?" rather than something along the lines of the letter from Clem Robins of Sheffield, Mass., who, to be fair, raves and raves about some really bad Batman stories we've discussed in the last few weeks but also writes the following damning praise:

Witness Detective #403's "You Die By Mourning." Its plot synopsis could've been developed into a mutilated mess by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown, and Frank Giacoia. All three do, or have done, work for other magazines, and all have given me reasons to despise them. But, to me, it's obvious that Detective is their vacation... where Brown puts away his Eisner swipes, Frank Giacoia takes his time, and Frank Robbins throws away his Lorenzo Semple book of cliches.

Brilliant, Clem! We also get missives from future book designer and comic historian Arlen Schumer.

Batman #228 (January-February 1971)

"Outlaw Town, USA!" (originally from Batman #75, Feb-March 1953)
Story by David V. Reed. Art by Dick Sprang.

"The Living Bat-Plane!" (originally from Batman #91, April 1955)
Story by Edmond Hamilton. Art by Dick Sprang.

"The Duplicate Batman!" (originally from Batman #83, April 1954)
Story by David V. Reed. Art by Sheldon Moldoff.

"The Gotham City Safari" (originally from Batman #111, October 1957)
Story by Bill Finger. Art by Sheldon Moldoff.

"Prisoners of the Bat-Cave" (originally from Batman #108, June 1957)
Story by unknown. Art by Sheldon Moldoff.

"The Doors That Hid Disaster" (originally from Detective Comics #238, December 1956)
Story by Dave Wood. Art by Sheldon Moldoff.

PE: The fact that there are two Batman comics cover-dated February must have played hell with collectors in the early 1970s. Why wouldn't DC print January on the cover (it's listed as Jan-Feb on the contents page)?  Thanks to the DC Comics Database for credits on these old-timers. I'd forgotten that science fiction writer Edmond Hamilton had written Superman and Batman comics for twenty years. These 64-page monsters must have been like a Christmas present under the tree for Batman fans in the early days of 1971. Imagine a world with no comic stores, no eBay, no Mile High, only those back issue dealers that advertised in the back pages of your favorite titles. And how could you be sure you'd get those ten issues of JLA for your three bucks plus forty cents postage? These reprint volumes were pert near the only way to enjoy the past decades of Batman unless you were around to buy the originals.

Jack: I especially love the covers of these Giant Batman all-reprint issues. This time, Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson pick highlight scenes from several of the stories and arrange them in a way that made this 25-cent treasure trove irresistible on the newsstand. I thought the last story was the best, as Batman and Robin are plunged into traps from prior stories but must find new ways to escape. Sadly, unlike the two Giant Batman issues from 1970, this collection does not feature a series of Sunday page reprints.


Detective Comics #408 (February 1971)

"The House That Haunted Batman"

Story by Len Wein & Marv Wolfman
Art by Neal Adams & Dick Giordano

Batman attempts to find the missing Robin while seemingly trapped in an unending series of hallucinations. The startling dreams turn out to be the work of the evil Dr. Tzin-Tzin (last seen in Detective Comics #354, thankfully outside our purview), now working for the League of Assassins. Tzin(x2) has crafted an elaborate doom for Batman and Robin but The Dark Knight proves too crafty for the maniacal genius and soon converts his new play toy into rubble. Tzin has another ace up his sleeve as he introduces Batman to his own league of assassins, "The Deadly Dozen," only to watch our hero bowl the lot over in a couple minutes' time. Batman and Robin handcuff the villain and set off to surrender him to the authorities but Tzin-Tzin mysteriously disappears, detonating The House That Haunted Batman behind them.

PE: Tzin-Tzin subscribes to the 1966 TV series motto of "Why kill them outright when you can make it last?" The evil villain's gizmo, The Human Accelerator, is charmingly ludicrous and, ostensibly, good for a one-time use only. Batman and Robin are trapped within giant test tubes and are bounced up and down. When the count reaches 100 (as indicated by the giant digital number displays at the feet of the tubes), the bomb within the tube will be detonated and - *boom* - no more Caped Crusaders. But Batman, no mental slouch, gets to 99, jams himself up at the top of the tube and drops his utility belt, thus igniting what must have been a couple of firecrackers rather than a legitimate bomb, and he is released with nary a scratch. Never mind the expense and time it costs to build an elaborate weapon such as The Human Accelerator, shouldn't you at least make sure it will blow up its captives rather than singe their eyebrows? The League of Assassins (who are sizing up to be The League of Dimwits) will want their down payment back. Then, once his gizmo has been destroyed, Tzin-Tzin corners Bats with a pistol! Holy Last Measures! I'd like to be an evil genius with Batman helpless before me. The job would get done! This is the first story featuring The Dark Knight written by Marv Wolfman, who would become the regular on Batman in the late eighties (#436-451) but, more importantly, became one of the most widely-regarded and, for me, one of the most entertaining comic writers on the planet. His resume became my shopping list: Tomb of Dracula, Night Force, Werewolf By Night, Vigilante, The Avengers, Daredevil, need I go on?

