Batman in the 1960s Issue 38: March/April 1966

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

Kubert

Detective Comics #349

"The Blockbuster Breaks Loose!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

The Blockbuster is back! How, you say? Well, hang on and I'll try to translate the ancient hieroglyphs known as a DC funny book script. Seems the BB survived the ocean's rage (see Detective #345 - editor) and hid in an undersea cave. Here's where it gets kinda sketchy. Either the undersea cave is right below a local department store or BB switches locales after an undisclosed amount of time. Anyway, the Mutant Monster of Mayhem cracks through the dept. store floor just as Batman and Robin are putting the kibosh on a trio of safe-crackers.

Robin escorts the thieves to a back room while Batman doffs his mask, revealing the face of Bruce Wayne to BB. Those of you who don't remember the thrilling details found in "The Blockbuster Invasion of Gotham City" (see Detective #345 - editor), I'll just say that Blockbuster's best friend in the whole world is, ironically, Bruce Wayne, and the millionaire playboy's face is a soothing balm to the soul of the Neanderthal Ninnie. But, what's this? As soon as Bats doffs, the mask reattaches to his face and refuses to let go. "Obviously," thinks the World's Greatest Detective, "Something's going on here!" 

BB beats Bats to a pulp and is about to deliver the killing blow when the Dark Knight imitates the voice of BB's brother, Roland Desmond, commanding him to leave the Batman alone and return to the Blockbuster headquarters. BB does so, leaving an exhausted and beaten Caped Crusader to lick his wounds. Back in the Batcave, the Dynamic Duo cook up a plan to defeat their nemesis, using "a special calcium compound only visible in a calcium light," wherein Bats takes on the features of Roland.

Obviously not bathing for a week, Batman sets out each night on patrols with the Teenage Tornado, but there is no sign of the Mammoth Mauler. Finally, while breaking up a theft at the Gotham Art Museum, the boys hear a thundering, rumbling crash and Blockbuster enters through a wall. Robin shines his calcium light on his partner and Batman magically grows a mustache and second chin, perfectly aping the features of Roland Desmond. The act lasts three or four seconds before all hell breaks loose. Pictures fly off the wall, statues hurtle through the air, rugs are pulled out, and Robin's attention is broken. The calcium light goes out and Blockbuster sees our hero for what he is: a caped and cowled enemy!

The Blockbuster delivers a crunching blow to the head of the Dark Knight and then turns away as a mysterious figure steps out of the shadows and encases Batman in a sarcophagus. The mystery man lets us know the tomb is laced with a special radiation that ages anyone who comes in contact. The tomb will be the death of the Batman! Luckily, the radiation has melted the calcium from Batman's face but somehow hardened the substance on our hero's glove (don't look at me - editor), giving him a rock-hard karate limb. Batman chops his way through the solid stone tomb and then uses the super fist to level Blockbuster. The boys turn their misunderstood enemy over to the scientists at the Alfred Foundation for research purposes.

Meanwhile, somewhere in a Gotham alley, the Outsider admits to us that he was behind all the oddball occurrences of the installment and vows to return someday!

In the end, most of the confusing lapses in credibility can be laid at the Outsider's feet (well, except for Batman's sudden use of dried milk to punch his way out of a thick sarcophagus), but the sophomore adventure of the Blockbuster is threadbare entertainment. Several of the pages are used to remind readers who the big ape is and the final page exposition, delivered by the shadow of the Outsider, is pretty lame. I will say, though, that the identity and purpose of the Outsider are still interesting me. Too bad the script is so bad, because the art is pretty darn good.-Peter

Jack-The best thing about this issue is Kubert's cover. Blockbuster is a character of limited interest and Infantino's art this time out isn't his best work. I was surprised to see the return of the Outsider; isn't it about time to reveal his identity?

Kane/Anderson

Batman #179

"Clay Pigeon for a Killer!"

