Batman in the 1960s Issue 31: January/February 1965

 

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

Infantino & Giella

Detective Comics #335

"Trail of the Talking Mask!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

Acting on a tip from P.I. Hugh Rankin (who's still trying to accrue enough points to become a member of the Mystery Analysts Club), Batman and Robin enter the Gotham City Jewel Mart and find three suspicious-looking characters intent on robbing the Mart of its prized possessions. Batman lays a fist into the chin of one of the trio and Robin takes a flying leap at another, but both crimefighters are easily shunted aside like rag dolls. 

Picking themselves up and dusting off their capes, the duo give chase, but the bad guys are already burning rubber in a getaway car. Using that insanely-intricate detective brain of his, the Caped Crusader proposes that he and his teenage partner visit the office of Hugh Rankin to see what gives.

But Rankin is not at his office and his secretary has heard nothing from him for hours. Bats deduces that Rankin was back at the Mart, hidden in the shadows, watching the action from afar. And that's exactly what happened, as we see in a quick flashback that details Hugh's witnessing of the escaping criminals. Turns out the trio of goons who robbed the Mart were "audio-automatons" (from here on out referred to as "robots" or "androids" or something even shorter), controlled by three very human bad guys aping their every move a block away. Hugh follows the two escape cars to an old abandoned theater on the outskirts of Gotham.

There, the androids and controllers meet up with their boss, the self-monikered Make-Up Man, who wears a prosthetic face and, therefore, has never let the world glimpse his true identity. Hmmmm... sounds like the start of a great mystery villain to be unmasked at a later date, right? Hugh enters the building and is quickly overpowered by the Make-Up Man's human goons and pummeled unconscious.

Meanwhile, our heroes have picked up a brilliant clue Hugh left for them in case he was incapacitated: a special paint sprayed on the tires of the getaway cars. With a special lens, Robin is able to trace the paint to the theater and the boys enter the building quietly. The body of Hugh Rankin lies splayed across the floor before them and Robin approaches to see if the man is alive, only to be viciously knocked off his feet by his boss, the big guy in tights. Seems Robin wasn't paying attention to detail and Bats saw that the face had no five o'clock shadow. Hugh had not been home to shave since the morning and would surely have stubble. Once again, the precocious Robin is saved by the World's Greatest Detective.

Hearing all the noise, Make-Up Man sends one of his robots to take care of business, but this time the Dynamic Duo are ready for the nuts-and-bolts villain and smash him to pieces. They quickly make equal piles of tin scrap of the other androids and rescue Hugh. The Make-Up Man seems to have gotten away. But just one second... as Hugh tugs at the door to his car, Batman leaps forty feet and wrestles Rankin to the ground. Has Batman lost his marbles? Nope, he knows that Hugh Rankin is careful to lock his car door and would know it was locked and wouldn't be caught dead tugging at a locked car door! This guy is the Make-Up Man, for gosh sakes! The boys put the cuffs on the MM and head back into the theater to find the real Hugh Rankin. All in a day's work.

There's way too much coincidence and guesswork in "Trail of the Talking Mask!" The androids work in the same way as our contemporary Virtual Reality games, but the fact that three guys have to accompany the robots to the heist site and then ape all their movements seems a bit cumbersome for such a sneaky operation. The Make-Up Man's real identity would forever remain a mystery, since no one on the staff had the foresight to consider a long arc to keep the readers guessing a la the Green Goblin. But continuing storylines evidently were anathema to six-year-old kids. Or so Julie believed. Anyway, this was MM's sole appearance. Gotta say, the Infantino/Giella team is cooking here; this is some of the most dynamic art we've seen in the 1960s adventures. It's very Gil Kane-ish. -Peter

Jack-I agree, but I'd still like to see Sid Greene ink a Batman story, since his inks look so great over Infantino's pencils on the Elongated Man stories in every issue of Detective Comics. The Make-Up Man is an okay villain, I guess, but the lack of any follow up is disappointing. I like the Hugh Rankin character and hope we see more of him. In addition to the nickname of Cowled Crusader, we now have the Masked Manhunter and the Teen-Age Thunderbolt. My hero blogging thesaurus continues to grow with each issue!

Infantino & Giella

Batman #169

"Partners in Plunder!"

Story by Ed Herron

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

"A Bad Day for Batman!"

Story by Ed Herron

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Sid Greene

The Penguin, the Man of 1000 umbrellas, is out of jail and out of ideas for new crimes to commit, so he decides to launch an umbrella barrage on Gotham City so that Batman will provide him with the idea for a new caper and they will be "Partners in Plunder!" First, patrons at a jewelry store are given umbrellas that open by themselves and shoot smoke and lightning inside the store. Second, umbrellas given to bank patrons take flight and zoom around the bank. Third, giant umbrellas roll down the street with wild abandon. Fourth, a giant umbrella drifts down from the sky and lands in the street.

Batman and Robin are determined to blame the Penguin, who has been expecting them and who switches his monocle from his right eye to his left eye just to give them something else to consider. He points out that they have no evidence to tie him to the umbrella mayhem and they depart. That night, a pair of multi-colored umbrellas light up the sky. The Dynamic Duo investigate and Batman deduces that the umbrellas hold a clue to the Penguin's next crime, which must involve stealing a jeweled meteorite from the museum. Little does Batman know that the Penguin is listening in to the Cowled Crusader's soliloquy and happily adopts Batman's suggestions for his next crime.

