May 1944 to April 1945
–NOTE: At a US Army war bond drive, Batman and Robin meet ace pilot Flying Tiger Haggerty (as referenced in Batman #61, Part 1).
–NOTE: Batman and Robin send the murderous duo of Monk Bardo and Randy Roose to jail (as referenced in Batman #26).
–The Brave and the Bold #146
May 26, 1944. Before we begin a synopsis, I must list two of writer Bob Haney’s continuity mistakes in this issue. Error #1; Batman is not in league with the GCPD. Error #2; the T-Rex and giant penny are shown in the Batcave. Okay, with those gaffes out of the way, here we go. Batman witnesses the murder of a professor (who has been working on the atomic bomb) by a mystery man and begins an investigation. Batman then meets with his government contacts and is introduced to The Unknown Soldier! The Dark Knight learns that Nazi villain Count Klaus Von Stauffen is behind the murder and theft of atomic secrets. Two days later, the Unknown Soldier and Batman tangle with Von Stauffen at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, but the latter escapes to the safety of diplomatic immunity within the Embassy of San Pedro. A day later, Batman and Unknown Soldier try to nab Von Stauffen in Albuquerque, NM, but the Nazi escapes with the atomic memo again. On Memorial Day (May 30, 1944) Batman and the Unknown Soldier prevent Von Stauffen from assassinating FDR in Washington, DC, but Von Stauffen escapes yet again.
–Detective Comics #87
Bruce and Dick enjoy a nice day at the beach. Bored, they decide to travel all over the city in a horse and buggy repairing umbrellas–the idea is to entrap Penguin, who has been at large for several months now. Eventually, Bruce and Dick are hired to fix Penguin’s trick umbrellas and are invited to his lair. That night, the Dynamic Duo returns to Penguin’s pad and apprehends his entire gang, but the Penguin escapes. The next day Penguin initiates a plan that involves distributing free umbrellas across Gotham in order to confuse Batman. Of course, this doesn’t confuse anyone and Batman attacks Penguin again. The Dynamic Duo is caged in Penguin’s umbrella store, but while he is out on another caper, the Dynamic Duo escapes and waits for his return. Ambushed, Penguin is easily returned to jail.
–NOTE: June 4, 1944. In London, Bruce meets with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who seems to be aware of his identity as Batman (as seen through flashback from The Brave and the Bold #84). Churchill tasks Batman to infiltrate Count Klaus Von Stauffen’s operations and shut them down. Bruce, under the James Bond-esque guise of secret agent Jack Pimpernel, accompanies Sgt. Rock and his platoon known as Easy Company into Nazi-occupied France. While Sgt. Rock and his men blow up a bridge and gun down Nazis, Bruce pretends to be a foreign wine connoisseur and gains an audience with Von Stauffen, where he learns that Von Stauffen has hidden nerve gas in wine bottles. The bumbling Easy Company attacks Von Stauffen head-on, forcing Batman to assist them from the shadows. Eventually, Batman and Sgt. Rock come to blows, but earn the repsect of one another, teaming to prevent Von Stauffen from delivering nerve gas to the front lines of the D-Day Invasion, which begins on schedule (June 6, 1944).
–Detective Comics #88
For the past several weeks, mysterious murders have plagued a small section of Gotham. Batman and Robin investigate and learn that gangster Big-Hearted John has been running a loan shark scam that involves rubbing out the people he loans money to. Going undercover has working class stiffs, Bruce and Dick move into a rundown tenement flat and meet borrow some cash from Big-Hearted John. When Big-Hearted John’s thugs try to machine gun our heroes at their apartment, Batman and Robin are ready and waiting to kick ass. Unfortunately, the Dynamic Duo is captured and thrown in a safe. After blowing out of the safe, Batman and Robin confront Big-Hearted John at a skycraper under construction. During the ensuing fight, Batman takes a bullet in his shoulder, but Big-Hearted John is defeated when he falls to his death.
–Batman #23
Joker begins committing a bunch of upside-down-themed pranks. When he steals a precious jewel, Batman chases after him, but gets captured. In Joker’s new lair, which has a magnetized ceiling, Batman and Joker have an upside-down duel until Robin enters and helps tie up the villain. While the Dynamic Duo returns the priceless jewel, Joker escapes. A few days later, Joker tries to rob a celebrity lookalike costume party, but Batman and Robin stop him. Although foiled in his scheme, Joker does manage to escape again.
Batman and Robin prevent Bugs Conklin from robbing a gem shop. Later, Dick goes to meet his new girlfriend (!), fellow classmate Marjory Davenport. At the Davenport home, Dick is surprised to find Marjory’s father, Dr. Davenport, with one of Conklin’s gang members. Dr. Davenport sends Dick away, but slips him a note explaining that trouble is afoot. Conklin has suffered a bullet wound at the hands of the police and now holds Marjory hostage. The crook is forcing Dr. Davenport to operate on him with threat of Marjory’s death. Robin tries to rescue Marjory solo, but gets captured. Batman tries to rescue Robin, but gets captured. Eventually, they escape and save the day. Unfortunately for Dick, Marjory slows their relationship to a crawl, citing her new love for his alter ego, Robin.
When Bruce’s neighbor, Mrs. Van Upsitart, holds a weekend-long party, Alfred is loaned out to work the affair. During the weekend event, someone robs the Van Upsitart safe and Alfred uses his keen detective skills to solve the crime.
Bruce and Dick go on a vacation to the snowy Northwest Territories of Canada, near the Hudson Bay, where they bring down some poachers. Batman and Robin team-up with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to arrest several more poachers, who work for an American named Skinner Short. The next day, the Dynamic Duo and the Mounties bring down Short and his gang once and for all.
–World’s Finest Comics #14
When a cargo ship explodes in Gotham Harbor, Batman and Robin are on the case. A day later, the Dynamic Duo assists Cap’n Moss in the salvage of the sunken ship. When one of Moss’ deep sea divers is attacked underwater, the Dynamic Duo suits up and goes down below where they engage in an undersea fight with a shirtless, helmeted warrior who bests them. The following day, Batman and Robin suspect eccentric millionaire Fishin’ Chipps as the undersea bandit, but cannot prove anything. Another day passes and Batman and Robin are on hand to witness an altercation between Chipps and ex-convict Jib Buckler in Gotham Harbor. Diving back into the watery depths, Batman has a rematch with the undersea bandit and unmasks him to reveal Jib Buckler. Buckler tries to escape in his custom-made submobile–an underwater tank–but gets blown to smithereens by his own torpedo. Afterward, Batman collects a spiked naval mine dud as a trophy in his Hall of Trophies (as referenced in Batman #72, Part 2). I’m pretty sure Batman has encountered an old-school naval mine in a another story, but for the life of me I can’t recall which one. However, it seem apropos that he could have collected one now as well.
