Batman in the 1960s The Final Issue: November/December 1969 + The Wrap-Up!

 

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

Novick

Detective Comics #393

"The Combo Caper!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

"Downfall of a Goliath!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson

Well... Dick is about to go to college (it seems just yesterday he was a pre-teen) and that's bringing up the tears and melancholy from Bruce and Alfred. Late one night, the Duo are making their rounds when they notice a light on in the Winslow Mansion. The Winslows are away at their beach property so the boys know something is up. Assuming it's a heist, they swing in through the open second floor window to surprise the thief but the masked man gets the better of them, stealing away in the Batmobile!

But, in his haste, the criminal left behind a clue: a soda pop tab etched with the combination of the Winslow safe! "Golly, Batman, this didn't get manufactured this way!," exclaims the Boy Wonder and the Big Guy pauses and has to agree. Batman tries the combo and, sure enough, the safe opens, revealing lots and lots of money. The thief was interrupted just in time! 

The next morning, Bruce, Dick, and Alfred pack up the car and head for the beach house as a "Last Weekend" celebration for the new college boy. Bruce mentions he first has to make a stop and, soon after, he pulls up to a shady-looking teenager standing on a corner. "Recognize him?" asks Bruce. Dick answers in the positive, "Yep, that's high school drop-out, Skeet Callum!" Master Wayne explains that he's become a member of the "Save a Punk" program and Skeet will be joining them for a weekend of love and rehabilitation. Dick grunts and Al mentally remembers to check the silverware later.

Upon arrival, the four are met by Deena, daughter of the recently burgled Winslows, who own the spread next to Wayne, and she invites them to a party that evening over at chez Winslow. That night, the party gets swinging; Dick and Skeet head down to the beach with Deena while Bruce mingles. Bored housewife Mrs. Winslow introduces Bruce to "world-traveler" Aristotle Onassis Aristide Naxos, whose lavish yacht sits just offshore. After coming on to Bruce, Mrs. Winslow asks him if he could go into the house and retrieve her wrap. While rummaging around, Bruce finds an open safe in the den. Deena drops in just at that moment to cast suspicion on the playboy billionaire. The family jewels have been stolen!

Bruce naturally suspects down-on-his-luck Skeet (even though we know he's way too obvious!) and tells the kid that if he coughs up the jewels, it'll go easier on him. Skeet reacts as all innocent-but-thought-guilty 1960s teenagers would: he exclaims expletives about "the man keeping him down" and "hands off me, rich pig!" and turns his back, walking towards the beach. Knowing he's blown it big time but not letting us know why suddenly he suspects the kid is innocent, Bruce sends Dick after Skeet to smooth things over.

When Dick gets to the beach, he finds Skeet unconscious with a really big bump on his head. Skeet explains that Deena clobbered him after he saw a signal come from the yacht offshore. Adding two plus two and coming up Deena, Bruce and Dick hatch a plan: Dick will grab a surfboard and create a diversion while Bruce (in his Bat-Uni) will sneak onboard and check out the scene. When he's attacked by a couple of thugs, the truth is clear: there are criminals hiding aboard! Batman busts into the Deck below and finds Aristotle  Abraxas the Greek guy and Deena with the jewels. 

The mastermind pulls a gun but Deena kicks it out of his hand, explaining she didn't want anyone to get hurt, she just wanted to punish her parents for being rich and giving her everything she ever wanted, including a beach house, a Corvette, a credit card, and two Dalmatians. But all she ever wanted from them was love, something they just couldn't give. Later that day, Dick visits Skeet in the hospital and gives Bruce's apologies for him, noting that the billionaire would have been there to give those sincere apologies in person but he's just too busy. Batman stands outside the hospital room and realizes it's the end of an era, the end of Batman and Robin.

Well, I for one, would be grateful for that information had I been paying attention in 1969, but the 2025 me knows that the Boy Wonder didn't disappear, he just went on to Teen Titans fame, a back-up, and eventually his own title. Can someone please explain to me why Frank Robbins is suddenly putting dialogue into the Dark Knight's mouth that sounds completely foreign? In this issue he calls his partner "Robbie!" Robbie? And in next month's Batman, Bruce calls his butler "Alf" more than once. I don't see the normally-near-poetic Bruce Wayne contracting names just for the halibut. I love how Bruce emphasizes the importance of the trio having a fun "last weekend" together and then picking up a JD along the way. Another very pedestrian Robbins script meant to highlight the billionaire's big heart but we all know we'll never see poor Skeet again.

Continued from the mini-adventure last issue, "Downfall of a Goliath!" finds Batgirl and Jason Bard chasing down leads in a fatal mugging in the park and finding the clues all lead to a Gotham Guardians player. After a few tussles in the locker room, Batgirl snaps the cuffs on the athlete and his criminal handler. Once again, we find that if you provide us with some pretty pitchers to look at, we don't care how trivial the plot may be. And this is pretty darn trivial. The biggest hoot, for me, was Jason Bard charging into action and, time after time, falling on his face because of his bum knee. "Argggh! Blasted pivot-knee again! Now it's locked! But I know I can still help Batgirl! Damn, there go my arches!"-Peter

Jack-Jason Bard doesn't seem very promising as a new hero, does he? He also doesn't seem like much of a representation of the injured Vietnam vet making his way back into society. Still, as you say, the Kane art is spectacular, so I can forgive some of the story's deficiencies. Not as forgivable is another weak lead script by Frank Robbins. It's too bad the Brown/Giella art isn't as good as the Kane/Anderson art...but it's better than Moldoff.

Novick/Giordano

Batman #216

"Angel--Or Devil?"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

In an alley outside the Gotham Theatre, where Ye Olde Avon Players will soon stage a Shakespeare festival, a pretty, young blonde is being menaced by a couple of men when Batman comes to the rescue, only to be knocked out. Back at Stately Wayne Manor, Dick Grayson is in bed with a cold. He reads about the festival and Alfred the butler has a personal interest in the troupe, since one of the actors is his brother Wilfred. Inside the theater, Batman reengages with one of the men from the alley before losing him among the costumed players. On his way back to the Batcave, the Caped Crusader picks up the young woman, who tells him she needs a lift to Wayne Manor!

