Batman in the 1960s Issue 39: May/June 1966

 

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

Kane/Anderson

Batman #180

"Death Knocks Three Times!"

Story by Robert Kanigher

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are at a showing of fine jewelry when the event is interrupted by a man dressed as a skeleton. He and his henchman make off with the jewels after threatening the crowd with guns. Batman and Robin give chase, fight with the gang, and capture the leader, whom Batman christens Death-Man, 

but the villain boasts that he can escape with ease.

Death-Man is tried in court and sentenced to death, but he avoids the gallows by keeling over dead in the courtroom. Batman and Robin visit his grave to make sure he's buried, but that night Bruce Wayne is haunted by nightmares of the villain's mocking laughter. In need of a break, Bruce and Dick take a vacation in Jamaica but quickly rush back to Gotham after hearing news of another crime perpetrated by Death-Man.

Batman and Robin hop in the Bat-Copter and catch up with the gang as they drive away from their latest crime. They end up in a junkyard and, once again, Death-Man is captured and suddenly falls over, dead. Another visit to the graveyard and another burial can't prevent more nightmares for Bruce Wayne, who spends the following day at a party where he witnesses a yogi demonstrate how to slow his breathing and heartbeat in order to mimic death. Deductive genius that he is, Batman heads for the graveyard and finds an empty grave with a mocking note by Death-Man. The villain appears and fights Batman, but this time he is struck by lightning while aiming a gun at the Caped Crusader. He tumbles into an open grave, finally dead for real.

Bob Kanigher's story is terrible. Moldoff and Giella actually seem to put a bit more effort into the art than usual, with a couple of large panels that show multiple Batman and Robin figures engaging in fisticuffs with Death-Man's gang, but the initial shock of seeing the superb cover and then opening the comic to see the usual dull art style is something I was unable to recover from. There's no great reason to drag this story out for 24 pages and the endless fight scenes reminded me of the panels in Tom King's Mister Miracle that read "fight fight fight," with a bored MM standing there. It's just filler.-Jack

Peter- Yep, I agree the story is pretty lame but I like the villain design and, coming off reading a turd like  (Spoiler Alert!) 'tec #352's "Batman's Crime Hunt a Go-Go" (which I actually read before this issue), this one is actually fun and inventive. Death-Man is a pretty cool character even given the lame exposition clarifying his mysterious power over death. We never even find out his real identity or what the master plan was, do we? And then there's that cover. Outside of "Robin Dies at Dawn" (Batman #156), I can't think of a more iconic early-to-mid 1960s DC cover. It prepares you for the suspense and chills that, alas, are never delivered.

Infantino/Anderson

Detective Comics #351

"The Cluemaster's Topsy-Turvy Crimes!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Carmine Infantino & Sid Greene

While dusting around Wayne Manor, Aunt Harriet accidentally opens up the elevator shaft that leads to the Bat-Cave. Riding it down to the ground, she runs across the Dynamic Duo's capes hanging on a wall. "Hmmmm....," thinks the not-so-old biddy, "A game is afoot." Like a super-villain, she begins making plans to catch Bruce and Dick red-handed.

Speaking of villains, there's a new one in Gotham. His name, the Cluemaster, might be original but his schtick sure isn't. He leaves clues for the Caped Crusaders to guess what his next heist will be but his real purpose is to discover the boys' secret identities. In that way, the Cluemaster would become the most powerful man in Gotham.

He proceeds to leave the heroes a couple of clues that leave them completely baffled. It's only when they turn the cards upside down that they see the real clue. But, while studying the paint on the clues, Bruce discovers that the fluid is radioactive... and traceable! The Cluemaster could find the Bat-Cave by tracking the cards. Without thinking twice, Batman and Robin grab the cards and hop in the Batmobile. They drive to a nearby cave and wait. Sure enough, a suspicious character pops up, hidden in the shadows, camera in hand. Disguised as ruffians, Bruce and Dick walk out of the cave and are photographed.

When the man leaves, the boys follow, now dressed in their work clothes. The man leads them right to the hideout of the Cluemaster. After a small scuffle, the Cluemaster and his henchmen are rounded up and brought to Gotham Jail, where they will be charged and serve their maximum six-month sentence. Meanwhile, back at Wayne Manor, a little trickery has Aunt Harriet thinking twice about what Bruce and Dick do in their leisure hours.

