Batman #213

Batman #213 (On Sale: May 6, 1969) has a cover by Bill Draut and Vinny Colletta hearkening back to the style of Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson for this 30th Anniversary special issue.

We begin with a new tale, "The Origin of Robin" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. This story has been reprinted in DC Special Series #19 and Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB.

Next is "Here Comes Alfred" from Batman #16 and created by Don Cameron, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson. Crooks attack a recently arrived passenger from England. Batman and Robin are on hand to fight off the crooks, who manage to escape. The intended victim is an amateur sleuth named Alfred. Later, Alfred arrives at Bruce Wayne's home. Alfred's father Jarvis was Bruce's father's butler. Alfred intends to carry on in the family tradition. Despite Bruce's protests Alfred makes himself comfortable.

That night the crooks return trying to steal Alfred's valise. Batman once again chases away the crooks. While Batman follows them, Alfred accidentally discovers the Bat-Cave and the secret identities of the Dynamic Duo.

Having trailed the thieves to a music hall, Batman and Robin are captured. Alfred also follows and manages to rescue them. Batman then apprehends the crooks, who are after the crown jewels of Dorian. The Duke of Dorian was a passenger on the ship that carried Alfred.

The following evening, Alfred brings Bruce and Dick their uniforms, revealing that he knows their secret identities. Bruce is surprised, but decides to keep the trustworthy man on as his butler.

That is followed by "The Game of Death," a Robin tale from Star Spangled Comics #127 and created by David V. Reed and Jim Mooney.

Next is "The Man Behind the Red Hood" from Detective Comics #168, created by Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz and George Roussos.

We end with "The Challenge of Clay-Face" from Detective Comics #298 and the work of Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris. A mysterious new crook with the power to change shape, Clay-Face, arrives in Gotham and begins a life of crime. Clay-Face is really Matt Hagen, a crook who has found a pool of strange chemicals which allow him to change shape.

Clay-Face’s crimes put him at odds with Batman and Robin. His powers allow him to elude capture, but during one encounter they nearly fail him as they wear off. After escaping Hagen returns to the chemical pool and restores his powers.

To protect himself from further trouble Clay-Face hires two henchmen, but one leaves a clue at a crime scene which allows Batman to track him down. Batman captures the henchmen while Robin trails Hagen back to his hide-out. Together the Dynamic Duo stall Hagen until his powers wear off allowing them to make an easy arrest.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.

Batman #208

Batman #208 (On Sale: November 12, 1968), 80pg. Giant #G-55, has a cover by Nick Cardy featuring Who is the Most Important Woman in Batman's Life?

This book contains"The Women in Batman's Life" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Gil Kane and Jack Abel. This story is a new framing sequence that surrounds reprinted stories. This framing sequence consists mostly of flashbacks to earlier events in the career of the Earth-1 Batman. Some of these events parallel adventures of the Earth-2 Batman. It should not be assumed that all other Earth-2 stories have Earth-1 parallels.

Mrs. Chilton, the woman that cared for Bruce Wayne following the death of his parents, remembers various events from the career of Batman that involve important women in his life. The women she remembers are: Julie Madison, Catwoman, Linda Page, Vicki Vale, Batwoman, Kaye Daye, Aunt Harriet, Patricia Powell, Marcia Monroe, Poison Ivy, and Batgirl. Unbeknownst to Bruce, Mrs. Chilton knows that he is Batman and that her sons Joe and Max Chill played important roles as villains in Batman's life.

The first woman is Catwoman in "The Secret Life of the Catwoman" a reprint from Batman #62 by Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz and Charles Paris. Next is Vicki Vale in "Vicki Vale's Secret" from Batman #73 by David V. Reed, Lew Sayre Schwartz and Charles Paris. Next we have Batwoman in "The Menace of the Firefly" from Batman #126 by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris wherein Firefly robs a party at which Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Kathy Kane are guests. The crook gets away, but Kathy sees the host, Ted Carson, slip away prior to Batman appearing on the scene. She suspects Ted is Batman, but when she confront him, she learns he is really the Firefly. Batman and Robin predict where Firefly will strike next, and Kathy shows up as Batwoman to stop the crook.

Next is "The Dilemma of the Detective's Daughter" from Batman #165 by France Herron, Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella. Patricia Powell, the daughter of Lt. Mike Powell, graduates from the police academy with top honors. She receives her awards from Batman and is immediately promoted to detective. She tells Batman that she has a crush on Bruce Wayne, though the two have never officially met.

Batman keeps an eye on Patricia. During her first case, Pat investigates the kidnapping of Professor Smedley. Batman helps her track down the Professor. The Dark Knight apprehends the crooks, while Pat releases the professor. Later, Pat attends a weekend party held by Bruce Wayne, where she meets him for the first time.

This issue also contains excerpts reprinted from other stories including: two pages from Detective Comics #203, one page from Detective Comics #233, one page from Batman #194, one page from Detective Comics #328, five pages from Brave and the Bold #64, two pages from Batman #181, two pages from Batman #182, and five pages from Detective Comics #359.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.

