Batman in the 1960s Issue 55: January/February 1969

 

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

Novick

Detective Comics #383

"The Fortune-Cookie Caper!"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

Deciding to give the most overworked butler/chef/stuntman in Gotham the night off, Batman and Robin pop into their favorite Chinese restaurant, the famous Tommy Chee's, for some won ton soup, spring rolls, Moo Goo Gai Pan, and Tommy's renowned sweet and sour pork. After scarfing down their food, the boys are presented with the requisite fortune cookies. Batman's has a cryptic "Hang on baby, I'm almost there. Love, Neal" while Robin's has the hilarious "Help! I'm a prisoner in a Chinese bakery!" Robin remarks that he'll be saving this one for Aunt Harriet, who has a particular "yen" for Asian humor.

As the Duo are exiting the establishment, they are both cuffed from behind and knocked out. When they come to, they realize the only thing missing is Robin's fortune. "Ah ha!," exclaims the World's Greatest Detective Brain™.  "This makes me think the thugs wanted that message!" When they return to the restaurant to grill Tommy, the owner explains that the humorous message in the cookie is referred to in the trade as a "Number 25." Batman gets another scrunched-up look on his face and screams, "This means something!"

Eventually, our heroes split up, with Robin visiting the bakery where the cookie was born and Bats heading down to the freight yard to investigate anything that has a "25" on it: telephone poles, manholes, discarded Adele CDs, the works. While investigating the bakery, Robin is attacked by the baker and accidentally stumbles across a pretty young lady stashed in a closet. She tells Robin she is Hu Shi, sister of the bakery's owner, Yin Yan. Unfortunately, his attention is averted by the young lady's legs and he's clobbered from behind by the baker. Unbeknownst to Robin, Hu is in cahoots with her evil brother, who emerges from the shadows to inform his sibling that when Robin wakes up, they'll force him to lure Batman to the bakery and get rid of two of their problems.

Batman finally finds the elusive "25" he's been seeking when he comes across two hoods (the same two who put the boys to sleep back at Tommy's joint) rummaging through a freight car and carefully separating a #25 crate. Bats gets a little revenge by roughing up the criminals and, in the process, accidentally destroys crate #25, which spills its valuable cargo all over the freight car floor: pearls, smuggled from the Orient!

Back at the bakery, Robin has finally come around and is talked into summoning his mentor to the scene. But Bats is three steps ahead and overhears Hu Shi and Yin Yan discussing their smuggling operation. He bursts in through a skylight and, after dressing the thousands of cuts across his body, slaps the cuffs on the pair of Won Ton villains (see what I did there?), and explains the whole scheme to his junior partner. 

How did the Boy Wonder not shout out, "Hang on a sec, Batman, why didn't Yin just slip the two hoods a note that says 'check out crate #25 in the freight yard' instead of an elaborate scheme involving random fortune cookies?" I'm amazed that the racist Asian stereotypes had hung around through 1969 in the funny books. Writer Frank Robbins has the characters spouting dialogue like "Confucius say 'little man with big mouth... get face full egg-rolls!'" while the colorist slaps a bright yellow sheen across all the foreign faces. Can you imagine the multitude of five-year-old Batman readers who went to school expecting their Asian classmates to be bright yellow?  But then, as I'm quickly reminded, the Black characters in funny books of the time were pigeonholed with equally egregious conventions. But pull all this nonsense aside and we're still left with an overly-complicated plot and half-baked (pun intended) action. The graphics are competent (in fact, stacked next to Shelly's dribbles, they're art) but someone needs to motivate Frank to write something... I don't know... maybe original.-Peter

Jack-As I read this story, I was jotting down all the offensive Asian stereotypes, but by the end I thought it was pretty good! The art by Brown and Giella is certainly smooth and one panel (on p. 13) even looks a bit like the work of Gil Kane. The level of story and art has gone up enough that even a tale like this one is enjoyable. By the way, this is the last issue to feature an Elongated Man backup story.

Cardy

Batman #208

"The Women in Batman's Life!"