"The Cluemaster's Topsy-Turvy Crimes!" is not a bad adventure; the Cluemaster himself is a tenth-tier rogue, one whose gimmick has been used several times before. He sure talks a lot. More intriguing (at least until the cop-out ending) was the Aunt Harriet, Detective, sub-plot. If I'd been the boys, I think I would have jimmied the elevator and taken Harriet on a ride straight up through the roof. These guys have a lot of patience, especially once we discover Harriet has gone so far as to spread tar on the Bat-Cave exit road! I love how it took the "World's Greatest Detective" half a story to realize the drawings were upside down! Hats off to the art crew this issue. If the graphics looked this good every issue, it would make reading the sub-par scripts that much more bearable.-Peter

Jack-The Cluemaster is similar to the Riddler and doesn't make much of an adversary for Batman, despite his self-confidence. What makes this story stand out is the artwork, which is outstanding, and the subplot with Aunt Harriet, whose discovery, actions, and final disappointment parallel those of the Cluemaster. It's interesting to compare Infantino's work on this story, where Sid Greene is the inker, with the cover, inked by Murphy Anderson, and the Elongated Man story, which Infantino inked. Anderson was a great inker and the cover is gorgeous, but Greene does a very nice job on the interior. Infantino inking his own pencils is much scratchier and reminded me of his work years later on Star Wars.

Infantino & Anderson

Batman #181

"Beware of--Poison Ivy!"

Story by Robert Kanigher

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

"The Perfect Crime--Slightly Imperfect!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Chic Stone (?) & Sid Greene

A Pop Art show at the Gotham Museum is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Poison Ivy, who insists that she should be considered World Public Enemy No. 1. Reporters who try to take her photograph find their flashbulbs exploding; she makes her escape and Bruce Wayne changes into his Batman costume while everyone is blinded. Unfortunately, Batman is blinded, too, and falls down an elevator shaft, barely surviving at the last moment.

He knocks out some goons outside the building and Ivy observes that he's a real he-man. Back at her office, Ivy writes fake letters to three gorgeous female villains, named Dragon Fly, Silken Spider, and Tiger Moth, leading each of them to believe that one of the others wants to meet them to battle for the title of Public Enemy No. 1. She also invites Bruce Wayne and Batman to meet and duke it out for the love of Ivy. The Dynamic Duo take the Bat-Copter to Ivy's house, where they find the three female villains and a ton of generic hoodlums. While Batman and Robin get their daily punches in, Ivy hands an electrified crown to the three women, who are all shocked when they try to tug it away from each other.

The fighting over, Ivy embraces Batman and plants a big kiss on his lips, but her chloroform-laced lipstick fails to knock him out because he's wearing nose filters. Ivy scampers up the wall of her house but Batman knocks her off with one throw of his Batarang and she lands in jail.

DC reprinted this issue in 2019 as a facsimile edition (and I bought it!) for a $3.99 cover price, surely because Poison Ivy has become a major figure in the DC Universe. "Beware of--Poison Ivy!" is absurd. The three women whose pictures adorn the wall of the museum are said to be World Public Enemies No. 1, 2, and 3, but we've never heard of them before. It looks like their main assets are their beauty and skimpy costumes; even Dick Grayson drools over their likenesses! Ivy is a typical female comic book character of 1966, whose main interest is whether she can nab Bruce Wayne or Batman, both of whom she considers hot stuff. Infantino later said in an interview that Poison Ivy was created because Catwoman was so popular on the TV show and they wanted more female villains. At least Moldoff's layouts are getting more interesting; the large panel on page 7 includes a villain whose arms and legs extend into other panels, something Moldoff probably would not have done a few years before.

The Mystery Analysts of Gotham City must solve "The Perfect Crime--Slightly Imperfect!" Mystery writer Kaye Daye is to receive the Sherlock Award for best mystery novel of the year, but she tells her fellow Analysts that she did not write the book that bears her name! A year ago, while she was vacationing in Europe, someone submitted the manuscript to her publisher and it was published. She says she has decided not to accept the award, but a voice erupts from the pin on her dress and says that she will die at 10 p.m., just as she receives the award.

The Mystery Analysts promise to get to the bottom of the mystery and to keep her safe. Batman visits her apartment for clues and determines that she was kidnapped earlier that day, taken to the apartment next door, and replaced with a false Kaye Daye. He enters the apartment, beats up several crooks, and rescues Kaye just in the nick of time. At the awards dinner, the fake Kaye accepts the award and Batman arrives to reveal that she's actually Kaye's cousin, Fern Hunter, who wanted Faye dead so she could inherit their grandfather's estate.

I always groan inwardly when I see another Mystery Analysts story, since they're invariably dull. The GCD suggests that Chic Stone penciled this one, which appears to be heavily inked by Sid Greene. Inks can only do so much, though, and the art is, if anything, worse than what we're used to from Moldoff. Despite the dynamite cover, this issue is no landmark.-Jack

Peter-The scene that opens the Poison Ivy story is one of the most ludicrous we've been subject to. The idea that Bruce Wayne would be joking with this loony girl about being number one villainess in the world makes no sense to me at all. The image of the three top villainesses must have stuck with writer Grant Morrison since he factored the trio into his "Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" storyline in 2008. It's always a plus when a new "rogue" is introduced but, unless my memory is faulty, Poison Ivy didn't really become one of the top-tier villains until her appearance in the dreadful Batman and Robin in 1997. But, regardless, she'll be back very soon. "The Perfect Crime" has some decent art but its script, dependent on a cliched mystery plot, is lazy and pert near put me to sleep. Gordon's loud exclamation, that "no publisher would bring out a book under (Kaye Daye's) name if you hadn't written it..." would elicit guffaws from the ghouls who pump out novels carrying Tom Clancy's name years after the author died.

