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| The Caped Crusader in the 1960s by Jack Seabrook & Peter Enfantino |
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| Adams |
"Batman's Evil Eye"
Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella
"Batgirl's Bag of Tricks!"
Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson
Assuring Robin that even bad guys can be rehabilitated, Batman shows up at Gotham Prison to wish Jonathan Crane the best as he walks out onto the streets of Gotham for the first time in at least three months (since the last time he was tried and convicted of multiple counts of attempted murder, extortion, terrorism, and armed robbery). The Boy Wonder is doubtful, claiming these bad seeds never learn, but Crane, for his part, seems to be a happy clam, going so far as to shake Batman's hand.
The next night, the boys are patrolling the streets of Gotham when they see a group of thieves exiting Gems 'R' Us and leap into the mob. Again, like the previous night, these hooligans seem terrified of their own shadow and the boys slap the cuffs without much of a fight. Boring! As the goons are led away into the police precinct, Batman corners Gordo (who hasn't changed out of his Gotham Golf Resort polo yet) with an eye to discussing this new Bat-Phobia craze that's sweeping the underworld, but the Commish receives a call. "It's for you!," exclaims Gordon, and hands Batman the phone.
The Scarecrow is ready for his nemesis and has a room of mirrors erected so that when Bats gazes at his own reflection, he'll be just as terrified as the goons! Crane's voice informs our hero that Batman can only look at himself five times in the mirror before he goes mad. Using the Sherlock Holmesian skills God gave him, Batman suddenly realizes his foe must be... The Scarecrow! After several unsuccessful attempts to escape, The Dark Knight tricks Crane into believing he's used up his allotted five trips to the mirror and now he's as crazy as a loon. The Scarecrow sends his henchmen in to finish Bats off, but our wily hero uses his Bat-Phobia powers to agitate the thugs and gain access to the Scarecrow. As he's hauling the 2nd-tier villain off to the pokey, Batman swears he'll never be fooled by a parolee again.
In the conclusion of a two-parter, Batgirl first takes down a faux-JLA and then heads after airline hostess/gem smuggler Darlene, who has headed out to her grandpappy's 85th birthday party. Once Babs arrives, she discovers that the old man is behind the smuggling ring. Despite Gramps pulling a Tommy-gun on our heroine, Batgirl slaps on the cuffs and calls the local cops to haul the smugglers away. Once again, the dessert is much more filling than the main course. The script, the art, hell even the one-liners are snappier. It's a doggone dirty shame Babs was never given her own title.-Peter
Jack-I agree with you about the Batgirl story. The art is fantastic and I loved the jittery old man with the machine gun. As for the Batman story, I liked it better than you did. The Scarecrow is a cool villain, the story was fun, and the fight at the end, where Batman is unable to see but prevails anyway, was neat. Sure, there were some parts that were hard to believe, but I enjoyed it. And that cover! Wow!
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| Draut/Colletta |
"The Origin of Robin!"
Story by E. Nelson Bridwell
Art by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito
"Here Comes Alfred!"
Story by Don C. Cameron
Art by Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson & George Roussos
(Reprinted from Batman #16, May 1943)
"The Game of Death!"
Story by David Vern
Art by Jim Mooney
(Reprinted from Star Spangled Comics #127, April 1952)
"The Man Behind the Red Hood!"
Story by Bill Finger
Art by Bob Kane, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Charles Paris
(Reprinted from Detective Comics #168, February 1951)
"The Challenge of Clay-Face"
(Reprinted from Detective Comics #298, December 1961)
Some covers bring me right back to childhood, and this is one of them. I'm surprised to see it was drawn by Bill Draut and Vince Colletta, two artists I don't think of as Batman regulars.