Jack: Don't forget that this was co-written by Len Wein! It almost seemed like two stories glued together. The first part, where Batman wanders in the dark and suffers from hallucinations that include a psychotic Robin and his own funeral, is very entertaining and weird. Then, suddenly, the story turns into another lame League of Assassins entry. Not fair! The Adams art is better than that of last issue, especially in the opening sequences, but it is not at the level we saw in some of the 1970 books.

"The Phantom Bullfighter"

Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Don Heck & Dick Giordano

Barbara Gordon heads to Spain to acquire a rare manuscript donated to her library by Don Alvarado. While enjoying a spot of bull-fighting with Alvarado at the Plaza del Toros, she witnesses a near fatal mistake by a master matador. A young man jumps into the ring, seeking a moment of glory, but is rebuffed by the matador. The next night, one of the bulls picked by the matador for his next match is found dead. Barbara Gordon enlists the help of Batgirl to get to the bottom of the mystery.

PE: Quite a jolt to discover Gil Kane has left the strip after a twenty-issue run (to begin his landmark run on The Amazing Spider-Man), leaving the art reins to an unusual choice, Don Heck. Those wondering if we have the same views on Heck as Harlan Ellison need only jump over to our sister blog, Marvel University, to know we feel the same about Heck as we do about any other comic artist: he had his good days and he had his bad. Here, Don is at his best, thanks to a big assist from Dick Giordano. Several spots here look almost as good as Adams. Of course, Don's Barbara Gordon very much resembles Don's Black Widow. It's a decent story but it's got one of the most abrupt finales to a comic story I've yet seen. I realize that the back-ups in Detective and Batman are really longer stories chopped in 7-page chunks, but the final panel of "The Phantom Bullfighter" ends, not with a cliffhanger but more of a pause.

Jack: I was not as impressed with Heck's art as you were. In fact, I was crushed that Gil Kane left the strip. It was also more than a bit dull to spend most of the story following Barbara Gordon as she attends a bullfight. Once again, I am confused by the difference in hair style and length between Babs and Batgirl. On TV, she obviously put on a wig, but in prior stories her hair went from long and straight to mid-length and wavy. Yet, in Heck's debut, it is long and straight in both guises. What gives?

Batman #229 (February 1971)

"Asylum of the Futurians!"

Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Irv Novick & Frank Giacoia

Midnight, on a country road outside Gotham City. Batman happens upon Laura, wife of Stephen Grey, "famed photographer of psychic phenomena." She leads Batman to a strange house in the woods, where five men and a woman sup from empty plates and clap noiselessly to unheard music. When Stephen tells them that they are crazy, the female leader orders him killed. The group are the Futurians, who see what others cannot. Batman rushes to Grey's aid, fighting off gun-toting members of the group but failing to resist capture by their leader. He is sealed in a coffin  and thrown into a lake; he escapes, finally defeating the Futurians but unable to explain Stephen's telepathic call that had summoned him from his night patrol.

Once again, Batman finds himself
easily distracted.

PE: From its pseudo-science fiction trappings to its ambiguous, unsatisfying climax, this is the sort of story I would avoid like the plague in titles like Justice League of America and World's Finest. I like my Dark Knight served dark with mystery and the occasional horrific element rather than in rainbow swirls of fantasy and sf. The big surprise to me here is that this mess was written by one of the greatest of the  DC mainstays, Robert Kanigher, he of a multitude of Sgt. Rock and other great DC war stories (and don't forget his co-creation of The Metal Men, one of my childhood faves). This reads more like a fleshed-out fragment than a legitimate Batman story. I'll read a couple of installments of Kanigher's delightfully goofy "War That Time Forgot" series (published in DC's Star-Spangled War Stories) and the bad taste of "Asylum of the Futurians!" will be washed away in minutes.

Jack: I agree with you, Peter. I wrote the summary of this tale and I still don't know what the heck was going on! Once again, the cover has nothing to do with the story. In fact, it could be from a different story entirely!


"Temperature Boiling... And Rising!"

Story by Mike Friedrich
Art by Irv Novick & Frank Giacoia

With the election in jeopardy now that Prof. Stuart has been exposed as corrupt, Robin investigates and discovers that the incriminating photo was a fake, planted by the roommate of campus photographer Phil Real. The Boy Wonder confronts the culprit and the truth is exposed, allowing "Buck" Stuart to win the election to Congress and start cleaning up what's wrong with America.

