"The Scarecrow Returns"
Writer: Don Cameron
Pencils: Bob Kane
Inks: Jerry Robinson
Synopsis: Linda Page is taking Bruce Wayne on a date to a "hat show" because Bruce is always making fun of her ridiculous hats (to be fair, 1940s women's hat styles are really silly and Linda is always drawn wearing particularly awful ones).
But then the Scarecrow shows up to rob the place of all the... valuable... hats... Yes, the Scarecrow has escaped from prison and decided to rob a hat show because he wants Gothamites to be terrified of... small... words...
Anyways Bruce can't change into Batman with Linda around (secret identity and all that) -- so he stumbles around bumping into the Scarecrow's men and accidentally knocking them out. Eventually the Scarecrow pistol whips him and makes off with the goods, leaving a clue of a blackboard slate with the words "HAT" and "MAT" written on it in chalk.
Obviously the "HAT" refers to the most recent crime, and Bruce thinks that the "MAT" refers to an upcoming charity wrestling bout for which the proceeds are going to (what else) war bonds.
So Batman and Robin show up to guard the bout, and it turns out that Scarecrow's goons are actually both the wrestlers in the bout, and pull guns on the audience while Scarecrow steals from the cashiers. Everyone's incensed that Scarecrow would "steal from Uncle Sam", and the Dynamic Duo fights the wrestling goons and even save the money, but Scarecrow himself gets away again.
Another slate is left behind, and this time the clue is "VAT" and somehow Batman immediately deduces that this refers to the vats that clothes dyers use and also considers this so obvious a clue that it must be a trap laid by the Scarecrow. Well, considering that he's intentionally leaving you these clues, Batman, yeah I think that's a good bet.
So because it's that point in the story, when the Dynamic Duo shows up they're captured by the Scarecrow's men, tied up, and thrown in the vats while they are slowly filled with water, but not before Scarecrow tells them the next clue is "YAT" -- why are you giving him the next clue if your intent is for him to die? (And why not wait to make sure he drowns, or just shoot him, or...)
Anyways, turns out the "YAT" is Yat Sing, who runs a Chinese art store in Chinatown and is of course a big racial stereotype. Batman and Robin show up because OF COURSE they got out of the death-trap and OF COURSE they solved the clue (Yat Sing is the only Yat in the phonebook worth stealing from, you see).
So the Dynamic Duo beat up all Scarecrow's men and the Scarecrow himself and he's back to jail and THAT'S THAT. (Groan)
~~~~
My Thoughts: When I reviewed the first appearance of the Scarecrow, I remember being impressed by how unique the story was and the attention to detail and characterization that Bill Finger gave to developing and motivating this new villain in such a way that was psychologically convincing and felt new and fresh. I enjoyed that story, but I also knew intellectually that there was only one more appearance of the Scarecrow in the Golden Age before he'd disappear for two decades before resurfacing in the Silver Age. And I had wondered why that happened.
I don't, anymore.
The issue of creators' rights and corporate comics is a sticky one, and there are pros and cons to each side. On the one hand it's true that Batman would be a far weaker and far less known character today if the endless hordes of immensely talented writers and artists who worked on him hadn't have been able to. On the other hand, sometimes a writer picks up a character they did not create, and they clearly have no idea how to handle them.
And that can ruin a character.
The Art: Bob Kane and his studio handle things well enough. The Scarecrow looks like the Scarecrow, his unique appearance both in costume and out are retained as well as his gangly way of moving about. In many panels the characters are rendered very small in a large background space and Robinson's detailed inks become hard to discern. It's an overall trait of Kane's pencils and layouts.
The Story: The cover proclaims that the Scarecrow is back by "popular demand", and while I tend to believe that since it's been two years since he first showed up, I wonder why DC didn't wait for Finger to be ready to script Scarecrow's return himself, why they pawned it off on Don Cameron who clearly has no idea what to do with the character. In fact, Finger hasn't done a lot of scripts lately, last appearing in Detective two months ago, and another script of his won't appear in the book until July. My research hasn't turned up any explanation, but I conjecture that now that the Batman was a fairly established character and DC had a good number of other writers working on it, they didn't have to rely on Finger as much, who was notoriously bad at working to deadline.