The young woman identifies herself as Daphne, daughter of Wilfred Pennyworth and niece of Alfred the butler. She explains that the scene in the alley was a misunderstanding and that one of the men was her headstrong boyfriend. Batman drops Daphne off at the front door and Alfred welcomes her. Dick is taken with the pretty blonde and shows her Bruce's collection of rare theater handbills, capped off with the original manuscript for Romeo and Juliet. That night, Daphne sneaks out and returns to the theatre with a wax impression of the key that will allow her boyfriend access to Wayne Manor and the manuscript.

On the evening of the final performance, Bruce, Dick, and Alfred sit in the audience watching the play while Daphne rushes back to Wayne Manor and uses her key to gain entrance. She is caught in the act of stealing the manuscript by Alfred and shoots him when he won't give her the priceless document. Fortunately, the gun is a theater prop that only shoots blanks. Daphne doesn't know this, however, and thinks she's killed her uncle. Bruce returns to Wayne Manor and discovers what's happened just as Daphne delivers the manuscript to her boyfriend, who had been holding her father hostage.

In the end, it's Alfred to the rescue, as he prevents Daphne's boyfriend from skewering her father. Batman takes over and mops up the crooks but it's Wilfred, aided by Dick Grayson, who prevents Daphne from making Juliet's death scene turn real. All is forgiven among the Pennyworths, Dick Grayson, and Batman.

"Angel--Or Devil?" is about as good a Batman story as we're going to get from Frank Robbins, Irv Novick, and Dick Giordano. I found myself captivated as I read and, for once, it was not dull or obvious. Giordano's inks really make Novick's pencils shine and the plot, featuring Alfred's relatives, made sense from start to finish. There's a sequence where Dick shows Daphne the manuscript, which is kept under a bust of Shakespeare that looks just like the one that hid the button to open the doors that hid the elevator to the Batcave in the TV series! I was worried that Dick was going to spill the beans to Daphne, but instead I think Robbins and co. were just teasing readers familiar with the TV show prop. I think the series is heading in a good direction as the decade comes to an end.-Jack

Peter-We all knew Daphne really wasn't a bad girl, despite all the many criminal acts she committed and should have been jailed for. I love how 12-year-old Dick tries to put the moves on the gorgeous blonde, despite it being past his bedtime. Frank Robbins writes 'orrible dialogue for the Brits but then, 'alfway through the adventure, 'e must've 'ad enough and dropped the pidgin English altogether. Thanks mostly to the art, I found this installment very bearable.

Adams

The Brave and the Bold #86

"You Can't Hide from a Deadman!"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Neal Adams

Why is everyone trying to kill Batman? First Robin points a gun at him, then Commissioner Gordon fires and misses. The Dark Knight quickly deduces that his old friend Deadman must be entering other peoples' bodies and trying to kill him for some reason. After avoiding a slew of random citizens with murder in mind, Batman confronts Deadman and explains that someone must be controlling his actions.

On the other side of the world, in the citadel of the Society of Assassins, the Sensei listens while Willie Smith and Lotus provide an explanation as to what's been going on with Deadman recently. None of it makes much sense, but the upshot is that Willie told Deadman that Batman is his enemy and Deadman is controlled by some sort of hypnotic suggestion.

In Gotham, Batman happens upon Hill Bros. Circus, Deadman's old employer, which is in town. Deadman's brother Cleve is wearing the Deadman suit and doing his act, so Deadman enters his body and requires Batman's aid to prevent him from falling to his death. An Indian dude named Vashnu shows up and summons Deadman to Nanda Parbat, a city somewhere on the other side of the world.

Batman rents a private jet and he and Deadman fly to Nanda Parbat, where Willie Smith and other bad guys try to blow them away. For some reason, Boston Brand seems to be alive but not doing so well; Batman and Deadman track down Smith and his cohorts in a snowstorm and confront the Sensei, who is in a grumpy mood. Batman says bye-bye to Boston Brand and the Sensei stalks off through the snow.

I guess this story made sense to someone at the time but read today it's a garbled mess. Deadman's original run in Strange Adventures had come to an end less than a year before, so I guess Neal Adams wanted to try to wrap up the story by bringing his hero back again not long after his appearance in The Brave and the Bold #79. The art is stunning, perhaps the best single issue's work we've seen in a 1960s Bat comic. That goes a long way toward making up for the incomprehensible story. I'm so glad we decided to cover The Brave and the Bold in this blog, since it's where the greatest Bat-artist ever started drawing our favorite hero!-Jack

Peter-There's a point at the end of this adventure where Cleve Brand thinks to himself, "This whole thing is too much for me!" Brotha, I know where you're comin' from. I couldn't make heads or tails of Bob Haney's story this issue; way too much Rama Kushna and Nanda Parbat for this Deadman rookie. I take Haney to task now and then for his silly plot devices and dopey dialogue but I'll give him massive props for doing research on someone else's character (Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino were the proud fathers) for a single story. It could not have been easy fashioning a plot around all this goofy mysticism and supernatural backstory. No matter, as I can gaze upon Neal Adams's insanely atmospheric graphics. Once you see Neal's Dark Knight, how could you ever prefer Sheldon Moldoff? This was Neal's last issue of  The Brave and the Bold but he'd return to Batman soon. 

Adams

Batman #217

"One Bullet Too Many!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

Bruce Wayne and Alfred the butler say a sad goodbye to Dick Grayson as he heads off to start his studies at Hudson University. After Dick leaves, Bruce tells Alfred that it's time to shut down the Batcave and vacate Stately Wayne Manor, which is too big for them. They move into an apartment building in downtown Gotham City, where Bruce will inhabit the penthouse suite and manage the Wayne Foundation from offices downstairs.

