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| The Caped Crusader in the 1960s by Jack Seabrook & Peter Enfantino |
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| Novick |
"The Frigid Finger of Fate!"
Story by Gardner Fox
Art by Chic Stone & Sid Greene
Perennial loser Pete Maddox discovers he has an unnatural gift--he can dream the future! Through a series of mishaps, Maddox learns how to fine-tune this superpower and earn winnings from horse races. Then, one night, he dreams of killing the Batman from a rooftop and puts his plan into action. Unfortunately, like most of his dream-motivated schemes, Maddox can't pull off the assassination of the Dark Knight but, without any evidence of wrongdoing, he's free to go. A few days later, Dick Grayson points out a newspaper story to Bruce Wayne. Pete Maddox has died in a meat locker.
This was one of the shortest synopses I've ever been assigned to write (and yet, I feel I should be paid double my usual salary for having to wade through this mess) because, thanks to Gardner Fox, there's not much of a story. I do have to admit that "The Frigid Finger of Fate!" provided me with several guffaws thanks to the increasingly escalated requirements for Maddox's dreams to come true. When his second dream goes awry, he stumbles upon the fact that he must be in a freezing cold temperature to make the power work. Then, later on, after another stumble, he realizes that if he tells anyone about his dream, it won't come true! I was waiting for the third tier where poor Pete has to whistle "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" while standing on his head in the Arctic. Alas, it didn't show.
Jack-What an odd story! I perked up at the mention of "wild talents," which I think is a reference to the work of Charles Fort, and I had to look up the meaning of "oneiromantic." There was some unintentional humor when Maddox was shown sitting on a big block of ice in his boxer shorts, and the end, where he froze to death, was certainly unexpected. Despite the mediocre artwork, are we seeing a turn to the dark side for Batman? The cover is one of several around this time at DC where the hero is riding in a car and waving to a cheering crowd.
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| Novick |
"Batman's Gangland Guardians!"
Story by Gardner Fox
Art by Chic Stone & Joe Giella
The Penguin has gathered six other members of Batman's Rogues Gallery in a secret location to deliver surprising news: a West Coast syndicate is about to invade Gotham City and they've planned a series of robberies that include death traps for the Caped Crusader! The Penguin suggests that after Batman is gone, the syndicate will target the rogues, so they'd better save Batman!
Helpfully, the Penguin heard a voice telling him where the syndicate would strike and the nature of their death traps. The next evening, the Fowl Fiend saves Batman from an explosion at the Gotham City Museum before Batman spends a few pages beating up two syndicate goons. The following night, the Mad Hatter prevents Batman from being blown up by a giant pearl after the Dark Knight beats up three jewel thieves in Gotham Square Park, and Batman begins to wonder if he has a guardian angel.
Another day passes, and that night the Cluemaster prevents Batman and the Bat-copter from being blown to bits by an exploding cloud above Meadowland Amusement Park. Yet another night, and Batman confronts smugglers in Gotham City Harbor, where Johnny Witts keeps an exploding buoy from killing Batman. A group of fake police accuse Batman of also being a fake and of masterminding a smuggling racket, but when they line him up to shoot him, he disappears through a trap door rigged up by the Getaway Genius. Back at the Batcave, Batman figures out that Mr. Esper was sending him messages that told him where to go to intercept each crime, but the man in the cowl never learns the identity of "Batman's Gangland Guardians!"
Peter-The conceit, that all of Gotham's Rogues team up to save Batman's life, is a cute one, but it perfectly illustrates how juvenile the titles have become. Fox's needless last-second twist overcomplicates things. I'm not sure how, in some adventures, Batman can find a frayed shoelace and deduct that the criminal was five foot eleven, weighed one-eighty, and had a blonde mustache, but couldn't figure out what was at play here. Maybe he's the World's Greatest Part-Time Detective?