Infantino/Anderson

Detective Comics #352

"Batman's Crime Hunt A Go-Go!"

Story by John Broome

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

Robin is awed by Batman's sudden powers of perception; the Dark Knight seems to be getting subliminal messages that warn him of crimes being committed across town. In both cases, the Dynamic Duo arrive just in time to capture the thieves as they are running away from their targets. Thank goodness, because as everyone knows, the safes located at the Gotham Laundromat and Gotham Commode Company are loaded with cash. Massive hauls, those.

But it's the third message from beyond which perplexes and bothers our heroes since it contains directions to a heist that never happens. As the boys sit in the deserted Bridge Plaza, they hear a different kind of message--one over the police band. First Trust Bank at Broad Street has been robbed! The boys arrive too late and learn that the robbers made off with over one million in cash! Searching the premises, Batman comes across a clue--a match from the popular Black Cat nightclub. Time to go undercover!

Bruce Wayne calls Lynda, one of the myriad of bimbos waiting in line to be Mrs. Wayne, and heads down to the Black Cat where he catches the act of "Mr. Esper," a man who claims he can read minds. Wanting to test Esper, Bruce sends a long number on a piece of paper to the channeler and gets the answer he hoped he would. Bruce is convinced this is his guy! Next day, Batman and Robin pay a visit to Mr. Esper at his hotel room and catch him red-handed counting his bank green. Turns out the number Bruce sent to the stage was the exact amount of the bank's losses. Brilliant! No wonder they call this guy the "World's Greatest Detective!"

Esper pulls a gun but he's not fast enough for Batman, who makes good use of a nearby deck of cards. Esper is rounded up and taken to jail and, later, Batman explains to Robin and the sometimes-active Commissioner Gordon how Esper managed to use the Caped Crusader and the Teenage Twister in his scheme. The fake mind reader utilized a "super-sonic amplifier" to project subconscious messages into the brain of the Dark Knight, sending him to two legitimate heists to lull him into a false sense of ESP, setting him up for the big fall. Gordon pats his patsy on the back, tells him "Well done!" and goes back to his nap.

What a difference a writer and art crew can make on this strip. Last month's adventure, though nothing close to the quality of the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers era, was fun and at least a bit clever. This is the dregs, with lots of clumsy exposition and wild coincidences. How does Esper know Batman and Robin will be driving by just the right rooftop for him to "whisper" his message? Why doesn't Robin hear the message? I love when the case is pretty much solved by the clue Batman finds on the rooftop of First Trust. Bats opines that the burned out match may be a souvenir from the Black Cat Club, since that venue hands out matches with a cat's head. Batman is convinced despite the fact that the head of the match is burned out! And don't worry... I'll signal when we have the real breakthrough... thieves who don't wear brown pin-striped suits with elegant headwear.-Peter

Jack-More and more, I suspect someone was helping Moldoff with his layouts, possibly Carmine Infantino. There are numerous panels and pages in this story that are more dynamic than anything we've seen from Shelly in years. My favorite thing about this issue, as is often the case, is the cover. I love those little hands Infantino uses.

Next Week...
The Return of
Reed Crandall!

The Hitchcock Project-Make My Death Bed by Babs Deal [6.37]

by Jack Seabrook

"Make My Death Bed" was adapted from the short story of the same name by Babs Deal that was first published in the April 1960 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

The story begins as Bob Hudson, the coroner in Bellefonte, Alabama, is awoken at two a.m. by a telephone call. His wife Della answers and tells him that Ken Taylor shot and killed Bishop Darby. As they drive through the fog, Della is certain that Elise Taylor was the cause of the murder. Bish, as he was nicknamed, had been staying at the Taylors' home while his wife Jackie was spending the summer with her children at her parents' house.

"Make My Death Bed"
was first published here

The Darbys were a young couple who had moved south from New England; Bish, who looked like a Greek god, liked to sing folk songs and accompany himself on the guitar. Before long, he and his wife had joined the local clubs and his wife Jackie became best friends with Elise Taylor, the most beautiful woman in town. Bob and Della arrive at the Taylor house, where they meet the sheriff and find Bish "sprawled across the hearth," wearing only a T-shirt and shorts. Elise sits at the table, drinking coffee. She blames herself for seducing her best friend's husband and feels sorry for Jackie.