Bruce visits Dr. Susan Fielding, whose husband was killed by gangsters. Bruce offers an interest-free loan to help her keep running her practice and reappears later as Batman, determined to solve her husband's murder. After Susan provides some clues, Batman goes undercover and spreads the word among the underworld that Susan is going to tell the cops who killed her husband. That night, a killer visits Susan and, when Batman intervenes, he is shot in the arm. A bit of quick deduction leads to the arrest of the killer, but just as Bruce sits down to write Dick a letter, a man enters his office and points a gun at our hero!

Every so often, the Batman series takes a big step forward, and "One Bullet Too Many!" marks one of those steps. Robin heads off to college, remarking that his draft card says he's now a man and ending thirty years of boyhood. Bruce and Alfred are appropriately sad, and this leads to the second big change as Bruce departs from Wayne Manor and the Batcave in favor of a penthouse suite downtown! It's a lot to process in one issue. The crime solving part of the story is less interesting and seems to be a bit of an afterthought, but the fact that it ends on a cliffhanger may indicate some of the influence of Marvel comics on the Caped Crusader.-Jack

Peter-"One Bullet Too Many" is a strictly average adventure with a landmark event--the so-long to Robin. There's a clunky soap opera vibe to the initial Wayne-Dr. Fielding encounter and you almost get the feeling that a future relationship is being set up. But then, Wayne beds every woman in Gotham who isn't over forty. It was obvious that the titles would have to leave the camp behind and embrace the darkness of the early 1970s if they were to survive. The art's not by Neal Adams yet but you can sure feel his presence all over the last issue of Batman of the 1960s.

Adams

Detective Comics #394

"A Victim's Victim!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

"Strike... While the Campus is Hot"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson

While busy composing a letter to Dick Grayson (who left for college approximately 45 minutes prior), Bruce Wayne is interrupted at his desk in the Wayne Foundation Building by a man calling himself "Dakota." This guy's obviously incensed by something he perceived the billionaire playboy committed since he's holding a loaded pistol under Bruce's nose. Not one to appreciate a handgun in his face, Bruce lets out with a violent kick to the shin and a tussle is underway. Once the fisticuffs end, the two parties decide to talk it out.

Dakota is a Native American race car driver who was shot in the eye while competing against a Wayne Industries car and he was unable to finish the race after a fiery crash. Dakota seems to think Bruce had him shot for either the money or the glory. Bruce snickers and shows Dakota his bank book, putting to rest any notion that the entrepreneur needed the $1400 prize. Bruce promises the guy he'll investigate and get to the bottom of the event.

That night, Batman takes his sleek new Batmobile (a sports car) out of the garage of his new penthouse suite hideout at Wayne Foundation. A glimpse into the hero's mind tells us that he's decided to streamline his entire operation now that Robin is off at college. His new one-way mirrored windows allow him to see out but no one can see in. His fancy new license plate (handed over by the Commish at the Gotham Golf Club the day before) grants him the same immunities to the law that ambassadors have. After a few moments reflecting on how all this helps him fight crime more efficiently (because, well, the Batmobile stuck out like a sore thumb), the Dark Knight arrives at the racetrack.

Walking the track, the Caped Crusader can eerily pull up the scene of the crash even though he was away on business that day. He inspects the Wayne Industries-sponsored car and finds a spent shell casing, undeniable proof that the shot came from within that car. In a wild coincidence, the guilty parties show up to retrieve that evidence and Bats shuts himself in the car. He overhears big time gambler "Chance" Collins and his thugs confess to the shooting for monetary reasons. 

When the goons open the car, Batman pops out and throws a few knuckle sammitches at the trio but they somehow get the better of our brave hero. Just as Chance is about to demonstrate on Batman the trick pistol lodged in the grill of the race car, Dakota bursts in and interrupts, saving Batman's bacon and forcing Chance to exit stage left. The criminal hops in the mothballed race car and almost makes it past "killer curve," the lap where Dakota ate dirt months before, when Dakota forces him off the road. Chance's car bursts into flames, killing him, and Batman and Dakota are left to ponder the frailty of life.

What a dismal, lazy way to end our journey through the 1960s. This is a Frank Robbins special, filled with clunky exposition, dopey dialogue, and a mixed-message climax. Dakota spouts Indian cliches (as does Bruce, who should know better) because Frank learned everything he knew about Native Americans from low-budget 1950s westerns. Batman doesn't even check on the car carrying Chance, instead admitting to Dakota that maybe the gambler had it coming. This is the Batman who doesn't believe in carrying a gun and thinks that "justice shall be served"? This radical revamping of the Dark Knight's surroundings is vapid and takes a lot of the mystique away; worse, it makes no sense. Bruce is "streamlining" because the kid is off at school? Relocating to the middle of the city? How long before one of the rogues gets pictures of Batman exiting his new Formula-1 and traces the vehicle back to Wayne Enterprises? Batman now ostensibly receives the freedom of running red lights whereas before he had to stop at a hard yellow while chasing the Joker van for fear of receiving a ticket? Hokum.

Bruce Wayne and Alfred receive a startling letter from Dick Grayson, who left for college mere minutes before. Just as sure as the world turns and Arnold Ziffel is America's mascot, Dick Grayson runs into trouble on his first day at Hudson Academy. Seems a little riot has broken out on campus but Dick notices the usual sides are reversed. The Dean wants to keep peace, promising he'll call no authorities to break up the protest, but the students' mouthpiece, "Fire Brand" Fran, seems to be firing up the crowd, pushing them toward a confrontation. The police arrive and start busting heads but Dick notices a fatal flaw, immediately recognizing that these cops are phonies. Before he can voice his theory, he's busted over the head and tossed in a squad car.

