"License for Larceny"
Writer: Joe Samachson
Pencils: Bob Kane
Inks: Jerry Robinson
Synopsis: J. Spencer Larson of Larson Inc. claims he can double your money in six months on a single investment. Bruce and Dick thinks this sounds fishy, so Bruce purchases shares with Larson to see what happens.
Unbeknownst to Bruce and Dick (but knownst to us), Larson is known in the criminal underworld as "Larry the Judge", notorious czar of crime!
He's been embezzling the money people have been investing for weeks, and using it to hire his own private army. Arriving at a popular gangster hideout, the Judge sics his men on the crooks and announces his position as the new crime kingpin. He points out to the crooks that they often commit robberies that net them very little gains because they don't know enough about who they're stealing from. From now on, all future robberies committed are going to be decided upon by the Judge, who will grant licences to rob to any who wish to pilfer - if crimes are committed without a licence, they answer to the judge and his stormtroopers.
And so this new form of crime takes hold of Gotham -- only licenced larceny takes place, and it's all very successful, with the Judge taking his cut of course. Those who step out of line are arrested by the Judge's goons, tried by the Judge himself and fined double the amount they looted!
Gas-Pipe Grogan wants a licence to rob a house, and the Judge sends him after Commissioner Gordon's place because "nobody'd imagine a crook would have the nerve to rob him!" Grogan's men arrive at Gordon's place and easily assault the old man, going after his wife's pearls. Luckily, Gordon had summoned Batman and Robin to his house to discuss the recent spat of robberies, and the Dynamic Duo shows up and thwarts Grogan's robbery in their usual violent fashion.
The three crimefighters discover one of the Judge's licences on Grogan, and Batman interrogates the men to try and discover what's going on, but none of them will talk. The next day, Bruce is called into Larson's office to collect his dividends -- Bruce is amazed he actually doubled his money in less than the allotted time! Bruce asks Larson how he does it, but the man is vague -- but in his identity as Larry the Judge he will now give a licence to his men to rob Bruce Wayne's house!
Arriving home late, Bruce and Dick are attacked by a crook named Iron-Jaw and his gang. To preserve their secret identities they allow themselves to be knocked out and the money stolen, but then soon are in hot pursuit in the Batplane. After catching up with the crooks and taking them down, they discover the licence to rob Bruce Wayne on Iron-Jaw's person, but still aren't sure how the crimes fit together.
Batman's interference has gone on long enough, so the Judge writes a licence out for murder... the murder of Batman! By committing a string of seemingly pointless break-ins where nothing is stolen, the Judge's men draw Batman out to investigate... it's a trap! Soon Batman and Robin are captured and tied up in the backseat of the Judge's car.
As they drive along the highway, however, they are stopped by the police! The crooks are arrested and the Dynamic Duo saved! Robin wonders how Batman alerted them, and it turns out during the earlier fight the Dark Knight tied his cloak over the back licence plate, obscuring it. And so the crook who handed out licences is stopped because he wasn't showing his.
As Larry is arrested, Batman recognizes him as J. Spencer Larson, and realizes that he raised his army with money from the investments, then gave crooks licences to steal the dividends, which is how he always knew which people to rob!
All of Larson Inc's ill-gotten gains are confiscated and given to charity.
~~~~
My Thoughts: A good one-off story with a unique gimmick and a structure that is fresh enough from the normal formula to be enjoyable. A good crime thriller that manages to be creative without going over-the-top.
The Art: Kane and Robinson deliver high-quality art here, with a very unique caricatured face for Larry the Judge. This story feels like an equal blend of their talents, with a dark shadowy mood that's perfect for the street crime based story.
The Story: This is Joe Samachson's first script for Batman. He'd been writing for DC for a year by this point, freelance, and before that had been a science fiction pulp magazine writer since 1938. Before that he was actually a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois since 1929. In 1955 he'd cement himself in comic book history as the co-creator of the Martian Manhunter. So a highly educated man who became a writer of sci-fi and superheroes! Imagine that!
Either way, Samachson delivers a very good, very intelligent script here. Larry the Judge's scheme feels unique and original and also very clever, even if we've seen variations of it in other places. It actually seems like a great way to control the crime rate, although since the robberies are actually more successful you can see why it bothers the police so much. Seeing Batman and Robin work to uncover what's going on instead of easily figuring it out is a nice change of pace, as is Batman not being able to put all the pieces together until the very end, as opposed to the standard Bill Finger method of Batman having some clue up his ass that the reader never knew about. I enjoy his writing and hope we'll see more Samachson in the future.
