Detective Comics #227
January 1956
Cover art: Win Mortimer
The 50 Faces of Batman
Script: ?? Pencils: Sheldon Moldoff Inks: Charles Paris
Barrett Kean! I could never forget you -- the man who taught me all I know about disguise!
So once again we're delving into Bruce's past, this time to learn something about his skill at disguise. Barrett Kean, "the king of impersonators" once taught Batman all of his makeup secrets. Kean takes a suggestion to have Batman lecture at his school for young actors to help promote it and build it up, and of course, Batman agrees. In the meantime, Batman and Robin are after Big Hugo's smuggling ring, and gang member "Lens" Vorden thinks he can get Batman through his lectures at the school.
So Batman lectures and demonstrates the art of makeup and disguise, as well as telling how he used some of them, and Vorden is able to photograph him each time. Robin becomes suspicious and follows Vorden as he calls in to Big Hugo, so he now knows what is going on and warns Batman. Makeup skills become the key to dealing with more than one problem. Batman disugises himself as Big Hugo, which confuses the gang long enough for him and Robin to round them up, and Kean disguises himself as Batman to ruin Vorden's composite picture plan. Batman, as modest and generous as ever, credits his old teacher Kean with being the best impersonator alive.
We're definitely back to variations on a theme when it comes to stories, as the various writers explore bits of Bruce's past. I don't know how accurate the makeup tips that Batman lectured on really are, but it sounds good on the page and makes Batman look like he knows what he's talking about, and I can believe the Batman of this era would be more than willing to help an old mentor out. I suspect modern Batman might as well, but he wouldn't do it by lecturing at his school and he'd keep quiet about how he knew the man so there wouldn't be any public connection between the two. Robin gets to be very useful since he discovers the composite picture plot, and without his vigilence the plan may well have worked. Score one for the sidekick. Pretty good story, and the vignettes of past cases that involved disguises all worked fairly well.
Retro Comics are Awesome
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andersonh1
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Detective Comics #228
February 1956
Cover art: Win Mortimer
The Outlaw Batman
Script: ?? Pencils: Bob Kane Inks: Charles Paris
It's true -- Batman has become a Jekyll-Hyde! He's become good and evil like... Two-Face!
Batman and Robin are on patrol and spot four suspicious characters. They engage only to be distracted by a man who shouts for the police, causing Batman to get shoved into a brick wall and hit his head. The man who called for the police is a doctor, who examines Batman's head injury by cutting away part of the cowl so he won't unmask him. That night, Bruce has a nightmare that he had become a thief, stealing the Vandorf necklace that he and Robin had recovered. To his surprise, the news reports that the necklace had in fact been stolen in real life, and that the thief had impersonated Batman. The same thing happens the following night: another dream about another robbery, which the news broadcasts with the same details that Bruce remembered from his dream. He begins to think they aren't dreams at all, but memories.
The fact that Batman's boots are not muddy, a detail Bruce remembered from his nightmare, leads him to reassess, and public reassurance does even more to ease his mind. But Alfred offhandedly tells Dick that he cleaned mud off of Batman's boots, and Dick begins to investigate the Batcave and the trail of muddy footprints he finds there. They lead to a bust of Two-Face, and hidden inside a hollow are the stolen painting and the necklace, just as Bruce dreamed.
Dick doesn't know what to do, and ultimately rather than tell Bruce, he decides to watch him and see what happens. And sure enough, Bruce gets up, dresses as Batman and goes out, with Robin following. With no other option, Robin slugs him to stop him from robbing the safe on the Braddon estate. When Batman recovers, he sees the situation and is convinced that he's turned criminal and has to turn himself in. Robin convinces him to talk to the doctor first. The doctor checks and says that Batman's brain is permanently injured and he has to turn himself in... but Batman has at last seen through the deception, slugging the doctor and removing his disguise to reveal swindler Spade Stinson, who Batman had sent to jail. Slug wanted a slow, cruel revenge that broke Batman down and blackened his reputation, and he carried it out with his "diagnosis" and the drugs he "prescribed". Batman only realized he was a fake because the phony doctor hadn't cut his hair around his scalp injury. The crook is arrested and all the loot is returned, with Bruce finally having restful sleep again.
