Batman in the 1960s Issue 44: March/April 1967

 

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

Infantino/Giella

Detective Comics #361

"The Dynamic Duo's Double-Deathtrap!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Carmine Infantino & Sid Greene

That wily old double death-trap concocter, Eivol Ekdal, has been paroled after six weeks of hard labor (we last saw Ekdal during the tumultuous action of 'tec #346) and is about to build the perfect trap in which to kill his arch-enemies, Batman and Robin. Of course, this being Eivol Ekdal, he sells the contraption to someone who has the cash and the nerve to use it.

While bargaining with the underworld thug who wishes to be rid of the Caped Crusaders, the relative calm is interrupted by the entrance of "The Berlin Butcher," a stinkin' Commie who's there to hire Ekdal to identify the inventor of the ingenious furniture that is allowing Russians to slip out under the Iron Curtain. Ekdal tells the Butcher to come back after he's done with the mobster and bring a hundred thousand in cash.

Ekdal returns his attention to his latest customer and demonstrates his newest trap, an invisible cage that activates once Robin steps on it. The cage then generates heat and the only way to open the trap is by cracking the code on the dial outside the box. That's where (ostensibly) the Dark Knight comes in. Once Batman cracks the combination on the dial, the entire gizmo will explode, killing both heroes! "You're a genius, Eivol," enthuses the underworld goon.

This wouldn't be a Batman comic without a Batman so we check in on events at Wayne Manor. Dick (Robin) Grayson is whining that he can't remember all the phone numbers for the multitude of elementary school friends he has and Bruce (Batman) Wayne teaches him a top secret way of connecting letters to numbers (a la a phone dial) and creating words. Mary Mamalook's number translates to Eatfood and a new top secret communication tool is created by the partners. Now, whenever Robin is in dire need of assistance, he need only take the time to assign letters to numbers (and vice versa), get the message to his boss, and hope Batman has the time to decipher that code before Robin is dropped into a vat of boiling oil.

Proud of themselves, the Duo hit the streets for some patrol time. Suddenly, the Bat-Seismokon (a device never heard of before and probably never heard of again) alerts the boys to an explosion in Gotham. Heading to the scene, they discover the Fortune Importing Company being heisted and go into action, unaware that Eivol Ekdal's dastardly device has been installed in the middle of the floor. Robin gives chase to a couple of crooks but Batman (oddly enough) has trouble putting down a simple goon. The Teenage Turbine breaks off to aid and is immediately trapped in the invisible box. "Help, Batman, I'm trapped in an invisible box and it's heating up!" screams the frightened lad.

Annoyed that he has to help the kid, Batman suddenly musters up enough strength to deliver a knockout punch to his heretofore unbeatable foe and heads to the box. Keenly spying the dial, the Batman spins until he hears the tumblers fall into place. Just in time, he realizes the numbers so far have spelled out E-K-D-A and thanks Jesus the kid annoyed him this morning with that crap about phone numbers. "Gotta split, kid, but you can get out of that unbreakable box if you try hard enough!" Robin gives a couple of solid kicks and, sure enough, the box falls apart. That Ekdal sure knows how to build 'em.

Outside, Batman makes sure his old chum hasn't got any hard feelings just as the Bat-phone rings inside the Batmobile. It's the Commish. He's got a live one down at the office that the boys have to meet. Upon arrival, they are introduced to Thea Albrecht, a Russian freedom fighter arrested for assaulting a man that evening. During interrogation, Thea gives up that the man she was holding at pistol point was none other than Yuri Melikov--The Berlin Butcher!!! Batman assures Thea that no one in Gordon's office will let on that they have a Russian insurgent in custody and heads out to nab Ekdal and the Butcher.

At that moment, Ekdal is meeting with the Butcher and examining photos of furniture. Ignoring the obvious shoddy craftsmanship, Ekdal declares the builder to be Adolph Brauner and collects his hundred grand. Before the Butcher exits, Ekdal shows him his newest invention, a special hand grenade he's going to sell to Tony Stark for a million bucks. After exiting the room, Melikov instructs his goons to kill Ekdal, get back his cash, and grab the grenade for future use. 