Notes and Trivia: First mention of Commissioner Gordon having a wife, first time it's mentioned that Bruce Wayne donates considerable funds to charities.
"Sink the Japanazis"? Did people really use the word Japanazi? Holy war propaganda, Batman. Yes, it's another gloriously jingoistic World's Finest cover courtesy of Jack Burnley.
"Brothers in Law!"
Writer: Jack Schiff
Pencils: Jack Burnley
Inks: Ray Burnley
Synopsis: FBI agent John O'Brien is shot dead while pursuing "Little Nap" Boyd (aka the Little Corporal, the Corporal of Crime, Crime's General, the Little General, etc).
His two sons, Tim and Nick, mourn his death and swear vengeance on Boyd. Tim is a state trooper and Nick a private detective, but they refuse to work together because they are in a fight over a girl.
Tim gets a leave of absence from the Staties to go after Boyd (despite this he wears his uniform for the rest of the story while off-duty, which might be illegal?) and Nick closes down his agency for the same reason.
Meanwhile, "Little Nap" has planned his next robbery ("just like a general planning a campaign!" - he also has a painting of Napoleon on the wall in case we really didn't get it).
Tim hears the police bulletin about a jewelry store robbery on the radio and heads to get Boyd - he joins a police chase already in progress that also includes the Batmobile!
Boyd's men use a truck to block the roads and deter pursuers, but Tim's on a motorcycle so he's able to slip past and jump onto the car -- where he is promptly knocked out and captured. Turns out the jewelry store robbery was a decoy and Boyd is elsewhere!
However Nick figured that out and tracked Boyd to where he... oh, wait, he's been kidnapped to. Nevermind.
Batman threatens to beat the truck driver, who reveals Boyd's hiding place at the waterfront. The Dynamic Duo busts in and rescues the two brothers, but Boyd and his men escape (by a cunning plan of shutting the lights off and then running!)
The brothers again refuse to work with each other, so Batman teams up with Tim and sends Robin off with Nick. Because one of Boyd's men mentioned retreating to the "trail of the lonesome pine" in the fight, Tim somehow realizes this is a reference to a trailer park along his old state trooper beat route as opposed to a reference to the John Fox novel or any of its film adaptations.
Nick realizes the same thing by hassling one of his underworld contacts, and soon they all meet at the camp for a big fight. Unforunately park officials think our heroes are aggressors harassing innocent patrons and restrain them, allowing Boyd to escape again -- this despite Tim being a state trooper, in uniform, who would be known around here and Batman and Robin being nationally famous honourary policemen.
The foursome chase Boyd into the forest, where he uses a variety of diversions, traps and natural hazards to try and elude capture, but is finally brought down by both Nick and Tim in a moving display of brotherly teamwork.
With Boyd in jail (awaiting death by electric chair) and the brothers reconciled, our story comes to a close. (What about the girl they were fighting over?)
~~~~
My Thoughts: A pretty good story, even if it falls into the category of "Batman story that Batman is just a spectator", a category I've never really liked even if it comprises a lot of classic Bat-stories. My biggest annoyance with the story is the villain, who clearly has a "Napoleon" gimmick in his name and physical appearance, but is otherwise just a normal gangster -- Schiff can't even pick a consistent nickname, going from "the Little Corporal" to "Crime's General" to "Corporal of Crime" and more multiple times in the same paragraph. And why is he called this? Because he plans his crimes like a general? Then why Napoleon? Why "Corporal of Crime" when corporals take orders, they don't give them? It's annoying and a little dumb.
The Art: It's a Burnley bros. story so of course the art is excellent. Jack draws his heroes, the O'Brien brothers, like classic square-jawed men from the cover of a pulp men's magazine. The shadows rendered by Ray are deep and defining, the whole thing looks fantastic. The action scenes are very cool and creative. It elevates the story above it's own level into something more entertaining and stylish.
The Story: Nothing really special, although at least it's got a new gimmick to add to the "chase a crook around for 13 pages" formula. Although I do wonder why, when Boyd has killed an FBI agent, the feds aren't hounding him relentlessly and his capture is left up to two honourary municipal police, an off-duty state trooper and a private dick on sabbatical. Ah well, it makes for a good yarn.
"Crime a Day!"