Dick is dumped in a deserted silo but, luckily, he's worn his "reversible" shirt, which transforms into a complete Robin outfit (don't ask). He makes the change and uses his Bat-rope to escape the silo. He engages in some fist-fighting with a couple of the goons but then reinforcements arrive and he faces a sure TKO. To be continued... "Strike..." is pure Robbins, with all the dreck and dull dialogue that entails. The campus riot was, of course, the go-to plot device in comics as well as television in 1969 but the apex would be reached some months later, after the events at Kent State. We get it, Frank, you are a hip writer guy trying to solve today's problems with a typewriter, but the character swings in Dick Grayson never made much sense. He would go from lingo-spouting teenager to millionaire mama's boy who doesn't trust hippies in the space of a couple of issues. Kane and Anderson do their best (and "Full-Figured" Fran is some of their best) but the team doesn't have much to work with. If you're one of the three people who really dug the Robin back-up, you can read our analysis of said disaster starting here. 

And that's that, the 1960s.-Peter

Jack-Kind of a disappointing final issue for the decade. The art on the Batman story is barely better than what we got from Moldoff and Giella. I'm intrigued by the trend of having more Bruce Wayne and less Batman, along the lines of what was going on in Wonder Woman, where Diana Prince ditched her alter ego. I don't recall a sports car replacing the Batmobile and wonder how long that lasted. The story is straightforward and, while not great, it's better than the art. The Robin story isn't much better and Kane and Anderson aren't doing their best work here either, especially in the shots of Dick's face. At least we get the usual Kane layouts and cheesecake to keep us awake.

THE TEN BEST 1960S ADVENTURES

Batman #180

Peter:

1 "The Creatures That Stalked Batman" (Detective #279, May 1960)

2 "Batman's Interplanetary Rival" (Detective #282, August 1960)

3 "The Mystery of the Man-Beast" (Detective #285, November 1960)

4 "The Menace of the Planet Master" (Detective #296, October 1961)

5 "The Challenge of Clay-Face" (Detective #298, December 1961)

6 "The Flame-Master" (Detective #308, October 1962)

7 "Castle with Wall-to-Wall Danger" (Detective #329, July 1964)

8 "The Million-Dollar Debut of Bat-Girl" (Detective #359, January 1967)

9 "But Bork Can Hurt You" (Brave and the Bold #81, January 1969)

10 "The Senator's Been Shot" (Brave and the Bold #85, September 1969)

Jack:

The Brave and the Bold #85

1 "The Second Batman and Robin Team" (Batman #131, April 1960)

2 "The Blue Bowman" (Batman #139, April 1961)

3 "Bat-Girl!" (Batman #139, April 1961)

4 "Batwoman's Junior Partner" (Batman #141, August 1961)

5 "The Challenge of Clay-Face"

6 "Castle with Wall-to-Wall Danger!"

7 "The Track of the Hook" (The Brave and the Bold #79, September 1968)

8 "The Sleepwalker from the Sea" (The Brave and the Bold #82, March 1969)

9 "The Senator's Been Shot!"

10 "Angel--Or Devil?" (Batman #216, November 1969)

The Best Artist Not Named Neal Adams:

Peter: Carmine Infantino

Jack: Gil Kane

The Worst Story of the Decade:

Peter: "Batman! Drop Dead... Twice!" (Detective #378, August 1968)

Jack: "The Case of the Abbreviated Batman" (Detective Comics #360, February 1967)

Best Cover: 

Peter: Batman #180, Kane/Anderson

Jack: The Brave and the Bold #85, Adams

Next Week...
More Stinkin' Commies!
And Atlas Goes Weekly!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 149: Marvel/Atlas Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 134

January 1957 Part III

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Strange Tales #54

Cover by Bill Everett

"A Witch by Night" (a: John Forte) ★★1/2

"The Long Sleep!" (a: Gray Morrow) ★

"Something Strange on the Sand!" (a: Doug Wildey) ★

"Trapped in the Dark!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★1/2

"The Man Who Talked!" (a: Bob Powell) ★★1/2

"The Punishment of Paul Phillips!" (a: George Roussos) ★1/2

How's this for a coincidence? Ben is on his way to give a lecture on the idiocy of people who believe in witchcraft when he stumbles onto an honest-to-gosh witch named Abby. She's a looker and it's not long before Ben proposes but, it turns out, the lady has a dark side as well. Whenever she gets mad, things tend to break. While nothing startlingly fresh, "A Witch By Night" is a nice break from the happy endings we've been force fed lately. Ben is stuck in this relationship and, even though it's never spelled out, he's going to take a long walk off a short pier if he even thinks about leaving!

After a heist gone wrong, Ted Pauley needs to disappear fast so he convinces a scientist to put him into suspended animation for forty years! When "The Long Sleep!" ends, Ted awakens an old man, sure the police have lost interest in him. He heads to a local library and looks through the newspaper archives, discovering that the police never had a clue about him. Can a story be hilarious and boring at the same time? I'm here to answer that question with an emphatic "yes!" In the equally dull "Something Strange on the Sand!," prospector Sal Fargo stumbles across a small village in the desert where time seems to have stood still. The secret, Sal discovers, is a big chunk of uranium and, before you can say "Radiation never hurt no one!," Sal is plotting his heist. The climactic twist, where the village is either a mirage or a madhouse (or both) is head-shakingly bad.

Joe Morse was a dirty rotten swindler, a con man who preyed on the elderly but, one night when he's running from the cops and "Trapped in the Dark!," Morse must face his old victims in a nightmare of guilt and boredom. The climax, where Morse discovers he's not been facing old ghosts but rather stumbled into a hall of mirrors, is somewhat clever but the rest is just a series of panels designed to waste space. Scripter Jack Oleck is biding time until a better gig rears its head.

In the supremely goofy three-pager, "The Man Who Talked!," a ventriloquist loses his dummy overboard while on a sea journey and loses his mind, confined to a hospital bed and jabbering out one liners. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away on an uncharted island, a primitive tribe finds the wooden prop washed ashore and is amazed by its ability to speak (the dummy is spouting the same gibberish as his master!). The natives place the doll on an altar and worship it as a God. I have to give this one an extra star just for its wild twists; it's certainly more unique than the rest of the pablum in this issue.