"The Origin of Robin!" is disappointing, mainly due to the art by Andru and Esposito. The Golden Age version is punchier and the art is primitive, but it's more enjoyable. The new version is rewritten and redrawn but essentially the same story. "Here Comes Alfred!" is the butler's first appearance and opens with a wonderful splash page by Jerry Robinson featuring a giant-sized Alfred about to step on tiny crooks without realizing it. The chubby, Golden Age Alfred of the story is an amateur sleuth and former music hall actor who foists himself on Bruce Wayne as his new butler, explaining that his father was butler to Wayne's father. Alfred quickly figures out the secret identities of the Dynamic Duo so they have to keep him on; a helpful editor's note reports that he lost weight and grew his mustache about eight months later.
"The Game of Death!" is a throwaway Robin story from 1952. I've always loved "The Man Behind the Red Hood!" because it serves as the Joker's origin story. On rereading it, the art is pretty good and the story has flaws, but it still holds a special place for me. I looked back at my comments on "The Challenge of Clay-Face" and I called it excellent when I first read it. I have no reason to change that assessment!-Jack
Peter-The obvious standouts here are the Clay-Face adventure (which SPOILER ALERT! will earn a place on my list of the best Batman stories of the 1960s) and the intro of the Red Hood, a story I read decades ago in this here issue. "The Man Behind the Red Hood!" has an impractical plot (why would the Joker bother coming back as the Red Hood?) and a laughable event (Joker is overpowered and captured by a bumpkin named "Farmerboy" Benson) but a Formula One pace and that killer retro art. The remaining three stories are varying levels of fluff. This will be the final 1960s Giant-Sizer we review and, I must say, I'll miss the format!
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| Adams |
"The Angel, the Rock, and the Cowl"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Neal Adams
Jack and I reviewed this eons ago when we were doing our bi-weekly dissection of DC war comics. You can find that discussion here.-Peter
Robin races over to the precinct, grabs the clothing box, and heads back to the Batcave, pronto. Just as the junior partner is taking the outfit out of its box, Batman gets a call on the hotline from the Commish: the Masquerader, who always sends a riddle to the police before pulling a heist (wonder where he got that trick from), has left a cryptic message for the Duo. With a little bit of brainwork, the pair work out that the clue is meant to lead them to Charles Finger Moving Company. Robin lets out a girlish squeal once he's emptied the box, for inside, under Batman's new uni, lies the disguise of the Masquerader!
Batman sends Robin to the moving company and races to Tweed's shop. "If the Masquerader has harmed one hair on the head of the most courteous, innocent, kind, sin-free resident of Gotham, I'll... well, he'd better not!" Alas, when Bats reaches the shop, Tweed is on the floor, dying from his bullet wounds. His last words before the ambulance crew take him away are the Masquerader's home address! Hang on a sec... how did those EMTs get to the scene so fast? Evidently, the neighbors reported the gunshots. Batman sighs as the ambulance takes the body of Tweed away.
"Hang on, this can't be real, I just left your bullet-ridden, admittedly bloodless corpse back at your shop. And those ambulance drivers? They had stethoscopes and thermometers! Surely, they couldn't be..." The Masquerader lets out a long giggle and informs Batman that his uniform is made of "Hygroscopic Monofilaments, strong as steel, which absorb moisture from the air..." and a whole lot of other sewing machine lingo. Long story short: Bats is going to be squeezed to death! Quick-thinking Batman pulls out his laser gun and aims it at the sprinklers high above. The resulting deluge wipes out the heat lamp and allows our hero to deliver quite the blow to the chin of Sam Tweed, Future Prison Garment Mender.
During a particularly heated teachers' contract negotiation, Gotham High's cub newspaper reporter, Dick Grayson, asks his editor, the really cute and nicely drawn Sandy, out on a date to the school's football game that evening. After the Gotham Titans beat the Skyline Bulldogs in a tightly contested game, Dick and Sandy are put upon by a group of rabble rousers dressed in Skyline jackets. Realizing this may be the most grueling battle of his short, illustrious career (even more dangerous than the time he pulled Mr. Thomas's Pomeranian out of the Gotham Public Swimming Pool), Dick leaps into the bushes and emerges as... Robin, the Boy Wonder!