But I wish they had. Cameron plops the Scarecrow into a dreadfully boring formula script. It reads like the formula from the Adam West TV show done straight. Nothing about it at all says Scarecrow, or retains anything about the character's methods and motivations. There are some token references to causing fear and terror in the character's dialogue, but it would just be the same fear and terror any criminal causes -- all he's doing is robbing stuff. And then leaving clues for Batman to find on purpose. Like the Joker does, like the Riddler will do, like every villain on that 60s TV show will do regardless of whether it's their MO or not.
Professor Jonathan Crane, Scarecrow's true identity, is not forgotten, but other than a few token lines referencing "psychological reactions" and "nervous breakdowns" his intellect seems to have dropped from college professor to grade school teacher. Chalkboard slates and crimes based around rhyming three letter words? Is this Batman or Blue's Clues?
This is a terrible story, nothing of note happens in it at all, and I'm convinced that it's complete misuse of the Scarecrow character, making him as boringly generic as any random gangster villain, was responsible for him falling by the wayside for twenty-four years.
Boy, I hated this story.
Notes and Trivia: Last appearance of the Scarecrow in the Golden Age of Comics.
"Riddle of the Human Scarecrow"
Writer: Bill Finger
Pencils: Bob Kane
Inks: Jerry Robinson and George Roussos
Synopsis: We start with a young boy, Jonathan Crane, who as a child enjoyed frightening birds. As a grown man, Crane has become a professor of psychology at Gotham University, teaching a class on the psychology of fear. During class he pulls out a gun, pointing it first at the students, then firing it at a vase, to demonstrate its destructive power and the fear it creates in others.
After class, Crane overhears some of the other professors mocking his shabby clothes and odd appearance. Crane spends all of his money on old, rare books rather than on his appearance. Alone at home, Crane decides that most people judge others by money, and that if he had more money he would be more respected, and could buy more books as well. As he continues to teach his course on fear, Crane decides he can use fear to gain money, using methods similar to the gangster's protection racket. Crane decides to use the mocking words of others in his favour, to adopt a disguise as a scarecrow, "a symbol of poverty and fear combined!"
Several nights later, the Scarecrow appears in the office of a businessman named Frank Kendrick. The Scarecrow is aware that Kendrick's business partner, Paul Herold, is suing him, and tells Kendrick to hire his services to scare Herold into dropping the suit. Kendrick agrees, and that very night the Scarecrow appears to Herold. The Scarecrow shoots Herold, non-fatally, but declares that next time it will be in the heart if Herold does not drop the suit. However, Batman and Robin (remember them?) hear the gunshot on their nightly patrol, and spot the Scarecrow fleeing the building. They take off after him, but the Scarecrow is nimble and quick and able to evade the Dynamic Duo easily, even taking a few shots at Batman (missing).
The police investigate Kendrick, but are unable to pin anything on him. Meanwhile, the Scarecrow once again appears to Herold and kills him, declaring that "The Scarecrow warns only once!" The police know the Scarecrow did it because he leaves loose straw behind as a calling card (?) and Kendrick is aghast but the Scarecrow demands his payment as he has successfully stopped Herold's suit.
At the University, Professor Jonathan Crane is dismissed from the staff by the president for his fanatical teaching methods (that whole bringing a loaded gun into class thing didn't go over well), but Crane doesn't even care. He waves a handful of money in the president's face and declares that he doesn't need anybody anymore now that he has money!
And so the Scarecrow's reign of terror continues, as Crane sinks deeper and deeper into his persona, feeding off the thrill of terrifying others. But of course Bruce Wayne is an old friend of the university president, and in a casual conversation he mentions the odd Crane, his resemblance to a scarecrow, and his sudden craziness and money waving, also mentioning Crane's collection of old books. Bruce begins to put some pieces together...