Elise begins to look pale and remarks that she feels odd. She explains that her husband came home early from a J.C. meeting due to the fog, surprised her and Bish together, and shot Bish. Della recalls taking Jackie to the train station earlier in the summer and being concerned about leaving her husband home in the presence of Elise. Elise drinks more coffee and Bob telephones Jackie, with Della on the extension. Elise reminds Della of the old folk song, "Barbara Allen," that Bish used to sing; the lyrics include: "Sweet William died for me today; I'll die for him tomorrow."

Diana van der Vlis as Elise

On the telephone, Bob tells Jackie that her husband is dead and she asks if she should turn herself over to the authorities where she is or come home to be arrested. Surprised to hear that Bish was shot, she tells Bob that he should do something about the saccharin. Della rushes to Elise, who is breathing shallowly; she tells Bob to call the doctor and examines the bottle of saccharin pills, one or two of which have poisoned Elise, who is dead by the time the doctor arrives.

In his brief introduction to "Make My Death Bed" in the collection Best Detective Stories of the Year, 16th Annual Collection, Brett Halliday wrote that "It is beautifully told, with a lovely sockeroo for its climax." Deal builds tension slowly throughout the story and plants clues to its surprise ending along the way by subtly showing Elise's decline and her excessive coffee drinking. Saccharin, which turns out to be deadly in this instance, was first produced in 1879 but gained popularity in the 1960s as a diet aid. In the story, the fact that Bish was dieting is mentioned offhandedly by Jackie as she prepares to leave on vacation; the revelation that Elise has been poisoned by the artificial sweetener that Jackie left for her husband comes as a complete surprise.

James Best as Bish

"Barbara Allen," which Elise tells Della is a "'song Bish used to sing'" and which she then sings herself, was an old ballad that was known at least as far back as the seventeenth century. In it, a dying man calls his lover to his side but she is indifferent to his suffering; after he dies, she feels guilt and repents before dying herself. The song became popular during the folk music revival that had begun in the 1940s and that was peaking by the late 1950s and early 1960s, when "Make My Death Bed" was published; the Everly Brothers released a version in 1958 and Joan Baez released another one in 1961.

The short story is set in a suburb in 1960, following a decade that saw more and more people moving out of cities to new, affluent communities. The bleak suburban lifestyle is contrasted with the passionate affair between the story's doomed lovers; one housewife unintentionally kills her husband's lover after having meant to kill her unfaithful husband.

The Deal family in 1960

"Make My Death Bed" is the first story by Babs Deal (1929-2004) to be published, according to the FictionMags Index. Born and raised in Alabama, she wrote short stories until 1967 but was best known as a novelist, writing books from 1959 to 1978. Other than this single episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the only other adaptation of one of her works was a 1979 TV movie that was adapted from one of her novels. From 1952 to 1975, she was married to Borden Deal, who was also a writer, and whose short story, "A Bottle of Wine," had been adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1957. According to a biography of the writer John D. MacDonald, the MacDonalds and the Deals became friends after the Deals moved to Florida in 1964; MacDonald later wrote to Borden Deal that Babs Deal had made sexual advances to him, a situation that suggests parallels to the relationship between Bish and Elise in "Make My Death Bed." There is a photograph online, dated February 1960, of Babs Deal and her children looking on as Borden Deal strums an acoustic guitar; perhaps he was entertaining them with a rendition of "Barbara Allen."

A mysterious writer named Henry A. Cogge is credited with adapting "Make My Death Bed" for television; I have been unable to find anything at all about Cogge and he has no other credits. The writer of the Wikipedia entry on Babs Deal writes that she adapted her own story for TV, but this is unlikely, since she has no other TV or film credits and this was her first published short story. Babs Deal's papers are at the University of Alabama and Boston University, but the online details of their contents provide no clues as to whether Henry Cogge is a pen name for Babs Deal.

Jocelyn Brando as Della

As often happens with short stories adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, past events that are described in the short story are rearranged and shown in sequence in the TV version. The show begins with a New Year's Eve party at the Taylor house, where Elise gets close to Bish, who plays guitar and sings part of "Barbara Allen." Jackie and Ken watch their spouses flirt with each other and Ken remarks that Bish "'seems to be quite a salesman.'" At midnight, Ken breaks up Bish and Elise and all of the couples kiss and wish each other a happy new year. This initial scene quickly establishes the characters and their relationships.

In the scene that follows, Bish and Ken play darts in Ken's living room as their wives look on; Elise and Bish leave together, ostensibly to get cigarettes, but Ken quickly notices that the cigarette case is full. Dialogue between Ken and Jackie establishes that the Taylors helped the Darbys get established in town and there is unspoken tension due to the obvious infidelity.