The Penguin and his gang land on the museum roof and meet Batman and Robin, but the heroes are pulled away by a giant magnet that attracts their metal belt buckles, which were "subjected to a powerful and special magnetic force when [they] picked up [his] last two umbrellas." The Dynamic Duo easily free themselves by cutting off their belts. They kayo the Penguin's goons as he escapes on a jet-powered umbrella. Batman and Robin follow on two of the now-dispatched goons' jet-powered umbrellas, quickly catching the fowl fiend and rescuing the meteorite. Once again, the Penguin ends up behind bars, but he enjoys Batman's puzzlement over the meaningless monocle switch from one eye to another.

This issue of Batman went on sale in the first week of December 1964 and the Batman TV show premiered in mid-January 1966. The Penguin story really seems like just the thing for the TV show, and I wonder if William Dozier read this story in 1965 when he was developing the series. At first, I was disappointed by the contrast in art styles between the cover, by Infantino and Giella, and the splash page, by Moldoff and Giella, but soon the goofiness of the story grabbed me and swept me along. I thought it was quite enjoyable and I was happy to see a member of the Rogue's Gallery other than the Joker.

The Cloaked Crusader answers questions from reporters at a press conference and admits that it's been "A Bad Day for Batman!" A necklace thief escaped due to a series of unlucky breaks, such as the lights going out in a hallway during a chase and a boat running out of gas. At the end of the press conference, Batman invites one reporter to tag along as Batman easily locates the thief and recovers the necklace.

It's a simple, straightforward story and it's passably entertaining due to the art, which is above average. How often has the Dark Knight Detective been stymied by things like a sunbathing woman's mirror reflecting in his eyes? In the wrong situation, such flukes could be fatal!-Jack

Peter-The Penguin yarn is just about as brainless as some of the scripts for the '66 TV show, as if Ed Herron had already run out of ideas. It does shine a spotlight on Gotham's increasingly poor criminal justice system, since it seems only months (in real time... what's that, a few days in comic book time?) since Penguin pulled his last caper and was sentenced to hard time. The cover hints at what great art could have been found within had Julie assigned the strip to the better art crew. As it is, there are some pretty nutty panels here, as in the one on page ten where the monocled menace seems to have either a huge head or a very small arm. I found "A Bad Day for Batman!" to be equally sophomoric in the script department but much easier to stomach as far as art goes. Which is crazy, since Giella seems to highlight Infantino's graphics but weigh down Moldoff's, and Greene almost makes Moldy into a passable artist. Strange how these combos work.

Infantino & Giella

Detective Comics #336

"Batman's Bewitched Nightmare"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

Batman and Robin face their deadliest foe ever--a witch who rides a broomstick and loves to rob banks. She can shoot lightning bolts from her fingers and transform a pumpkin and four rats into a car driven by gangsters. That's magic!

But her real aim is to defeat the Dynamic Duo. The boys discover quickly that the old hag can rob them of their five senses and she does that (with a loud cackle) during five deadly confrontations. In the end, Robin discovers that the witch's powers are voided when she doesn't have her broomstick. The "Teenage Thunderbolt" makes away with the kitchen tool and the woman can only look on in defeat.

But, after the boys have delivered Old Hag to the police and they are hanging the broomstick on the souvenir wall in the Batcave, the instrument begins talking to them in the voice of the mysterious Outsider. He acknowledges that the witch was his flunky and they've won yet another battle, but he'll be back soon to win the war.

"Batman's Bewitched Nightmare" is an entertaining bit of fluff, but why can't writer Fox leave well enough alone and hold himself back from explaining everything away in the end? The Outsider claims the broomstick is made of a rare wood and the witch used some "extra-sensory powers" to create her illusions. "Of course, there are no witches and no magic," he comforts the more sensitive six-year-old readers. Well, that may be true, but changing a pumpkin and some mice into a caddy full of goons sounds pretty magical to me. This "Outsider" sub-plot is a good one (and proves I may be wrong about DC's hesitancy to carry over plot elements) and I hope it's resolved in a cool way.-Peter

Jack-Moldoff's witch is pretty disappointing and I also was surprised by the need to explain things away at the end. What, there are no such things as witches, but we're supposed to accept Bat-Mite? Even stranger is the note in the GCD that this issue's witch was revealed to be Batman's Justice League teammate Zatanna in JLA #51. I did a quick review of that issue and it's true--she explains that she was compelled by the Outsider to do what she did!

Next Week...
More Severin +
Yet Another New Title!

Journey Into Strange Tales Issue 120: Marvel/Atlas Science Fiction & Horror Comics!

 

The Marvel/Atlas 
Horror Comics

Part 105

May 1956 Part II

by Peter Enfantino

and Jack Seabrook

Marvel Tales #146

Cover by Carl Burgos

"The Lost World!" (a: Bob Forgione & Jack Abel)  ★

"Reach for the Stars!" (a: Joe Maneely)  ★★

"As the Crowd Roars" (a: Bob Powell)  ★

"Address Unknown" (a: Bob Bean)  ★★

(r: Tomb of Darkness #23)

"One Man's Leprechaun" (a: Mort Drucker) ★★★

(r: Weird Wonder Tales #20)

"The Secret Land" (a: Bob McCarthy)  ★1/2

Brilliant scientist Mark Terrel is found wandering in the desert, fifty years after he disappeared from Earth. What's the story? Turns out he had been stranded in Africa, penniless, and decided he could walk his way back through the desert. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as we discover later), Mark slipped through a "time flaw" and ended up in Atlantis, where he was welcomed with open arms. He fell in love with the beautiful Arla and made a life for himself, but one of the city's elders asked Mark to make a return visit to the world he once knew and drop off a handful of "gifts of science" from the people of Atlantis. Mark made his visit, dropped off the miracles, and zipped back to his girl. Schmaltzy and dopey, "The Lost World!" makes very little sense when you think about it. Brilliant scientist decides a long trek through the Sahara might just be the trick. All the menace and danger has been sapped out of these things and we're left with cornball romance and cliched characters.

