Batman in the 1960s Issue 35: September/October 1965

 

The Caped Crusader in the 1960s
by Jack Seabrook
& Peter Enfantino

Infantino/Giella

Detective Comics #343

"The Secret War of the Phantom General"

Story by John Broome

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

Commissioner Gordon calls on the Bat-Phone to let the boys know that Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, wishes to speak to them at the New Gotham Hotel but, while en route, they're distracted by a call from the police. There is a disturbance at Gotham City Terminal. Away they go!

When they arrive, they come across a heavily-armed group of thugs holding prisoners inside the building. Batman and Robin put the wham-bam-slam on most of the bad guys but, thanks to a special gas screen, a few escape down into the subway. They board a train and head off, free as the proverbial birds.

With nothing more to do at the site, the Dynamic Duo head for the hotel, where they find Ralph and Sue Dibny hanging out in their "spacious suite." Sue heads out to the Music Hall, cuz she's just a girl, and lets the boys talk manly business. Batman gives his stretchy friend the rundown on what just transpired at the Terminal and Ralph stutters out a "Wh-wh-what?" He then lets our heroes in on the big secret: General Von Dort, infamous Nazi war criminal who was presumed to have died in Hitler's bunker, is alive and well and vacationing in Gotham. Well, he does have a purpose. He's looking for a stash of the very radioactive M-244. If Von Dort does get ahold of the isotope, he can destroy the world.

At that moment, Von Dort's army parachutes into Gotham Park during a charity auction and attempts to heist a cache of priceless paintings. The Caped Crusaders arrive in time to put a dent in the plan but it turns out Von Dort had an ace up his sleeve; he had his henchmen commit the robbery while he was stealing the M-244 from a safe across town. He and his man Friday, Heinrich, then board a jet out of Gotham and fly to South America to assemble their super-secret death ray!

Batman, Robin, and Elongated Man hop in the Bat-Plane and give chase, landing just outside Von Dort's secret hideaway in the Andes Mountains. With the combined brain and brawn of three costumed heroes, Von Dort doesn't stand a chance. Even facing a deadly monocle eye-beam. Batman delivers the final right cross and freedom is restored to the world!

Not a bad little adventure, "The Secret War of the Phantom General." There are definite Big Bob Kanigher vibes in the script and, especially, that catchy cover. It screams "Sgt. Rock" cross-over, but we get Ralph Dibny instead. There are a couple of bizarre throwaway inserts here where John Broome explains what's going on. I'm not sure what the point was but the panels (one featuring a dart board with Julie's pic as a bullseye) are amusing. Von Dort is a one-and-done but his son, Willi (no, seriously, that's his name!), will battle Bats and "The New" Wonder Woman in Brave and the Bold #87 (January 1970).-Peter

Jack-My favorite parts of this overstuffed book-length story were the cameos by John Broome, which made me flip to the first page to confirm that there was no byline attributing the story to Bob Kane. On the letters page, the editor asks readers if they can figure out who wrote this issue's tale and, if so, how. I think that was a fun idea. The art isn't up to the usual high standards set by Infantino and Giella and Elongated Man didn't add much to a tedious issue.

Infantino/Giella

Batman #174

"The Human Punching Bag!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

"The Off-Again On-Again Lightbulbs!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Sid Greene

B.G. (Big Game?) Hunter is the world's best, but he wants to capture Batman to prove his mettle. He holds Roy Reynolds, "genius of the getaway gimmicks," (last seen in Batman #170) in a cage and makes him come up with a great crime and a super getaway to lure Batman into Hunter's trap. Robin is away on a Teen Titans adventure, so Batman responds to an alarm and beats up three crooks robbing a jewelry store, who manage to get up and run away.

When Batman gives chase, he is stopped by a leaf storm and ground sprinklers that cause him to stumble and crash into a park bench. The crooks get away, but Batman notices that they ran through butterfly bush flowers, so he can track the fragrance on them using a florameter. The trail leads to Hunter's mansion, where Batman again knocks around the hapless trio of crooks until he falls through a trap door and into a big plastic bag. Three boxers practice on "The Human Punching Bag!" but Batman uses guile to defeat them and B.G. Hunter.

B.G. Hunter? Seriously? Will he hire the law firm of Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe to defend him? This is juvenile stuff and a real letdown, especially in light of the terrific cover. Giella certainly makes Moldoff's art look better than Paris did, but it's still stiff and simplistic, just like the story.

After helping Robin catch the Islip gang, Batman rushes to the latest meeting of the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City, where a heavy, bald porter tells the members that it's Friday, not Wednesday, as they all thought. He uses a special chandelier to hypnotize everyone but Batman, who engages in fisticuffs and demands to know what's going on. The porter refuses to talk and, after he's sent to jail, Batman fears that the rest of the club members are in danger. The Cowled Crusader deduces that Al Cutshaw must be out for revenge; fortunately, he saves two of the club members from a bomb in the nick of time. The porter is unmasked as Cutshaw and Batman reveals that he was wearing contact lenses that prevented him from being hypnotized.