Story by Robert Kanigher

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Sid Greene

"The Riddle-Less Robberies of the Riddler!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

After three crooks wearing animal head masks succeed in stealing three million bucks from an armored car and killing the guards, the heist becomes the subject of a TV show called "Unsolved Crimes of the Century," where host Roger Kay promises to reveal the identity of the killer on tomorrow's show. Unfortunately, Kay has no idea who the guilty party is, so he visits Bruce Wayne to confess that he's terrified he'll be assassinated by the murderer. Bruce volunteers his pal Batman to be a "Clay Pigeon for a Killer!" on the TV show by impersonating Roger.

Bruce disguises himself as Kay and, as expected, the three robbers/killers show up and one shoots Kay/Batman point blank! Our hero awakens to learn that he was shot with an "anesthetic bullet" and that he is now prisoner in a tunnel that is rapidly filling with 1) water and 2) boastful words from Elon Musk Victor Iago, world's richest man, who can't help bragging about having committed the perfect crime. Iago was one of the trio of robbers; when they got to their hiding place after the crime, he had another man, who was wearing the same disguise as Iago, shoot the other two robbers. Iago then shot the shooter, making it appear that the three crooks had all been killed by an unknown person. The cops figured the three crooks did away with each other and closed the case.

Batman removes his Roger Kay disguise, avoids being drowned, and exits the tunnel to find himself on the grounds of Iago's mansion, where he must escape being mauled by a lion and other big game. The Caped Crusader is caught by Iago's gunsels and brought to the rich guy himself; he quickly overpowers them all. In the end, Iago is in the looney bin, having gone insane.

Bob Kanigher certainly knows how to keep a story moving and, while this one isn't very good, at least there's plenty of action. Moldoff and Giella's art is below average, even for them. You'd think Batman would wear some sort of bullet proof vest, but apparently not. He is shot in the chest and recovers immediately.

The Riddler escapes from prison and vows to stop tipping off Batman to his crimes with riddles. The first time he tries to commit a crime, however, he can't go through with it because he hasn't sent out any riddles beforehand! He vows to cure himself of his compulsion by means of psychoanalysis. After much work, he succeeds in robbing old coins from a soda factory.

While the Riddler has been working on his brain, Batman and Robin have been busy stopping other, more run-of-the-mill crimes. Finally, the Riddler's soda company theft occurs and he is seen running off, leading Batman to wonder why no clues preceded the felony. Batman and Robin soon determine that the Riddler actually has been leaving clues that they did not realize were from him. New clues begin to appear and the Dynamic Duo foil the Riddler's plan to rob the Corsican Glove Factory. Upon capture, the Riddler deduces that he was subconsciously leaving clues while he thought he was taking cat naps during his studies! He returns to jail and vows to outwit Batman soon.

I have been a big fan of the Riddler ever since I was a kid and saw Frank Gorshin on the Batman TV show, so I'm always happy to see a new story with this member of the Rogue's Gallery. Gardner Fox turns in an interesting script, filled with the usual goofy riddles and some unexpected psychoanalysis. Peter, what did you think?-Jack

Peter-I found the plot device of "Riddle-less Robberies" to be an intriguing one but the story was way too talky for my tastes. For a comics-code-approved funny book aimed at an audience of eight-year-olds, "Clay Pigeon for a Killer!" sure has a high body count. Why does millionaire Victor Iago shoot Kay (Bruce Wayne) in the chest with a tranqui-bullet if he's going to drown him hours later anyway? I find most of these stories illustrated by Moldoff and (whoever) to be almost unreadable due to the clunky art. Teasing us with Joe Kubert and Gil Kane covers just to serve up the same old Swanson's on the inside seems, to me, tantamount to bait-and-switch.

Kubert

Detective Comics #350

"The Monarch of Menace!"

Story by Robert Kanigher

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

Dick Grayson arrives at the airport after a visit to a buddy's crib, only to witness Batman taking on a group of escaped cons armed with dynamite on the runway.  With a little help from the Teenage Twister, Bats puts the dynamite and the cons out like a light. Dick grabs ahold of one of the Dark Knight's biceps, rolls his eyes heavenly, and blurts out that "Batman is the King!"