PE: Another weak attempt at duplicating the success Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams were having over at Green Lantern/Green Arrow with injecting liberal doses of real-life social problems into the lives of their long underwear-clad characters. Here, each chapter comes off as the same thing: introduce an establishment-hating long hair (or, as here, a politician you can trust) and then frame him. Robin swoops in to save the day and make the world groovy again. It doesn't help that Robin is a weak character in the first place. The high point this issue is the obvious nod to The Amazing Spider-Man. Tribune editor Albertson is a J. Jonah Jameson ringer and Robin's parting comment that, if Albertson wants a free-lance photographer he should "look up a guy named Peter Parker," is a cute wink and nod to comic fans. Must be one of the earliest examples of cross-over between the two comic universes.

Jack: At least part two of this story made sense! I am glad Prof. Stuart went to Congress and fixed the problems in Washington. Imagine the mess we'd be in today if he hadn't!

Print this page, clip the calendar, and
re-live 1971 along with us!

Batman in the 1970s Part 8: 1970 wrapup

  

by Jack Seabrook

& Peter Enfantino

In 1970, Batman appeared regularly in Detective Comics (12 issues), Batman (10 issues), The Brave and the Bold (6 issues, plus a "best of" giant), The Justice League of America (9 issues), and World's Finest (9 issues). He also made guest appearances in at least one issue each of Lois Lane and The Teen Titans. For Neal Adams fans (and who isn't one?), he drew all 12 of the covers for Detective, 8 of the Batman covers, 3 covers for The Brave and the Bold, 4 covers for The Justice League of America, and 1 cover for World's Finest. His only interior artwork involving Batman was found in Detective (5 stories, totaling 66 pages), and in Batman (one 8 page story).

Batman ran 32 pages, had a cover price of 15 cents, and had cover dates of all months except April and October. The January/February and July/August issues were all-reprint and ran 64 pages for 25 cents, with covers by Murphy Anderson and Curt Swan. The eight "new" issues had a variety of contents, including 3 full-length Batman stories of 22-24 pages; other issues featured a Batman lead story of 15-16 pages and a backup story of 8 pages. Robin co-starred in one of the lead stories and went solo in one of the backup stories. Four issues included non-hero filler reprints of 1-4 pages. All issues featured a letters column, called "Letters to the Batcave," "Giant Batmail," or "Letters to the Batman." The same fans often had letters in every issue.

No significant new characters were introduced this year in Batman. Stories were written by Frank Robbins (5), Mike Friedrich (5 backups) or Denny O'Neil (3). Art was by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano (10), Novick and Mike Esposito (2), and Neal Adams and Dick Giordano (the backup Christmas story in the February issue). Detective also ran 32 pages and had a 15 cent cover price. Twelve monthly issues of new stories were published, with no giants. Each issue featured a lead story of 15-16 pages with Batman, as well as a backup story with Robin (5), Batgirl (5) or both (2). Some of the backup stories were two-parters.

The only significant new character to be introduced was Man Bat, who appeared in two lead stories. Batman stories were written by Frank Robbins (6) or Denny O'Neil (6). Backup stories were written by Robbins (8), O'Neil (2) or Friedrich (2). Art on Batman was by Adams and Giordano (5), Bob Brown and Joe Giella (4), or Bob Brown and Frank Giacoia (3). The backup stories with Batgirl or Robin were all pencilled by Gil Kane and inked by Murphy Anderson (3), Vince Colletta (6) or Giacoia (3). Neal Adams illustrated stories by both O'Neil and Robbins; Robbins wrote both Man Bat stories. Each issue included a letters column titled "Batman's Hot Line."

Jack: If we can play favorites for a moment, I'd rank the artists in this order: Adams, Kane, Novick, Brown. I would rank inkers: Giordano, Anderson, and the rest tied. I would rank writers: O'Neil, Robbins, Friedrich, with Robbins edging out Friedrich only due to the Man Bat stories.

PE: I would agree with your choices of order for artists and writers. If there was one aspect of the art that surprised me it would have to be that Neal Adams wasn't the only guy who could draw a hero in a cape this year. All of our residents do an exemplary job depicting a realistic Caped Crusader. That mastery doesn't carry over into drawing "human" characters, however. Bob Brown's version of Bruce Wayne seems to look like Mark Spitz at times, Bob Barker at others. His backgrounds are awful as well. I'll chalk that up to deadlines. But then there's Neal Adams, who had deadlines to consider as well and yet pumped out the volume you've noted, Jack, as well as other work for DC (House of Mystery, Deadman, etc.). How the heck did this guy produce such a mountain of quality work?

Jack: The importance of cover art in selling comics is evident when reviewing these titles. It's no accident that Neal Adams drew all of the covers except for the two giant reprint issues. One complaint I have is that, so often, what appears to be happening on the cover is not exactly what happens in the story. It's a little disappointing, especially when Adams draws the cover but not the story inside. I have the same problem with many comic books--Justice League, in particular, had exciting covers but mediocre inside art.