Slightly better than this issue's lead story, "The Off-Again On-Again Lightbulbs!" suffers from a plot that jumps around too much and depends on fistfights to move it along. The last page, where Robin pulls a bald cap off of the villain, is about at the level of a Scooby-Doo reveal. Not a good issue!-Jack

Peter-He's defeated super-strength cavemen, diabolical aliens from Uranus, and masterminds of crime, but Batman is foiled this issue by... a leaf storm. Sorry, a bit anti-climactic for me. Gardner Fox gets mileage out of "The Human Punching Bag" since its script is very similar to that of "The Crime Boss Who Was Always One Step Ahead of Batman!" in 'tec #344. "Off-Again" is lame with a capital L. Once again, I'll bemoan the atrocious art. One panel (reprinted below because my simple words cannot do it justice) seems to visualize a Batman punch that knocks a criminal's head off!

On the Letters to the Batcave page, an anonymous fan reveals that the fanzine, Batmania, conducted a poll to determine the best Batman story of 1964  and the award went to... "Castle with Wall-to-Wall Danger" from 'tec #329 (July 1964). Hard to argue with that choice.

Infantino/Giella

Detective Comics #344

"The Crime-Boss Who Was Always One Step Ahead of Batman!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

While doing their early morning rounds, Batman and Robin notice there's something a little off about sweet old Apple Annie, an octogenarian who donates fruit to the boys every morning. She seems to be nervous while handing over her prizes. They don't call him the World's Greatest Detective for nothin' and Batman's keen instincts tell him that the guy on the corner is watching their every move. 

Using his noodle, Bats parks around the corner and follows the shadowy figure to an apartment high atop a nearby building. Using his insanely sharpened senses, the Dark Knight is able to read lips (hanging upside down!) and learns the characters inside the room are about to pull a caper and are en route to a car parked outside the building. Using deaf-and-dumb sign language, Bats tells his junior crime-fighting partner to go hide in the boot of the car while he remains to see what's what. Robin does what he's told and the car speeds off, taking him far outside the city.

When the car finally stops and Robin hops out of the trunk, he's annoyed to find several gun barrels pointing right at him. The Boy Wonder gives it the old college try, knocking out two of the three hoods, but number three draws our hero out into the woods where the Teenage Tornado falls into an underground pit. It was all a trap! As if to put an exclamation point on the event, the hood that Batman has been watching outside the apartment building opens the window and tells Bats all about Robin's fate. "Always remember, Batman," the criminal mastermind explains, "Johnny Witts is thinking one move ahead of you every step of the way." He convinces Bats to come in from the cold and then brags about his heightened intellect.

Witts speeds for the door but when Bats follows, he finds himself nearly falling down a four-story elevator shaft. Witts escapes and the Caped Crusader survives only though his skilled training. Back at the Bat-Cave, Robin returns to find the boss already hard at work on a new theory revolving around Apple Alice. He's convinced that Alice isn't "an old hag" at all but a pretty young maiden. With the help of the Bat-Identi-Sketch-Kit, the duo is able to come up with an exact sketch of Annie. Rather than give their sketch to the cops (who never seem to be doing anything anyway), our heroes use their noggins and visit every fashion salon in town, finally unmasking Annie with the help of a seamstress, who also agrees to sew a tracker button onto Annie's latest dress.

The tracker works and the Dynamic Duo follow Annie to a brownstone, where they discover Witts and his henchmen. After some violent fisticuffs, our heroes turn Witts and Co. over to Gotham's finest (Bats had hung a giant donut and a "50% off Sale" sign outside the brownstone) and head back to the Bat-Cave to gloat over their latest victory.

There is some odd language used here that would not make it past 21st-Century censors; "old hag" and "deaf-and-dumb" have long been seen as less than complimentary but fall under the 1966 fair usage act for primitive phrases in funny books. Winning the Most Long-Winded Title of 1966 Award, "The Crime-Boss Who Was Always One Step Ahead of Batman Until the End When His Scheme Fell Apart" is nowhere near as much fun as "Phantom General" and the art... well, let's not go there again. The script is flimsy but readable. My favorite Bat-ism this issue would have to be the gizmo in the Batmobile that apes an engine fading off into the distance. Just how big is that crazy control panel?

On the Batman's Hot-Line letters page, future comic book scripter Mike Friedrich (his first pro sale will arrive in the June 1968 Batman) taunts Julie about the secret identity of the Outsider: "Actually, I think you yourself don't know who he is; making up the rules as you go along." I side with Mike.-Peter

Jack-Johnny Witts isn't much of a criminal mastermind. When the going gets tough, he clutches his noggin and complains that he needs peace and quiet to think of a way out. The highlight of this story occurs when Batman and Robin put on various disguises to follow the knockout gal around Gotham City. It sure beats hanging upside down trying to read lips!

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