The Scarecrow bursts in on another prospective client, Richard Dodge. Dodge runs a failing department store, and Scarecrow offers to scare customers away from his rival, Fenton's store. Dodge agrees, and so the next day Scarecrow shows up at Fenton's and begins throwing smoke bombs into the crowd of innocents outside the store, causing mass panic.
Batman and Robin head over to the store, and begin a two-page fight with Scarecrow in the store, using all kinds of department store props, including a cool bit where Robin fires an arrow at a bomb Scarecrow tosses at Batman and explodes it in mid-air before it can hit the Dark Knight. But ultimately Scarecrow escapes, no thanks to cops who show up to quell the riot and end up trying to arrest Batman and Robin.
Batman discovers that Scarecrow stole two rare books from the department store, and this convinces him that Crane is the Scarecrow. He disguises himself as a man in need of a phone (his car broke down!) and gains entrance to Crane's apartment. He spots the two stolen books in Crane's collection. Outside, he changes back to Batman and explains to Robin that he's going to call on Dodge. But Crane spots them from his window and overhears the conversation, deciding to get to Dodge first and kill him. He leaves the building as Scarecrow, but is ambushed by Batman, as the entire set-up was Batman's plan all along!
Scarecrow attempts to flee into a playground, where he is primarily defeated by Robin, who hits Crane with a swing and a teeter totter before he can shoot the Batman. K-O'd by the Dark Knight's uppercut, the Dynamic Duo literallly drag Crane to jail, where he arrogantly declares that one day he will escape!
My Thoughts: All right, here comes the Scarecrow, our first real and lasting addition to Batman's Rogues Gallery since Clayface. And this story really is a great introduction to him, setting up his origin, personality, motivations, modus operandi and really doing a good job of saying "Hey! Here's a new, lasting villain for y'all!" Finger even remembers to put him in jail instead of killing him. But oddly enough, after an appearance in Detective Comics #73 two years from now, Crane will disappear from Bat-comics until the Silver Age, a hiatus of twenty-four years! The Scarecrow seen here is pretty different from the modern concept, most notably lacking in any way the character's Fear Gas. Fear Dust had been used by Hugo Strange in Detective #46, but the Scarecrow here frightens people with threats, with guns, with bombs, with his bizarre appearance. He's a terrorist for hire. The weirdest part about this introductory story is that while Scarecrow is obviously meant to be a major new villain, and the tale itself is exceptionally well told, it was published in the pages of World's Finest, probably the least read of the three Batman series and therefore probably why readers weren't all that familiar with the character. A story like this really should've been in Batman, as it's the best Bat-tale in World's Finest by a long shot until Batman starts teaming up with Superman in 1954.
The Art: Really great art from Kane and his team here. Crane has a wonderful character design, with a memorable face, clearly inspired by the description of his namesake, Ichabod Crane, in Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. There are a lot of great visual motifs as well, such as Scarecrow's poses, and the constant fog surrounding him. All in all it's a treat for the eyes as the art is not only dynamic, dramatic, and moody, but also very clear and easy to follow and understand. It's great stuff.
The Story: Finger's doing a lot of great, interesting things here that really show an intelligent storyteller at work, putting effort into his tale. Crane is obviously inspired by Ichabod, but he's not a carbon copy of that character. He's mean and spiteful, a teacher only because it's an intellectual position he can make money at. He delights in scaring and tormenting people because it means he's more powerful than them, he likes the thrill and the authority it gives him. He's the ultimate nerd-turned-bully, and I love that in this version of his story he doesn't even care when the University fires him because he's too high on the thrill of being the Scarecrow. It's great writing and you can really tell that the guy is totally, utterly, crazy in a very believeable way. We know he's been screwed up ever since those days spent scaring birds as a child. And what's amazing is how Batman just swoops in, beats him up and locks him up without ever really knowing any of this side of the story that Finger not only lets us in on, but actually opens with. It makes the story about Crane, about this man who falls into supervillainry and it paints a sympathetic and yet tragic picture. It's really good writing and definite formula that will be followed by later Batman villains.
Notes and Trivia: First appearance of the Scarecrow
Scarecrow Body Count: 1, at least