Heartless prosecutor Paul Phillips is about to put the screws to an innocent man in court when suddenly he... has a toothache! The judge grants a recess and Phillips heads to his dentist, a man he naturally hates. Though he's been given an anesthetic, Phillips feels the pain and swears he'll kill the offending dentist. Back in court, the lawyer is about to make his closing speech when... he's arrested for the murder of his dentist! Phillips is quickly found guilty and sentenced to death. As the gas swirls around him, Phillips has an epiphany; has he really been a bad guy all his life and if given a second chance could he mend his ways? Faster than you can say "CCA," Phillips wakes up in the dentist chair. It's all been a dream! He heads back to the courthouse and tells the judge he wants more time to investigate the case. This man might be innocent after all. "The Punishment of Paul Phillips!" has a hokey happy ending and another of those unbelievable 180-degree personality changes; poor George Roussos has nothing to work with but talking heads.-Peter

Uncanny Tales #51

Cover by Bill Everett

"In the Dead of Night" (a: Al Williamson & Ralph Mayo(?)) ★1/2

"I Lived Forever!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★★

"The Island of Captain Galt!" (a: John Forte) ★★

"Where Did Joe Go?" (a: Gray Morrow) ★1/2

"The House on the Hill!" (a: Werner Roth) ★

"The Unwelcome Stranger" (a: Bernard Baily) ★1/2

After he suffers what his doctor considers a breakdown, frazzled atomic scientist Barrett Henderson lets his family talk him into a vacation up at their palatial estate in Grattan Hills. The first night there, Barrett is lying in bed when he discovers the bed and everything around him has grown to a huge size. Or has he shrunk?

The event happens several times and Barrett is about to accept his doctor's diagnosis: he's losing his marbles. In the end, we find out that his relatives are trying to drive him mad by switching houses on him. While Barrett sleeps, they carry him over to a house which has really big furniture and then, in the morning, they carry him back. What's their motive? Whoops! I guess our uncredited scribe forgot to put one of those in there, so what we're left with is a really dumb family going to extremes to send their most celebrated member over the deep end.

While vacationing in the Colorado mountains, Dr. James Haney runs across a man who claims he is immortal. A rock slide outside their cave entrance leaves both men trapped, so to avoid boredom, Haney insists on hearing more about the man's long life. "I Lived Forever!" is short on thrills but does have an interesting climax, wherein Haney learns that immortality isn't such a swell thing. 

In the hilarious "The Island of Captain Galt!," the titular yachtsman wrecks his boat on an uncharted island but everyone on board is saved and the ship is salvageable. When Galt investigates the tiny piece of land, he discovers a bounty of gold. After the yacht is patched up, Galt gets on his short-wave and calls his friends to come get him, then forces the others to sail away without him. The tiny ship encounters Galt's rescue ship along the way and the ship's captain boards, inquiring as to the whereabouts of the Captain. When he hears the story, he reveals that the island the group landed on is actually a piece of Atlantis that rises above the waves now and then but only stays submerged for seven days. And this is day seven! Ulp! The calm demeanor in which the Atlantis twist is revealed made me chuckle out loud. That's worth something.

On the morning he's to contend for Heavyweight Champion of the World, Joe Danner manages to drive his car off a high cliff and winds up in the hospital with various life-threatening injuries. In the hallway, the doctor lets Joe's wife know that they'll be able to save him but the pug will never fight again. Joe, in a dazed stupor, overhears his crying wife sputter out, "Don't worry about anything, Joe! I'll get a job at Macy's and pay all the bills! I told you not to take that car out for a spin but you didn't listen to me! I wonder how much life insurance I've got on you!" Knowing he'll be disgraced if his wife has to go back to work, Joe throws off his blankets and bandages and heads down to the arena for his ten rounds against Harry Judd.

The contender puts up a decent fight but the champ is too much and wins by a narrow margin. Upon hearing of the fight, all of Joe's friends and family rush into his room, only to find the man sleeping. But how could he be in two places at the same time? The bout is nationally televised and millions tune in. Won't there be questions? Won't the Boxing Commission become involved? Your guess is as good as mine. Pulp typist Carl Wessler never thought to offer up an explanation for "Where Did Joe Go?," as he was already onto the next script. 

In the three-page "The House on the Hill!," out-of-work John and his family take refuge in a deserted house and discover their luck has changed. Thousands of miles away, a similar scenario unfolds with a different family.

Back-stabbing John Nash wants to climb the corporate ladder down at the atomic plant he works at but he's not a patient man, so he begins framing his co-workers, effectively axing the competition. Then one day, while Nash is inspecting the Cyclotron, a stranger arrives in the room, a man with no name or memory. Nash's boss is smitten with "The Unwelcome Stranger" and immediately gives him a job higher than Nash's (after all, I'm sure it's extremely easy to get a job down at the local nuclear facility sans references!), which royally pisses our protagonist off. He swears revenge and thinks he gets it. In a weirdly random reveal at the climax, we learn that the stranger is actually an older Nash come back to the past for some unexplained reason. And that perfectly sums up this issue.-Peter

World of Fantasy #5

Cover by Bill Everett

"Fade-Out!"(a: Bob Powell) ★★

"The Man Who Plunged!" (a: John Forte) ★★

"Death Waits Below!" (a: Tony DiPreta) ★★

"Smaller... Smaller... Smaller!" (a: Vince Colletta) ★

"Back to the Lost City!"(a: Dave Berg) ★1/2

"Beware the Eyes of Arch!" (a: Bernard Baily) ★★

Frank Sutter is angry at the thought that his uncle must have left the bulk of his estate to Frank's cousin Paul. Wandering down to the cellar, Frank tests one of his uncle's inventions and is thrown five years ahead to the year 1961. After four hours, Frank finds himself back in 1956, where Paul introduces Frank to his pretty fiancee, Ruth. Frank concocts a scheme to get Ruth and returns to 1961, where he frames Paul for robbery by showing the police a photo of Ruth that the burglar dropped at the scene. The photo is signed, "To my darling husband." Paul is arrested and Frank returns to 1956, but when his uncle's will is read it turns out he left half his estate to Frank. Soon, Ruth tells Frank she's broken up with Paul and wants to marry Frank, who realizes that in five years he'll go to jail as Ruth's husband!