–Detective Comics #89-90
Bruce hangs out at the society club with his acquaintance and fellow playboy Mortimer Drake–still unknown to Bruce that Drake is secretly one of his arch nemeses, the Cavalier. At the club, Professor Helmar Helstrom runs his mouth about a new typewriter that he has designed. Later that night, the Cavalier tries to steal Helstrom’s typewriter, but Batman and Robin are there to stop him. Coincidentally, Stinger Sloane and his gang also show up to rob Helstrom’s lab, forcing the Cavalier to temporarily team-up with the Dynamic Duo. After escaping from Sloane’s clutches, Cavalier makes off with the typewriter. The next day, Bruce deduces that the Cavalier must be his chum, Drake. At Helstrom’s lab, Batman confronts the Cavalier again and reveals that he knows who he is. After a daring departure by the Cavalier, Batman and Robin visit Drake’s mansion where they receive a telegram from Drake. Drake’s message states, now that his secret ID has been compromised, he will live somewhere else under a new alias. However, the Cavalier will be back.
Dick reads about a series of robberies that have occurred along the Mississippi River wherever a showboat called the Mississippi Mermaid has docked. It’s off to Mississippi where Batman and Robin quickly encounter the robbers, but the villains get away. Batman boards the Mississippi Mermaid and demands the arrest of one of the performers, Henkel, whom he recognizes as one of the crooks. However, the ship’s captain, Captain Ben, and his crew all give Henkel an alibi and Batman is forced to leave. A week later, Bruce and Dick attend Henkel’s synchronized swimming performance and Bruce discovers a key to solving the mystery. After putting on a swimming exhibition of his own, Batman reveals to the crowd that the intermission clock runs slow, thus giving Henkel and Captain Ben enough time to commit the burglaries. However, when Batman tries to turn in Henkel and Captain Ben, the latter uses his silver tongue to convince the local yokel sheriff that Batman is the bad guy. The sheriff arrests Batman, but quickly realizes the error of his ways. Batman and Robin eventually track down Henkel and Captain Ben in the bayou, successfully fight-off hungry alligators, and finally arrest the villains.
–Batman #24, Part 2
Alfred stumbles across a package intended for a crook and delivered from a female mob mole in the DA’s office. The package contains a coded message implicating banker Sam Caldwin in an embezzling scheme. Batman and Robin visit Caldwin only to be attacked by his henchmen. Caldwin then flees the country. Bruce, in conjunction with Commissioner Gordon, is placed on the DA’s books as an embezzler in order to lure out the mob villains. The gangsters quickly contact Bruce and offer him safe passage to South America in order to avoid arrest in exhange for ten thousand bucks. While en route to South America, Bruce learns the fate of Caldwin and is similarly dumped overboard by the racketeers. Robin picks up Bruce in the Batplane and the Dynamic Duo lands on the villains’ ship, kicks ass, and calls the Coast Guard to wrap up the case.
–Batman #24, Part 3
Alfred views a police line-up in order to further learn the intricacies of detective work. Later, Alfred spots on of the criminals and tails him to his hideout. In pure Inspector Clouseau fashion, Alfred bumbles his way through a room full of gangsters and is able to single-handedly apprehend them all.
–Batman #24, Part 4
For several months a “Two-in-One” mayoral candidate has been campaigning in the small village of Yonville. When Bruce and Dick learn that the candidate is named Tweed, they realized that Tweedledum and Tweedledee are up to their old tricks. When Tweed is elected mayor, Batman and Robin visit Yonville. Upon arrival, the Dynamic Duo prevents a bank robbery attempt by Tweedledum and Tweedledee’s old henchmen. The Dyanmic Duo is surprised to learn that Tweedledum (as mayor) and Tweedledee (as the appointed chief of police) are running the town properly and lawfully, as they prosecute their old pals to the fullest extent of the law. Unfortunately for Batman and Robin, they caused some collateral damage while fighting the goons, and Tweedledum uses this fact to prosecute and jail them as well. But the villains’ real plan begins now, as they trick the townsfolk into thinking that there is a large gold vein running through a mine in town. Tweedledum and Tweedledee begin collecting huge amounts of cash from the citizens of Yonville, who hope to buy stock in the development of the mine. Batman and Robin break jail and go after the villains only to get trapped in the empty mine. Tweedledum and Tweedledee blow up the mine in a failed attempt to kill Batman and Robin, which inadvertently causes their car to crash and also reveals an actual giant gold vein. With the mayor and chief of police exposed as swindlers, and impromptu special reelection is held and Batman is voted the new mayor of Yonville. After appointing Robin as the new chief of police, the Dark Knight sentences Tweedledum and Tweedledee to prison.
–NOTE: Joker is apprehended and returned to jail (as referenced in Detective Comics #91).
–Detective Comics #91
Bruce reads in a newspaper that Joker has become the victim of various pranks and practical jokes in prison. Sensing something is afoot, Batman kidnaps a prison guard and enters the penitentiary disguised as the guard to keep an eye on Joker. Batman learns that Joker has been both the cause and victim of his own pranks in an effort to set the stage for a bold escape. Joker is indeed able to escape when the Dark Knight is accidentally winged in the ankle by a bullet from prison guard friendly fire. A few days later, Joker places an ad in the paper that says he will commit a crime publicly in Gotham Square. Thousands of people gather in the square hoping to get a glance at Joker, and sure enough Joker shows up and bests the GCPD and steals a million dollar model of Gotham City. Batman fights Joker, but Joker bests him as well. Robin saves Batman’s life, but Joker gets away. A few days later, Joker brags that he will commit another public crime in Gotham Square. However, this is just a diversion that Batman sees right through. Across town, Joker attempts another robbery, but Batman, Robin, and the GCPD are waiting. Joker winds up back where he started–in jail.