Writer: Bill Finger
Pencils: Bob Kane
Inks: Jerry Robinson
Synopsis: Batman has agreed to give a daily series of lectures about crime fighting for the USO, and so come Monday crowds of Gothamites show up to watch Batman's lecture (can you imagine modern-day Batman doing something like this?).
Batman's opening lecture addresses the concept of clues, and he points out that the Joker is often undone by his egotism where he intentionally leaves clues daring Batman to stop him and these are often his undoing.
Batman's remarks hit the newspapers which are soon calling Joker an egotistical fool -- there's even an editorial cartoon lampooning him!
Well, of course, openly mocking the psychopathic muderous clown in your city is a good way to get a response, and so Joker crashes Batman's next lecture with some of those clues he's going on about: "Take a Bow - Sow the Seeds - Shed a Tear - Reap the Harvest". Joker plans to commit crimes based on clues Batman can't possibly figure in order to shame him into quitting. He'll commit a crime a day to match Batman's lecture a day.
Batman realizes that the "Harvest" refers to a painting of that name by a famous artist that's being displayed at a new art exhibit. The Dynamic Duo race over there, but Joker and his men are already there -- spraying the crowds with pepper spray while they make off with the goods (oh, and Joker takes a bow before doing so, so that all the clues work).
Joker and his men make off with the painting in an oil truck and while the Batmobile is in hot pursuit they easily shake it by pouring oil all over it and then lighting it on fire! Joker escapes whlie Batman has to ram the Batmobile into a fire hydrant to save Robin and himself (the car is wrecked, though).
Joker's daily crimes continue and he continues to make a fool out of Batman, until it is the Dark Knight who finds himself the subject of an editorial cartoon. At his lecture, he is hammered with questions about his inability to catch the Joker. The pressure is such that Batman actually does consider quitting crime fighting, until Robin sets him straight and restores his self-confidence.
Joker airdrops his newest clues on the Dynamic Duo: "Kill the Motor - Hang the Jury - Take the Rap". Batman and Robin think it must refer to a court or a trial at first until they realize that "rap" could also mean "wrap" (what) meaning a woman's wrap garment, meaning the beauty contest being judged tonight for which the prize is a fur wrap worth $15,000! (Almost $200,000 today!) This month's apophenia concluded, they race to the contest, where Joker has trapped the contest's jury in the elevator for which he has cut the power (hence the first two clues).
Our heroes save the jury, and Batman manages to catch up to Joker and capture him this time -- at his next lecture he displays Joker live in a cage and mocks him on stage (which seems like a questionable decision) and our story ends with a final editorial cartoon mocking the Joker.
~~~~
My Thoughts: We've really moved quickly from "Batman, Dark Avenger of the Night" into stories that would feel totally at home on the Adam West TV show, haven't we? Once again we have a Joker story that emphasizes that the Clown Prince of Crime is more into testing Batman than any kind of actual gain from his criminal exploits. The interesting thing about this issue is the way it frames their battles not as a private feud but as something that the whole city is an audience for, which makes sense. We only get rare hints occasionally in these Golden Age stories of how the average citizen reacts to Batman or his rogues, so this kind of story is fun for the new perspective it gives on our characters -- even if the idea of a publicly famous Batman who gives lectures for USO benefits is pretty unthinkable in a modern context.
The Art: Jerry Robinson is clearly doing a majority of the work here, contributing a lot of detail and dimension in his inks over Kane's rough pencils -- it appears to me that Kane is mostly doing figures, faces, and layouts while Robinson is fleshing them out. However the story also has a lot of really great black shadows and somehow the art all pulls together to give the story, ridiculous on the surface, an effective urban thriller feel that gives it the grandiosity of a classic Batman/Joker tale from this era. The mock editorial cartoons are also really well done and in a convincing imitation of the common style.
The Story: Bill Finger's scripts often meander, introducing an initial gimmick before quickly forgetting it in favour of big setpieces, but this story stays on track by keeping anchored to the crime/lecture a day, clues and editorial cartoons. Joker's clues are actually pretty clever this time around and the crimes and chases interesting and new -- by coming up with this exciting variations Finger avoids the feeling of repetition one sometimes gets when reading these stories one after another. The sight of the flaming Batmobile crashing into a fire hydrant is pretty amazing.
Notes and Trivia: Another Batmobile destroyed.
"The Case Batman Failed to Solve!!!"