Story by E. Nelson Bridwell

Art by Gil Kane & Jack Abel

"The Secret Life of the Catwoman"

Story by Bill Finger

Art by Bob Kane, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Charles Paris

(Reprinted from Batman #62, January 1951)

"Vicki Vale's Secret!"

Story by David Vern

Art by Bob Kane, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Charles Paris

(Reprinted from Batman #73, November 1952) 

"The Menace of the Firefly"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella

(Reprinted from Batman #126, September 1959)

"The Dilemma of the Detective's Daughter!"

(Reprinted from Batman #165, August 1964)

Peter-As usual with the reprint volumes, there's some fun stuff here, but I'm not a fan of the scattershot approach utilized, with some stories only getting a few pages here and there. Of the full-lengthers, the one I liked the most was the supremely goofy Firefly yarn and least, of course, was the dreadful Moldoff/Giella "Detective's Daughter" drivel. The Ma Chilton epilogue is a little too much for me to stomach. It's all a bit too coincidental. What ever happened to Uncle Philip, the guy who inherited Bruce and dumped him in the lap of a dead gangster's mother?

Jack-Here's where we differ! I recall that fantastic Cardy cover from childhood, and comics like this were a big part of what made me a Batman/DC Comics fan. The issue starts out with five pages of a framing story drawn by Gil Kane--not his best work, but still dynamic. Next comes a vintage Catwoman story with great, old-style art by Lew Sayre Schwartz, including a terrific splash page. A couple more pages from another old Catwoman story are followed by more framing pages by Kane.

Vicki Vale has never been one of my favorite characters (except when embodied by Kim Basinger), but the panel reproduced here shows that Schwartz could draw cheesecake with the best of them. Things quickly plummet in the art department as Shelly Moldoff wrestles away the pencil and draws the dull story with Firefly, which is included because it features Batwoman. Moldoff is also responsible for the wretched story about the detective's daughter. Things pick up with a selection about Eclipso drawn by Win Mortimer before Moldoff brings us down again with a smattering of Poison Ivy. The issue ends on a high note with a portion of Infantino's classic Batgirl story.

I have place in my heart for these Batman 80-page giants and would happily pay a quarter all over again if I saw one on a newsstand.

Adams

The Brave and the Bold #81

"But Bork Can Hurt You!"

Story by Bob Haney

Art by Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, & Vince Colletta

A big lug named Carl Bork disembarks from a tramp steamer at Gotham Harbor and is shocked to remain unharmed when a truck runs him over. To test his newfound invulnerability, Bork robs a nearby diner and feels no pain when police shoot him as he runs away.

Barry Allen (the Flash) is visiting Gotham City Police Headquarters and hears a call on the police radio about a disturbance at the waterfront. Batman rushes to the scene and sees Milo Manning, an extortionist, being confronted by Bork. When Manning's goons attack Carl, he tells them that nothing can hurt him, "But Bork Can Hurt You!" The goons switch their allegiance to Bork, who gives Batman a walloping when the Dark Knight tries to arrest him. Bork announces that he's taking over Gotham City and no one can stop him!

Within hours, Bork has given an ultimatum to the mayor, so Batman and the Flash team up to figure out the secret to his invulnerability. Using his super speed, Flash runs around the world and learns that the leader of a new African nation is sending a commando unit to Gotham to arrest Bork and bring him back for trial. Bork's mayhem continues while Flash's investigation proceeds. From a ship's captain, the Scarlet Speedster learns that natives on Desolation Island made a life-sized wooden carving of Bork and these carvings are said to possess supernatural powers. The Flash races to the island but is knocked out when a volcano erupts and the carving floats away.

Back in Gotham City, the mayor is pushing to give in to Bork's demands. The Flash recovers and goes looking for the wooden statute while Bork is jailed and easily punches his way through a wall to escape. The Flash finds the carving and sets out to destroy it, but it's no easy task--nothing seems to affect it. The African commandos have reached Gotham City and shoot Bork with a dart that wounds him, suggesting he's no longer invulnerable. Batman challenges Bork to a duel to buy time as Flash runs through outer space and destroys the carving by planting it inside the sun! Batman succeeds in knocking Bork for a loop and the menace is over. The criminal is led to a waiting plane to face justice in Africa.