–World’s Finest Comics #15
Batman and Robin apprehend Killer Halsey, Machine-Gun Kale, and Lynx Larsen. Despite being immediately sentenced to death for various murders, the criminals believe that they are protected by a rabbit’s foot, a magic ring, and a lucky diamond stickpin that they collectively possess. A few days later–thanks to Gotham’s “fast track” legal system, the trio is executed in the electric chair. Yet the very next day, the supposedly executed trio turns up alive and well and robs a bank. Batman and Robin meet with Commissioner Gordon and prison physician Dr. McFloy. McFloy reveals that one the day of the execution (which he was to oversee), he was kidnapped and replaced. Batman and Robin then battle the villainous trio at a diamond exchange. The trio escapes, but Batman learns that they are a different group of thugs made up to look like Halsey, Kale, and Larsen. After meeting with expert makeup artist, Mennekin, Batman and Robin show up across town just in time to witness Halsey, Kale, and Larsen get gunned down by police. Surprisingly, these are the real Halsey, Kale, and Larsen, meaning that they did avoid execution and escaped prison. After further investigation, Batman deduces that Mennekin kidnapped McFloy and impersonated the doctor during the execution in order to help the gangster trio escape. Mennekin then drugged the trio while sending out their impersonators to commit robberies. Once the real trio was gunned down, Mennekin and his fake trio would be in the clear. However, when Batman cracks the case, Mennekin’s perfect crime unravels and he winds up behind bars. Later, Bruce puts the rabbit’s foot, magic ring, and diamond stickpin into the Hall of Trophies.
–Detective Comics #93-94
This story goes here in the chronology just to keep it in order with ‘tec #94, which clearly takes place in the early Fall (county fair time). When gangsters rob a loan company, the Dynamic Duo catches them all except for the crook who holds the cash. The villain sneaks aboard a sightseeing tour bus and, at a stop, phones his buddies who hijack the bus. Holding the entire bus hostage in a secret garage, the baddies begin filling the room with water in an attempt to drown the passengers. Batman and Robin locate the garage and with the help of the passengers, they defeat the gang. Afterward, Batman flies some lucky tourist kids home in the Batplane.
Early Autumn, 1944. When a group of murdering thugs running a fake brokerage company run afoul of Batman and Robin they skip town to rural Meadowvale where they run into old thief pal George Barrow, who has gone straight and has been for the past twenty-four years. Of course, the vile thugs begin blackmailing Barrow. Batman and Robin travel to Meadowvale, kick ass at the county fair, and earn Barrow a pardon in the process.
–Detective Comics #92, Part 2
Brainy Bulow, Slug, and Slim are released from prison and start a new racket that involves nabbing wanted crooks and turning them in for the rewards. When they run out of crooks to turn in, they begin breaking them out of jail in order to turn them in later. After breaking out gangster Nick Rossi, Brainy and his goons show up at his hideout to recapture him, but Batman and Robin are there with the same idea. The Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder fight Rossi, Brainy, Slug, and Slim, but the villains get away. Later, Batman circulates a wanted poster for a fake criminal that includes a hefty rewards. Naturally, Brainy, Slug, and Slim try to apprehend the fake criminal only to run smack dab into the waiting arms of Batman and Robin.
–NOTE: Penguin escapes from jail (as referenced in Batman #25).
–Batman #25
Batman and Robin send Penguin back to jail, where he winds up cellmates with Joker! A week passes and Joker and Penguin help each other escape from prison. When Penguin and Joker both try to steal the same priceless emerald, they begin fighting each other. Batman and Robin join the fracas and apprehend a bunch of henchmen, but the main villains beat it and vow to form a partnership. After a bunch of daring robberies, Penguin and Joker collar the Dynamic Duo. However, the supervillains can’t decide on a method of killing the heroes, giving Batman and Robin enough time to turn the tables and send them back to prison.
Batman and Robin are assisted by cabbie Sidi Ben Hassen in the capture of a bunch of gangsters. Ben Hassen is injured during the brouhaha and taken to the hospital. The next day, Bruce drives Ben Hassen’s taxi to the hospital. Along the way, he decides to play cabbie and picks up a fare. The fare leaves his wallet and address in the backseat, prompting Bruce to visit the address where he immediately gets jumped, gagged, and tied up by Arab thugs who have mistaken him for Ben Hassen. It turns out that Ben Hassen is the rightful heir to the sheik of Baghdad and has been in exile for the past ten years while usurpers have taken his position. Now the usurpers are trying to tie up loose ends by offing Ben Hassen. Robin saves Bruce’s life and the Dynamic Duo readily defeats the Iraqi villains.
Alfred visits a magic show and gets hypnotized. While under the spell, Alfred manages to solve a mystery involving the robbery of a cash register till.
Batman and Robin are called by Commissioner Gordon into a meeting with the owner of the Rocky Dam Light and Power Company, who is having trouble with copper wire thieves. The Dynamic Duo travels to the deserts of the US Southwest and begins their investigation. Robin gets kidnapped by the copper wire thieves, but Batman–with some help from a pair of company linemen–rescues him and busts the baddies.
–The Brave and the Bold #162
Autumn, 1944. While on business in London, one of Bruce’s friends is killed at a munitions depot, prompting Batman to chase the murderer to Nazi-occupied France. Upon arrival in France, Batman meets up with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. After fighting Nazis left and right, Batman infiltrates a chateau and is captured by the Nazi supervillain known as The Iron Major. Sgt. Rock and his soldiers blast their way into the chateau and rescue Batman. Together, the heroes defeat the Iron Major.
–NOTE: This is pure conjecture (and a bit of fun “grandfathering” on my part), so choose to either ignore or applaud this addendum. In Batman #48, we first see what appears to be a staff with an eagle on its top. Admittedly it is hard to make out visually, but I think it resembles a traditional Nazi eagle. Thus, we can assume that Batman, on this recent trip to war torn Europe (or possibly on a side-mission of his own) collects this item to place in his Hall of Trophies.