Equally cornball and safe, but at least given a professional sheen by ace Joe Maneely, "Reach for the Stars!" involves brilliant scientist Pete Coleman, who's developing a spaceship for the military. Turns out a race of aliens has discovered Pete's brilliance and are even now heading for Earth to discuss the project with him. Of course, the military immediately circles the wagons and is on the brink of blasting the UFO into hell when a miracle occurs and the aliens are allowed to blast back into space. But not before leaving the vital information Pete needed to finish his rocket ship. 1950s aliens would have annihilated all of mankind rather than given them a Golden Wonka Ticket.

Evidently, that "time flaw" that swallowed up Mark Terrel never got properly closed as only two stories later, in "As the Crowd Roars," we meet wanna-be boxing manager, Manny Kimble, who just can't seem to find that future superstar pugilist until he takes a walk out the gym door one day and finds himself back in Ancient Rome, where he's introduced to Antonius Galleo. Within weeks, Manny has trained Antonius to be the number one gladiator in Rome. This infuriates Nero, so Ant and Manny have to take a powder. They end up back in crumby ol' Brooklyn and Antonius (now known as Tony Galleo) begins his ascent to heavyweight glory.

All the tenants of Mrs. Milworth's boarding house make fun of Herman Hofferman for stashing stones in his room. Only Mrs. Milworth cuts Herman any slack because he's such a nice man, even if he hasn't paid the rent in over a year. If only the other guests knew that Herman was working on a machine that turns rocks into diamonds, they'd keep their petty opinions to themselves, the wankers. Unfortunately, when Herman fires up the gizmo for the first time, it does nothing. Despondent, he gives the machine a good shove and leaves the house forever rather than hear any more baloney from the unwashed. Herman heads back to a life of poverty, begging on the street, not knowing that the extra heave-ho he gave his Tinkertoy was all it took. The thing is spitting out diamonds, to the delight of Mrs. Milworth! Yeah, it's a cliched ending, but it still brought a smile to my face, as did Bob Bean's nice art.

Leo Loomis only wants the best for his small town of Marshville, so he puts it out there that he's running for mayor. Well, the townsfolk just about split a gut at that news, so the despondent Leo heads out to the local crick to do some fishin' and happens upon a leprechaun (who dresses like Santa for some reason), who gives Leo the tools to turn his fortune around. Leo brings Marshvile out of its doldrums but the town still won't vote for him. Now here's a charmer that's not schmaltzy or fake, just a load of fun. Of course, the fact that "One Man's Leprechaun" is drawn by Mort Drucker is a big help. Mort's characters can't help but elicit chuckles.

In yet another variation of the "dimension-dimension time slip," two explorers hike to the top of Mt. Everest and discover the door to a cabin. Waiting out the storm, the pair of hikers exit the cabin to find a beautiful paradise awaiting them. Frank and Jack discover the land is ruled by King Rodj, who welcomes them and makes them feel at home. They spend several weeks with the king but eventually wish to get back to their families. When the king insists they can never go back, the men escape and find their way back to the cabin. The next day, they exit to find they are back on Mt. Everest. They make the descent, but their story is laughed off by anyone they tell. Meanwhile, King Rudj welcomes back the spaceship that sat atop Everest to his home on Jupiter. Do I need to whine that nothing about "The Secret Land" makes any sense? How did Frank and Jack get back to Everest from Jupiter? Did they accidentally fire up the ship? Why would King Rudj of Jupiter go to such fuss to transport two "guests" to his planet? Sheesh.-Peter

Mystery Tales #41

Cover by Bill Everett & Carl Burgos

"Out of the Darkness" (a: Mort Drucker) ★★★

"The Mystery of the Doomed Derelict!" (a: John Romita) ★1/2

(r: Vault of Evil #4) 

"The Man in the Mirror!" (a: Ed Winiarski) ★

"While the Town Sleeps!" (a: Kurt Schaffenberger) ★★

(r: Where Monsters Dwell #20)

"Behind the Mask" (a: Jim McLaughlin & Sol Brodsky) ★

"This Primitive Planet!" (a: Paul Reinman) ★★

Amidst an atmosphere of fear and hate, Leonardo DaVinci creates a race of robots, stashes them and all his wacky inventions on a spaceship, and blasts it off into space where they will be safe from human hands. The robots land on a planet and create a society based on law. One free-thinking robot (let's call him Leo) is accused of transgression and forced into suspended animation. Back on Earth, modern day scientists tackle the problems of space travel. "Out of the Darkness" is a wild tale, the likes of which aren't usually found within the pages of a post-code Atlas. Its climax is a sputter rather than an exclamation point, but I'll still give it extra points for being, yep, transgressive. Mort was the perfect artist for this goofy yarn.

Captain Wedgwood drives his crew to madness and exhaustion time and time again. Now, Wedgewood finds his crews are literally disappearing on him while still at sea. In a waterfront store, Wedgewood finds a book of magic and inside it is a spell to "transport men from one place to another without their consent." The captain boards his vessel, says the spell and, voila! instant crew. This bunch has heard how hard Wedgewood can be but they're keeping an open mind. A few days at sea and their minds are closed again. They vanish from the ship and Wedgewood is left to wonder about the vagaries of mankind. How do you run a ship without breaking some eggs? Like most of these Atlas tales, "The Mystery of the Doomed Derelict!" (a really dumb title if there ever was one) has some really nifty art but not a lot of pizazz in the little word balloons. 