Carl Wessler's stories seem to pack about 15 pages of plot into four pages. I wonder if "Fade-Out!" would work better in a longer format? Is that a masochistic question? At least Bob Powell's panels are competent.

Albert Ellis wants to be left alone to daydream, but his wife nags him incessantly. While out for a walk, he sees "The Man Who Plunged!" falling off a cliff. Albert breaks the man's fall with his own body and, in return for saving him, the man offers to grant three wishes. Albert asks for two things: enough money to take care of his family's needs, and for his wife to stop nagging him. The problem is that, when he gets home, his wife has been struck mute and his neighbors blame him for buying up their mortgages and auctioning off their homes. Albert wishes everything back to normal and all is well, but at the cliff another man is witnessing the plunging figure.

So many of these Atlas stories have the germ of a good idea and then fall flat at the end. This one is reasonably well illustrated by John Forte but it's basically the umpteenth version of the old monkey's paw story, where wishes are granted and don't turn out as expected. The final panel, which sets up a recurring event, is unnecessary. The plunging man's face is always in shadow for no good reason.

When a plane carrying four men and $500,000 in loot catches fire over the jungle in Kenya, there's only one parachute and Casey grabs it and jumps out. The bag of money he's carrying opens and all the cash goes flying, but that's okay--when he lands he's treated like a god by the natives, who worship birds. There's just one problem--they take him to the edge of a cliff and expect him to recreate his flight!

Setting aside the very mid-fifties portrayal of the Kenyans, who carry spears and spend all their time gawking at the white man, this is a fairly good story with an unexpectedly ambiguous ending. Casey is left at the edge of the cliff, trying to figure out if he should jump to his death or reveal his mortality and become a slave to the natives. Quite a quandary!

A petty criminal named Danny steals an old man's life savings and the old man curses him by telling Danny he'll get "Smaller... Smaller... Smaller!" before he can enjoy the money. Danny makes a run for it and hides in a hothouse, where he sees giant-sized pieces of fruit hanging from trees! He calls to a passing police officer for help, unaware that the hothouse was the site of a professor's experiments with growing giant plants.

Raise your hand if you saw that ending coming! It's an Atlas trope--in fact, the same sort of thing happened in this month's Uncanny Tales!

Somewhere in the desert, two ragged, thirsty explorers see what appears to be the lost city of Ciba! Mason insists that it's a mirage, and, though Fields sees Incans, emerald necklaces, and plentiful water, Mason keeps telling him it's all illusion and finally drags the man back into the desert, where an old prospector finds them and takes them to a hospital. Mason sees an emerald necklace in Fields's room and rushes "Back to the Lost City!," unaware that Fields bought the necklace for his wife.

It's interesting to see Dave Berg's non-Mad work in the mid '50s; I can't decide if it's primitive and bad or primitive like underground comix art. The panel I've reproduced veers in the comix direction. Berg's art in this story is more interesting than the plot.

Arch Hanson has spent 20 years trying to understand how Medusa could turn things to stone, and now everyone has to "Beware the Eyes of Arch!" because he's figured it out. He turns his wife Helen's pet canary to stone with a look and insists that he can do the same to a person if he removes his dark glasses. Arch heads outside and crosses the street to enter the bank, where he is immediately caught by the cops. Back at his apartment, the cleaning lady tells Helen that replacing the real canary with one made of stone was just a little joke.

With employees like that, who needs an enemy? I did not see the twist ending coming, so the story gets two stars. Bernard Baily's art isn't great, but it's adequate to get from page one to page four without confusing the reader. And at Atlas at the dawn of 1957, that's nothing to be sneezed at.-Jack

Next Week...
Jack and Peter Put a Bow
on the 1960s Caped Crusader!

Batman in the 1960s Issue 59: September/October 1969

 

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

Adams

Detective Comics #391

"The Gal Most Likely to Be--Batman's Widow!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

"Strike!"

Story by Mike Friedrich

Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson

Tim's a great guy, but he's stuck in a low-paying job as a trainer and his girlfriend, Ginny Jenkins, "The Gal Most Likely to Marry Batman" ('tec #380's "Marital-Bliss Miss"), just got a job as food reviewer at an ultra-ritzy magazine owned by the dodgy, shady Arnie Arnold. Coincidentally, Arnold is in for a massage and steam and lets Tim know his place, bragging that he's going out with a real piece of cheesecake for dinner. At that moment, in walks Bruce Wayne.

Arnold finishes up and lets Tim know a couple of his friends will be joining him in the sauna. Since this is a CCA-approved funny book, we know the only shenanigans that will go on behind that sweaty steamy door will be criminal. Arnold's friends show up and one of the dummies accidentally hits the intercom switch, allowing Tim and Bruce to overhear the conversation, wherein Arnold confesses his boys will be applying some muscle to the owner of the Groaning Board restaurant. Seems the proprietor refused to take out a full-page color ad in Arnold's magazine and now he's going to pay.

Bruce excuses himself while Tim takes some refreshments out to the swimming pool, where Arnold is waiting with his new squeeze. To Tim's horror, the "cheesecake" turns out to be Ginny, who gives him the cold shoulder and dives into the pool hand-in-hand with "Arnie." Tim is bereft and later goes after Arnold in the locker room, only to have a gun stuck up his nose. 

That night, at the Groaning Board, Batman breaks up an attempt to extort the owner but the man is too afraid to reveal the whole story, instead paying Arnold the dough he wants. At least, the Groaning Board will get solid advertising in Whatever He Calls It Magazine for a full year! Arnold takes Ginny home but, just before she opens the door, Tim pops out of the shadows to ask his girl why she's keeping time with a criminal. Ginny denies any knowledge of bad behavior and tells Tim to grow a set of wings. Only Batman can tell her what to do!