The third scene shows Jackie packing for summer vacation and chatting with Elise. Jackie asks her friend to keep an eye on Bish and to make sure he sticks to his diet, including using saccharin to sweeten his coffee; the scene ends with Jackie giving an ominous look as Elise departs. This is followed by another scene in the Taylors' living room, where Bish sings more of "Barbara Allen" to Elise. Ken is at the Junior Chamber of Commerce meeting and Bob and Della are sitting on the sofa, watching Elise and Bish. Elise asks Bish for the bottle of saccharin pills, having promised Jackie to keep him on his diet; Bob and Della leave to drive home in the fog. Bish and Elise are left alone and are soon kissing.

Biff Elliot as Bob

The next scene is the one that opens the short story, as the telephone awakens Bob and Della and she tells him that "'Ken Taylor just shot and killed Bish Darby.'" This statement ends the first half of the show. The short story's car ride from the Hudson house to the Taylor house is deleted; in the story, much of the background on the characters' relationships is provided during this ride, but in the TV show it is conveyed directly in the first four scenes.

The second half opens as Bob and Della arrive at the scene of the crime, where they find Bish dead and fully clothed. Elise says that she can't drink coffee without sugar and uses saccharin pills from the bottle she had taken from Bish earlier that evening. For the rest of the show, the dialogue and events follow those of the short story closely. While the story has two medical characters--Bob Hudson, the coroner, and Dr. Clifton, who is at the scene of the crime, leaves, and is called back in the end--the TV show conflates them and Bob is the only doctor.

There is an effective close-up on Jackie's face as she speaks on the phone and is unsurprised to hear that her husband is dead; this choice by the director underscores the importance of her lack of reaction. To make sure that the viewers get the point, Jackie tells Bob, "'The saccharin that I left for Bish? It was poisoned.'" This direct explanation is absent from the short story, where the message is delivered more subtly. When Bob hangs up and rushes to Elise, his foot knocks over Bish's guitar, reminding the viewer of the dead man and his role in the proceedings, and the camera slowly zooms in on Elise, who is lying on the sofa, her eyes closed. The shot freezes on her and Bob's voice is heard in voice over saying, "'She's dead.'" The show ends with an abrupt fade to black.

While the short story moves inexorably from start to finish, filling in details about the characters and their relationships along the way, the TV version plods from one scene to another without creating much suspense. The most effective moments occur during the telephone call between Bob and Jackie, but there has not been enough character development to make the viewers care very much about the people on screen.

Joe Flynn as Ken

"Make My Death Bed" is the last episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents to be broadcast that was directed by Arthur Hiller (1923-2016). Born in Canada, he had a long career as a director, from 1954 to 2006, starting out in TV and ending up in film. He was president of the Director's Guild of America from 1989 to 1993 and directed 17 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "Disappearing Trick." He also directed three episodes of Thriller and the classic comedy, The In-Laws (1979).

Diana van der Vlis (1935-2001) gets top billing as Elise. She was born in Toronto and had roles on TV and film from 1954 to 1989, including a starring role on the soap opera, Where the Heart Is, from 1969 to 1973. She also played recurring roles on another soap, Ryan's Hope, between 1975 and 1989. She appeared in Roger Corman's X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes (1963). This was her only role on the Hitchcock TV show.

Co-starring as Bish Darby is James Best (1926-2015). Born Jewel Jules Franklin Guy, he acted in movies and on TV from 1950 to 2013 and readers will recall him as Jeff Myrtlebank in the Twilight Zone episode “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank”; he also appeared in three other episodes of the Hitchcock TV show, including "The Jar." From 1979 to 1985, Best played Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard. He wrote an autobiography called Best in Hollywood and there is a website about him here.

Madeleine Sherwood as Jackie

Jocelyn Brando (1919-2005), Marlon's older sister, plays Della Hudson. Trained at the Actors Studio, she was on stage from 1942 and on screen from 1945 to 1983. She was in Fritz Lang's The Big Heat (1953) as well as two episodes of Thriller and four episodes of the Hitchcock show, most notably "The Jar."

Her husband Bob is played by Biff Elliot (1923-2012), who was born Leon Shalek and who served in World War Two. He was on screen from 1950 to 1986 and played Mike Hammer in I, the Jury (1953). He was also on Star Trek and he was seen in five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including "The Day of the Bullet." A website is devoted to him here.

Joe Flynn (1924-1974) plays Ken Taylor, who married the wrong woman. He started his career as a ventriloquist and a radio performer before appearing in numerous films and TV shows between 1948 and 1977, including The Twilight Zone, Batman, and Night Gallery. He was a regular on McHale's Navy from 1962 to 1966.

Finally, Jackie Darby is played by Madeleine Sherwood (1922-2016), who played supporting roles on Broadway in the 1950s and was an original cast member of the plays, The Crucible (1953), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). Her TV and film career spanned the years from 1952 to 1993 and she is most familiar for her regular role on The Flying Nun (1967-1970).

"Make My Death Bed" aired on NBC on Tuesday, June 27, 1961. Watch this episode online here or order the DVD here. Read the short story online here.