Meek Harold Farnum really digs his boss's daughter, Sheila, but she's a chip off the old block, treating Harold like a lapdog and belittling him in front of others. Then one day, while Harold and Sheila are at an auction, Harold accidentally bids on and wins an ancient mirror. Sheila reminds him what a spineless mouse he is and doubles up on her assurance that she'll never marry him as long as he's a wimp.

Once home, Harold gazes into the mirror and (holy cow, not again!) is magically transported into the time of King Arthur's Court. He is known as brave knight Sir Guy de Montfort and witnesses a knave chasing a pretty wench, who looks startlingly like Sheila, through the castle halls. Sir Guy defeats a score of armed soldiers. Having preserved the pretty wench's maidenhood, Sir Guy gets the girl in the end. And, back in the present, Sheila enters Harold's dismal apartment to belittle him yet again. Instead of reaching behind him for the cutlery (which he would have done in 1953), Harold tells Sheila to shut her yap and marry him. A new day has dawned and man hath spoken. Sheila squeals in delight and agrees to be Harold's property until death do they part. The naïveté (or misogyny if you prefer) of some of these pre-PC strips can't help but make one laugh and the climax of "The Man in the Mirror!" is guaranteed to make even the sternest feminist let one rip.

"While the Town Sleeps," the raging sea batters the dike that prevents the town from flooding. With no one to patch up the dam, the statue of a local lad who stuck his finger in a dike (hey, no laughing now!) and saved the town two centuries before comes to life and reenacts his heroic deed. In the morning, the townsfolk find the hole in the dike and the statue's missing finger. The only really outlandish aspect of "While the Town Sleeps!" is that the statue's plaque is worded: In memory of the brave Dutch lad who saved our countryside from flooding 200 years ago... Does this mean every year they change the number? 201...202...203... Schaffenberger's graphics are strong enough that I can remember distinctly reading this as a kid in Where Monsters Dwell and liking it, despite a dearth of monsters.

Sidney Burr has a problem... he's a homely, heartless wretch who needs to find a rich woman to wed so that he can be lazy the rest of his life. To that end, he visits master mask maker Eric Hoblund, who cranks out a series of disguises for the dishonest gigolo. The masks work until the very moment that Eric lowers the boom on his prospective spouses and then the disguise vanishes, leaving an ugly, greedy jerk once again. Despondent, Sidney walks the streets until he comes across a rather pretty, weeping lass who confesses to the smitten sod that she has no money and cannot eat. Sidney buys her a burger and falls in love with the girl but admits he's wearing a "handsome" mask and that, below the shiny surface, he's just another creepy, middle-class slob. To come completely clean, Sid unmasks and the girl sees... the same handsome blond. Love conquers greed. "Behind the Mask" magically transforms a money-hungry lounge lizard into a caring individual in the matter of a few frames. Brodsky's pencils admirably fit a sappy romance strip.

Mike Dawes hires a new guy for his welding and metal-cutting company despite the fact that the man can barely speak English but, after a few hours of inspecting the work, Mike declares the experiment a disaster. The man begs for another chance and, hours later, Mike is impressed with the cutting the new employee has made. The guy even speaks better English now! After only a few weeks, Mike's new hire is saving the company millions of dollars and is promoted to shift manager. He asks Mike if he can work on his own project in the after hours. Mike happily agrees.

Turns out the guy is actually space traveler, Oron, who crash-landed here on Earth and has been biding his time until he can build himself a new spaceship. Mike stows away on the craft and Oron drops him off on a remote Pacific island among a passel of hungry headhunters. Mike must prove his superior intellect and produce fire to keep the savages at bay. As Mike crafts a raft to escape the island, he watches as Oron zips over en route to outer space, musing that he and Oron are a lot alike. Superior beings amongst morons. At first glance, the climax of "This Primitive Planet!" might seem hopeful and contemplative, but then you remember that Mike is stuck on a raft in the ocean and will probably die very soon of exposure or starvation. That Oron isn't such a nice guy, after all.-Peter

Mystic #47

Cover by Bill Everett

"The Man Who Could Do Anything" (a: Dick Ayers) ★1/2

"The Magic Mixture!" (a: Bernard Baily) ★★

"It Happened at Night" (a: John Forte) ★1/2

"Just One More Chance" (a: Frank Bolle) ★★

"The One They Left Behind!" (art: Charles Stern?) ★

"The Eager Stranger" (a: Bill Benulis) ★1/2

Six months ago, Tod Carter was out prospecting for uranium (as one does) when he met a giant of a man who told him where to find a deposit. The man introduced himself as Sram and he and Tod quickly became pals. Sram was "The Man Who Could Do Anything," and he demonstrated this by capturing a lion with his bare hands and rescuing a planeload of people when the craft burst into flames. On a ship heading back to America, Sram showed a scientist where canals are on a map of Mars. When Tod was swept overboard, Sram rescued him by swimming over a hundred miles.

After the long swim, Sram disappeared and Tod followed his trail to a mountain cabin that was suddenly struck by lightning. In the ruins, Tod found a medal that read, "Champion Athlete...Stellar Space Series." Tod then wrote out SRAM on a sheet of paper and held it up to a mirror. Guess what? SRAM spelled backwards is MARS, where the giant came from!

Boy, I feel dumb not figuring that out myself. At least next month, when we read a story in Marvel Tales about a powerful man named SUNEV, I'll be a step ahead of the writer.