Batman #203

Batman #203 (On Sale: May 9, 1968) AKA 80pg. Giant #G-49 has a cover by Neal Adams over a layout by Carmine Infantino. I remember as a kid being excited by this issue, that there were actually some "secrets" that I was going to learn.

We begin with "The 1,000 Secrets of the Batcave" by Bill Finger and Jim Mooney from Batman #48. Escaped killer Wolf Brando on the run from police takes refuge inside Wayne Manor. Once inside, he knocks out Dick Grayson and accidentally discover the Batcave entrance.

Batman learns that Wolf is hiding in his home and follows him into the Batcave. Brando has Dick held hostage, but Batman rescues him. Together Batman and Robin then chase Brando through the Batcave. They know that once he is caught, Wolf will reveal their secret identities to the world. After a long chase, Brando is finally cornered. However, he accidentally falls into an underground stream and drowns.

Next is "The Birth of Batplane II" by David V. Reed, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris from Batman #61.

That is followed by "The Secret of Batman's Utility Belt" also by David V. Reed, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris and from Detective Comics #185.

Next is "The 100 Batarangs of Batman" by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris from Detective Comics #244. Film is stolen which contains pictures of Batman throwing his batarangs. The Dynamic Duo recalls several criminals who have been defeated by the batarangs. They determine that Jay Garris is the likely suspect. Batman locates Garris and uses Batarang X, a giant batarang that can carry a man, to sneak into Garris’ hide-out. He learns the crooks intend to use exploding batarangs for crime.

Next up is "Secret of the Batmobile" also by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris from Batman #98. When Batman pursues the Racer in the Batmobile, Vicki Vale snaps a photo of the chase. Batman sees the photo and worries that it will reveal a secret. He convinces Vicki to run several stories of cases in which the Batmobile was used before printing the photo. The reason for this is that the engine of the Batmobile was damaged. While repairs continued, Batman replaced the Batmobile with Bruce Wayne's sports car. Vicki's photo showed the sports car and would have given away his identity.

Lastly we have "The Flying Bat-Cave" by David V. Reed, Lew Sayre Schwartz and Charles Paris from Detective Comics #186.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell who began editing all of the Batman 80-Page Giants beginning with issue #198.

Batman #198

Batman #198 (On Sale: November 14, 1967), AKA 80pg. Giant #G-43 features a cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson spotlighting an All-Villain Issue.

We begin with "The Origin of the Batman" from Batman #47 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Charles Paris. Batman and Robin discover that a trucking company is smuggling wanted criminals out of state. When Batman sees a picture of the trucking company's owner, Joe Chill, he immediately recognizes the man as the killer of his parents (this was the first time the killer's name was revealed. Batman works the case alone, trying to trap Chill and get evidence against him. Chill eludes Batman's traps and continues to operate his company.

Finally Batman takes a daring risk and reveals his identity to Chill, explaining that Chill was responsible for creating him. Batman threatens to follow and harass Chill until the crook eventually slips up. Frightened, Chill runs to his gang. He tells them that he was responsible for creating Batman. Before he can tell them who the Batman really is, they gun him done for creating their nemesis. Batman is then able to finally close the case of the Wayne murder.

Next is "The Jungle Cat-Queen" from Detective #211 by Ed Hamilton, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris. After a jewel heist, Catwoman pilots her plane to a remote island where she meets her accomplices. Batman follows her to the island and is quickly captured. Catwoman allows Batman to escape, even though her partners try to kill him. Once free Batman rounds up the gang, but the Catwoman herself escapes.

This is followed by "The Web of the Spinner" from Batman #129, by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris. While Batman and Robin track down a new costumed foe, the Spinner, Batwoman is investigating a swami who she believes is a phony. All the heroes finally follow their leads to an old windmill which the Spinner is using as a hideout. Although they are able to overcome the Spinner, Batman suspects more is going on. They exit the windmill just before it explodes. The swami is the real Spinner, and he setup another crook to take the fall. Batman then finds evidence in the swami’s possession and arrests him.

Next we have (Oswald Who?) reprinted from the Batman Sunday strip 2/10/1946-3/10/1946 by Alvin Schwartz, Jack Burnley and Charles Paris. This was later reprinted in Batman:The Sunday Classics, 1943-1946 TPB.

"The Crimes of Batman" from World's Finest #61 by David Reed, Lew Sayer Schwartz and Charles Paris follows.

This is followed by "The Menace of False Face" from Batman #113 drawn by Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris. A new criminal and master of disguise, False Face, commits robberies around Gotham by disguising himself. Batman realizes that the real people which False Face replaces are delayed from their normal activities in advance. When someone is delayed, Batman arrives in their place and is able to locate False Face, but the crook escapes. During another encounter, Batman is apparently knocked out, but he is really able to capture False Face and his gang.

Lastly we have "The Bandit of the Bells" from Batman #55 drawn by Bob Kane and Charles Paris.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.