That sets the gears moving inside Tim's head, so he goes to the local K-Mart and buys a Batman Halloween costume (which looks just like the real thing!). The next day, he records Arnold and his thugs discussing another restauranteur refusing to see the light and off Tim goes to play make-believe. Ominously, a Bat-gloved hand reaches around a corner to grab the recorder. That night at the Seventh Heaven, Arnold's goons try to make a mockery of the chef's hamburger et frites but Batman and Bat-Tim put the kayo on the goons. Ginny falls madly in love with Faux-Bats (even though, when he's unmasked, she screams in disbelief, "No--It can't be!--Not him!) and the real deal is left pondering whether the altar-bound couple will ask him to be the best man!

I had to laugh throughout this entire adventure (actually, I usually do anyway), wondering what kind of money a full-page ad would bring for Arnold. I mean, you have to believe that there's a little bit of icing on that cake but it's never addressed, even by the goons. Ginny has to be one of the most self-centered, flighty, amnesiac little bitc... girls we've yet encountered. There's no disguising she's putting out for Arnold while keeping Tim on a string. It's only when "Arnie" instructs his men to toss Ginny off the restaurant roof that she suddenly sees Tim for the man he is. Add "Duplicate Batman" to the list of plot devices that should be put out to pasture for a decade or so. 

In the back-up, Robin gives a middle finger and upper right cross to the underworld figures forcing a teachers' strike. Turns out the mobster behind all the violence and football game riots owned juicy real estate that would become devalued if the school's newspaper ran an editorial or something like that... just enjoy the Kane/Anderson work, which is sublime. Who knew a Robin strip could be so well-choreographed and exciting? Not me, that's fer sure.-Peter

Jack-Once again, it seems like Infantino laid out a cover, Adams drew it, and then poor Frank Robbins had to come up with a script to match. I think any reader by now knows that if the cover suggests Batman will die or be unmasked in this issue, it'll be some poor slob in a lookalike costume taking the hit. Ginny does seem like a real prize, doesn't she? At least we get more Kane and Anderson art to savor in the second story, even though Mike Friedrich's script is awfully thin and peppered with dopey wisecracks.

Novick & Giordano (?)

Batman #215

"Call Me Master!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Irv Novick & Dick Giordano

Three of Gotham City's leading citizens receive strange telephone calls in which they are given instructions and agree to carry them out as if they're in a trance. That night, the Dynamic Duo intercept what appears to be a warehouse robbery in progress, only to discover that it's been authorized by the man in charge, who happens to be one of the recipients of the phone calls. A similar series of events plays out twice later that night, as a robbery of a safe at a mansion turns out to be approved, as does a big jewel theft!

Batman discovers that the phone calls went to members of Gotham's Civic Conscience Council, of which Bruce Wayne is also a member. Bruce receives a phone call and agrees to carry out orders; that evening, Robin follows and sees Bruce handing over boxes of scarce antibiotics to shady characters. After the Boy Wonder breaks up the gang, he develops a theory that Bruce must follow orders and proves it by having his partner sock him in the face! Robin and Bruce understand that he and the other council members have somehow been the victims of mind control, probably when they were all together at a dinner last week.

Bruce calls an emergency council meeting and hands out pendants for each man to wear that will let Batman and Robin listen in on their every word. That night, they hear Myron Mycroft agree to deliver securities to an unknown caller. The Duo interrupt the delivery, unaware that Mycroft is behind the whole scheme. He realizes that Batman is under post-hypnotic suggestion and orders him to blow up Stately Wayne Manor, but fortunately Robin and Alfred intervene, saving the day and catching the crook.

Dick Giordano's inks spiff up Irv Novick's pencils in the tale and the splash page is laid out like a panel from one of Gil Kane's back-up stories in Detective, with Batman knocking Robin for a loop and Robin flying backwards through the air toward the reader. For once, no one is trying to unmask the Caped Crusader, though when Mycroft realizes that Batman is under his control you'd think he might put two and two together and conclude that Batman must be one of the council members.-Jack

Peter-It's amazing to me how Batman and Robin get so much crime-fighting done when they're constantly being manipulated by outside forces or splitting the team up. Congratulations to Robin and the World's Greatest Detective's butler for entering the Guinness Book of Records for speed. They were able to run all around the mansion, dig up the dynamite, and replace it with harmless sparklers and firecrackers (which they just had lying around the mansion) in about three minutes when it took the Big Guy an hour to plant them. Impressive. Also impressive is this issue's art by Novick and Giordano. It's not Neal but it's pretty close.

Adams

Detective Comics #392

"I Died... a Thousand Deaths!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

"A Clue... Seven-Foot Tall!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson

Batman has received a call from Angles, the number one goon in the underworld organization of Scap Scarpel. Though the Dynamic Duo are skeptical, Batman knows he must give it a shot. He meets with Angles out on Gotham Beach and the hood hands an attache case to Batman, assuring the hero that there's enough evidence to put Angles away for ten lifetimes. Just as Bats grasps the bag, Angles pulls a gun and shoots Batman to death. Well...

Celebrating the death of Gotham's Guardian, Angles is startled to hear a familiar voice behind him. Swirling, he sees... the Dark Knight, who informs him the dead Batman is actually a really life-like dummy. Angles uses a trick wristwatch to once again fool the Batman and both of them end up in the drink, with Angles coming away the winner, holding the Batman's mask in his hand.

Scap brings all his men together to raise a glass to the man who killed the Caped Crusader, but Angles tells his boss it might be best to keep mum. That way, the other  organizations won't try to muscle in on their territory. Scap agrees. But, after his primo victory, nothing seems to go right for Angles and, in the end, he stares down the barrel of a gun held by his boss. Angles tries to warn his boss that Batman is right behind him but Scap isn't buying it. Finally, he turns and faces... Batman! 

"How did you do it? How did you come back from the dead? How did you get into my super-exclusive bachelor pad?" Bats smiles and shows him his Angles costume, explaining that when they went into the drink, Robin was waiting below the surface in the Bat-submarine and nabbed Scap's main guy. Now Scap will finally face the inside of a cell, thanks to the man with a thousand lives.