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| Andru/Esposito |
"So Thunders the Cannoneer!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito
It must be 1968, because the Brotherhood Express is on the move across America; it's a train whose cars contain exhibits of the greatest treasures and accomplishments from countries across the world! What could go wrong? Some quick reconnaissance by Batman demonstrates security lapses all around Gotham City, leading Commissioner Gordon to reroute the train, but he's being watched by the Cannoneer, who is shot from a cannon and bursts through the window of Gordon's office, where he scoops up the plans for the new route.
Shortly, at the Dulcamora Grand Imperial Circus, the Cannoneer comforts Lilli de la Pooche, a pretty midget who laments the fact that the Queen Bee is a half inch shorter! The Cannoneer gives Lilli a pill that he promises will shrink her and she faints dead away. The next day, the train pulls into Gotham but it and all of the priceless works of art aboard it are fakes! Batman discovers that a tiny person must have bypassed the train's security features, so he places a call to Ray Palmer, who transforms into the Atom and races to Batman's aid. The real Brotherhood Express is on a spur outside Gotham City and the tiny person who got aboard is none other than Lilli, who did not expect the pill to shrink her to the size of the Atom.
At the circus, Batman discovers that the Cannoneer and Lilli are missing. Titanic Tex is certain that the Cannoneer is behind it and Batman figures out what happened. He and the Atom zip off in the Bat-copter and locate the real train; Batman fights various crooks, including the simian Dum-Dum, while the Atom battles the shrunken Lilli. Eventually, Batman locates the Cannoneer and they fight atop the speeding train. Batman manages to defeat his foe and the Atom does the same to Lilli. With the help of the circus folk, they manage to stop the Brotherhood Express from crashing and, in the end, Lilli is returned to normal size and accepts Tex's marriage proposal. The Atom hops aboard the express to ride home and all is well in Gotham City.
Bob Haney sure knows how to pack a lot into a 24-page story! "So Thunders the Cannoneer!" is filled with nutty asides and wacky characters, all of which adds to the fun. The Cannoneer is dead ringer for the Golden Age hero, Bulletman and, while I'm not exactly clear on why the Atom needed to be involved, he's a cool hero and he has a great costume.-Jack
Peter-This goofy team-up was the most fun I had reading a Bat-Adventure this month and, by process of elimination, the easiest on the eye. Lots of highlights here: Gordo (see left), looking for all the world, like he's been dropping acid on his lunch break, guarantees no baddie will get near the train while a stack of parole papers for Catwoman, Penguin, Joker, Mr. Freeze, and the Riddler lie waiting to be signed on his desk; Bob Haney's caption: Shortly at the Dulcamora Grand Imperial Circus--in the dressing room of Lilli de la Pooche--beautiful circus midget...; the Atom, getting his ass kicked but not wanting to use force on the aforementioned Lilli because she's "too beautiful to hit"; and as the cherry on top, the circus acts rebuilding a train track in mere minutes! This strip has it all!
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| Novick |
"Hunted or Haunted?"
Story by Gardner Fox
Art by Chic Stone & Sid Greene
Let's take a little trip to a post-apocalyptic future (Year 543 after Destruct Day of the Null-Nuclear War to be exact), where we listen in as the members of the "Batmaniacs" debate whether the Caped Crusader was a myth--or a man! Just then, their leader, the bald-as-an-egg Tomas, arrives after a time trip to 1968 Gotham.
Tomas relates the story of his adventure in Gotham City, following around the real-life Batman and Robin. With just a hint of coincidence, Tomas arrives at just the right place and time to witness the Caped Crusaders assist Commissioner Gordon in retrieving some stolen papers designed to put the FBI's Most Wanted, Harve Pelley, behind bars for... well, however many years hardened criminals serve in Gotham. Tomas is able to remain invisible while he follows our heroes around town; still, Bats has a sinking feeling he's being watched!