–Batman and Robin “Intro/Ch. 1: What a Sweet Racket!” [newspaper strip dailies 10/25/1943 to 1/8/1944][1]
Spike Durphy escapes from prison and holds Commissioner Gordon hostage on the pier. Batman rescues Gordon, but Spike evades capture and boards a ship with his accomplice, the eye-patch wearing villain known as Blackie. Robin stows away on the vessel but is found out and snared. After Robin is dragged to Blackie’s hideout, he radios Batman for help. Batman makes a daring rescue attempt but, of course, gets captured as well. Blackie takes off, leaving the bound heroes with Durphy. Famous cigar-smoking private detective Dan “Hard” Tack then shows up and saves the Dynamic Duo. Durphy is apprehended by Tack, who gets a cool ten grand in reward money. Batman eventually deduces the sinister truth–Blackie and Tack are one and the same. In a scam similar to a recent racket by Brainy Bulow, Blackie busts crooks out of jail for a fee only to turn them back in (in the guise of Tack) to collect reward money. Blackie’s next move is to break his pal Frisco Fred out of the State Pen. Later, Tack–unaware that Batman knows his secret identity as Blackie–meets with the Dark Knight. Batman punches him out and disguises himself as Blackie. The disguised Batman meets with Fred, but Fred is on to Blackie’s racket and tries to kill him. Eventually, the real Blackie shows up and Batman and Robin apprehend the whole bunch.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 2: The Phantom Terrorist” [newspaper strip dailies 1/10/1944 to 3/18/1944]
A mysterious “phantom terrorist” sabotages the opening night of the Broadway musical Let’s Go Crazy starring Rita Rollins and produced by Claude Towne. Batman and Robin chase the vandal into the sewers and subway, but the latter hops a train and gets away. After an investigation into the whereabouts of theater watchman Ben Wilkes, Batman and Robin spy on former theater producer and ex-convict John Corliss as he meets with Rollins’ understudy, Carol West. The Dynamic Duo then trails Corliss to Rollins’ apartment where Corliss accosts the actress. Corliss then flees the scene. At the next show, Corliss confronts Rollins backstage, but Batman and Robin apprehend the crazed man. Corliss reveals that Rollins can no longer dance due to an injury and West has been substituting as her for the show and not getting any credit. Wilkes shuts the lights off in the theater causing a panic and a chance for his pal Corliss to escape. However, with help from Alfred, the Dynamic Duo catches Wilkes and Corliss. In a twist, Batman correctly deduces that neither Wilkes nor Corliss is the “phantom terrorist.” The villains in our tale are actually Rollins and Towne. Several days pass and Let’s Go Crazy is revamped into Twinkle Toes–produced by John Corliss and starring Carol West.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 3: The Joker’s Symbol Crimes” [newspaper strip dailies 3/20/1944 to 6/3/1944]
Bruce and Dick tour Gotham’s newest “escape-proof” penitentiary and witnesses Joker freaking out in the yard. Joker’s antics get him transferred to the State Prison for the Criminally Insane. En route, Joker escapes from his prison van and sends Commissioner Gordon his calling card–a joker playing card with a note bragging about his escape. A week later, Joker causes a ruckus at a semiotics lecture by Professor Matthew Cleek and then murders a shopkeeper with his patented Joker Venom. After meeting with Cleek, Batman determines that Joker plans to commit crimes based upon his lecture. Batman and Robin tangle with Joker next at the clocktower building. When Joker retreats, the Dynamic Duo consults with Cleek and continues planning for Joker’s next move. After lengthy detective work, Batman and Robin catch up with Joker as the mad villain kidnaps a movie star to get to her valuable jewels. After getting foiled again, Joker flees again. The Dynamic Duo meets with Cleek again and awaits Joker’s next strike. In a bold move, Joker attacks Batman, Robin, and Commissioner Gordon at GCPD HQ. Bold as this maneuver may be, it is just as foolish, and Batman competently shackles Joker. A the conclusion of this case, Batman puts Joker’s playing card into the Hall of Trophies (as referenced in Detective Comics #112).
–NOTE: Batman and Robin are assisted on an undisclosed case by GCPD Sgt. Bill Randall (as referenced in the 6/29/1944 Batman and Robin daily newspaper strip, which is a part of “Ch. 4: The Secret of Triangle Farm”).
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 4: The Secret of Triangle Farm” [newspaper strip dailies 6/5/1944 to 8/12/1944]
Batman gets shot three times in the chest while chasing after fur robbers led by the enigmatic Silver Fox. Robin drags a bloody Batman to a remote woodland cottage belonging to Alicia Armistead and her dad. A doctor is fetched and life-saving surgery is performed, but Batman is incapacitated and bed-ridden. Robin calls upon GCPD Sgt. Bill Randall to temporarily wear the Batman costume! Batman (Randall) and Robin then tour Theodore Tate’s Triangle Farm, a fur trapping establishment near where the real Batman was shot. Soon after their visit, Batman (Randall) and Robin stop the Silver Fox from robbing some Triangle Farm trucks. Of course, the injured Dark Knight–after being told all of the details and scientifically examining some of the Triangle Farms goods–is able to deduce that Silver Fox is Tate and the villain was robbing his own stock to throw our heroes off his trail. A headstrong and gun-toting Batman (Randall) charges into Triangle Farm only to get shot and killed. Robin shows up just in time to witness Randall’s murder and evades his own untimely death with a little help from Tate’s bleeding-heart daughter. Tate and his gang trail Robin back to the Armistead cottage, where Batman uses what little strength he has left to rise up and intimidate the bad guys, who are shocked to see Batman alive again. The confused villains are then overwhelmed by the arrival of Commissioner Gordon and his troops, just as the Caped Crusaders passes out. The Dynamic Duo later mourns the death of Randall.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 5: The Missing Heir Dilemma” [newspaper strip dailies 8/14/1944 to 10/28/1944]
Batman and Robin visit West Coast gangster Percy Swann–along with his assistant known as The Spaniel and his henchman named Tiny–at their fancy Gotham hotel suite. Swann and the Spaniel claim that they have gone straight and now work as private investigators that search for missing persons. With nothing to bust them for, Batman leaves. Of course, just as Batman exits, writer Alvin Schwartz immediately has Swann brutally murder a kitty to let us know that he is indeed still a pretty evil dude. Swann and the Spaniel soon concoct a plan that involves using an actor to pretend to be the long lost heir to the William Jenkin fortune. Thus, after the death of Jenkin the trio will split the money. While picking up fiance Linda Page from her nursing gig at the hospital Bruce bears witness as “Eddie Jenkin” reunites with his fatally sick, senile old pop, who believes it is him. A week later, William still hasn’t kicked the bucket and looks like he might be making a recovery. Swann isn’t pleased with this turn of events and orders the assassination of the elderly man. Swann’s thugs try to cause an ambulance accident, but serendipity is on the side of good and Bruce (as Bruce) saves the day. When Old Man Jenkin’s butler turns up dead, Swann’s plan begins to unravel. Bruce goes undercover as Swann to talk with “Eddie” and learns not only more of Swann’s plan but that “Eddie” no longer wishes to participate. Meanwhile, Swann gets in an argument with the Spaniel, who winds up with a knife in his heart. The Dynamic Duo arrives at the Jenkin estate just in time to save William and Linda from Swann and Tiny. Tiny betrays Swann (for killing his kitty earlier!) and gets an angry bullet for doing so. Swann drowns in a swamp.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 6: The Two-Bit Dictator of Twin Mills” [newspaper strip dailies 10/30/1944 to 1/27/1945]