PE: What always turned me off about the "team" comics that Batman co-starred in was Superman. I could never buy into the Supes Mythos. Boring! I also didn't like the high science fiction content of these titles. The two titles we cover each week are blissfully free of giant space octopi or Earth-3 conundrums (at least so far). Having said that, the cover we've reprinted (JLA #84) is very cool and makes me curious. I'm sure the insides don't live up to the hype.

Jack: One big surprise in reading these comics was the house ads featuring covers from other comics on sale. I was amazed by how many I remembered right away, and with longing!

Note: Research for this article included a good number of pages on the DC database.

The Caroline Munro Archive: Film, Szinhaz, Muzsika 1967/48

by John Scoleri

There's really not much to say about the 48th issue of the Hungarian weekly magazine 'Film, Szinhaz, Muzsika’ (Film, Theatre, Music) from 1967, other than it's got a lovely portrait of an 18 year-old Caroline Munro on the back cover. Need I say more?

 

The Caroline Munro Archive is one of the many semi-regular features on bare•bones in which I share rarities from my Caroline Munro collection.

Robert Bloch on TV Part Ten-Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Big KIck"

by Jack Seabrook

“The Big Kick” was Robert Bloch’s last script for the half-hour Alfred Hitchcock Presents series, and it was the next to last episode to be aired on NBC, premiering on June 19, 1962. One of my favorite moments from this episode, which features the beatnik crowd, comes when a character called Monk recites the following poem to his beat pals in a coffee house:

Diagnosis

You say your name is society and you think you’re sick?

Sit down, patient, and I’ll examine you!

Uh huh, just what I thought:

That complexion of yours--grey as a flophouse bed sheet.

Your breath--reeking of smog and sewer gas!

Headaches? What do you expect, with nothing but cash registers clanging inside your empty skull?

Of course your stomach hurts!

You’ve swallowed too many dreams, too many hopes, and turned them into one gigantic ulcer.

Look out—your hands are trembling—any minute now and you may drop a bomb!

I’ve got news for you, society—you’re not sick, you’re dead!

And I’m going to bury you and dance the twist on your grave!

(Punctuated by guitar strums and greeted with snaps of applause.)




Monk (Thomas Bellin) recites the poem "Diagnosis" to a crowd
of beatniks that includes Linda (Susanne Wasson)

When Robert Bloch decided to set a story in the early 1960s’ beatnik culture, the result was delightful.  “The Big Kick” first appeared as a story by Bloch in the July 1959 issue of Rogue, a men’s magazine that consistently featured good short fiction by top science fiction and mystery authors. The tale concerns Judy, a young woman with a beautiful body who wants nice things. She finds a reason for living in Mitch and his “casual brutality”—he teaches her the “whole beatnik bit,” but she couldn’t “make the intellectual bit.”



Mitch and Judy listen to poetry

In Mitch and Judy’s world, everything is about kicks; still, Judy worries about her future. Mitch points out Kenny at a party. Kenny is “the society type,” who likes to hang around with beatniks. Judy comes on to Kenny, who treats her like a queen; Mitch insists that she “be nice” to Kenny so that he will start giving her money. Kenny tells Judy that he knows that Mitch set him up with her. Kenny sees the beats as the latest in a series of rebels, following in the footsteps of the Lost Generation, the Communists, and the existentialists. Judy is offended and rebuffs Kenny, but Mitch tells her that Kenny will be back because he is a masochist.




Wayne Rogers as Kenny

Kenny does come back, but he does not react when Judy tells him that she and Mitch are going away together. Later, Kenny has a diamond bracelet delivered to Judy. She drives Mitch to the jewelry store to return it and collect the cash. From outside, Judy sees Mitch detained by the manager and she realizes that Kenny gave her a stolen bracelet and tricked Mitch.

Judy goes home alone and is soon joined by Kenny, who freely admits having set up Mitch. He lectures her on beatniks and she offers to “be nice” to him so that he will get Mitch out of jail. Kenny turns down her advances, confessing that he is not a masochist (as Mitch had described him) but a sadist. As the story ends, “he pulled out the knife and showed her the big kick.”

This is a great little story with an effective surprise ending. All along, the reader is led to believe that Kenny is an upstanding citizen and that the beatniks are society’s outcasts. It is a shock when it turns out that the real deviant is the seemingly strait-laced Kenny.

To adapt “The Big Kick” for television, Bloch retained the plot and fleshed out the story by adding some scenes and by increasing the examples of beatnik speech and activity. The show opens with Judy’s landlady coming downstairs to her apartment to complain about the loud jazz music that blares from inside. Mitch and Judy are broke and hungry and living in a hovel. They go to a beat gathering seeking food and witness a poetic performance (“Diagnosis,” above), followed by a feast on shoplifted food.

Near the end, Judy does not call Kenny a masochist, but rather a “weak fool” who is “afraid.” She may be suggesting that he is impotent, but he pulls a large knife and stabs her, remarking that he has “the biggest kick of all.”