The Caped Crusaders burst into the room just a moment after Ekdal goes to Double-Death Trap Inventor Heaven and engage in fisticuffs with the Berlin Baboons. Melikov pulls the pin on his grenade and realizes too late that the joke's on him. Ekdal created an explosive that kills its master. Kaboom! Batman and Robin make short work of the Commie Criminals and head back to Gordon's, where they say goodbye to Thea. Weeks later, Dick Grayson reads a headline about more refugees escaping Germany and thanks God he lives in a country that welcomes the poor and downtrodden.

For the most part, this is as solid as these things come. Ekdal isn't much of a villain (the guy can't even build a trap that stays together under stress delivered by teenage toes) but then we don't have to worry about him ever again. The "invisible box" is not all that far-fetched but what is head-scratching is how the dial remains unseen. I wonder if the powers-that-be at DC saw that Stan was making millions off Commies over at Marvel and decided to dip their toes in that water. I don't recall seeing much in the way of Red-baiting in the Batman comics thus far. And hey, give points to horndog Bruce, who let Thea slip out of the country before getting a date or two. Who says a billionaire playboy can't put foreign affairs over playtime?-Peter

Jack-I was also surprised to see Batman get involved with Iron Curtain skullduggery. The art by Infantino and Greene is unusually shaky this time around, but Greene's solo work on the Elongated Man backup story is even worse. The influence of the Batman TV show continues to be felt with "Holy this" and "Holy that" every few pages.

Infantino/Giella

Batman #190

"The Penguin Takes a Flyer--Into the Future!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

Though most in Gotham City are wilting in a heat wave, the Penguin has embraced futuristic gadgets and keeps his gang of goons cool in air-conditioned uniforms! He feeds them a gourmet meal in pill form (shades of Willy Wonka!) and, that night, his gang is robbing gold from a safe when Batman and Robin burst in! The Penguin claims to have invented a gravity beam that keeps our heroes' boots pinned to the floor, but Batman figures out that it's just a big magnet and he and Robin slip out of their boots and do some damage to the goons.

The gang quickly recover due to their futuristic pill meal and air-conditioned suits; they are protected from Batman and Robin's blows by another invention that the Penguin calls Fist-Fender-Off. Batman realizes that jets of air are being expelled from the crooks' suits just before punches land and he and Robin work around this invention as well. Seeing his gang on the ropes, the Penguin takes to the skies in his flying umbrella and returns to his subterranean nest. Next come his Robber-Robotrellas, which are radio-guided and feature laser beams. These futuristic gizmos allow the Penguin to rob a jewelry store by remote control.

The Penguin gloats over his success and chats with his Robot-Penguin. A week later, he tries again with his Robotrellas, only to have them intercepted by Bat-rellas, a new invention by the Caped Crusader. The Robotrellas don't just rob, though--they attack with weapons such as a mace and a sword! Soon, the Dynamic Duo are captured in a big net and flown to the Penguin's nest, where the Wicked Waddler briefly gloats before Batman and Robin escape. To their amazement, the Penguin flies into the air! They throw furniture at him and he explodes, having really been the Robot-Penguin. Never fear, though--outside, Alfred has captured the real Penguin, who sits on the ground next to the Batmobile, defeated. The Penguin returns to a jail cell but is optimistic about his chances for escape when he meets his cellmate, whose name is Brolly!

I know Peter will agree with this issue's Letters to the Batcave writer Marcy Slyh, of Lansdale, PA, who asks, "What is Batman now? He is little more than a joke, a bumbling caped clown." Certainly, the influence of the TV show is felt in the recent stories, but as the editor replies, "you wanna argue with sales figures of a million-plus per issue?" The cover to Batman 190 by Infantino and Giella is excellent and, while I thought the story a bit silly (okay, more than a bit), I was surprised that Alfred saved the day at the end. I'm a big fan of the Penguin, so I can live with a bit of goofiness.-Jack

Peter-I know it's not my imagination (Jack's comments back me up)... the Moldoff/Giella team gets worse every issue. There's no dynamic, no style, nothing resembling talent. Given a pencil and some paper, I could come up with better even if I were a quadruple amputee. Fox's script is no better, relying on microwaved plots, illogical gizmos, and dopey dialogue. The '66 era is in full swing. The Penguin's duplicate "robot chef" again makes me snicker that these evil geniuses could become billionaires (and Presidential advisors, I guess) just by applying their skill in a legal manner. But I guess if you look like Cobblepot, normal life would be boring.