Bruce is not only head of Wayne Enterprises, majority stockholder in a clock company, majority stockholder in a shipping insurance company, author, producer, and bank director, but also majority mortgage-owner of the Twin Mills newspaper The Sentinel. When Twin Mills’ corrupt mayor Tweed Wickham visits Bruce and tries to buy out his mortgage shares in The Sentintel. When Bruce refuses, Wickham begins a literal terror campaign against the news agency. Batman and Robin travel to Twin Mills and beat on some of Wickham’s thugs, but quickly become the targets of the mayor’s corrupt police force and false legal authority. Despite being outlawed, Batman and Robin continue their war on Wickham, causing the latter to hired expert hitman Jojo. Jojo kidnaps Bruce and the editor of The Sentinel. Later, while Batman fights corrupt cops, Dick disguises himself as a homeless orphan to infiltrate police HQ and raid their files. Dick finds a ballistics report that could send Jojo to jail for a long time if brought out into the open. With Jojo exposed, Wickham severs ties with him and orders his execution. Batman and Robin save Jojo from being assassinated. Jojo immediately goes after Wickham, as Batman has planned. In rapid succession, the Dark Knight brings down Jojo, Wickham, and all of Wickham’s crooked accomplices. The Sentinel editor opts to run for mayor to replace Wickham. Two weeks later, the editor contacts Bruce with the desire to stay on as editor of the paper.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 7: Bliss House ain’t the Same” [newspaper strip dailies 1/29/1945 to 4/28/1945]
Recent college graduate Martin Bliss returns home to find his stately home under the control of the deformed Frankenstein monster-esque gangster named Pomade. When Martin’s girlfriend, Corinne Dale, visits and turns up missing overnight, Martin and his mother know Pomade is to blame, but they can do nothing because Pomade has a photo of Martin committing a hit-and-run manslaughter that he uses as blackmail against the family. In actuality the photo is doctored, but Martin, who was drunk on the night in question, believes it to be authentic. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin track down the killer John “Skipper” Keane, who happens to work for Pomade. After saving Corinne’s sister from Keane, the Dynamic Duo scours the underworld for Keane, but he has gone off the radar. Bruce then, in conjunction with Commissioner Gordon, puts his reputation and company on the line in order to help solve the case. Bruce allows the entire world to believe that he has embezzled money from his company and goes to jail where he befriends one of Keane’s partners on the inside. They escape prison together and meet up with Keane. Bruce and Dick try to apprehend Keane, but the latter escapes yet again. The Dynamic Duo finally goes to the Bliss mansion where they discover that Keane has been killed by Pomade. After an epic first fight, subsequent investigation, lengthy chase sequence, more investigation, more chasing, and a second epic fight, Batman defeats one of his most charismatic and monstrous foes in Pomade. The supervillain dies after suffering horrible burns after falling into a furnace.
–NOTE: Penguin flies the coop (as referenced in Chapter 1 of the Batman and Robin Sunday newspaper strips, specifically the 11/7/1943 edition).
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 1: The Penguin’s Crime-Thunderstorms” [Sunday newspaper strips 11/7/1943 to 12/12/1943]
Batman and Robin are on hand as Penguin robs a truckload of umbrellas. The fiend–along with two trained emperor penguins–later attempts to rob the wealthy Amos Q. Pinchbeck, but the Dynamic Duo stops him and puts him back behind bars.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 2: The Secret of Cap’n Plankton’s Ghost” [Sunday newspaper strips 12/19/1943 to 1/9/1944]
Bruce and Dick take yet another vacation, this time to a resort known as Pirate Lake. Naturally, Batman and Robin find themselves skirmishing against ghost pirates. After discovering that the ghosts are actually human beings, led by Ross Plankton, and their ship is a fake schooner mounted atop a camouflaged modern diesel yacht, the Dynamic Duo escalates their warring tactics. Of course, our heroes defeat the villains with grace.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 3: Jesse James Rides Again!” [Sunday newspaper strips 1/16/1944 to 2/13/1944]
In 1844 Jesse James and Billy the Kid committed a famous train heist. Now, railroad officials are celebrating the centennial anniversary of that robbery by staging a reenactment, only this time Batman and Robin will stop James and Billy the Kid. However, crooks Hamlet and Packy replace the actors set to portray James and Billy the Kid, show up for the reenactment, and catch the Dynamic Duo off guard with an actual train robbery. When the modern versions of James and Billy the Kid try to rob a bullet train, the Dynamic Duo brings them to justice.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 4: The Undersea Bank Bandits” [Sunday newspaper strips 2/20/1944 to 3/19/1944]
Batman and Robin encounter a group of underwater divers that blow into bank vaults and stores that are constructed atop the piers of Gotham’s waterfront from the depths below. After analyzing a bootprint left on Robin’s costume after the encounter, Batman discovers the bandits will strike from a tunnel being built underneath the West River. The Dynamic Duo fights the bandits in the tunnel, but lets them flee in order to help the workers plug a leak. The bandits, however, are nabbed by the cops when they enter a Batman-rigged compression chamber and pass out.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 5: Liquid Gold!” [Sunday newspaper strips 3/26/1944 to 4/30/1944]
Ruth Parker, head of an oil refinery in Texas, puts out a national advertisement calling for Batman and Robin’s help against the corrupt gangster tycoon Big Tim Hale, who has been sabotaging her rigs in an attempt to drive her out of the business. Batman and Robin answer the call and, with minimal difficulty, defeat Hale and his goon squad.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 6: Cap’n Alfred” [Sunday newspaper strips 5/7/1944 to 6/4/1944]
Every year, once a year, Alfred’s friend Herbert lets a Beagle captain a river ferry. This year it is Alfred’s turn. Batman and Robin travel aboard the ferry in disguise as a blind man and a shoeshine boy to keep tabs on Alfred. When silk hijackers take over the ship, Batman, Robin, and Alfred are captured. Eventually, they escape and bust the hijackers. Alfred then gets seasick and pukes his ever livin’ guts out.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 7: Death Row’s Innocent Resident” [Sunday newspaper strips 6/11/1944 to 7/30/1944]
Warden Doyle now replaces Warden Keyes as the head of the State Prison–wardens come and go quite quickly (as they should since it seems that prisoners are constantly escaping). Sentenced murderer and Death Row inmate Bower is set to be executed at the stroke of midnight, but he swears that he is innocent, framed by one Frederick Steele. Batman and Robin have just over three hours to solve this mystery. After investigating Steele and escaping the death trap of a bunch of thugs who let slip that they work for Steele, Batman is convinced that the real criminal is Steele. The Dynamic Duo apprehends Steele at the home of Horace Hawkins, who further implicates Steele in criminal activity. Steele denies everything, and thankfully Batman agrees with him, seeing holes in Hawkins tale. Due to some clever detective work, the Dark Knight deduces that Bower is indeed the homicidal criminal and had ordered his gang, which includes Hawkins, to set up Steele at his eleventh hour on Death Row. With the case closed, Bower fries as the clock strikes twelve.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 9: An Attic Full of Art” [Sunday newspaper strips 9/24/1944 to 11/5/1944]
Bruce and Dick attend a rural county fair and spend the night at the Cobb Farm along with art dealer, Maxwell. When Maxwell discovers that Old Man Cobb has a cache of never-before-seen paintings by the late Homer Benson–America’s most famous artist of the early 20th century–he begins plotting on how to force the stubborn farmer to sell them. First, Maxwell murders a circus trapeze artist from the fair and poses as him to burn Cobb’s grain supply silo to the ground. Although now broke, Cobb still refuses to sell, claiming that his racehorse can win him cash. Maxwell sabotages the race, but Batman fills in and finishes the derby. Meanwhile, Robin and Cobb catch Maxwell. Batman then convinces Cobb to sell the paintings to a museum. A week later, Bruce and Dick view the paintings at a show in Gotham.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 10: There was a Crooked Man…” [Sunday newspaper strips 11/12/1944 to 12/31/1944]
Batman and Robin are accosted by a new oddly-dressed supervillain called The Crooked Man, who commits crimes based on nursery rhymes. After engaging with the villain on several bizarre encounters and solving his puzzles, Batman discovers his true identity is Hugh Mellville. Upon paying Mellville a visit, Batman learns that Mellville runs a company called “Adventure, Inc.” “Adventure, Inc.” supplies its customers with a real-life simulation of whatever adventure they can dream up. In this instance, a customer and his son wanted to play Batman and Robin and Mellville’s task was to ambush them as a new supervillain and engage them in an role-playing adventure. Mellville, as the Crooked Man, had mistaken the actual Dynamic Duo for his clients and begun the game.