Writer: Don Cameron
Artist: Jerry Robinson
Synopsis: A gathering of the world's greatest detectives is to be held in New York City at the behest of the great Dana Drye. Invited are "Sir John" of Scotland Yard, America's greatest "country" detective Sheriff Ezra Plunkett (who seems to live in one of those Old West towns Bill Finger seems convinced still exist west of the Appalachians), Grace Seers (a *gasp* woman!), Dr. Tsu the great Chinese (racial stereotype) detective of San Francisco, and finally of course the Batman and Robin (invitation delivered by way of Commissioner Gordon).
Batman exposits to Robin that Dana Drye is the "dean of detectives", greatest of them all and so on, and so the Dynamic Duo is greatly honoured to attend and meet all the other stereotype detectives.
Dana Drye, a very old man, comes out to address the group to announce his retirement... and is promptly shot and killed. The detectives all rush to the window but find that the building there in is on the river, so no one could have fired the shot... it's a mystery! Rather than notify the authorities, Batman suggests they all compete to discover the murderer and meet back at midnight (rather confident of their abilities, aren't they?)
Right away they see someone running from the scene of the crime and chase after him -- they would've gotten him too, but Dr. Tsu trips them and lets the man get away so that Tsu can question him instead himself (because he's a treacherous Chinaman, you see).
Grace approaches the Dynamic Duo and lets them in on her theory that clothes are the essential clue to solving crimes (because she's a woman, you see), and tells Batman the clue that Drye's pockets were empty, which Batman is convinced is utterly essential to solving the mystery.
Finally, Sir John reveals he's taking Drye's body to the crime lab to be examined because science is the only way to solve a murder (thank you!), while Sheriff Anachronism explains that he believes all he has to sit and think on it because common sense is all you need for detective work (because he's a time traveler from 1888, you see).
Batman and Robin head to Drye's apartment (drawn as a house) to follow up the vital "HIS POCKETS WERE EMPTY" clue, but upon arrival end up fighting a bunch of crooks who were searching the apartment for... something. Batman tries to indicate to Robin to let them go so they can follow them back to their superiors but Robin can't take a hint because he's eight, so they all end up unconscious and Batman is left to pick up the pieces when he notices that a weapon is missing from a display shield that fell down from the wall. The crooks already got what they were looking for!
They head off to police headquarters but none of the detectives there can identify the missing weapon. Sir John rushes out of the crime lab to inform Batman that the bullet that killed Drye is perfectly smooth, with no rifling marks of any kind. Batman identifies it as an old musket ball -- but why would the killer use such an out of date weapon?
Then Ms Seers runs into them again, informing them that she discovered that Drye's suit was made by a tailor who specializes in making suits for magicians! At that moment, some gangsters show up and start a big fight!
They capture the heroes because it's that point in the story, bringing them to their boss, the notorious Red Rip. Rip explains that Drye had a lifetime of evidence on him that he never turned over to the cops, because Drye solved crimes just for the fun of it. Rip's men were searching Drye's place for where he kept the evidence, not the missing weapon, meaning they didn't take it!
Dr. Tsu rescues them from the crooks, and informs them that the missing weapon was Drye's antique flintlock pistol. There's a fight scene where the criminals are defeated, and then the Sheriff tells Batman that he found an odd mark on the windowsill of the window the shot was fired through.
Batman then goes to search the bottom of the river for the final piece of the puzzle, which he finds. Now he can explain everything to Robin:
"We all assumed it was murder... it was not! It was suicide! Drye knew he was to die shortly of an incurable malady, so he staged this mystery to baffle us all, hoping we'd never be able to solve it!"
Drye had set the flintlock on the windowsill, because the powder could be ignited by heat from the sun after being set long enough, then the recoil would knock the gun off the windowsill, leaving no murder weapon. The evidence of Rip's crimes was in a box attached the to gun, weighing it down. Drye used a magician's suit with secret pockets to smuggle the apparatus into the room.
Then Batman and Robin discovers Drye's diary amid his papers, which reveal that Drye had figured out that BATMAN IS REALLY BRUCE WAYNE way back in 1940 (presumably because it was obvious within a year of his first appearance!) and chosen not to reveal it to the world out of respect for Batman's wishes.
With this in mind, Batman decides not to reveal the truth of Drye's suicide either, and so when midnight comes the world's greatest detectives all just collectively give up on solving a murder because they failed to do so by an arbitrary and somewhat ridiculously short deadline.
~~~~
My Thoughts: "The Case Batman 'Failed' to Solve" is a good entry in the "Batman-as-a-detective" genre, stories which are always a good change of pace from "Batman-as-a-sentient-pair-of-fists" stories. But while I like Detective Batman, he's not very well serviced by the 13-page stories of the Golden Age, often resulting in resolutions that come out of nowhere. But at least this time the guys remembered to include clues.