Sources:

"Babs H(odges) Deal." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2004. Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000023978/CA?u=lawr69060&sid=bookmark-CA&xid=a2a0047b. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Deal, Babs. "Make My Death Bed." Best Detective Stories of the Year, 16th Annual Collection, Dutton, New York, 1961, pp. 39–52.

The FICTIONMAGS Index, www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/0start.htm.

Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001.

IBDB, www.ibdb.com/.

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

Limited, Alamy. “Borden Deal, Novelist, Plays Guitar, as His Wife, Babs, and Children Sit by His Side Boy Is Named Brett. Older Daughter Is Named Ashley. Younger Daughter Is Named Shane. (AP Photo Stock Photo.” Alamy, www.alamy.com/borden-deal-novelist-plays-guitar-as-his-wife-babs-and-children-sit-by-his-side-boy-is-named-brett-older-daughter-is-named-ashley-younger-daughter-is-named-shane-ap-photo-image526221613.html. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.

"Madeleine Sherwood, Staple in Tennessee Williams Plays and Films, Dies at 93." Playbill, playbill.com/article/madeleine-sherwood-staple-in-tennessee-williams-plays-and-films-dies-at-93.

"Make My Death Bed." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 6, episode 37, NBC, 27 June 1961.

"The Red Hot Typewriter." Google Books, Google, www.google.com/books/edition/The_Red_Hot_Typewriter/6muNo0ykt54C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=red%2Bhot%2Btypewriter&printsec=frontcover.

Scott, Steve. Profile: John D McDonald, thetrapofsolidgold.blogspot.com/2015/12/profile-john-d-mcdonald.html.

Stephensen-Payne, Phil. Galactic Central, www.philsp.com/.

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "Martha Mason, Movie Star" here!

In two weeks: "The Motive," starring Skip Homeier!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 128: Atlas/Marvel Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 113

July 1956 Part III

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Strange Tales 48

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Deserted Lighthouse" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel) ★1/2

"The Man Who Stole a Skyscraper" (a: Manny Stallman) ★

"The Man in Space!" (a: Bill Walton) ★★1/2

"I've Got to Hide!" (a: Mort Meskin) ★

"Medicine Man!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"The Last of Mister Grimm" (a: Dick Ayers) ★

An international criminal seeks to elude the famous Inspector Dumont by hiding out in a deserted lighthouse, a structure rumored to be haunted. It's not haunted but it is populated by other-dimensional beings. They offer sanctuary to the fugitive and he happily agrees, considering another dimension to be off limits to the stubborn Dumont. Alas, it turns out Dumont is from that dimension as well. On go the shackles! "The Deserted Lighthouse" has some good elements (the obstinate Dumont and the creepy atmosphere swirling around the lighthouse) but those are wasted by the inclusion of yet another dimensional travel plot twist. Visiting other dimensions is right up there with time machines for most over-used plot device in mid-1950s Atlas.

A skyscraper disappears and the only clues the police have is that a man with a scar and a tape measure (!) were seen near the building the day before. When the cops catch up to the man, he explains he's from another world and he was merely borrowing the skyscraper. The police don't buy his fantastic story so they send a head-shrinker into the stranger's cell and the doc uses fancy measures: he tells the guy that he's broken Earth law and he must now replace the building with one from the man's planet. Sure enough, the next day there's a really weird building hovering over the hole where once stood the proud skyscraper. "The Man Who Stole a Skyscraper" is bottom-of-the-barrel drivel in both script and art departments. The only panel that made me smile was when one of the witnesses mentioned the alien's tape measure. I wonder if it was bought at a nearby hardware store or if he brought it with him from Mars. And if the building disappeared, what happened to the people inside?

It's been a long eight years for Don Arlen, creator and pilot of Earth's first space station, but now it's time for him to head home, where his beloved wife is waiting for him. Now, finally, another man has been trained to fill in for Arlen and he's mere days from returning home to her. Then, disaster strikes in the form of a runaway meteor, a giant dirt clod that collides with the ship and risks the lives of everyone on board. Don must space walk outside the ship to fix the damage or no one will return to Earth. Don does what he must but, after the crisis is averted, he decides he really must stay aboard for a bit longer. A really enjoyable space oater, "The Man in Space!" has the feel of a SF strip written in the '40s rather than the '50s. The climax, where he delivers the bad news to his sweetie, only for her to tell him she'll do more damage to him than the meteor if she doesn't let her take the next shuttle up, is a rare happy ending that left me smiling rather than rolling my eyes.

In the nauseatingly predictable "I've Got to Hide," power plant worker Mitch accidentally blacks out a whole block of the city and heads underground to hide from the authorities. There he finds a race of weirdos who all have red 'F's on their forehead (for "fugitive"). Mitch scorns their offer of sanctuary and returns to the surface world for the requisite happy ending (the blackout wasn't his fault after all!).