"I Died... Two Fake Deaths!" smells of maximum contrivance, as if a whole lot of coincidences were stacked on top of a whole lot of ridiculous nonsense. I'm not sure why Batman felt he'd have to go to such elaborate lengths (and how he was able to make all of it work), but wouldn't it have just been a lot easier to simply arrest Angles and then arrest Scap Scaloppine? It'll never cease to amaze me just how life-like the innumerable dummies and robots Batman keeps stashed in his Batcave are. And how about that make-up job? 

Babs Gordon helps amateur criminologist Jason Bard investigate a brutal murder in the park. The clues lead them to the star of the Gotham basketball team. When Jason heads back into the locker-room he's attacked from behind. To the rescue comes... Batgirl! After the furious battle, Jason explains he has to get back to his date and Batgirl tells him she's staying behind to look for clues. But Jason makes it back to his seat first and wonders how he'll dump Babs to return to Batgirl for the hunt! Welcome future Batgirl heartthrob Jason Bard, who will co-star in several of Babs's back-up strips in the 1970s. Another thoroughly enjoyable Batgirl adventure, smartly scripted and gorgeously rendered. Was there a better back-up in DC comics in the late 1960s? I need to know.-Peter

Jack-I can't tell you, but I agree that this strip is fun! It's neat to see the first appearance of Jason Bard, someone we saw in our trek through the '70s. I wonder if he was the first comic hero to be injured in Vietnam? In the lead story, there are some nice panels depicting Batman's face in shadow as just black with white eye slits. Otherwise, it's a complex set-up with a limited payoff. Why do so many of Robbins's crooks have corny names like Chips and Topper, who turn up in the Batgirl story? At least the Robbins era marks a more adult tone to the series; Batman seems to die in every other issue, which is a big change from the days of Bat-Mite.

Adams

The Brave and the Bold #85

"The Senator's Been Shot!"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Neal Adams

As he is celebrating winning the election, a new senator named Paul Cathcart is shot by a bullet fired from a passing van. Bruce Wayne was next to the senator on the podium, so he runs inside, quickly changes into his Batman costume, and pursues the fleeing van, leaping on top and trying to break in until he is knocked off when the van drives under a low hanging beam. Cathcart is hospitalized and in a coma, so the governor telephones Bruce and asks him to take the senator's place and finish out his term. Wayne reluctantly agrees, aware that Cathcart's new crime bill will be voted on in 24 hours and will help stop crime boss Mr. Minotaur.

Meanwhile, another millionaire, Oliver Queen, is in his penthouse office, looking at the plans for New Island, a landfill reclamation project that will help save the state from bankruptcy. Miklos Minotaur's construction company, Argonaut Unlimited, is competing to bid on the project and Queen worries that, if Minotaur succeeds, he'll not only control crime in the state but also wield great influence over the government. Oliver's assistant locks away the plans and, when Queen is alone, he dons his refashioned Green Arrow costume, wondering if his civic and social responsibilities have become more important than his crime fighting. Suddenly, a man posing as a window washer hurls a grenade into the penthouse, but a quickly-aimed arrow prevents it from going off inside.

At the gym, Bruce Wayne works out with Edmond Cathcart, the senator's son, as they discuss the request that Bruce take over as senator. Wayne explains his dilemma to Edmond and confesses that he's Batman, aware that Edmond's oath as a psychiatrist will prevent him from revealing the secret. They discuss which identity is more important before Edmond heads off to join Oliver Queen to survey the landfill project by helicopter. Queen shocks Edmond by revealing that he's Green Arrow and that he's facing a dilemma similar to that of Bruce Wayne: where can he do the most good, as a socially-conscious millionaire or a costumed super hero?

That evening, Edmond is trying to process it all when a couple of Minotaur's goons enter his office and take him to see their boss. Batman and Green Arrow arrive at Edmond's office later and discover he's gone; Batman tells Green Arrow to start looking for the missing shrink while he takes care of some other business. The next morning, Bruce Wayne is sworn in as senator while Green Arrow parachutes down to an island in the Mediterranean, where Minotaur is grilling Edmond about Wayne and Queen. Arrow avoids being killed by wild beasts and is joined by Batman, who made it across the ocean mighty fast. Both men think of their duties as private citizens--Queen has to submit his bid in 48 hours and Wayne has to be back in Washington to vote on the anti-crime bill.

Batman and Green Arrow smash through a window to join Minotaur, who has a gun pointed at Edmond's temple. A superb arrow shot by the archer jams Minotaur's gun and the heroes make short work of his goons, but Minotaur escapes by motorboat. Later, at Minotaur's office, Queen has the criminal arrested, while Bruce makes it back to D.C. just in time to cast the deciding vote. That evening, Queen tells Edmond that he realizes he can be useful in both identities, and Bruce tells the senator's son that his father is on the mend and can resume his senatorial duties. Alone at last, Edmond begins self-hypnosis to wipe the two men's secrets from his mind.

This milestone issue is an instant classic and automatically gets selected as my best story of the Batman comics of the 1960s. It's the first time Green Arrow's new look and costume were revealed. and the art is tremendous. Haney's script is also tight and deals with interesting questions about the value of costumed super heroes in a politically-charged era. I consider myself lucky that I began reading comics right around this time, and issues like this were what set the bar high for my expectations. I'm surprised to see the script is by Bob Haney, since I associate this type of tale with Denny O'Neil. It wouldn't be long before he and Adams would start one of the greatest series ever in Green Lantern.-Jack

Peter-"The Senator's Been Shot" hinges on a few whopping coincidences and yet I was riveted from start to finish. If more Bat-adventures were this well-written, this would have been a more memorable decade. I kept waiting for Mr. Minotaur to lug out his ridiculous costume but, nope, he was just a mobster after all. Just a few months after this story, Neal would take over Green Lantern and essentially create "the superhero with super-contemporary problems" (y'know, not just keeping Aunt May from marrying Dock Ock but stuff like drug addiction).

Next Week...
Jack Wonders if 
Peter is Still Sane!