–World’s Finest Comics #16
Bruce and Dick travel to some backwoods mountainous part of the US to check up on a string of robberies at a war production plant, of which Bruce is majority stockholder. Bruce and Dick are immediately nearly killed when they drive over a landmine. Miraculously they survive, suit up, and find themselves in the middle of a redneck war between the Chatfield clan and the McKee clan. Amidst the chaos, Batman and Robin are also attacked by a mysterious masked man on horseback. After a long investigation and a spooky ghost sighting, Batman is ready to end this case and does so by nabbing the masked rider–city crook Nocky Johnson. Nocky had been robbing the factory blind while using the local yokel war as a cover. Oh, and the ghost was a fake, of course.
–Batman #26
The Cavalier is back and makes an appearance at a costume party that Bruce and Dick attend. Together with a bunch of hired men who also dress as the Cavalier, Mortimer Drake–now going by Albert Foster–flees the scene. The Cavalier’s escape is guaranteed when a mob of eager kids show up–having been alerted by the Cavalier–looking for free Batman and Robin autographs. In the chaos, the Cavalier kidnaps Robin and sets him up in a deathtrap. While Batman saves Robin, the Cavalier steals a live whale from Gotham’s Whaling Museum. Following a trail of bulk-purchased fish, the Dynamic Duo locates the Cavalier’s lair and busts him. The Cavalier, for the first time in his life, goes to jail! Afterward, much to their dismay, Batman and Robin are forced to sign thousands of autographs for the children. The Dynamic Duo, following this case, places a pair of The Cavalier’s rapiers into their Hall of Trophies (as referenced in World’s Finest Comics #37).
Alfred goes to the grocery store and mistakenly believes a pickpocket has snatched his wallet. Following the suspect into an alley, another man begins shooting at them. Alfred winds up saving the supposed pickpocket’s life and apprehends the mystery shooter, who turns out to be the brother of a well-known criminal. The other man turns out to be a famous chef who had dirt on the crook’s bro. Afterward, Alfred brings the chef home and he cooks a fancy meal for Bruce and Dick.
Batman and Robin don’t appear (only in a film) in the third part of Batman #26.[2]
Monk Bardo and Randy Roose escape from prison and hideout in New Mexico. Batman and Robin fly to New Mexico where they wind up in Lost Mesa, a secret ancient Pueblo city that has remained hidden for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the Pueblo tribe, in full ceremonial garb, has already been reached by Bardo and Roose, who warn them that Batman and Robin are evil. The Dynamic Duo is thrown in a pit and left to rot, but when Bardo and Roose try to rob the Lost Mesa temple they are exposed as villains. Nachee, the chief’s grandson, helps the Dynamic Duo escape captivity and they defeat Bardo and Roose. Batman and Robin are hailed as heroes by the tribe before dropping the knaves back in prison.
–Batman #27, Part 4
Christmas Eve, 1945. Teenager Scranton “Young Scrooge” Loring has just inherited several million dollars. Being the scrooge that he is, Loring financially backs a criminal network that includes his butler Gulliver, his attorney Eggers, and mob boss Happy Hoggsby. Hoggsby’s men torch several Christmas tree stands in an attempt to take over the holiday market. When Batman and Robin learn of young Scranton’s link to the crimes, they pay kidnap him to teach a lesson! By showing Scranton the people who have been negatively affected by his sponsored crime wave, the teen repents and storms off to confront Gulliver, Eggers, and Hoggsby. Of course, Eggers has robbed the boy blind, kidnapped his Uncle Tim who happens to be dressed as Santa, and threatens to kill Scranton. Batman and Robin enter the scene and right all the wrongs with fisticuffs. Later, as Christmas dawns on Gotham, the Dynamic Duo pimps out the Batplane in Yuletide decor (as they have done in the past) and flies around distributing presents along with Scranton and his Uncle Santa Claus.
–Detective Comics #96
Stoney Peters and his band of thieves fend off Batman to pull off heist at a loan company and hightail it to rural Middleton to hideout. Coincedentally, Alfred has just begun a month-long leave of absence to attempt to make it as a private detective in Middleton. Unfortunately for Alfred, Peters pegs him for a rube and Alfred not only unwittingly aids Peters in a robbery but winds up behind bars as well. When Batman and Robin venture to Middleton and go after Peters, Alfred escapes from jail to aid them, but gets nabbed by Peters. Eventually, Batman, Robin, and Alfred combine their forces to defeat Peters and his group. Alfred gets credit for bringing down Peters and is pardoned.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 11: Holy Smoke!” [Sunday newspaper strips 1/7/1945 to 2/18/1945]
Batman and Robin visit with forest rangers in the Rocky Mountains and help put out a large blaze in the woods. Batman questions ex-convict and pyromaniac Neil Gage as an arson suspect, but Gage flees the scene. Batman and Robin then save Gage and his girlfriend in another arson conflagration and realize the real arsonist is a bank robber named Kale, whom they easily defeat in time to get in some quality camping.