One of the fun things Bloch does in this episode is to exaggerate the way the beatniks spoke. Mitch looks at a carton of milk and calls it “milksville.” He tells the landlady: “It’ll be quiet as Mouseville.” Mitch and Judy eat “breadsville” and “meatsville,” and the university where Kenny works is referred to as “Thinksville.” Mitch tells Kenny, “we have our own study course, majoring in kicks.” Kenny is the voice of the establishment, telling Judy that “blowing an instrument off key or splashing blobs of paint on a canvas—that doesn’t justify freeloading as a way of life.” Kenny’s conservative attitude and appearance are more pronounced in the television version than in the story, making the final twist more shocking; Kenny seems so conservative, almost standing in for the viewer of the program, yet Mitch’s assessment of him as a “real sicknick” turns out to be uncannily accurate.

Mitch is played by Brian Hutton, born in 1935. He played small roles, mostly on TV, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. His career took a turn when his friend Douglas Heyes (known to fans of Thriller and The Twilight Zone as an inventive writer/director) helped him get started as a director on TV; he eventually directed feature films such as Where Eagles Dare (1968) and Kelly’s Heroes (1970), both starring Clint Eastwood.

Returning to the Hitchcock/Bloch family was Anne Helm, who was so lovely and haunting in “The Changing Heart.” Here, she is blowzy and tousled, with heavy eyeliner, false eyelashes and teased hair. She looks like a poor, hungry slob, even when she tries to clean herself up for dinner with Kenny. Read more about Anne Helm here.

Kenny is played by Wayne Rogers, who fits the part perfectly. Rogers would later find fame and fortune as Trapper John on the TV series M*A*S*H from 1972-1975. Today he is a successful businessman and a contributor to FOX TV news.

“The Big Kick” was directed by Alan Crosland, Jr., who had also directed Bloch’s adaptation of “The Gloating Place.” As in the prior program, the direction is serviceable, with a couple of nice camera setups: one, looking through a skylight into the coffeehouse, and another, looking through the jewelry store window to see Judy sitting in her car.

The story has been reprinted in such collections as Blood Runs Cold (1961), Such Stuff as Screams Are Made Of (1979), and Bitter Ends (1990). The TV show has not yet been released on DVD but can be seen on YouTube here. I strongly recommend that you put on your beret, grab a cup of coffee, and tune in to “The Big Kick”! You’ll dig it the most!

Sources:

Sources:

AllMovie. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.allmovie.com/>.

"The Big Kick." Alfred Hitchcock Presents. NBC. 19 June 1962. Television.

Bloch, Robert. "The Big Kick." 1959. Bitter Ends. New York: Carol, 1990. 285-92. Print.

Galactic Central. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. <http://philsp.com/>.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. Churchville, MD: OTR Pub., 2001. Print.

IMDb. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

Wikipedia. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.wikipedia.org/>. 

Batman in the 1970s Part 7: November and December 1970

by Peter Enfantino

& Jack Seabrook

Detective Comics #405 (November 1970)

“The First of the Assassins!”

story by Denny O’Neil
art by Bob Brown & Frank Giacoia

Commissioner Gordon has been notified by Interpol that 15 of Europe's leading shipping magnates have been murdered and their choice for #16 happens to have his yacht parked in Gotham Harbor. But K.C. Agonistes refuses police protection, assuring Gordon his security force is prepared for anything. The Commish asks a favor of Batman and our hero is only too happy to try on this vaunted security. Once on board, Agonistes takes a shine to Batman and invites him to sail with him and his crew to Nova Scotia. Thanks to a school of trained, explosive-laden dolphins, the ship is destroyed and the four survivors (Agonistes, his fiance, the first mate and Batman) find themselves shipwrecked on an anything but deserted island. Tejja, a member of The League of Assassins, waits in hiding for The Dark Knight and the trio he's committed to protect.

Jack: One would think that Commissioner Gordon would not need Interpol to tell him that 15 of Europe’s leading shipping magnates had been murdered recently. That should make the news, even in an eventful year like 1970!


PE: Our cover promises lots and lots of deadly Silek assassins but possibly the budget wasn't there this month as we get one lukewarm would-be killer, dispatched with the oldest trick in the assassin-defense handbook: flares in the cape, concealed just for the right moment (when you're getting your ass kicked badly).

Jack: The League of Assassins is an intriguing idea that transcends this rather tepid tale.

PE: Here I thought Batman a Master of Detectives and yet he falls for the oldest trick in the book: a straw dummy sitting in front of a campfire. Did he really think a master assassin would be warming himself on the other side of the island in front of a blazing fire? He can tell a dolphin is trained to carry explosives from a half mile off but he steps right into a snare and ends up helpless, hanging from a tree! My confidence in this superhero is shaken, I must say. But then, the Silek assassin does what all the TV villains always did to Adam West and Burt Ward: he's got The Caped Crusader ready for the throat-slitting and, instead, excuses himself with a "I'm gonna take care of the others, then come back for you!" How long would it take to take care of your most dangerous adversary on the island?