Raymond Barton is an unhappy man until he meets a strange scientist in a cabin who sells him four bottles of "The Magic Mixture!" for ten bucks. Ray goes home, drinks the bottle labeled "wealth," and is immediately flush with cash, but he soon tires of loneliness. He drinks the bottle labeled "friendship" and has tons of friends overnight, but that, too, becomes tiresome. The bottle labeled "travel" leads to many trips, but only when he drinks the bottle labeled "truth" and realizes that true happiness comes from generosity is he satisfied.

Thank goodness Bernard Baily drew this one. Otherwise, it would be a total waste of four pages. I'm quite fond of Baily's art, but the platitudes presented in this dull tale cause no reader excitement.

College student Ralph Doyle is calm and relaxed when he's abducted by men with shiny silver skin and flown in a spaceship to the moon. On the moon, local folk sniff the flowers and walk around holding parasols. They order that Ralph be returned to Earth, so it's back in the flying saucer for another trip. On Earth, the moon men remove their costumes and reveal that it was all a fraternity initiation prank, something Ralph knew all along. When the flying saucer takes off, they all realize that they really did visit the moon!

So many of John Forte's male characters seem to wear bow ties that it seems like a mid-1950s uniform. Here, college student Ralph sports a red one, while his frat bros all go to elaborate lengths to pretend to be Martians. I don't fully understand what happens at the end, when the flying saucer takes off, since it seems like all of the moon men are college students in disguise.

Jack and Joan are in love and wish he made enough money for them to get married. He longs for a bright future while she thinks things were better in the past. They visit a fortune teller and, after drinking her special tea, experience life both in the past (in the time of knights and ladies) and the future (where baby girls are assigned husbands at birth). In neither time do they find happiness so, back in 1956, they decide that they should go ahead and get married and appreciate what they have today.

Frank Bolle does a nice job illustrating "Just One More Chance," but it seems like Atlas goes too often to the time of knights. I have to wonder, who would a story like this appeal to? It's too lovey-dovey and corny for kids and too dopey for adults.

A crew of astronauts who are about to leave Saturn make one final effort to locate "The One They Left Behind!" They fail to find the crew member and blast off for Earth. The missing orderly emerges from hiding, gleeful that he'll no longer have to work hard and is free, but after a year he's bored and lonely. Back on Earth, the ship lands and reports that one crew member is missing. They are sent back to recover the orderly, even though he's only a robot.

Three wasted pages with below average art and a punch line anyone could see coming a mile away. It seems like it took a year to fly back to Earth from Saturn, and now the crew is being sent back to retrieve a surly robot? Seems like a poor use of resources.

"The Eager Stranger" is a little boy who walks into town determined to help everyone he can. He uses his mental powers to prevent a car from hitting a pedestrian but, to his surprise, the people involved complain. He helps a woman retrieve a necklace she had pawned, but she is upset that she wasted money she could've spent on necessities. Finally, he trips up what appear to be bank robbers, only to discover that he's wrecked a scene in a movie being filmed. Having learned his lesson, the little boy ascends back to Heaven, his angel wings now visible from behind.

Decent pages drawn by Bill Benulis can't save this saccharine story! With poorly conceived covers and interiors heavy on moralizing, the Atlas line of comics seems to be marching slowly toward oblivion.-Jack

Next Week...
Black Magic Woman!

The Hitchcock Project-A Nice Touch by Mann Rubin [9.2]

by Jack Seabrook

From New York City, a woman named Janice telephones her lover, Larry Preston, in Los Angeles to report that her husband Al found her and began hitting her in a drunken rage. After telling her that he would not give her a divorce, he passed out and is lying on the floor. Larry tells Janice that her husband needs to be taken care of tonight. He instructs her to take a pillow from the bed and smother the unconscious man.

Janice complies and, once the deed is done, she returns to the phone. Larry tells her to cover the body with a blanket, drag it to her husband's car, drive to a dock, and dump it in the East River. Janice and Larry profess their love for each other and hang up the phone. Larry calls the Los Angeles police to report the murder and suggests that the New York police be alerted. He goes back to bed, rejoining Darlene, an actress with whom he's been seen around Hollywood. She remarks that he has "'a nice touch'" and he agrees.

"A Nice Touch" was
first published here

"A Nice Touch" was first published in the February 1958 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and is a thin story with a predictable ending; the character of Janice is overly hysterical and  not very credible. The story's author, Mann Rubin (1927-2013), wrote stories for DC Comics from 1951 to 1953, had short stories published between 1954 and 1967, and wrote for the small and big screens from 1952 to 1991. He adapted "A Nice Touch" for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. His papers are held at the University of Wyoming and, in addition to the script for "A Nice Touch," the collection includes a script for an unproduced episode titled "A Slice of Life." "A Nice Touch" was Rubin's only contribution to the Hitchcock TV show.

Not surprisingly, the short story required considerable expansion to fit the hour-long time slot. The TV version begins with a scene dramatizing the violent struggle between Janice and Ed (as her husband has been renamed). He passes out on the floor and she telephones Larry, who answers the phone dressed in an expensive robe; he is in an expensively furnished living room. The dialogue tracks that of the short story, for the most part, until Janice says that she and Larry met only two months ago and the screen dissolves to the first of a series of flashbacks.

Anne Baxter as Janice

In the flashback, Janice is a casting agent who meets Larry when he comes to audition for a part. He is a method actor who is completely wrong for the part of a suave British aristocrat, yet he aggressively pushes his way in and gives an embarrassingly bad reading. Later, outside the office building, Larry harasses Janice, who twists her ankle rushing for a cab. He picks her up, deposits her in the taxi, and joins her in the back seat. Janice may be charmed by Larry's behavior, but viewed today it appears sexist and abusive.