The Art: Jerry Robinson's artwork in this story may, may, be the best art ever featured in a Batman comic up to this point. It's not the moodiest, it lacks the noir shadows of a Roussos inked story, and it also lacks the peculiar drama Kane brings to things, but on a purely technical level it is just gorgeous to behold compared to everything that's come before. Figures actually look somewhat three-dimensional, Batman and Robin's faces no longer appear to be cardboard cut-outs, individual faces are well defined and individualistically drawn. The draftsmanship here is just amazing, a real cut above everything we've seen so far, even the work of Jack Burnley (although it does admittedly lack Burnley's sense of drama).
The Story: Cameron's script is a step above Finger's usual efforts in that it's almost possible to figure out the mystery on your own with the clues given (although how did Batman deduce that Drye had an incurable illness?), however it's biggest problem is that it's too busy. There are a ton of characters and subplots and clues introduced over the course of the story and it makes the whole thing feel very fractured and haphazard. It doesn't help that all of the other detectives are rather hack stereotypes (and what was the point of the Old West Sheriff character?). The entire gangster subplot is very tacked on and obviously just there to give us some action because we couldn't possibly have a Batman story without at least two fight scenes, right?? That being said, I won't knock Cameron too hard because at the end of the day this is a good story that holds up and even competence of story structure is impressive sometimes in the Golden Age of Comics.
"Prescription for Happiness!"
Writer: Don Cameron
Pencils: Bob Kane
Inks: Jerry Robinson
Synopsis: Doc Chalmers is a pharmacist on Gotham's Lower East Side who is basically the nicest guy ever. He gives candy to children, free medication to poor people, offers kind words to the beat cop who comes in for foot powder, tries to keep the fat balding guy's self-esteem up, refuses to give steroids to the down-on-his-luck prize-fighter who just needs to believe in himself, gives advice to the young doctor trying to build his practice, etc. etc.
One day a woman comes to his shop wanting prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) so she can kill herself. Chalmers takes her to his young doctor friend for help with her "hysteria". Meanwhile, across the street a gangster named "Pills" Mattson is conducting a robbery.
Batman and Robin show up to fight him and his gang but during the brawl "Pills" is banged on the head and an explosion knocks dust into Batman's eyes, allowing the crooks to get away (no, really).
"Pills" is something of a hypochondriac and demands they stop at a pharmacy so he can get some aspirin for his head, and of course they end up at Doc Chalmer's. They end up taking Chalmers, the young doctor, and the girl hostage and decide to use the place as their new base. But then BATMAN shows up there as well, to get his eyes cleaned out! In a tense moment, Chalmers helps the Batman while he cannot dare reveal that he's got gangsters and a hostage situation going on in the back! The Dynamic Duo leaves, Robin eating some liquorice and making the odd remark that he hasn't had candy like this since he was a kid -- Dick, you're eight years old!
Anyways, the crooks use the druggist's as a base of operations, getting their messages out to their men in pill bottles, which the men have to steal from the people they are normally prescribed to in a uselessly convoluted scheme. This series of bizarre crimes in the Lower East Side make Batman realize they are operating out of Chalmer's shop, and he goes in to investigate alone -- and is promptly chloroformed and tied up for his troubles.
Dick realizes Bruce has been gone too long, and decides to investigate by getting a job at the store as a soda fountain boy. He manages to smuggle some tubes of toothpaste to Batman in the back, and the Dark Knight manages to cut through his bonds with the jagged edge of the toothpaste tube!
A fight breaks out, but the whole neighbourhood hears it and soon enough Batman and Robin are being assisted by the prize-fighter, the beat cop, etc. and all the crooks are defeated. The beat cop gets a promotion to a car so no more foot pain, the prize-fighter gets his self-confidence back, the doctor gets a new nurse and girlfriend in the person of the troubled young girl, and the crooks go to jail.
Unfortunately Doc Chalmer's shop was smashed up good in the fight and he doesn't have enough money to cover the damages. But with the encouragement of the Batman, the neighbourhood bands together to help not only cover the damages but actually improve the shop so it's better than ever (even though Bruce Wayne could probably have paid for it all himself without much trouble).