Now we know what Bob Brown could draw really well!

Jack: I had never heard of Silek before, but the web tells me that it is, in fact, a branch of the martial arts!

PE: I had never known Batman carried flares in his cape! Was it just a lucky morning or are they always there? We never find out a thing about the nefarious League of Assassins or why they want to put down 16 shipping bigwigs. Was it a badly shipped crate of shurikens? Nothing else to do? It's sloppily told story with the only plus being the promise that we'd see more of the League (weird that Denny would tip his hand so much as to tell us the name of the leader) in the upcoming issues of Detective.

“The Living Statue!”

story by Frank Robbins
art by Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia

Batgirl is a prisoner of a madwoman who has murdered the avant-garde director Billy Warlock and framed Barbara Gordon/Batgirl's beau, Jason Bard. Lucky for Batgirl, Warlock's girlfriend is hanging around his studio as Batgirl watches her captor engulf the studio around them in flames. Batgirl delivers evidence to the police to prove Jason's innocence and the hippy with a cane goes free.

PE: Other than the Gil Kane art, this is a bad installment of Batgirl. It seems that this series seems to run alternately hot and cold, with the opening chapter a right corker and the conclusion a stunning failure.

Jack: This is reminiscent of the conclusion of Inglourious Basterds, as Batgirl must save Infra-Red while a film studio burns around them.

PE: Bizarrely, as a second back-up, we get "The Sleuth in the Iron Mask" from Gang-Busters #62 (Feb-March 1958). What made editor Schwartz opt to reprint a 6-page non-Batman story when he had thirty-plus years of The Caped Crusader adventures to choose from? Perhaps the Bob Brown art?


 

Batman #226 (November 1970)

“The Man With Ten Eyes”

story by Frank Robbins
art by Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

A robbery is nearly thwarted by a night watchman, who was trained in combat while in Vietnam and earned the nickname “Three-Eye” Reardon due to a shrapnel scar on his forehead. He is knocked unconscious by a brick thrown by the gang’s leader. Staggering to his feet, he encounters Batman inside the building, where a bomb is set to blow open a vault. Reardon does not realize that his opponent is the Caped Crusader and fights him, even though he is temporarily blinded. The bomb goes off, blinding Reardon for good and giving Batman blurry vision.

The robbers and Batman end up at the same eye doctor. He gives Batman black contact lenses to rest his eyes, but he operates on Reardon, connecting his optic nerves to the sensory cells in his finger tips so that he can see through his ten fingers.

Reardon believes that Batman is to blame for his blindness and knocks him out in the clinic’s hallway. He puts Batman on the operating table and nearly destroys his eyes with a laser. Batman escapes and the nearly blind Dark Knight battles the man with ten eyes. Batman wins the fight but his opponent escapes.

Jack: What a long, strange trip this story is! We have a Vietnam vet who is too honest to join a gang. Yet when he fights Batman unknowingly and a blast destroys his vision, he immediately hates Batman and wants revenge. And what is a flopover on a TV screen? I can guess, thinking back to the old days when TV pictures would roll, but I’ve never heard it described as a flopover. The neuro-ophthalmologist examines Batman’s eyes with his mask on! And then he hooks up the watchman’s optic nerves to his fingertips! The watchman, who started out as an honest man, tries to burn Batman’s eyes out with a laser. This story is just too much to be believed. I think Frank Robbins may have been experimenting with some magic mushrooms when he penned it.

PE: Preposterous! I'm wearing out the word inane when describing some of Frank Robbins's Batman stories, but sometimes there's no other word left to describe a mess like this. Can someone tell me why this mob boss would bother spending time on some sap who was, by his braggadocio only, unkillable in Nam but is now for all intents and purposes blind? In real life, they'd kill this guy to avoid witnesses, not take him home and hope he becomes Daredevil. Speaking of Marvel, there are a lot of those scenes here that I call "The Rhett and Scarlett Factor." Bear with me, this will only take a moment and you'll think, "Hey, he's right!" Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara were the masters of mistiming. Rhett would tell Scarlett how beautiful she was and how he couldn't live without her while she was in one of those moods and, conversely, Scarlett would dote on Rhett as big and strong and her Captain Butlah while the big dope was still moping over the mistreatment his wife has heaped on him. Constantly, ships passing in the night. That's the same vibe I get from a lot of the 1960s Marvel Comics stories that have, say, Spider-Man fighting The Torch. If the heroes only stopped their fighting for a moment and talked, they'd realize there's nothing to fight about. Then there would be no comic story. Never mind.

Jack: So I take it you did not like this story?

We really can't add a funny caption to this one.