Twenty-four pages of Neal Adams are a treat and the Flash is an added bonus. The story moves along quickly and doesn't waste too much time with needless fistfights, though it stretches my suspension of disbelief to accept that Flash can run through space and into the sun without having any problems with lack of oxygen or incredible cold. I wonder if Colletta inked the Flash sections and Giordano inked the Batman sections?-Jack

Peter-This one's a total winner. Clever script and knockout graphics. I'll have to do a brush-up on my Flash knowledge. How can the guy run to the sun?  Well, as I said, it was a lot of fun so I didn't let the particulars drag me down. Refreshing that Carl Bork was gifted with invulnerability and yet didn't go shopping at Villains 'R' Us for a costume. He just ran around in his work civvies. Bob Haney's best work so far. Could the good stuff finally be here now that we're near the end?

Novick

Detective Comics #384

"Whatever Will Happen to Heiress Heloise?"

Story by Gardner Fox

Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella

"Tall, Dark, Handsome--and Missing!"

Story by Mike Friedrich

Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson

While getting ready to head out on a solo patrol (Robin is off with the Titans), Batman happens upon two thugs roughing up "recently found heiress" Heloise Madigan. Bats puts the kibosh on the dastardly duo and then drives Heloise back to her place. Upon entering the huge mansion, Batman and Heloise are both surprised to hear the family lawyer proclaim that this Heloise is a fraud! The real Heloise has just turned up to claim the millions left to her in her father's will.

Slightly astonished, Batman throws Heloise #1 (who keeps spouting newspaper jargon to the Caped Crusader) in the Batmobile and whisks her away to the Gotham precinct house, where she is booked for impersonating an heiress. Batman heads out the door but his Incredible Detective Brain (the World's Greatest™ ) suddenly alerts him to the fact that the real Heloise Madigan might be in danger. Duh! He speeds back to Madigan Manor, where he finds the gorgeous redhead taking a dip in the pool and saves her from death as two criminals leap from the bushes and head for her unprotected flesh.

Batman leaps some would say a wee bit far for a human being and nabs both villains, pulling them into the pool with him. After a minor tussle, both cretins are apprehended and our hero once again hops in the Batmobile to make that long trip to the precinct house. The next day, while Bruce is sitting in his smoking jacket, enjoying a Cuban and a snifter of Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne, his Bat-senses once again alert him. Could Heloise #1 be in danger as well? 

After a little detective work, Batman is able to track Heloise #1 to the Rogers Real Estate Agency, where she is currently extorting money from her crooked boss. In a long and sloppy expository word balloon we discover that the stunning redhead once took dictation (and provided other secretarial functions, no doubt) for Big John Madigan, Heloise's dead father. The knowledge she gained during her employ allowed her to impersonate the heiress (who was long thought to be dead as the result of a car accident when she was six--please.... don't ask me to elucidate any further) in an attempt to lay her wicked fingers on all that dough. Drat that real Heloise showed up just then! Bad timing! Batman busts through the door, revealing he's heard enough of the backstory (well, she goes on for at least an hour) to testify in court to the beauty's bad business practices. 

I love how when the Madigan family lawyer lays out exactly how they discovered that Heloise #1 was a fraud: that morning (yes, that morning!) they had discovered a "long-lost baby rattle" and had the FBI run the fingerprints, which matched those of a "local government clerk"!!! All that in just a few hours (yes, just a few hours!) from a city that can't even keep its most wanted criminals behind bars for more than a few months at a time. "Whatever Will Happen..." is dumb as dirt and extra hard to follow but I won't deny that it's at least a wee bit entertaining as well. I do have one more nit to pick with funny book writers in general: why put dialogue in a character's mouth that must then be followed constantly by an asterisk and explanation of said dialogue?