–NOTE: Penguin escapes from prison (as referenced in Batman #30, Part 1).
–Batman #30, Part 1
Midwinter, 1945. Batman and Robin meet with the newly elected governmental head of Gotham, Mayor Carfax, and devise a plan to lure Penguin out of hiding.[3] The plan involves holding a king penguin ceremony at Gotham Municipal Zoo. Naturally, Penguin shows up, prompting an epic chase all over town. At midnight, the Dynamic Duo corners Penguin and his thugs in a department store, but the supervillain ties them up, stuffs them in-between some mattresses, and lights them on fire. Subtle. Of course, Batman and Robin escape unscathed and send the bird villain back to jail.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 12: A English Sassiety Skoit” [Sunday newspaper strips 2/25/1945 to 3/18/1945]
When some con artists overhear Alfred and Dick chatting in the park about Alfred’s twenty-two-year-old niece that he has never met before, but corresponds with regularly, they decide to take advantage of the situation, believing Alfred to be a wealthy magnate. As it turns out, Alfred had been telling his niece that he was indeed rich. When the con artist “niece” arrives at Wayne Manor, Bruce decides to do his friend a favor and suits up in a butler’s uniform and pretends that Alfred owns the estate. After a sob story about being blackmailed and needing money to deliver to villains in the junkyard later that day, Alfred gives her a large sum of Bruce’s cash. The Dynamic Duo–and Alfred–then oversees the drop-off and learns that Alfred’s “niece” is a faker working for a criminal gang. After busting the baddies, Bruce and Dick give an embarrassed Alfred the day off and they serve him for a welcome change.
–Batman and Robin “Ch. 13: Rustling on a Reservation” [Sunday newspaper strips 3/25/1945 to 4/29/1945]
Bruce and Dick return to New Mexico for a vacation (their second trip to New Mexico in less than a month) and are forced to suit up as Batman and Robin to deal with some cattle rustlers that have been plaguing the local Pueblo tribe. After initially being mistaken for rustlers themselves by the Pueblo leaders, they realize their error and invite Batman to participate in various religious ceremonies. When the rustlers attack again, Batman and Robin take them down with some help from a youngster named Featherfoot. Afterward, Robin and Featherfoot are allowed to go through the ceremonial rite of passage usually only reserved for prominent adults in the tribe. After the ceremony, Batman is made an honorary chief of the tribe and given a fancy headdress, which later goes into the Hall of Trophies (as referenced in Bamtan #69, Part 2).
–The Adventures of Superman Radio Show “The Mystery of the Waxmen” [3/2/1945 radio episode]
While pursuing an Axis spymaster named Zoltan in Metropolis, Batman is encased–Star Wars carbonite-style–in wax along with several Allied scientists. Fearing Batman’s safety, Robin and Alfred travel to Metropolis where Robin is tossed into a rowboat near the docks by Zoltan’s men and left for dead. Meanwhile, Alfred leaves a note for Clark Kent asking for Superman’s help. Superman finds Robin at the docks and nurses him back to health, while at the same time discovers the secret identities of both Batman and Robin! Later, Superman and Robin rescue Batman and the trio takes down Zoltan. Superman now knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne, but Bruce still doesn’t know who Superman is. This radio broadcast was also detailed in print via flashback in World’s Finest Comics #271.
–NOTE: Penguin escapes from the slammer again (as referenced in Batman #27, Part 1).
–Batman #27, Part 1
Penguin takes on a seventeen-year-old apprentice, the son of a criminal acquaintance of his. When the teen displays an aptitude for writing and drafts a biography of Penguin, the supervillain, in disguise, attempts to sell the manuscript to a publisher’s. After being denied, Penguin steals a truckload of paper, captures the Dynamic Duo, and attempts to publish his life story with the aid of a counterfeiter. Batman and Robin escape from Penguin’s manor with help from Penguin’s apprentice, who has no love for crime. Batman eventually apprehends Penguin after a duel atop the giant clock of the towering Gotham Trust Building–a locale that Batman has fought at on numerous occasions prior to this. Part 1 of Batman #27 also adds to the list of Bruce’s fiscal/occupational responsibilities–he is head of Wayne Enterprises, majority stockholder in a clock company, majority stockholder in a shipping insurance company, author, producer, bank director, newspaper publisher, factory owner, and stockholder in a book publishing company.
–Batman #27, Part 2
While Bruce and Dick are visiting friends, Alfred has another classic Pink Panther-esque adventure where he accidentally helps the police bust Pistol-Packin’ Pete. (I should mention that this actually predates Pink Panther by seventeen years)!
–Batman #27, Part 3
Trouble is afoot at the Explorers Club of Gotham. One of its members is found murdered inside their headquarters amidst a World’s Fair-like diorama of South Africa. After the mystery killer–one of the members–tries and fails to pin the crime on a known crook, Batman and Robin begin an investigation and learn that a deceased famous explorer has hidden clues to the combination to the club’s safe, which holds a vast fortune as a reward for anyone who can gain entry. Thus, Batman begins an elaborate scavenger hunt through the many dioramas of the club, while at the same time outs the dastardly Felix Landry as the murderer. Batman, having earned the large cash prize, then donates it all to charity.
–Detective Comics #97
Where do I even begin with this convoluted Joe Greene mess? Batman publicly swears to take down the ruthless gangster known only as The Slasher. When he finds him, the Slasher is apparently dead by suicide and has left a note exposing the the whereabouts of his partners, Benny the Gimp and Joe the Nutcracker, and claiming that his third partner, Nick Petri, has fled town. After a detailed investigation and an encounter with a mystery crook who claims ownership of Slasher’s killer canine named Fang, Batman begins to realize the truth. After locating the Slasher’s safehouse and discovering that his gang had been feuding over a cache of stolen jewels hidden in a safe rigged to explode inside the lair, Batman and Robin are attacked and knocked out by the mystery man–a facial plastic surgery-altered Slasher, who has faked suicide by killing and mutilating a hobo to take his place. The Slasher, the Gimp, and the Nutcracker all wait for Petri to return to the house and open the safe–only Petri knows how to open it without detonating the bomb. When Petri gathers the riches, his former pals leap out to get what’s theirs. Meanwhile, the Dynamic Duo shakes off their cobwebs and starts duking it out with all four baddies. Petri tries to throw the bomb switch on the safe, but it doesn’t work because a flood deactivated it a while ago. Game over, crooks.