"Medicine Man!" Harry Tinker thinks he's found the miracle cure-all that will make him millions but it's not to be. The formula he was given turns out to be a fake, given to him by... well, we're never told who the guy is but he disappears into thin air in the climax. Time/space continuum? Time machine? Extra-dimensional soda vendor? 

In the finale, "The Last of Mister Grimm," Henry Grimm is a tyrant to his adopted nephew, going so far as to take away an antique mirror the boy finds in their new house. The mirror turns out to be the gateway to another dimension, but when Grimm investigates, he becomes trapped there forever. The joke's on Henry and alone else who forked over a dime for this sub-par Atlas funny book!-Peter

Uncanny Tales 45

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Hand!" (a: George Roussos) ★1/2

"The Men with Green Blood" (a: Herb Familton) ★★

"Inside the Pit!" (a: Pete Morisi) ★★

"The Cure!" (a: Robert Q. Sale) ★1/2

"An Hour to Live!" (a: Bill Benulis) ★★

"Behind the Wall!" (a: Gene Colan) ★

Whitey admires Barlow, the best thief in the business, and has heard rumors that the man's prowess is due to the gloves he wears. One day, while following Barlow, Whitey manages to make off with the left glove. Knowing he'll look like a fool wearing only one glove (although decades later, someone took that idea and ran with it...), 

Whitey stops in at a thrift store and steals a white right-hand glove, unaware it once belonged to a minister. Later, while cracking a safe, he discovers his right hand refuses to partake in the illegal affair. No big deal to Whitey, and neither is the fact that he can't get either glove off his hand. But it does become a problem later when the thief sleepwalks and the "good" hand writes a confession to the police! I wondered why the "bad" hand didn't try to stop his counterpart from ratting them out. In the pre-code days, an axe would have solved the problem. George Roussos does his best imitation of lower-tier Colan but, otherwise, "The Hand!" is snoozeville.

Brilliant physician Mark Crewe has stumbled across an anomaly... two dying men have been brought to him for operations; both had green blood! After doing a little detective work, Crewe discovers the men are a part of a minority race known as "mutants" who only discover their "special abilities" at the age of forty. Soon after, Crewe realizes he's one of "The Men with Green Blood"! Early Marvel mutant concepts are intriguing but we're never told what special abilities these guys have, other than a "strange developing powers" mention. 

Some things never change and, in our distant but maybe close future, Fred Graham gets really tired of his wife Edna's nagging. Sure, he once exhibited initiative but that was years ago and he's comfortable in his job down at the power plant. Later that day, an accident at the plant bombards Fred with trillions of radioactive particles and reboots his energy. Suddenly, he's got the stamina and power of a twenty-year-old. 

But, alas, the blast also damaged his psyche and, before too long, Fred is telling his foreman that he'll be blasting the city with radioactivity unless he's paid a princely sum. Luckily, Edna is home from the mall and she hoofs it to the power plant, just in time to talk her hubby out of destroying life as we know it. Like "The Men with Green Blood," "Inside the Pit!" has some superhero ideas packed in its short length. The climax is sappy as hell but just do what I did and imagine an alternate universe where Fred pushes Edna into the fiery pit and goes through with his brilliant plan of destruction.

In "The Cure," two scientists build a time travel machine to go back to the dawn of man to wipe out flu viruses. The experiment works but there are repercussions.

Brilliant scientist Eliot Crabbe is given only months to live, so he does what any egghead would do in his position: he builds a time machine so that he can travel to the future and beat the odds. Unfortunately for Eliot he lands just as the last rocket is transporting the human race to another planet; Earth has run out of oxygen. "An Hour to Live!" is not a bad little SF yarn; it's certainly better than most of its company this issue, but Crabbe's logic muddled my brain. Why would his frail body be energized by leaping into the future? It's the same body.

Historian Noel Taylor hates the Great Wall of China so much he wishes he could go back in time and prevent its erection. Somehow (it's not really explained), Noel gets his wish and faces off with the emperor who oversaw the building. Having a hissy fit, Noel grabs a crate of gunpowder, fashions a bomb, and blows the wall to kingdom come. This, as all Atlas readers know, changes the future drastically. The plot device in "Behind the Wall!" is just about the most dim-witted we've stumbled upon during this journey. There's no explanation given for Noel's trip back in time. Not even the standard time machine. Some of Atlas's best artists (among them, Gene Colan) were being wasted on this crud.-Peter

World of Fantasy 2

Cover by Joe Maneely

"Inside the Tunnel" (a: Al Williamson)★★1/2

"It Stands in the Snow" (a: Sol Brodsky) ★1/2

"If...!" (a: Jay Scott Pike?)★★

"Midnight on the Mountain!" (a: Manny Stallman) ★

"A Cry for Help!" (a: Kurt Schaffenberger)★★

"One Night!" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel)★★

A modern-day submarine crew plans to test out Jules Verne's imaginary blueprints for going to the bottom of the sea! They travel a thousand miles and descend to the ocean floor, where they exit the sub and their heavy-duty suits protect them from the pressure of the depths. The crew encounter a giant octopus and take refuge in a cave, which leads them "Inside the Tunnel," where they find an open area with bright light. They meet undersea fish men, whose leader hands over an object wrapped in oilskin. Back inside the sub, they unwrap the package to find a copy of Verne's book!