Returning to the present, the phone call continues and Larry brings up the idea of Janice killing her husband. A second flashback picks up after the taxi has dropped Janice and Larry at her apartment. He aggressively insists on staying and she lets him; while she changes her clothes, he looks around her beautiful, mid-century modern apartment and tells her about himself. After insulting Janice, Larry suddenly grabs her and kisses her; again, his behavior is abusive when viewed today. She responds to his embrace but he breaks it off, and she is clearly smitten.

George Segal as Larry

The flashback ends and the phone call continues as Larry psychologically manipulates Janice. Another flashback shows Janice on the phone with a producer, talking him into testing Larry for a role and replacing another one of her agency's clients. Larry is next to her as she speaks and we see that he has already succeeded in manipulating her into making bad business decisions that benefit him.

The phone call in the present ends as Larry tells Janice that he'll call her back in fifteen minutes while he figures out the details of the murder. We see that Ed is still passed out on the floor and Janice pleads with his motionless figure to wake up and go home. Another flashback follows, this time showing Janice and Ed discussing the impending end of their marriage. In the middle of their argument she takes a phone call from the producer about Larry and Ed walks out.

Charlene Holt as Darlene

Back in the present, Janice looks at Ed lying on the floor and calls Larry back; both are beginning to sweat from the tension of the situation as Larry encourages Janice to smother her husband. The next flashback shows Janice opening a gift from Ed, who is now in Hollywood; the gift is a pillow shaped like a star. She speaks to him on the phone and he tells her that he has been signed to a movie deal. Janice seems to miss him desperately; her life as a successful career woman is falling apart due to her love for the manipulative actor, whose smooth voice on the phone in the scenes set in the present contrasts with his less polished accent in the flashbacks.

Mimi Dillard as the secretary

Janice's secretary enters her office and hears the end of her phone call with Larry. Talking the producer into hiring her lover has cost Janice her job, but she keeps this a secret from Larry. In addition to her job, Janice has lost her reputation and her husband. Returning to the present, Janice takes the pillow that was seen in the flashback and smothers Ed, the pillow coming down over the camera lens to black it out. Ironically, she uses a gift from her lover to murder her spouse, all at her lover's urging. Back on the phone with Larry, he tells her how to dispose of the body. In an addition to the story, Janice insists on taking the first plane out to Los Angeles to join Larry; this gives him an additional motive for his subsequent call to the police.

Gil Stuart at
the audition

In the final scene, Larry goes to the bedroom and joins Darlene in bed. Unlike the story, where she is his latest lover, in the TV show they are married and on their honeymoon; the show ends like the story with them agreeing that he has a nice touch.

The TV version of Rubin's short story features strong acting by the two leads and the flashbacks help flesh out the narrative, but it's still hampered by the thin premise and Larry's sexist behavior is difficult to watch, as is Janice's pathetic dependence on her unworthy lover.

"A Nice Touch" is directed by Joseph Pevney (1911-2008), who started out as an actor in vaudeville in the 1920s and had a short career as a film actor from 1946 to 1950. He then became a director and was more successful, directing films from 1950 to 1966, including Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). His career as a TV director spanned the years from 1959 to 1985 and included 14 episodes of Star Trek and five episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, one of which was "Starring the Defense."

Walter Woolf King
as Roberts

In her only appearance on the Hitchcock TV show, Anne Baxter (1923-1985) stars as Janice. She started out as an actress on Broadway in 1936 and by 1940 she was appearing in films. She won an Oscar for her role in All About Eve (1950) and she was seen in Hitchcock's I Confess and Lang's The Blue Gardenia (both 1953). Baxter continued appearing on screen until her death, including seven episodes of Batman. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Co-starring as Larry is George Segal (1934-2021), also in his only role on the Hitchcock TV show. Segal served in the Army in the Korean War and trained at the Actors Studio; he appeared on screen from 1957 until his death. Notable roles include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and starring parts in two long-running TV sitcoms: Just Shoot Me (1997-2003) and The Goldbergs (2013-2021).

In smaller roles:

• Charlene Holt (1928-1996) as Darlene, Larry's new wife whom he joins in bed in the final scene; born Verna Charlene Stavely, she was Miss Maryland in 1956 and her screen career lasted from 1962 to 1980.
• Mimi Dillard (1934-2008) as Janice's secretary; she was on screen from 1958 to 1970 and she was one of the few Black actors who began to appear on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, always in small, supporting roles.
• Gil Stuart (1919-1977) as another actor auditioning for the role that Larry reads for; he was born in London as Derek Grist and he was on screen from 1941 to 1977. He was on Thriller twice and the Hitchcock show three times, including "The Trap."
• Walter Woolf King (1899-1984) as Roberts, who runs the audition; he started out on Broadway in 1919, worked in radio, and was seen in many movies and TV shows from 1930 to 1977, including A Night at the Opera (1935), Swiss Miss (1938), and Go West (1940). He was in five episodes of the Hitchcock series, including "Our Cook's a Treasure," from season one, and "Isabel," from season nine.
• Harry Townes (1914-2001) plays Ed Brandt, Janice's doomed husband. He was on Broadway before serving in the Army Air Corps in WWII;  his screen career lasted from 1949 to 1988, mostly on TV, where he played countless parts. Townes was in four episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Creeper," and he also appeared on The Twilight Zone, Thriller, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, and Night Gallery. He co-starred in the 1958 film adaptation of Fredric Brown's The Screaming Mimi. Oddly enough, in addition to being an actor, he was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1974.

Harry Townes as Ed

"A Nice Touch" was adapted one more time, as a fifteen-minute short film in 2012. The trailer can be viewed here. It looks like the film may have followed Rubin's original story, without adding any flashbacks.

Read "A Nice Touch" here. Watch the Hitchcock version here.