~~~~
My Thoughts: Another street-level, man-of-the-people, average-joe morality play type story of the kind that Bill Finger is a big fan of telling. It comes off well even if Chalmers is a little too saintly to be believeable and most of the story relies on a whole ton of coincedences. I find it amusing how revered the local druggist is here, with a pill or a tonic for every problem, since I've been playing Red Dead Redemption lately, where medical science is not nearly as well thought of.
The Art: Robinson's inks do a lot of good here, but you can tell this is Kane's work. Batman and Robin are back to their 2D selves, Chalmers looks like every old man Kane has ever drawn, etc. None of this is bad, and Robinson's inks keep the quality pretty high, with good detailing in the panels, but it's a noticeable step down from the previous story.
The Story: Another Don Cameron script! It's a pretty standard story, the most notable thing being the bizarre choice of focus for a comic book (what ten year old cares about his local pharmacist?) and the story's rather coincedence driven nature. That being said, Cameron keeps things admirably focused and on track, with the story developing fairly naturally and moving from A to B in a way that, while predictable, at least makes sense.
"Swastika Over the White House!"
Writer: Don Cameron
Pencils: Jack Burnley
Inks: Ray Burnley
Synopsis: Young Fred Hopper is trying to get a job as a newsreel cameraman at the Gotham City newsreel company. The chief, Mr. McCoy, will only give him a job if he can get footage of the reclusive millionaire J. Peerless Morton. The other cameramen at the company take a liking to Fred and help him get the footage, and so he gets the job. The successful company's next assignment is taking footage of war production factories, footage which of course will be properly censored by the war department before appearing in newsreels.
But what the others don't know is that young Fred Hopper is in actuality young Fritz Hoffner, a Nazi spy taking his orders from a spy ring led by Count Felix (of course the German nobility had been abolished in 1919) and operating out of an antique store (they have a swastika shaped chandelier!) Anyways, this whole thing was a set-up so that Fritz could take photos of the US war production unhampered -- he will have a secret spy camera within his main camera and the footage it takes won't be censored.
However Count Felix is no fool -- he also realizes that Batman and Robin must be dealt with, and so when the Dynamic Duo happens to arrive the next day at the newsreel company to do some footage for the war bond campaign the Count springs a drive-by shooting on them! It is, of course, unsuccessful, but even though our heroes capture the Nazi would-be assassins, they refuse to talk.
Suspicious, Batman decides to begin shadowing the newsreel men, while Fritz begins to bring the first of his espionage footage to his superiors. They decide to attack the factory, but Batman decides to patrol it the same night, and so the Nazis engage in battle with the Dynamic Duo who realize that "Fred" is a spy.
The Nazis bind the Duo and stick them in a car loaded with explosives and send them to crash into the gasoline tanks, but in typical serial cliff-hanger fashion even though it appears that the car does explode, Batman and Robin in fact get out just in the nick of time by using the cigarette lighter to cut their bonds.
They follow Hoffner to the antique shop, and beat up all the Nazis (even using the swastika chandelier for the old "spin and kick" routine). Using maps and records found in the hideout tey are also able to arrest scores of other spies throughout the country.
~~~~
My Thoughts: We're almost a year into full-fledged involvement in WWII for the US, but aside from some patriotic covers we've seen very little war-related storytelling in Batman. This is in fact the first story to involve Nazis as villains since the US entered the war. In some ways this is a good thing -- Batman fights crime in Gotham City, not ideological socio-political conflicts on a global scale, but given how easily the Nazis become comic book villains (see contemporary issues of Wonder Woman for example) it's still somewhat surprising that the book has been as restrained as it has been to this point. Although I still wonder why Bruce isn't serving overseas (other than the fact that it would be difficult to fight crime in Gotham otherwise, but why hasn't he been drafted?).
The Art: Jack Burnley delivers some really great stuff here, almost attempting photorealism, or as close to it as you can get while still having to be consistent to the cartooning style of Bob Kane. The inks by his brother Ray are absolute fantastic, lending great noiresque shadowy blacks to everyone's faces. Just about everything in the story looks dynamite except Batman and Robin themselves, oddly enough, who retain their Bob Kane style two-dimensionality. That being said, the Burnley art is good enough on the whole that it's always a treat.
The Story: It's a pretty standard "heroes defeat Nazi spy ring" story from Cameron, but the newsreel cameraman angle feels new and adds interest. Most of the schemes make sense and the action setpieces are fairly exciting. The title is a little misleading though -- I mean yes "swastikas over the White House" is the eventual Nazi game plan but it's not a good indication of what's actually going on in this story.
"Bargains in Banditry!"