Wessler's script is predictable, as usual, and the point of it is that the sub crew assume Verne did not have personal experience when he wrote his novel; the surprise ending suggests that he did. The story is of lesser importance than Al Williamson's art, which is some of the best we've seen in an Atlas comic in some time. It's a shame he didn't do more and it's a shame that Atlas didn't feature the work of more former EC greats.

A pair of explorers named Gregory and Oxnard trudge through the snow at the South Pole, looking for a rumored gigantic ice creature. Certain that "It Stands in the Snow," they follow giant footprints and climb a snowy mountain but find nothing. They are unaware that the previously-undiscovered mountain on which they stand is none other than the giant ice creature!

This story runs just three pages and I wonder if that was the plan, since the final panel that reveals the giant ice creature is turned horizontally at the bottom of the last page! Did Brodsky draw it as a full-page panel only to have the editor shrink it and rotate it?

Frank Roland sees a pretty girl standing under a streetlamp but doesn't have the nerve to speak to her. "If...!" he had gone up to her, he would have started a relationship that would have led to a marriage proposal. The only problem would have been the fact that she was from the planet Mercury and reverted to her original appearance every night between midnight and dawn. Frank would have backed out of the marriage just as she and her family were speeding off with him on a rocket ship to the first planet from the sun. After the woman gets in a taxi, having not been spoken to by Frank, he takes the bus home, where his sister introduces him to Lola!

The GCD suggests that the art is by Jay Scott Pike and it's got that slightly wooden, Golden Age look to it. Unfortunately, the title reminded me of the classic EC war story of the same title and this pales in comparison.

As he walks along a mountain, hunting unsuccessfully for uranium, Chris Corbin mopes around and thinks of what a failure he is and how he doesn't deserve his girlfriend, Helen. He falls off the mountain and awakens in a hospital, only to find that he can't move his legs. The doctor says that there's nothing wrong with him and his paralysis is psychosomatic, but that doesn't help. Chris is taken back to his mountain shack, where Helen soon shows up to care for him.

Chris gets frustrated and throws his Geiger counter on the floor. Suddenly, a huge, powerful man calling himself Torga appears in the shack, having traveled from the future along a time passage triggered by Chris's Geiger counter, which interacted with Torga's time machine. Torga is a master criminal on the run from the police; he grabs Helen and that's all it takes for Chris to overcome his paralysis. He leaps from his wheelchair and throws the Geiger counter at Torga, who disappears. The machine broke in the melee and eliminated the time passage. Helen and Chris rejoice at his recovery.

Who in the world was "Midnight on the Mountain!" written for? There can't have been many kids in 1956 who were scanning the comic book racks looking for a heartwarming story about a failure who suffers psychosomatic paralysis and overcomes it by his love for his gal! The art by Stallman equals the writing in poor quality.

Professor George Mason is so wrapped up in his scientific experiments that he can't be bothered with his wife and kids. He decides to build a team of unfeeling robots who can work all the time with no distractions and he soon moves to a remote house where his experiments can continue uninterrupted. Years pass and the house where he works begins to fall apart. One day a beam crashes down on George, pinning him to the floor, but the robots work on, ignoring "A Cry for Help!" Eventually, George's son shows up and rescues him. The lad is now a grown man who tells George that he stopped by for a visit because it's Father's Day! George leaves the house with his son, finally knowing the meaning of love.

The story is pretty bad and the ending is sappy, as are the endings of most Atlas stories at this point, but the art by Kurt Schaffenberger is quite nice. He has a clean line and can draw an effective panel such as the one I've reproduced here.

A cranky old Earthman named Pete is visiting Antares with other Earthmen. He complains that his life back home stinks in comparison to the great life people lead on this planet. After a man bumps into him on the street, Pete punches the man and is sentenced to death, since violence is not tolerated. He is told that he can have anything his heart desires during the "One Night!" he has left to live, but instead, Pete appeals to his captain and is released. On the way back to Earth, the captain wonders why Pete chose to return to Earth rather than spending his final night in the lap of luxury. What Pete didn't realize is that one night on Antares equals 93 Earth years!

My expectations are so low at this point that I laughed out loud at the end of this story, even though we've read this twist before. The art by Forgione and Abel is solid, as usual, and at least this four-pager didn't end with Pete learning a lesson and everyone holding hands.-Jack

Next Week...
Could This Be the Most Iconic
Batman Cover of the 1960s?

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?