It's great to know that 500+ years after a civilization-ending nuclear war, the world has built itself back up with technology even more advanced than pre-mushroom clouds. Despite the obvious loss of hair (which I've dealt with just fine), these Batmaniacs actually look like they're having a good time. Gordo's flashback within Tomas's flashback is "Holy Confusing, Batman!" I kept having to turn the pages back and forth to make sense of the goings-on. In fact, the whole magilla stretches the boundaries of patience and brain power. The most inventive aspect of this turkey was the idea that a cult builds up around the mythology of Batman. How did these guys get models of the Batmobile and Bat-copter? From etchings on the side of a cave? Chic and Sid have obviously never seen the Commish portrayed in the funny books, since Gordo looks more like Mr. Monopoly than the number one cop in Gotham.-Peter
Jack-I recall Superman stories from the '60s where people of the future had extremely large bald heads because their brains were so big and advanced, so I presume that's what's going on with the future folk in this story--in one panel, Tomas's head is extra-large, although it seems more normal in the rest of the panels and his cohorts among the Batmaniacs all seem to have heads that fit the classic Bat mask perfectly. As in a few stories we've read lately, the most interesting event happens right at the end.
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| Novick |
"Gateway to Death!"
Story by Gardner Fox
Art by Chic Stone (?) & Sid Greene
"Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders!"
Story by Mike Friedrich
Art by Chic Stone (?) & Joe Giella
A cop on the beat is shocked to see bricks rise from a trash can and hurl themselves through the window of a jewelry store! Batman and Robin respond quickly and conclude that this is the work of the Psychic Plunderer, who recently robbed a bank by having a gun appear out of nowhere and point itself at a teller. At the Batcave, Alfred announces that he knows the crook's identity, but he seems to pass out and can only mumble when he tries to tell the Dynamic Duo the name.
This slows them down a bit, but they use their wits to prevail. Bruce and Dick visit Alfred the Butler, who is in bed, recovering. He explains that he once met the Great Norman, who could make objects fly across the stage. Norman saved Alfred from an explosion during WWII, but the butler lost track of the magician until recently, when he saw him at the cemetery. Alfred knew at once that Norman was the Psychic Plunderer, but when he tried to reveal this to Batman, his mind couldn't take the strain of betraying the man who had once saved his life.
"Gateway to Death!": is poor from start to finish. It all stems from a jewelry store robbery and Batman has no difficulty finding the crooks. Nearly half of the story's fourteen pages are taken up with Batman and Robin fighting the trio of crooks. Not for the first time, Gardner Fox throws in a reference that was sure to make the young readers scratch their heads; here, it's when Batman sees the bad guys and remarks that "'They look like the original "Unholy Three"!'" The reference is to a Lon Chaney movie from 1925 that was remade in 1930, and I doubt many readers in 1968 knew what the Caped Crusader was talking about.
Dick Grayson gets all dressed up for a school assembly because he's giving a speech and hoping to be elected class president. On his way to school, Dick observes a motorcycle gang called the Hornets causing mayhem, so he changes into his Robin costume and goes after them. All but one of the bikers escape, so Robin returns to the Batcave and disguises himself as Jimbo, the one biker who didn't get away, with the goal of infiltrating the gang and stopping the "Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders!"
In disguise, Robin rides Jimbo's motorcycle to the gang's hangout where, as soon as they're all assembled, he tears off his disguise and knocks them senseless. Back at Wayne Manor, Dick is upset because his crime fighting detour caused him to miss giving his speech and he lost the election.
As tough as it is to take the Stone/Greene artwork on the lead story, the Stone/Giella art on the backup is even worse. Robin makes a questionable choice when he decides to take on an entire motorcycle gang singlehandedly; it's compounded when it causes him to miss an important school event. Surely, capturing the Hornets could've waited another day?-Jack
Peter-Holy Coincidence, Batman! Norman saves Al's life decades before and the World's Greatest Butler stumbles across his old friend days before the guy is going to pull off a heist. Not sure how, with all the super-powered freaks flying around Gotham and elsewhere, Al could positively identify the perpetrator as his long-lost buddy. The Robin solo, with its Hell's Angels hook, is typical pulp paper aside from that last panel, which shows us a heartbroken Dick. Just when he thinks he can have a teenage life, the hoods pull him back in!
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| Next Week... A Wally Wood/Joe Orlando Team-Up! |
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