The World's Greatest Detective sighs and admits to his underage ward that he is not the "king" as long as his old nemesis, the Monarch of Menace, walks the streets a free man! In a frenzied flashback, we learn that the Monarch had a quartet of Little Lord Fauntleroy impersonators who talk like Bowery Boys and carry very little muscle, if their battle with Batman (shown in flashback) is an indicator.

But the Monarch didn't seem to need his henchmen since he had a clutch of deadly weapons at his disposal (including the nefarious AC/DC Scepter!). Batman could only watch in abject disgust and horror as the Monarch ventured out on an unparalleled crime wave and then disappeared without a trace. Bad memory over, Bruce and Dick (now back at the Bat-Cave) both sigh and admit they hope there's a chance they'll have a crack at the Monarch again someday.

Coincidentally, thousands of miles away in his jungle retreat, the Monarch relives his glory days with his merry men in tights and his own son, a kid he belittles as the court jester. Tired of his father's derision, the youth dons his pop's costume and heads to Gotham to make the old man proud. Only problem is, the kid is a klutz; he robs a bank, runs into Robin while exiting the building, and can't seem to operate his dad's weapons. Robin puts Monarch Jr. down like dirt and escorts him back to the Batcave.

After rubbing his victory in the face of the man who made him what he is, Robin unmasks the Monarch and Batman snickers at his ward; a fool caught by a fool. Monarch Jr. confesses he's a fraud and only took up a life of crime to impress the old man. Taking advantage of having the Monarch's costume and tools in the Batcave, Bats examines the articles in great detail, obviously forgetting Jr. is just hanging around, hoping these guys will forget about pressing charges. But the Dark Knight knows that all the data is useless unless he can smoke the real Monarch out of hiding (or, I guess, he could ask the kid where pop's lair is located?), so the World's Greatest Detective unleashes brilliance: he has Gotham's reporters write up stories on how Batman finally caught the Monarch of Menace.

The plot works. Pissed off by his bad press, the Monarch leaves his jungle burrow and flies to Gotham to reclaim his crown. Unfortunately, he discovers too late that Batman has an answer to all his wonderful devices. The final blow is delivered and the Monarch is finally put on ice after all these years. The Caped Crusader visits Jr. in the pen and is flattered when the kid vows to become a superhero rather than a villain. 

Despite (or more likely, because of...) the total inanity of "The Monarch of Menace," I actually enjoyed this adventure. Jr.'s descent into full-blown stooge would be genuinely funny if you erased the bits of parental abuse. Where's Mama Monarch? Also, can we put on hiatus the villain who returns only hours after being discussed?

The panels of Batman wallowing in his own pity, continually moaning that he's a failure because he couldn't bring the Monarch to justice, brought tears to my eyes. Tears from laughing. Why, if this defeat was so overbearing, had we never seen our hero leaning against a lamppost in the middle of an adventure, reminding Robin that, sure, it's a jewel in the crown to put the Joker back in jail for the third time in a twelve-month span, but what about the Monarch? 

Clearly, Big Bob Kanigher wasn't paying attention to his own script, since we clearly see Monarch Jr. coming out of a bank with a bag of loot in his fist but, eight panels later, MJ claims Robin caught him "before he could rob that bank!"-Peter

Jack- Once again, a great cover hides a mediocre story inside. My biggest question is how these villains find henchmen willing to dress in silly costumes and to keep wearing them even when the boss is retired and they're just hanging out and shooting the breeze. Don't the skirts and lace-up shoes get uncomfortable after a while? By the way, an ad in this issue claims that DC sells twice as many comics as any competitor. Take that, Marvel!

Kane

The Brave and the Bold #64

"Batman versus Eclipso"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Win Mortimer

One night on a Gotham City pier, Batman saves a pretty redhead named Marcia from being shot with an arrow. They embrace and kiss passionately before she shows him the Cat Emerald and explains that her ex-fiance, Nicky Jarvas, stole it from a museum to get rich and prove he was Batman's equal. He was pursued and killed by Cyclops, the international crime syndicate, and just before he died, he gave the emerald to Marcia to return to the museum. An assassin targeted Marcia in order to get the emerald, so she gives it to Batman to return to the museum.