I had guessed what was going on early in the story, or at least I figured the doctor had something to do with Bruce's behavior. I never really bought the "behavior change brought on by head injury" that the story was trying to sell. This story reminded me of the Puppet Master story from Batman #3 where it was a scratch that administered the drug that made Batman seemingly turn criminal, though in that story he did hit Robin. In this tamer era, Batman's moral character is too strong for a drug to make him hit anyone, least of all Robin. I'd have expected Batman to figure out that something odd was going on rather than fall apart and need public approval to boost his spirits! What has happened to this character? And Bob Kane actually drew an issue... haven't seen him draw a full issue in a long time. I can tell it's not Sheldon Moldoff though, and certainly not Dick Sprang. And finally, it was nice to see a reference to Two-Face, who I think we won't see in person again for years, but he's not been forgotten.
February 1956
Cover art: Win Mortimer
The Outlaw Batman
Script: ?? Pencils: Bob Kane Inks: Charles Paris
It's true -- Batman has become a Jekyll-Hyde! He's become good and evil like... Two-Face!
Batman and Robin are on patrol and spot four suspicious characters. They engage only to be distracted by a man who shouts for the police, causing Batman to get shoved into a brick wall and hit his head. The man who called for the police is a doctor, who examines Batman's head injury by cutting away part of the cowl so he won't unmask him. That night, Bruce has a nightmare that he had become a thief, stealing the Vandorf necklace that he and Robin had recovered. To his surprise, the news reports that the necklace had in fact been stolen in real life, and that the thief had impersonated Batman. The same thing happens the following night: another dream about another robbery, which the news broadcasts with the same details that Bruce remembered from his dream. He begins to think they aren't dreams at all, but memories.
The fact that Batman's boots are not muddy, a detail Bruce remembered from his nightmare, leads him to reassess, and public reassurance does even more to ease his mind. But Alfred offhandedly tells Dick that he cleaned mud off of Batman's boots, and Dick begins to investigate the Batcave and the trail of muddy footprints he finds there. They lead to a bust of Two-Face, and hidden inside a hollow are the stolen painting and the necklace, just as Bruce dreamed.
Dick doesn't know what to do, and ultimately rather than tell Bruce, he decides to watch him and see what happens. And sure enough, Bruce gets up, dresses as Batman and goes out, with Robin following. With no other option, Robin slugs him to stop him from robbing the safe on the Braddon estate. When Batman recovers, he sees the situation and is convinced that he's turned criminal and has to turn himself in. Robin convinces him to talk to the doctor first. The doctor checks and says that Batman's brain is permanently injured and he has to turn himself in... but Batman has at last seen through the deception, slugging the doctor and removing his disguise to reveal swindler Spade Stinson, who Batman had sent to jail. Slug wanted a slow, cruel revenge that broke Batman down and blackened his reputation, and he carried it out with his "diagnosis" and the drugs he "prescribed". Batman only realized he was a fake because the phony doctor hadn't cut his hair around his scalp injury. The crook is arrested and all the loot is returned, with Bruce finally having restful sleep again.
I had guessed what was going on early in the story, or at least I figured the doctor had something to do with Bruce's behavior. I never really bought the "behavior change brought on by head injury" that the story was trying to sell. This story reminded me of the Puppet Master story from Batman #3 where it was a scratch that administered the drug that made Batman seemingly turn criminal, though in that story he did hit Robin. In this tamer era, Batman's moral character is too strong for a drug to make him hit anyone, least of all Robin. I'd have expected Batman to figure out that something odd was going on rather than fall apart and need public approval to boost his spirits! What has happened to this character? And Bob Kane actually drew an issue... haven't seen him draw a full issue in a long time. I can tell it's not Sheldon Moldoff though, and certainly not Dick Sprang. And finally, it was nice to see a reference to Two-Face, who I think we won't see in person again for years, but he's not been forgotten.
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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome
Continuing through Batman Golden Age Omnibus vol. 10...