PE: Laughably, Batman makes a big deal out of not wanting anyone in Gotham to know he's got trouble seeing, so he goes to Dr. Engstrom (evidently the only eye doctor in Gotham) and then Alfred takes his boss through the lobby on the way out! But wait, it gets better! The doctor calls out across the lobby: "I want you back in a week for a re-check, Batman!" No wait, this is even better! Our hero decides he can't take a breather from crime-fighting, so he spends "day after day" of research and intense computerizing (all the while, blind as a... bat) and crafts mini-cameras  in his contact lenses that shoot images back to Alfred in the Bat-cave, who then radios what's going on to Batman through a micro-receiver in Batman's earphones so that he can, ostensibly, deliver that blow to the bad guy's chin! Batman's so excited about this new technology he can't help but tell his ornithoclogocologist about it right in front of Ten Eyes! I desperately wanted to see graphic panels of Dr. Engstrom stretching Reardon's optic nerves to his finger tips. As noted before, I'm no scientist but I still have to wonder how you can see through the skin in your fingertips. So many collections have cobbled together the best Batman stories but I'd like to see a volume of "Batman's Stupidest Adventures." Who wouldn't pay for that? "The Man with Ten Eyes" is a shoe-in.

Jack: I actually had this procedure done, but I had a problem in winter when I wore gloves, so they reversed it (that can't be a pretty picture, Jack!-PE).

PE: We get "Kirby is Coming" banners this issue. Thank the comic Gods he didn't attempt Batman. The back-up feature this issue does not feature Robin. It's a reprint of "The Case of the Gigantic Gamble," which first appeared in Gang-Busters #37 (December 1953-January 1954) and was drawn by Bill Ely. The reason for the absence of a Boy Wonder solo story is not given but I'd venture a guess that the amount of time and energy spent on the lead story precluded a back-up.

Detective Comics #406 (December 1970)

“Your Servant of Death, Dr. Darrk!”

story by Denny O’Neill

art by Bob Brown & Frank Giacoia

Carrying over the story line from last issue, a seventeenth shipping magnate, Count Orsoni, is attacked and severely wounded. His friend, Bruce Wayne, goes to his castle to visit and takes along his alter ego, the Batman. While there, Wayne is introduced to Dr. Ebenezer Darrk, supposedly another friend of Orsoni's there to offer support, and Orsoni's cousin, Mara Thursday. While patrolling the Count's castle at night, Batman is attacked by another envoy of The League of Assassins and is helpless as Orsoni is kidnapped. Tracking him down, Batman is captured by the president of The League of Assassins, revealed to be Dr. Darrk. Escaping death by hatchet with the mysterious aid of Count Orsoni (who has been paralyzed and yet walks), Batman swears to bring down The League and Dr. Darrk if it's the last thing he does.

PE: Denny O'Neil must have been chowing down on a steady diet of the West/Ward Batman show during 1970 as we're subjected to yet another criminal who traps Batman in an elaborate death-device and then leaves before the job is done. We still have no idea why The League of Assassins is wasting their time killing off shipping magnates. Why not fry bigger fish? Presidents? Ambassadors? Gas company CEOs? Since it's the 70s, I gotta believe it has something to do with the environment and, since I'm a professional, I won't peek ahead and come back here and act like I'm a know-it-all. But I am. O'Neil's 1970s output is fondly remembered as that of a writer at the top of his game, but he had his off days just like everyone else.

Jack: Another shipping magnate! How many are there? While The League of Assassins sounds like a good idea, the two assassins we’ve seen so far don’t seem very memorable, and the League president is a bore. Once again, a great Neal Adams cover features a scene that does not occur in the story!

PE: Shouldn't this have been titled "The Second of the Assassins"?

“The Explosive Circle!”

story by Frank Robbins
art by Gil Kane & Vince Colletta

An apartment explosion leaves only one clue: a library book called "It's Your City - Take It," a typical early-70s revolutionary tome carried around by hippies who use just as much violence as the "pigs" they protest. Being a moonlighting librarian, Barbara Gordon knows exactly who checked that volume out and goes to see Shelley Simms, only to be rebuffed by the girl as a "fuzz-fink." Following Shelley to an off-Broadway playhouse, Batgirl discovers that the ringleader of the revs, Mal, is behind the bombing and has another planned for that evening. Unfortunately for Batgirl, Mal traps her in a circle in the Playhouse basement. If our hero steps out of the circle, she'll explode.

PE: What exactly is going on in that panel on Page 3? It looks like Batgirl is giving Shelley Simms a left uppercut. So, Mal, the hippie, blows up the apartment building and leaves behind a book he's had Simms check out of the library for him. Was he trying to set the girl up or is it just lazy plotting?

Jack: Shelley goes to see a show called “Up Against the Wall, Baby.” She doesn’t need Batgirl’s fuzz-fink help, knowing that Batgirl is an extra-legal chick. The 1970-era slang is laid on pretty thick in this story, and Colletta’s inks don’t do Kane’s pencils any favors.