Infantino/Anderson

Detective Comics #362

"The Night Batman Destroyed Gotham City!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

A mere three weeks after being found guilty on charges of attempted murder, extortion, kidnapping, and jaywalking, the Riddler is paroled and already on to his next scheme. His victims, as usual, are Batman and Robin but this time E. Nigma is using a variation on his old riddle M.O.

Every riddle the dastardly felon uses can be read two ways as Batman soon learns to his dismay. When Riddler drops the clue: "What has four legs, smokes a pipe--but cannot walk, see or talk?" the Dynamic Duo immediately come up with the Gotham Stove Insurance Company and head to the building. But when they get there--no Riddler. Just then, a patrol car speeds up and informs our heroes that the Grill Manufacturing Corporation has been pilfered. Of course! A grill has four legs as well!

The next night, after breaking up yet another robbery at the Gotham City Coliseum, the boys hop back in the Batmobile and Robin sits on a tack. Using the World's Greatest Detective brain God gifted him, Batman pulls out the Bat-Magnifier from the U-Haul trailer attached to the back of the vehicle and examines the tack. He finds the following riddle: "What word of five letters has only one when two letters are taken away?" Robin scratches his pre-teen scalp, mumbles all the possible combinations, and exclaims "Stone! The P.J. Stone Brokerage Outfit!" Batman commends his junior partner but then comments that these riddles are so easy even a dunce can solve them. Ignoring the obvious slight, Robin exclaims, "Gosh, you're right, Batman! The Riddler is using clues to throw us off track but if we come up with a smaller version of the answer we first come up with then perhaps we'll arrive at the correct guess!" 

Delighted that they've come up with an odd but spot-on assumption, the Duo head for the Pebble Beach Fun House, since a pebble is smaller than a stone (just in case you nodded off). Sure enough, they arrive mid-heist and engage in a bloody battle with Riddler's "Enigmen." Riddler gets away with half a million in cash but, later, Batman explains to Robin that the greenbacks were phony. Nigma couldn't care less about the counterfeits and, instead, crafts a clue out of the paper, sending the puzzle to Gordon's office. "What city can always feed its people" reads the banner. "Little Gotham City!" pipes up the Boy Wonder. The heroes head out the door and Gordon returns to... whatever it is he does. The boys put the kibosh on Riddler's grand scheme, defuse a bomb, and deliver the villain into the custody of Gotham's fine judicial system. Once again, Batman and Robin have taken a psychotic city-threatener off the streets. At least for a few weeks.

No need for me to double down on my belief that Moldoff and Fox are spiraling. "The Night Batman Destroyed Gotham City!" has a striking cover and that's it; this is dreary, boring rot I wouldn't recommend to a five-year-old (clearly the target audience). I'm never clear what the grand scheme is for these rogues. They're fresh out of the pokey and dreaming up new plots sure to land them right back in. If there's a goal to be reached, it's never shared with the audience.

In the opening scene, Robin is supervising the Wayne Foundation slot-car race for underprivileged children and little Angelo is the winner, but if you look closely, Robin has his hand on the race track at the time the checkered flag is thrown. Perhaps a bit of favoritism? Even funnier is when Robin hands Angelo his certificate of merit and it turns out to be a riddle. Angelo is miffed and looks ready to cold cock his idol!

There are an awful lot of strange companies in Gotham that keep a boatload of cash on hand. The Pebble Beach Fun House probably has handfuls of one dollar bills but the Stove Insurance Company?  Have we heard of Little Gotham before? This is, ostensibly, the poor side of town never visited by the Caped Crusaders until now.-Peter

Jack-What's really puzzling me is why the Riddler isn't on the cover! Instead we get a great-looking but inaccurate rendering of the mess that ends the story, where Batman essentially does a belly flop on a model of Gotham City and somehow defuses a bomb that was so sensitive that it would go off if it sensed his body heat. Of course, the Caped Crusader took a pill to lower his body heat! Where's Mr. Freeze when you need him? I love the crossword puzzle costumes on the Enigmen. Where do the Rogues find these big dopes willing to wear these outfits? Oh, and did you see that Batman used the expression "Rock 'em Sock 'em"? How's that for product placement?