–World’s Finest Comics #17
Super-genius Darby Deems, with his over-sized brain and PhD, becomes radio analyst Dr. Dreemo. After analyzing the dreams of his guests, Dreemo uses his superior intellect to find their weaknesses in order to exploit them and rob them with the aid of his criminal gang. The Dynamic Duo encounters Dreemo during a robbery attempt, but the latter evades capture. Bruce decides to go on Dreemo’s radio show to test the doctor’s ability. Sure enough, after hearing about one of Bruce’s legit dreams–involving a tall sword-wielding, bat-winged superhero that saves Bruce from a giant talking spider and an evil magician–Dreemo deduces that Bruce is Batman! Later that night, Batman cooks up a batch of his own version of Scarecrow’s Fear Gas and makes a preemptive strike on Dreemo. Batman and Robin was gas masks, break into Dreemo’s home, dose him with Fear Gas, and then listen while the villain freaks out and spills the beans about his operation. However, during the wild affair Batman is shot by one of Dreemo’s henchmen and the villains abscond with a knocked-out Robin in tow. Batman then attacks Dreemo yet again, rescues Robin, and sends the bad guys to jail. Oh, Batman uses a dummy of Bruce Wayne and a dummy of Batman to fool Dreemo into thinking that he isn’t the Dark Knight.
–Detective Comics #98
When wealthy bank president Casper Thurbridge goes missing for over a week, Batman and Robin snoop around his mansion and run into thieves–Silvers Silke, Soapy Waters, and Squint–robbing Thurbridge’s safe. Silke and Waters get away with the loot, but Squint is nabbed and spills the beans that his buddies are hiding out in a hobo community called Paradise Jungle. Going in disguise as homeless bums, Batman and Robin travel to Paradise Jungle and find the eccentric Thurbridge contently leading the relaxing “hobo retreat village.” Thurbridge had been sick of his responsibilities and left the city to build a safe haven for hobos near the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Gotham–actually on property owned by Bruce. Batman and Robin expose Silke and Waters as crooks and they are expelled from Paradise Jungle. Later, when the Dynamic Duo tries to bust the villains, Silke and Waters get the upper hand and nearly kill the heroes in the process. After trying to incite a coup against Thurbridge, Silk and Waters are defeated and brought to justice. Later, after returning to his bank duties, Thurbridge purchases Bruce’s plot of land near the tracks and continues the Paradise Jungle project.
–Batman #27, Part 1 Epilogue
Bruce reads an advance book review of the soon-to-be-released Penguin biography, written by Penguin’s former apprentice.
–NOTE: You guessed it–Joker escapes from the slammer (as referenced in Batman #28).
–Batman #28
Joker opens up Shadow City, a secret section of Gotham that holds many themed casinos. When Batman learns of the mysterious Shadow City, he tails millionaire acquaintance Felix Lathrop–who has received a private invitation–to the gambling haven. After riding atop a limo through a pitch black city lane, Batman and Robin emerge in a brightly lit block with several Oriental-themed casinos. Inside one of them, the Dynamic Duo witnesses Joker trying to swindle Lathrop. Our heroes take the fight to Joker and shut down his operation. They also learn that the private limo ride to Shadow City was a fake trip via conveyor belt–the car, surrounded by darkness, lowers down a freight elevator into a huge underground bunker dressed up to look like a city block containing casinos. A few days later Lathrop quits gambling and starts up a crime fighting foundation with Batman and Robin as directors.
In another edition of “The Adventures of Alfred,” Alfred goes to visit a friend and winds up inadvertently apprehending the entire Murton Gang.
Batman, Robin, and Commissioner Gordon send Alfred’s friend GCPD Sgt. Shirley Holmes undercover to flush out the ringleaders of a racketeering enterprise. Everything is going swimmingly and Holmes has gained the criminals’ complete trust until Alfred runs into her at a restaurant and says hello, addressing her by her real name. Batman and Robin eventually rescue the more-than-capable Holmes and shut down the racket. Holmes then goes on a date with Alfred.
After preventing jobless ex-con Danny the Dip from committing suicide, Batman addresses the nation via radio and implores employers to give those who have paid their debt to society a fair chance in the work world. The next day, Batman (presumably at his PO box) receives hundreds of supportive letters from former crooks and an invitation from a senator to speak in Washington, DC. This prompts Robin to exclaim his excitement to visit DC since he’s never been there before. But Robin must have taken one too many bumps on his noggin–he’s been there a few times, met FDR and J. Edgar Hoover, and once even participated in a parade in is own honor down Pennsylvania Avenue. Anyway, a few days later Batman and Robin drag a trailer filled with Danny the Dip and his ex-con buddies to Washington, where they visit the tourist sites. That night, mobster Boss Skye kidnaps Batman and Robin and locks them in a warehouse. When the Dynamic Duo fails to appear at the Senate, Danny and his buddies not only rescue them, but help them deliver Skye and company to the FBI as well. Batman then delivers a rousing speech on the Senate floor that supports passage of a bill that will help ex-cons gain employment in factories.
–NOTE: It’s Robin’s fourteenth birthday and Batman gets him a Batpoon–a harpoon attached to a rope, not what you thought it was. The Batpoon b-day is referenced in World’s Finest Comics #18.
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- [1] COLLIN COLSHER: Up to this point, most of (if not all of) the issues on the chronology have taken place during or near the months of the issues’ publication dates. For no reason, other than to make it a bit easier on myself, the daily and Sunday newspaper strips have been lumped together with disregard for their publication dates–although some strips make specific topical references and have been placed accordingly. ↩
- [2] COLLIN COLSHER: Part 3 of Batman #26 takes place in the 3040s and details the Saturnian invasion and occupation of Earth by an army of aliens led by the malevolent Fura. Fura has ruled Earth since the year 3000. Finally, after over forty years of brutal oppression, a Gothamite calling himself “Bruce Wayne”—Bruce’s future namesake, actually named Brane Taylor—and his young nephew Ricky unearth a time capsule from the 1939 New York World’s Fair, which contains film of Batman and Robin in action. Inspired, Brane and Ricky become the Batman and Robin of the 31st century and lead what will ultimately become the revolution that frees Earth and ends the reign of Fura and his Saturnian hordes. ↩
- [3] COLLIN COLSHER: The new mayor goes unnamed in Batman #30, but we will see him again over the course of the next two years. In Detective Comics #121, we learn that the mayor’s son is named Chadwick Carfax. Thus, the mayor’s last name is Carfax. ↩