Batman #227 (December 1970) 

“The Demon of Gothos Mansion!”

story by Denny O’Neil
art by Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

Alfred receives a note from his niece Daphne, who has taken a job tutoring children. Alfred is worried by the letter’s tone and Master Wayne agrees to investigate as Batman. Traveling to the remote Gothos Mansion where Daphne now lives, Batman is attacked by two men with an axe and a scythe. After dispatching the attackers, Batman witnesses a procession, whose leader says that he will raise the spirit of demon Ballk. Unfortunately, the leader of the coven is Daphne’s employer, Elder Heathrow.

Batman finds Daphne held captive in a tower but falls into a trap while helping her to escape. Batman barely avoids hanging and is led to a chapel by a mysterious girl who resembles Daphne. He breaks up the coven just as they are about to sacrifice the girl and raise the demon. He chases her mysterious lookalike into the forest but she fades away, having been freed with the coven’s defeat.

A nice page by Novick & Giordano.

Batman is really missing Robin, who is away at college.

Jack: This is a very spooky and strangely effective O’Neill/Novick/Giordano story. It seems like O’Neil’s script makes the artists try harder, since the art this issue is much better than it was last issue. I would love to see what Neal Adams would have done with this story—some panels even look like the work of Adams.

PE: It's probably one of the iconic Neal Adams Batman covers but it looks a bit photoshopped up close.  As if he had three or four paintings and taped them onto each other. Of course, it's based on the famous September 1939 cover painting by Bob Kane (only the fifth Batman appearance) for Detective Comics #31. I'd never read this story before but always assumed it was gifted with Adams art on the interior as well. As you note, Jack, it sure looks like Neal Adams's work but I assume if it had been, DC would have trumpeted the fact to the masses, seeing as how Adams had risen to be their most popular artist.

Hard to believe this not is the work of Neal Adams.

Jack: I’m a little concerned about how quickly and hard Batman falls for the ghostly maiden. Does the fact that she is a dead ringer for Alfred’s niece worry anyone else? When the phantom fades out, won’t Batman get the hots for young Daphne the first time he sees her? Won’t that be awkward for Alfred?

PE: Exactly what I thought. Why is he crying over dead maidens when he's got her twin an arm's length away? It's a decent story (albeit one cribbed from Lovecraft), but I'd never hold it up as an example of one of the finest Batman stories ever. I do appreciate tales like this (and several other gothic- and horror-tinged Batmans coming in the future) that get us away from third-tier thugs who can see with their fingers and nutty big-game hunters and take us into that skewed Batman universe that can house both The Joker and werewolves.

I would watch out if I were Daphne.

“Help Me—I Think I’m Dead!”

story by Mike Friedrich
art by Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

Volunteering at the college’s emergency phone help service, Dick Grayson receives a call that makes him spring into action as Robin, the Boy Wonder. He arrives at the base of a cliff just in time to help Phil Real, who fell into the water below. Real explains that he became confused after some film developing chemicals got into his bloodstream through a small cut. Real had been investigating water pollution as publicity photographer for Professor Stuart’s congressional campaign. A fire breaks out at campaign headquarters, destroying all of Stuart’s campaign literature and photos. Will Professor Stuart win the election with the help of his students? Not if a smear campaign by his opponent succeeds!

Jack: Without Gil Kane’s art, these Robin backup stories are hard to take. This one is very confusing and jumps all over the place. The student activist subplot really dates it and I find it hard to care about Professor Stuart and his campaign.

PE: Batman has a great sports car and Robin rides a moped? I'm assuming Dick Grayson doesn't ride that same scooter--where does he hide it in the city for easy access? or does Dick have rolling license plates on the bike as well? That van's a hoot by the way, with its R-1 plates but no other noticeable difference when it becomes the Robinmobile. And our "public service message" at the climax to remind us that 1970 is "The Year of The Involved College Student" is too much bilge to swallow. "Help Me - I Think I May Be Ill!"

Jack: An interesting sidelight in this issue pops up in Direct Currents, the editorial page. It seems that the January 1971 issue of The Brave and the Bold (#93) will feature a story by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams in which Batman visits the House of Mystery! Peter, is that issue framed on your living room wall?

PE: It is indeed, Jack! Isn't it sad that we find a blurb more interesting to discuss than the back-up feature? But what's more intriguing and perplexing is the 1 page "comedic" strip running immediately following that Direct Currents, "Casey the Cop." I've mentioned above the strange reprinting of Gang-Busters material but this one makes me scratch my head. According to its Wikipedia page, "Casey" was created by Murray Boltinoff and ran off and on in Action Comics, Detective, and Batman from 1947 through 1964. After reading the seven pages that pass as a Robin story, I say bring on more reprints instead. "Help Me - I Think I May Have Fallen Asleep!"