Sources:

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

Galactic Central, www.philsp.com/.

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

Grand Comics Database, www.comics.org.

IBDB, www.ibdb.com.

IMDb, www.imdb.com.

"A Nice Touch." The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, season 2, episode 2, CBS, 4 October 1963.

Rubin, Mann. "A Nice Touch." Alfred Hitchcock Presents: My Favorites in Suspense. NY: Random House, 1959, pp. 345-353.

Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org.

Listen to Al Sjoerdsma discuss "The Three Dreams of Mr. Findlater" here!

In two weeks: "The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow," starring Patricia Collinge and Jessica Walter!

Batman in the 1960s Issue 30: November/December 1964

 

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

Infantino & Anderson

Batman #167

"Zero Hour for Earth!"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

At Gotham Airport, Batman and Robin's meeting with a man getting off a plane is canceled when the man is shot and the gunman is killed when he is hit by the plane's wheels. The man that Batman was supposed to meet was an Interpol agent who had information on Hydra, an international crime syndicate. Batman vows to put an end to Hydra; elsewhere, a sinister man gloats about his belief that Batman is unaware of the real reason the agent was killed.

Batman and Robin fly the Batplane to Holland, where they find and defeat Hydra agents using a windmill to hide stolen diamonds. Batman and Robin discuss the fact that the Interpol agent was not really killed immediately at the airport and told Batman that a man named Karabi is plotting to start a war between two Asian countries that will embroil other nations, including the U.S.! To keep Karabi from knowing that Batman is looking for him, Batman is traveling around the world, eliminating Hydra cells, while also seeking Karabi.

In Singapore, an Interpol agent masquerading as a dancer uses Semaphore to pass information onto a disguised Batman. The Dynamic Duo then fly to Greece, where they intercept and neutralize another Hydra cell. Batman learns more about Karabi in Hong Kong; this leads him and Robin to a jungle in an unnamed Asian country, where Batman comes face to face with Karabi, who plans to fire a nuclear missile from one country to another and trigger a war.

Batman is captured but escapes, and he and Robin arrive just in the nick of time to stop the missile from being launched. They fly to Switzerland and defeat another Hydra cell before finally returning to Gotham City.

The best panel of art in this whole issue

Peter-If 007 and political intrigue mark the new direction the Bat-titles will be taking... come back, aliens, all is forgiven. Lukewarm spy junk delivered with lackadaisical art. If anyone's wondering, Marvel's HYDRA group didn't show up until Strange Tales #135 in August '65, so if anyone's ripping anyone off, this time it's Stan. Yeah, I know, Stan never ripped anyone off.

Jack-I enjoyed "Zero Hour for Earth" more than most of the Finger/Moldoff collaborations we've read recently. First of all, it's a rare, full-length story that spans 24 pages! Giella's inks improve the pencils, even if they're not going to rival those of Infantino. The cover, by Infantino and Anderson, is impressive. I enjoyed the spy aspects of the story, even if there was an excessive amount of jetting from one country to another.

Infantino, Giella, & Anderson

Detective Comics #333

"Hunters of the Elephants' Graveyard!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

After busting the Gotham City Zoo Gang at (where else?) the Gotham City Zoo, Batman and Robin are astonished when a mysterious figure materializes in the elephant house. Identifying herself as Gorla, Goddess of All Elephants, the vision explains to the Duo that she fears animal trainer Evan Bender may have been the victim of some shenanigans while searching for an elephant graveyard. She hopes the Caped Crusaders will fly to Africa to aid the vanished explorer.

After the Goddess disappears, Batman smells a fish and races outside to discover the fleeing Alice Foss, who happens to resemble Gorla and who is engaged to Bender. She quickly explains that she put on the dramatic act in order to get the boys to pay attention to her story. She begs for their help and, since all the Rogues are in prison for the first time in months, Batman agrees to leave Gotham unguarded.

With boots on the ground in Africa, Batman and Robin quickly discover a pack of elephants and manage to piss the beasts off. One grabs Bats in its trunk and carries him off. Robin has no other option but to tag along. The journey ends at a deep hole in the ground, where the elephant drops Batman. Robin drops a line down and saves his mentor. scolding him for falling for the old "helpless elephant" routine. Bats sees a light in a nearby cave and the heroes investigate and find Evan Bender backed by a group of angry natives. They toss spears and make a lot of noise; Bender grasps his forehead and, in one of the least realistic "I'm coming out of a fog" scenes in comic book history, suddenly calls the savages off.

Bender explains that a ruthless big game hunter named Kraven "Red" Loftus used a potent drug to control his mind and make the pacifist explorer do naughty things, but now he's ready to right the wrongs he committed while under deep hypnosis. Just then, Loftus comes charging across the African plain with a score of natives to back him up. Once Bats tosses his bat-a-rang at the approaching hood, the natives scatter and Bender puts the man in the dirt with a mean left hook. Batman and Robin stand and smile as the hood hits the dirt.

Though the script needs work (the panels where Bender explains why he did what he did while under the influence of Loftus's "mineral" are really dumb and wordy), I enjoyed this change of pace adventure. I'd love to have seen Gotham in smoking ruins when the Batplane landed at... well, where does the Batplane land? The graphics, as discussed already, are miles above the Moldy/Giella rot that we're used to. I did think it was funny that Robin tells Bats that he "doesn't believe in goddesses materializing before my eyes," even though they've been battling aliens pert near every month for the last four years. And how about the panel where Bats and Robin seem to be heading off for their trip home while holding hands? Wertham must have been on a much-needed vacation that month.-Peter

Jack-I thought it was interesting that there was another reference to Interpol early in the story; you must be right that James Bond fever is starting to affect the Batman comics. I'm thrilled to see another tale penciled by Infantino and note that the GCD says that Anderson put his stamp on the cover by inking the Batman and Robin figures. It's quite a change from the days of Moldoff and Paris.