Batman #97
February 1956
Cover art: Win Mortimer
The Joker Announces Danger
Script: Bill Finger Pencils: Sheldon Moldoff Inks: Charles Paris
I'm not exactly reading these at a rapid pace, but it seems like appearances by Batman's major enemies have become a lot rarer than they were. Looking back through my reviews, it seems like Catwoman last appeared in Detective Comics #211 in "the Jungle Cat Queen" from September 1954, the first story in this volume. The Penguin's last story was in Batman #76, "The Penguin's Fabulous Fowls" from April-May 1953. The Joker's last appearance was in "Batman's Greatest Thrills" from Batman #87 in October 1954. I'm not going to check every villain, but as much as I got tired of so many appearances and formulaic stories, I have to admit that the series is not the same without Batman's costumed villains showing up regularly.
So for once I was actually glad to see the Joker turn up again. He's watching television (black and white of course), and Batman is the guest announcer on a "law enforcement program". The Joker is annoyed by this and decides to become an announcer himself, and show the world that Batman is overrated. The Joker uses the guise of an old fashioned town cryer to challenge Batman to a "contest of wits" where he will leave clues to his crimes, all of which will have to do with announcing. So it's the old formula of the Joker leaving odd clues that mean more than they might appear on the surface, but since we haven't seen this type of story for a while, I'm in. We get the old "pattern of three" where the Joker gets away with the first two crimes (involving racing and a train robbery) but is captured during the third. Interesting to see Batman pick up a rifle and fire it in another rare example of Batman using a gun, but while we see him in mid-shot holding the rifle, the panel where he actually fires it to bring down the weather balloon the Joker uses to try and escape is a close-up of Batman's face and hands and just part of the rifle, with the barrel not visible as it fires. Gotta be careful depicting the use of guns, kids! The Joker is back in prison in the final panel.
There's not much to say given how often we've seen this formula play out in past issues of Batman. But at this point it feels like a throwback to an earlier era that the series seems to have largely left behind, so for that reason alone I did get some enjoyment out of the Joker's appearance. And the addition of another rare example of Batman using a gun is notable, though they were very careful in how it was depicted.
Batman #97
February 1956
Cover art: Win Mortimer
The Joker Announces Danger
Script: Bill Finger Pencils: Sheldon Moldoff Inks: Charles Paris
I'm not exactly reading these at a rapid pace, but it seems like appearances by Batman's major enemies have become a lot rarer than they were. Looking back through my reviews, it seems like Catwoman last appeared in Detective Comics #211 in "the Jungle Cat Queen" from September 1954, the first story in this volume. The Penguin's last story was in Batman #76, "The Penguin's Fabulous Fowls" from April-May 1953. The Joker's last appearance was in "Batman's Greatest Thrills" from Batman #87 in October 1954. I'm not going to check every villain, but as much as I got tired of so many appearances and formulaic stories, I have to admit that the series is not the same without Batman's costumed villains showing up regularly.
So for once I was actually glad to see the Joker turn up again. He's watching television (black and white of course), and Batman is the guest announcer on a "law enforcement program". The Joker is annoyed by this and decides to become an announcer himself, and show the world that Batman is overrated. The Joker uses the guise of an old fashioned town cryer to challenge Batman to a "contest of wits" where he will leave clues to his crimes, all of which will have to do with announcing. So it's the old formula of the Joker leaving odd clues that mean more than they might appear on the surface, but since we haven't seen this type of story for a while, I'm in. We get the old "pattern of three" where the Joker gets away with the first two crimes (involving racing and a train robbery) but is captured during the third. Interesting to see Batman pick up a rifle and fire it in another rare example of Batman using a gun, but while we see him in mid-shot holding the rifle, the panel where he actually fires it to bring down the weather balloon the Joker uses to try and escape is a close-up of Batman's face and hands and just part of the rifle, with the barrel not visible as it fires. Gotta be careful depicting the use of guns, kids! The Joker is back in prison in the final panel.
There's not much to say given how often we've seen this formula play out in past issues of Batman. But at this point it feels like a throwback to an earlier era that the series seems to have largely left behind, so for that reason alone I did get some enjoyment out of the Joker's appearance. And the addition of another rare example of Batman using a gun is notable, though they were very careful in how it was depicted.