Every Friday at exactly 1:30, Mark Hanner, a very handsome man, attracts the attention of a very special librarian. That would be, of course, Babs Gordon, daughter of Gotham's police chief (and 10-handicap golfer) and a/k/a the beautiful Batgirl. Anyway, this guy comes into the library every week and requests a copy of the Gotham Gazette until one day... he doesn't. Becoming alarmed, Babs visits the man's apartment and sees a pretty girl fleeing, leaving the door open. Immediately heading for Hanner's bathroom (!) our curvaceous crusader notices the medicine cabinet open and fears her Romeo might be in danger.

As Batgirl, Babs follows the girl to a seedy part of town and up into a very nasty apartment, where she's attacked by a gang of gunsels. She fights them off, they flee, and she turns her attention to a locked door. With one kick of her boot, she's in. It's there she finds Hanner. But is he alive? To Be Continued! It's only a small part of a bigger piece but "Tall, Dark..." beats any of the regular Bat-adventures this month in both script and art. Where can I vote for this to be the lead strip? Gil's art is gorgeous; his Batgirl is babe-alicious (a dead ringer for Gil's Mary Jane Watson) and the fight scenes are well-choreographed! Please let this strip stay good!-Peter

Jack-"Heloise" was a quick, enjoyable read, marked by a lot of large panels and not a ton of dialogue. Bob Brown continues to impress me with his art on the Batman strip. It pales in comparison to the art by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson on the new Batgirl backup strip, which replaces the long-running strip featuring Elongated Man. Not only does Kane draw a gorgeous Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, his fight scenes are bursting out of the panels!

Novick

Batman #209

"Jungle Jeopardy"

Story by Frank Robbins

Art by Irv Novick & Joe Giella

Batman and Robin return to the Batcave and feel compelled to take the elevator upstairs before changing out of their costumes. Halfway up, they realize it's a bad idea and descend to the Batcave, but when the elevator door opens they see that the Batcave has been transformed into a jungle, where a tiger and an elephant rush toward them!

The night before, the Dynamic Duo had foiled a robbery in progress, after which some crooks who escaped met with a clever bad guy who called himself Brainwash and who had a plan to eliminate Batman and Robin. Brainwash paid a visit to the office of Commissioner Gordon and planted a small device under his desk that broadcast subliminal messages to the Commish. That night, Gordon was compelled to call Batman and Robin to dispatch them to the scene of a bank robbery. The Batmobile was parked over a manhole cover, so Brainwash popped up and planted another device on the car's undercarriage.

As Batman and Robin chased the robbers, they felt compelled to rush home to the Batcave and take the elevator upstairs. After their jungle vision, they went upstairs and saw another angry tiger in the place of Alfred the butler. Meanwhile, Brainwash and the gang are robbing the bank. The Master Detective figures out what's going on, realizing that he and Robin have been brainwashed. He removes the device from under the Batmobile and surmises that old nemesis Mr. Esper is behind this.

The Dynamic Duo head to the bank and quickly dispatch Brainwash and his gang, plugging their ears so they can't be subjected to any more subliminal suggestions. Batman pulls off Brainwash's amazingly lifelike mask to reveal Mr. Esper, who is handcuffed and headed for jail.

Another fun, full-length story with nice art by Irv Novick, "Jungle Jeopardy" is fast-moving. Robin makes an offhand remark about the elephant being African (due to its big ears) and that leads Batman to realize the jungle is an illusion, since there are no tigers in the African jungle. It's nice to learn a little something every once in a while. Oh, and that cover would definitely have made me want to buy this comic!-Jack

Peter-This one wasn't too bad at all and the Novick/Giella art is easy on the eye. But, yeah, I have some questions. The Batmobile seems to be a pretty easy target since Esper is able to plant his brainwashing device without setting off any alarms. You'd think a super sophisticated piece of weaponry like the Batmobile would have some safety measures built in, no? And I just love when our heroes are so easily fooled by the instant jungle that grows out of the Batcave. "I've never been so scared in my life, Batman! It was so real!" How could it be, Boy Blunder? It's the Batcave!!!  I'm not sure I understand why Esper was disguising himself as "Brainwash." Does he have a split personality? Is he so egotistical he wants to be two super-villains?

Next Week...
Angelo Torres Leads an
All-Star Monday!