Writer: Don Cameron
Pencils: Jack Burnley
Inks: Ray Burnley
Synopsis: It's a Penguin story, and this time the old buzzard has a doozy of a plan. He's offering "bargains in crime" -- he's selling criminal plots. Come to him, pay him a fee upfront and he develops a fool-proof plan for bankrobbing, kidnapping, etc. and gives it to you, collecting a percentage of profits after the fact as well. It's a brilliant scheme, in fact it's the smartest thing Penguin has done so far and one of the smartest things any Batman villain has done to this point. Penguin sells a bankrobbing plan to Hairless Harry and Torchy Blaze, and soon his business is picking up quite well.
The bank robbery goes just as planned, but when Harry and Torchy arrive at their hideout they find Penguin waiting for them -- he wants his cut. And this is when Penguin's brilliant scheme goes stupid because he shoots both men with an umbrella gun and takes the entire loot. Penguin thinks this is smart but how is he gonna keep this scam going once it gets out he's murdering his customers and stealing from them?
Anyways Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are going to the bank to buy a few more thousands of dollars worth of war bonds but when they arrive they find it's the bank that was robbed. The next day the murder of the two gangsters is in the paper and Bruce pieces together what happened. They head to Grand Boulevard in the Batplane, "where the big jewelry stores are located", and where Batman is sure some of Penguin's dupes are sure to strike.
Sure enough, Slippery Elmer and his gang are looting a jewelry store and while they immediately surrender, Batman and Robin beat them up anyways -- confirming my longheld belief that Batman is in crime-fighting more for the physical violence than the values of justice. Elmer gets away, but the Dynamic Duo follow him in the Batplane to his hideout -- where Penguin is waiting to kill him!! Batman and Robin show up but Penguin catches them all in a chickenwire net and escapes!
The next day, Bruce and Dick have freed themselves and delivered Elmer to the police off-panel, when Bruce decides that the best way to draw Penguin out is to start a rival crime planning company. And so, dressed in his best "Nick-Fury-on-an-off-day" cosplay, Bruce sets up shop as "Bad News" Brewster and begins selling plans to crooks. Dick thinks he's gone nuts until it's obvious that all the plans lead the crooks straight into police traps -- which, again, how do you keep the business going once word of that gets out?
Anyways, Penguin challenges Brewster and gives an address to meet him at. Batman and Robin show up... and are instantly trapped in a giant umbrella that realizes crazy knock-out gas (it's seriously like something right out of the 60s TV show, amazing). Turns out Penguin figured things out because "Bad News" sounds like "Batman"... wait, what?
Penguin ties the two up seperately and starts throwing darts at Batman's head but Robin manages to break loose and take penguin down with one of his own umbrellas. FINALLY the Dynamic Duo capture the Penguin and bring him to jail, where he is promptly sentenced to death for the murders of those two crooks earlier in the story. The End. Wait... what?
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My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this story because for once the plot of the criminal was something pretty intelligent and made sense and wasn't just about gimmicks. Batman's counterplot was pretty clever too. Of course Penguin gets too greedy and this is his undoing, but that element of the tale actually seemed like a lost opportunity, for reasons I'll get to in a minute. Also, this is the first Penguin tale to end with Batman actually capturing the crook, as he's always escaped at the end of previous stories, but the sudden announcement of his death sentence seemed very extreme -- granted, all it really means is that if no one uses the Penguin after this then at least Batman finally caught the guy and brought him to justice, while if they want to use him again then it's easy to just right him as escaping (Spoiler alert: Penguin totally appears agan!)
The Art: Not quite up to the usual Burnley standard, but still really good. It basically just looks like A-game Bob Kane, which is what it's supposed to look like anyway, but I must admit I don't think Burnley draws the characters created by Kane as well as everyone else. Which is to say that his "normal" people look fantastic but his Penguin lacks something (Kane draws a really good Penguin) and his Dynamic Duo always come off as cheap copies. I can't put my finger on it. It's not bad, in fact technically speaking it's probably much better than Kane, but it lacks something somehow.
The Story: Cheers to Don Cameron for coming up with something unique for Penguin to do that still feels totally in keeping with his character -- in fact this kind of "brains over brawn, third party crime" stuff feels very much like the Modern Age version of the character, or at least it would if the Modern Age version was ever done right. However I wish Cameron would have realized that crooks would have turned against Penguin themselves once they realized what he was up to -- a story where Batman and Robin actually teamed up with disenfranchised crooks to take down the cheating Penguin would have been really cool. Alas, instead we got a tale whose climax is essentially right on the money for the kind of thing Adam West and co. would parody twenty years later -- ridiculous, but kind've awesome at the same time.