Batman #214
Jack-Looking back at our writeup from 2017, I see that neither one of us loved the story, but the art is spectacular. It's interesting to note that Joe Kubert helped out. Seeing Sgt. Rock as an older man was cool.
Detective Comics #390
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| Novick |
"If the Coffin Fits--Wear It!"
Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Bob Brown & Joe Giella
"Countdown to Chaos!"
Story by Mike Friedrich
Art by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson
Look out Gotham--there's a new Rogue in town and his handle is the Masquerader! So what's this new villain's M.O.? Well, he does the occasional heist but it seems only a ploy to get the Dark Knight to show up so that the Masquerade thugs can tear bits out of the Bat-uni. Odd, no?
You'd think they would be nothing but a nuisance to our hero but, hey, a hero only keeps a certain number of outfits in the closet and Batman has completely run out. He and Robin ponder the subject, noting that the goons ripped off the piece of uni that contains the name of Batman's tailor. "Gosh, Batman, why would the Masquerader want the name of your tailor?" Why indeed, Boy Blunder? The World's Greatest Detective™ simply shrugs and hold up his hands as he grabs the phone and dials Sam Tweed (yes, Sam Tweed) to order another suit. Sam laughs and reveals to his number one client that he always keeps an extra handy just in case. The uniform will be delivered to Gordo's office within the hour.
"That could mean one thing and one thing only, Robin. Yes, of course, this devious villain must have a tailor to stitch his get-ups as well and that tailor is... Sam Tweed! Innocent, kind, and courteous Sam could be in danger. I'd better call him!" Tweed admits that the Masquerader forced him to knit one, purl two at gunpoint and he's so embarrassed! Bats insists that Sam tell him the identity of the Masquerader but before he can... Blam! Blam! The Masquerader snickers and goads Batman before hanging up the phone.
The Dark Knight arrives at the Fashion Art Studios, home of the Masquerader and, rather than pick the lock of the door, crashes through the plate glass display window, where he discovers his new archenemy waiting for him. A tussle ensues but the Masquerader gains the upper hand as he activates a huge heat lamp on the ceiling and Batman's uniform begins to constrict. "I've sewed you into your own shroud!!!" screams the unhinged maniac, as he rips away his mask, revealing... Sam Tweed!!!! NO way!
Though "If the Coffin Fits--Wear It" contains no aliens or robots, the script is just as ludicrous as those past triumphs, filled with dopey contrivances and red herrings. In the end, Tweed reveals that this huge, complicated plot, which relied on lots of coincidences and expensive props, was initiated because he had become weary of crafting custom suits for heroes and villains and it was time for him to man up and become Gotham's Number One Crime Lord™. Why bother with such an elaborate setup as the fake killing of the tailor? Why include the Masquerader costume in the garment box? How stupid is our favorite DC hero that he couldn't put two and two together and come up with Tweed? Why the panel where the Masquerader gleefully holds up a piece of Batman's costume and exclaims, "At last, I have the identity of Batman's tailor!" when everyone within earshot knows the dope's real identity anyway? Why do a growing number of bad guys feel it's necessary to clue the Duo in on their next hold-up? If I were a criminal, I'd want to make off with the goods and not have to worry about a fistfight with the Dark Knight. Nothing about this one makes sense except for the art, which is just about the best Brown/Giella work I've laid my eyes on yet.