Infantino/Giella

The Brave and the Bold #70

"Cancelled: 2 Super-Heroes!"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Johnny Craig & Chuck Cuidera

Balthazar T. Balthazar fancies himself the world's greatest collector and he has his sights set on a new goal of collecting the secret identities of super heroes, starting with Batman. His super-computer tells him that Batman is Bruce Wayne, so he sets out to prove it by hiring Nick Cathcart, czar of Gotham City crime, to help.

The first step is to lure Batman to Bruce Wayne's doctor's office at night, where a full-body x-ray is taken without the Dark Knight realizing it. When Balthazar steals an x-ray of Bruce Wayne and compares the two, he is well on his way to proving his theory. Next, a blind street beggar gives Batman a coin that is really a tracking device. After a busy night of rushing around Gotham fighting crime, Batman returns home to Stately Wayne Manor, giving Balthazar yet more evidence.

Quickly figuring out the coin's real purpose, Batman zips over to the Astorbilt Hotel, where Carter and Shierra Hall (a/k/a Hawkman and Hawkgirl) are staying. Batman gives Hawkman the coin, causing Balthazar to suspect that Batman's real secret identity is Carter Hall! Balthazar becomes confused when he sees Hawkman spring into action during a theft at Gotham Museum where Carter Hall was present--could Hall be both heroes?

Balthazar sets up a robbery at Gotham Helio-Port so he can watch and learn. Hawkman and Batman both show up and Balthazar shoots them with darts coated with truth serum. He asks them who they really are and Batman responds that he's Carter Hall, while Hawkman answers that he's Bruce Wayne! The heroes grow angry with each other for revealing each other's secret identities, which leads to a brief battle that ends with both being unmasked outside Balthazar's presence. It turns out that the duo switched identities as a precaution before responding to the crime at the helio-port.

Certain that he knows who's who, Balthazar puts models of Batman and Hawkman in his trophy room, but when Cathcart comes calling, gun in hand, demanding that the collector reveal the identities, Balthazar balks, announcing that the information would be worthless if anyone but he knew it. When Batman and Hawkman show up, Hawkman is knocked out, so Balthazar yanks off his mask to reveal the face of a green alien! Hawkman snaps out of it and reveals that he's really Krog of the planet Mynos! Batman and Hawkman capture Cathcart and Balthazar; Hawkman flies Cathcart to jail, while Batman drives Balthazar in the Batmobile. Sneak that he is, Balthazar looks in the Bat-Glove Compartment and finds a newspaper clipping with a photo of Carter Hall, who (the article says) is really ex-con Carl Morgan.

Balthazar is convinced that Hall is Batman and Wayne is Hawkman so, when he is locked up in the slammer, he gloats about his knowledge of the super-heroes' secret identities and refuses to share it with his cellmate, Cathcart.

I enjoyed all of the twists and turns of "Cancelled: 2 Super-Heroes," though it makes me wonder how the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, et al., couldn't pull some of these simple stunts to reveal Batman's true identity. If a third-rate baddie like Balthazar can shoot Batman and Hawkman with darts coated with truth serum, how hard could it be? I enjoyed the art by Johnny Craig and Chuck Cuidera; it's a little bit wacky and reminded me in spots of earlier Craig work, while in others it reminded me of the work of Alex Toth on Batman a few years later.-Jack

Peter-I'm a big fan of Johnny Craig's art for Warren in the 60s but, at times, the Craig/Cuidera art rivals the awfulness of Moldoff/Giella. The strip is rescued by the excitement, energy, and imagination found in Haney's script, qualities seldom found in the regular titles. If I have a nit to pick (other than the cruddy art) it would be the paucity of Hawkman, one of my favorite DC characters. There's not much in the way of a team-up here.

Next Week...
The Boys Once Again 
Thank Odin For
Steve Ditko!!!