Infantino & Giella

Batman #168

"The Fight That Jolted Gotham City!"

Story by Ed Herron

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

"How to Solve a Perfect Crime--In Reverse!"

Story by Ed Herron

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

The circus has come to Gotham City, but strongman Mr. Mammoth tells his boss that he can't perform tonight and he can't explain why. Fearing that the kids will be disappointed, the boss gets word to Commissioner Gordon, who contacts Batman, who pays a visit to the strongman. Mr. Mammoth explains that he's had recent episodes where he lost control and he's too scared of what might happen to perform.

Batman deduces the cause of Mr. Mammoth's fits but, before he can tell the big guy what's wrong, Mammoth has another episode and it results in "The Fight That Jolted Gotham City!" Mammoth and Batman knock each other around until the fit wears off, at which point the Dark Knight explains that Mammoth's brain is reacting to the musical notes that accompany a radio stations' call letters. The radio station agrees to change its tune and Mammoth performs for the kids that evening at the circus.

Boy, that was dumb! I had a hard time working up much concern for poor Mr. Mammoth. I have to wonder what will happen if that same combination of notes plays again in some other setting. He'll go nuts and wreak havoc!

Batman and the rest of the Mystery Analysts Club are presented with a new conundrum: an anonymous club member has stolen the Kashpur Diamond and committed the perfect crime! Can the Mystery Analysts sole the case? The diamond has been replaced by an imitation. It doesn't take long for the Caped Crusader to deduce that Prof. Ralph Vern stole the diamond, but it takes a trip to Tibet to discover how. Batman returns to Gotham, shows the Mystery Analysts how the diamond can be used to hypnotize, and exposes Prof. Vern.

"How to Solve a Perfect Crime--In Reverse!" is quite ordinary and I wasn't clear on exactly how Batman uncovered the criminal. The art by Moldoff and Giella does nothing to add excitement.-Jack

Peter-I love Batman's solution for Mr. Mammoth's frequency disturbance in "The Fight..." Get the station to change their tune rather than make sure the big lug doesn't have a radio on. I'd say Mr. Mammoth should probably have immediate medical help rather than let him wander the city a ticking time bomb. I liked "Perfect Crime" slightly better, if only for the mystery angle and the fact that we were presented with the identity of the guilty party halfway through the story. Rare for a whodunnit.

Infantino & Giella

Detective Comics #334

"The Man Who Stole From Batman!"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

There's a new would-be Rogue in town and he goes by the name of... the Grasshopper! Batman and Robin first come in contact with the villain dressed as a... (well, Bats says he looks like a giant grasshopper, but I'd go with the Yellowjacket) when he's seen fleeing down a dark alley, a bag of money open and leaking greenbacks all over the street. Bats and Robin chase the goof up onto a roof but are amazed as they watch their new foe drive off in the Batmobile. That, he claims, is exactly why he initiated contact. He wants to be "The Man Who Stole From Batman!"

Too embarrassed to call the police to report a stolen car, the boys hoof it home to Stately Wayne Manor, where they don their best suits and ties to get ready for the big charity auction that night on the Water Baby yacht. The money raised will be donated to the Alfred Foundation to help poor butlers throughout the land. Fearing a repeat performance, Batman has Robin stand guard outside the vessel while Bruce Wayne tends to the auction.

Sure enough, the Grasshopper makes an appearance just as Wayne is changing into his costume. A sucker punch floors Batman and the Grasshopper steals away with not only the Bat-boat but Robin too! But all is not lost... Bats detects a clue when he hears Grasshopper speak... this is a different voice than the one he'd heard earlier on the roof. There are two Grasshoppers! Hearing that voice come from one of the sailors aboard, Bats follows the man when he leaves the yacht but can't seem to keep quiet on the trail. Once Bats arrives at the destination, he falls into a deadly trap.

The two Grasshoppers converge on the Caped Crusader but he's able to outthink and outmuscle the goons. He releases an unharmed Robin and the pair call the police, who come and take the Hoppers away. In the Batmobile, leaving the scene, the Bat-phone rings and the Dark Knight answers it. A mysterious voice announces it belongs to "The Outsider," claims the Hoppers were working for him, and promises that the next item stolen from Batman will be his life!

A very pulpy adventure but one with several pleasing aspects. The Grasshoppers are goofy villains; those wings surely would get in the way during a high-speed chase and they don't enable flight, so why bother? The idea that there are two of them is a surprise as is the last page reveal that a major menace is backing the double dolts. A continuing plot element in 1960s Batman? Gotta be a first. I'm in even if the reveal turns out to be dopey (Vegas odds are 3-1 it's Alfred).-Peter

Jack-The most interesting thing in this story to me is the end, where the Outsider calls Batman. I thought the Grasshopper was not much of a menace and I was tickled when one caption referred to Batman as the Cowled (not Caped) Crusader--we have another synonym to use! Reviewing the readers' letters in recent issues makes it clear that they were divided between those who love the New Look and those who hate it, which surprised me. I guess readers were comfortable with Moldoff and Paris. What really puzzles me is why Carmine Infantino is being used on the backup strip in Detective rather than the lead strip. What's the point of that? Maybe the editor didn't want to shock the readers with too much change all at once. For my money, I'd rather see Carmine draw the Cowled Crusader than the Ductile Detective.

Next Week...
We All Need a Little
Maneely Now and Then