Robin pummels the Skyline fans to a bloody pulp but their (older) leader gets away. The next day, the lead negotiator for the teachers receives a private call in his office, a very stressful call if the sweat on his forehead is to be believed, and the following evening he holds a press conference informing the public that talks between the city and the teachers have broken down. "What?!" screams Dick Grayson, "That means the teachers will go on strike!" Well, if we have to endure the lightweight solo adventures of Robin (which will rotate with the Batgirl back-up), at least the powers that be thought it a good idea to keep the same art team of Kane and Anderson. And to be fair, the plot of "Countdown to Chaos!" is not too bad, with a couple of interesting plot devices inserted to keep our interest. Who is the mystery rabble-rouser who escapes and does he have something to do with the mysterious phone call? Will Sandy drop her cold, hard demeanor long enough to plant one on Dick? To be continued...-Peter
Jack-At first I thought the torn costume was further evidence of the more vulnerable Batman we've been seeing since Frank Robbins took over as writer, but that turned out not to be the case. The Masquerader resembles the Red Skull, does he not? I like the fact that the Batman story is not filled with long captions and instead focuses on action and dialogue. I agree that the art is good, but I think Novick's cover is even better. The letters column has two interesting tidbits: first, the editor writes that Carmine Infantino lays out the cover of every DC comic, which is quite a feat, and second, Martin Pasko writes to ask that Mike Friedrich "quit trying to be 'cool' in the dialogue of his stories," something we've also complained about.
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| Novick |
"Batman's Marriage Trap!"
Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Irv Novick & Joe Giella
The winner of the annual Gotham Queen of Beauty Awards gets to spend a night on the town with Batman! Crooks watching the pageant on TV are elated, since Batman's every move will be covered and they'll know where he is all evening. Robin announces that he plans to stay home and watch it all on TV, too! The crooks make the most of their opportunity and commit a record number of crimes without any opposition.
The boss, a guy named Strack, decides to set "Batman's Marriage Trap!" and use the women of Gotham City against the Dark Knight. He summons a sexy blonde named Cleo and sends her out as bait. Cleo visits a top ad agency and tells the top man that she represents W.E.B., which stands for Women to End BATchelorhood. Their goal is to force Batman, Gotham's most eligible bachelor, to marry, thus removing the one barrier to happy marriage in the city. She has a million dollars to spend on an ad campaign, so the admen start papering the city with fliers that say "Wanted! For Marriage" and feature a picture of Batman.
Women start flooding the streets, carrying signs and blocking the Batmobile's path. "Down With Singles!" "Batman Unfair to Gotham Gals!" Even Batgirl joins the picket line! What's a crime fighter to do? Batman and Robin get unexpected aid from Cleo, who creates a smokescreen with her sports car and blocks the women's path. Cleo plays hard to get, figuring that will intrigue the Caped Crusader. As Batman and Robin drive up to a robbery in progress, their car is swarmed with more women, who insist that Batman choose a bride. Suddenly, Cleo reappears, tossing ladies hither and yon until they run from her. Batman becomes more intrigued by the blonde savior.
Strack and his gang set a trap for Batman by making it look like someone has stolen Cleo's sports car. A fierce battle ensues between the Dynamic Duo and Strack's gang until Cleo joins in, having fallen for Batman in earnest. Batgirl makes a surprise appearance to keep Batman from being shot and reveals that she was trailing Cleo, who tearfully admits her crush on Batman before she is led off in handcuffs. In the end, Batgirl disguises herself as Cleo and helps Batman and Robin round up the gang boss. Our heroes drive off and see all of the picket signs discarded in a trash pile--they are relieved that women will no longer be throwing themselves at Batman.
I know Peter will mock me, but I enjoyed this silly story, which features an impressive cover by Novick and interior art that is as good as the cover. I liked seeing a guest appearance from Batgirl and I thought the whole plot was so over the top that it was fun.-Jack
Peter-"Batman's Marriage Trap!" simultaneously puts us on alert the Frank Robbins is running out of story ideas and that he really digs ripping his ideas from the headlines. Tired of burning their bras in front of Gotham City Hall, the town's feminists now protest... Batman's bachelorhood? You can tell pretty quickly which side of the line Frank Robbins stood on in 1969. This is just about the most offensive and lunk-headed Bat-script on this journey and barely missed my pick for Worst Bat-Story of the 1960s. What placed first? Stay tuned!
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| Next Week... Paul Reinman Shows Us "Something in the Sea!" |