The not so Dark Knight recalls how he met and fell for the rich playgirl, even going so far as to propose marriage, until she dumped him and broke his heart. After agreeing to help her, Batman sneaks into the museum and replaces the Cat Emerald in its case. Hours later, he is arrested by Gotham's finest after a photo showed him seemingly stealing the emerald, which has again gone missing. In jail, Batman overhears two goons discussing the imminent arrival of someone named Mister E, who will join another person named Queen Bee!

In far-off Solar City, an eclipse causes Eclipso to separate from the body of Dr. Bruce Gordon. A pair of crooks dressed in bee costumes appear and grab Eclipso, taking him to the Apis Enterprises building, where Queen Bee is planning to take over Gotham City in Operation Sting! Mr. E arrives and turns out to be none other than Eclipso, who gets busy that evening with Queen Bee and her drones committing jewel robberies. After a crime wave hits Gotham City, Batman breaks out of jail and trails a crook to Queen Bee's hideout, where he is knocked out with gas and thrown into the river. The Caped Crusader wakes up and surfaces before avoiding a police patrol boat, which leads the cops to think he's dead.

Commissioner Gordon receives a visit from Dr. Gordon, who offers to help fight the crime wave and who happens to be an expert on Eclipso. Back at the Hive, Queen Bee's hideout, Eclipso puts the moves on the pretty redhead (hmmm....) just as a hooded agent from Cyclops arrives and announces that he is taking over the criminal operation.

Eclipso tries to zap the agent with a ray beam, but the agent runs and his hood flies off to reveal that it's Batman! Queen Bee saves the Dark Knight in the nick of time and he immediately recognizes her as Marcia, who explains that she undertook a career in crime to save her father from Cyclops. She wanted Batman in jail to keep him safe and helps him escape the Hive, handing him the Cat Emerald once again. Batman bursts out of the building, avoids attacking drones, and battles with Eclipso high above the city street. Just in the nick of time Dr. Gordon appears and shines a light on Eclipso that causes him to be reabsorbed into Gordon's body. Batman hands the emerald to Commissioner Gordon, Dr. Gordon makes a hasty exit, and the Caped Crusader is left holding Queen Bee's costume, wondering where the woman who broke his heart has gone.

"Batman versus Eclipso" is 25 pages of dense plot and high action and it's more entertaining than most of the run-of-the-mill stories we've been reading in Batman and Detective. This is Batman's second appearance in The Brave and the Bold and soon he'll take over the comic for good. Win Mortimer's art is certainly better than that of Sheldon Moldoff, but not as good as Carmine Infantino's. I'm looking forward to reading more team-ups!  The editor points out in this issue's letters page that this is the first time that B & B has featured a hero fighting his co-star, rather than teaming up with him.-Jack

Peter-I knew nothing about Eclipso, a villain who's nothing more than a DC version of Jekyll & Hyde and had to read a few blog posts to bring me up to date. The character ran as a back-up in House of Secrets from #61 (August 1963) through the 80th issue (October 1966). HoS slipped into limbo for three years and was rebooted as one of the DC mystery titles (see here for that story) and Eclipso became a footnote in comic history until he was rebooted in the '90s and became a first-class badass.

I love the x-ray panel that shows the inside of "The Hive" but I'm struggling with the fact that Queen Bee keeps her helicopters on an enclosed third floor. Maybe this gal isn't such an evil genius at that. Hearing Bats use the word "baby" is off-putting, maybe because I don't want the inevitable hippy era to come so soon but seeing him put an attractive babe across his knee for a good Wertham-enraging spanking is gold. Don't tell any of the eight-year-olds reading this strip, but Professor Gordon's head-first leap from atop a high building into a fireman's net would break his neck and put a damper on any victory celebration.

Next Week...
Can a Little Colan
Save Jack and Peter
From the Mid-50s Doldrums?