Notes and Trivia: Penguin jailed for the first time, sentenced to death.
Penguin Body Count: 5
An absolutely spectacular cover from Jerry Robinson -- dynamic, pulpy, and it actually depicts a scene in the story! Fantastic!
"The Man Who Could Read Minds!"
Writer: Don Cameron
Pencils: Bob Kane
Inks: Jerry Robinson
Synopsis: Bruce and Dick attend a performance of Carlos, the Man who Can Read Minds! However, after the show Bruce explains to Dick that Carlos is a fake, and that his "mind-reading" is just a trick.
Late that evening, as he is driving home, Carlos gets into a terrible car accident. Rushed to hospital, only delicate brain surgery can save his life. But there is a power outage at the hospital! By the time the emergency lights are back on, the neurosurgeon can't be sure if his scalpel slipped somehow.
However, Carlos lives -- but through some strange comic book bullshit has been actually given the ability to read minds! He very quickly realizes that he could become a totally awesome criminal with this ability. Soon he's out robbing people's safes using combinations he's telepathized out of them, and when Batman and Robin try to stop him he's able to easily evade their attacks. He even threatens to reveal their secret identities if they try to stop him -- yes, he knows they are Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson!
Stymied, Bruce and Dick sit at home, when a bat flies through the window with a message! It's Carlos, taunting them with the knowledge that he's going to Miser's Isle to steal Old Pete Jorgen's buried treasure (wait, what?) and if they try to stop him he'll reveal their secret. But, since they are heroes, Bruce and Dick decide to go anyway, even if it means... the end of Batman and Robin!
They fly to the island in the Batplane and try to fight Carlos -- but, y'know, dude can read minds, so it's totally fruitless. He manages to knock out both Batman and Robin. He throws Robin in a bathysphere and drops him to the bottom of the ocean with the oxygen valve turned off, while Batman gets the standard trap-door-into-a-room-with-the-walls-closing-in dilemma (Carlos apparently had time to booby trap Old Pete's house before coming here?) Batman's able to get out of the trap because, y'know, this isn't his first time or anything, and when he gets out he finds Carlos questioning Old Pete behind bullet-proof glass. He's able to make it through the glass using his diamond studded platinum Bat-logo shaped police badge that we've never seen before and save Old Pete. He also knows where and how to save Robin too -- is it possible Batman is also a mind reader?
He dives into the sea to save Robin by cutting him out of the bathysphere with an acetylene torch (hence the cover image) but as they swim up to shore they are again confronted by Carlos -- but they are saved when Old Pete just straight up SHOOTS HIM. Guess that was one mind Carlos couldn't read? Or else bullets travel faster than thoughts.
Batman rigs a lighthouse to project a Bat-Signal to call the coast guard, but while that's happening a dying Carlos scrawls Batman is really Bruce Wayne into the sand of the beach. However by the time the coast guard gets there Carlos has died and the waves have luckily washed away the message.
Robin asks Batman how he knew where to rescue him, and Batman explains that he saw Carlos taunting Old Pete with the information through the glass, and while Carlos could read minds, he forgot Batman can read lips!
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My Thoughts: Don Cameron delivers a standard, but well told, entry in the "oh no, the secret identity!" genre, although I'm not sure how I feel about telepaths in the Batman world, but at least there's an attempt to make it plausible in medical science, however vague and ridiculous it is. It's no worse than alternate worlds and witches and so forth. Also -- diamond studded police badge?? Where did this come from?
The Art: Bob Kane's artwork isn't as good as Jerry Robinson's, but he's still got a talent for character design -- Carlos resembles Hugo Strange only with bushy eyebrows instead of the goatee and queer bottle-cap glasses. The climax at Miser's Isle takes up most of the issue and it's action and environs gives the artists a lot of fun elements to play with.
The Story: It's straightforward and gets from point A to B. There's nothing overly special about it, and it has a ton of old pulp clichés, and Carlos has no reason for turning evil other than "he can" (which is sometimes enough anyway) -- but all that being said there are no burgeoning plot holes, it's coherent and consistent, it's competent and there are few cheats (diamond Bat-badge, aside). So all in all I'm calling this a win for veteran writer Don Cameron.
Notes and Trivia: First appearance of Batman's diamond-studded platinum Bat-logo shapped police badge.
