[Comics]: Detective Comics #48, "The Mystery of the Secret Cavern"

Publication date: February 1941
Author: Bob Kane

Our story begins in Kentucky, when a man in a rowboat ends up finding his way into a cave... which leads to a massive limestone cavern. The man is in awe, consumed by wonder, marveling at the newly discovered natural beauty all around him. It warms the heart to see one so reverent and appreciative of--

...

Terribly excited, the man makes his way back to town, where he happens to blurt out the news of his discovery--but not its precise location--to two gentlemen who just happen to be hiding out from the police. Upon discussion, the gentlemen decide to go find the surveyor and ask him where this cave happened to be. They don't ask very nicely:

"I wonder if he'd talk if we promised to give him a share of the haul?"

"What? You mean, violence isn't the answer?"

...

...

"Naw, let's just hit him some more."

Hitting doesn't work, bribery won't work... But the recalcitrant Lewis has a daughter--Linda Lewis, a singer at Top Hat Club. The gentlemen go to Renaldo, the club owner, with a proposition...

It's hard to tell if Wayne remembers that he has a fiancee or not.

But their date may never happen. After her set, Linda enters her dressing room to change, and is surprised by a man, who creeps toward her, very rapist-ly.

"And you'll be... in a worrrrld of pure imagin--"

BLAM

Okay, so he doesn't break out into song. But she does shoot him (his response, absurdly, is "I was only fooling!") An instant later, Reynaldo and another man burst in. Turns out, Creepy McStalkerton really was only joking. Linda is terrified--she's killed a man for no reason. Renaldo takes the gun and tells her, "Go home to your father in Kentucky for a while, we'll take care of all of this."

Ah, the oldest trick in the book: the Grifter's Donkey Switcheroo, mixed with a Reverse Tea-Kettle. Not to be confused with the Lost Train Ticket to Swindle-Town, Grapefruit variant (for that you need a fourth man, a road map, and a baby carriage).

Bruce is upset upon hearing that Linda broke their date without even telling him.

"How can I find out? Maybe if I squint just hard enough--"

Meanwhile, Linda arrives at her father's cabin--only to find Renaldo and the gentlemen already there (she went by train; they went by plane). They've told Mr. Lewis about Linda's "murder", and when she confirms what happened, he agrees to show them the way to the cave in order to keep her out of jail.

Back in Gotham City, Bruce has moved from squinting to full-on investigating. After all, he's rich, he's handsome, he's charming--there has to be a real reason as to why Linda stood him up, right? Right?

I feel like this is heading into "buddy tries to help buddy get laid" territory. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Anyway, the boys head out to confront Renaldo....

First time it's called the Batmobile! Is this a special car, or just a 1940s car? I don't know anything about this subject.

But they don't realize yet that Renaldo is in Kentucky. What we're seeing here is actually a pretty nifty dual narrative structure, two intersecting plot-lines. Very classic. We know Batman is essentially an unstoppable force; the only question is whether his fists will make it to Kentucky in time. We have knowledge that they don't, and every detour they take has us yelling at the page, "THEY'RE IN KENTUCKY! THEY'RE GONNA ROB THE RESERVE! GOD! MORONS!"

...or maybe that's just me. I get a little too into this sometimes.

Batman and Robin roar through the streets at top speed to Renaldo's apartment. Because this is an emergency! She stood him up! Activate thrusters!

[theme music swells]

Luckily for Batman, a henchman in the apartment on the phone with Nick (aka the "dead" guy) reveals almost the entire plan, including the faked murder. Batman literally beats the rest out of him:

Ah, it warms the cockles of my heart when they beg like that.

Man, Batman is really on his game tonight. Breaking and entering, beating up henchmen--he'll have this whole thing rolled up by dawn, I'm sure. Nothing can stop him now.

*facepalm*

I forgive him, though, because it sets the stage for a nicely-done classic Batman fight. He makes a great entrance:

And a great pun:

And for the bad guy, a humiliating defeat:

"But I don't wanna go to Kentucky!"

"Well, you should have thought of that before you became a criminal."

The three journey by Batplane to Kentucky, where Nick guides them to Lewis's cabin. Batman takes out the lone guard with a silent choke hold (ninja). Then he tells a joke!

Knock knock!

Who's there?

PUNCH

Batman frees Mr. Lewis and his daughter, and shows them the tied-up Nick, clearly not dead. The truth revealed, they tell Batman about the cavern, and he rushes there to head off the thieves.

When they get there, there's some nice atmosphere. The adventurers are hushed, in awe of the cavern, and the thieves work in absolute silence to get into the gold reserve. And then...

Some days the bat gets you, some days... the Batman gets you. It's hard out there for a crook.

There is a brief and uninteresting fight, except for the part where a moron up in the gold vault fires a shot down at Batman, alerting the guards, who shoot them dead:

I can but point and laugh.

Batman and Robin take down the rest of the guys below in the cave, including Renaldo. Even Lewis gets in a few hits on the men who tortured him earlier. Happy endings all around! (Except for the dead guys.)

"That, and I get to sleep with Linda now, right?"

[Comics]: Detective Comics #47, [untitled]

Publication date: January 1941
Author: Bob Kane

Perhaps befitting the first comic of the new year, this issue of Detective Comics offers a sort of introduction to Batman.

We begin with a truck heist in progress, interrupted by Batman's arrival from above. He picks up a crook off the top of the truck and throws him down, hitting three other men. After a pithy good-bye, he hears the police coming and runs, leaping to and catching a nearby fire-ladder.

The arriving police are baffled (despite the opening "crawl" telling us, "All the world knows of the Batman!"). Meanwhile, the dark knight flies from rooftop to rooftop, swinging on his rope fearlessly high above the city streets.

Later, he enters the deserted barn near his home, and takes the trapdoor to the secret tunnel we found out about in the previous issue of Batman. Emerging incongruously in a room made of wealth and splendor, he greets his ward, Dick. And the next morning he emerges through the front door, in full daylight, disguised as Bruce Wayne, indolent playboy.

In just three pages, they have established virtually everything we need to know about Batman, if we are new readers, and in a way which is not boring to those who already knew it. (Procedure is always interesting.) What does this sequence of events tell us about Batman?

He is strong, and brave; he fights crime at night, and hides his secrets in the day; he is rich; he is well-known; he is himself sometimes on the wrong side of the law; he has a young sidekick; he enjoys his work.

And judging by the attribution on that second speech bubble, Batman is also psychic. Or cruelly mocking.

The next day, Bruce goes to see Harvey Midas, who is every inch the stereotypical fat businessman who has no time for his children. He even "arrumphs".

"Did you say something, Roger?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Goddamn right you didn't. No son of mine, etc., etc. Harrumph. Well I must be going."

Bruce is listening, however, and has become disturbingly interested in this trite dramatic problem.

"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, maybe become a Batman when the batbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright..."

Batman watches creepily as this tawdry family drama unfolds.

There's Mrs. Midas, old, pig-faced, and obsessed with social position:

See?

There's the young Miss Diane Midas, in love with a clerk in daddy's bank, forbidden to pursue the attraction by dear old mummy:

"But mother...!"

And of course, Roger:

"So, I'm going to have some more booze. Join me?"

And the patriarch:

"Arrumph!"

They are all available in a limited edition set of DysFUNctional Family Action Figures! When you pull the string in their back, they say a hurtful catchphrase! And if you buy the whole set, they come up with Creepy Stalker Batman:

"I like to watch"

After Batman observes the mother-daughter dynamic, Bruce focuses on following Roger around as he spends his father's hard-earned cash in the swankiest nightclubs that ever swanked a swanker. (I... I don't know what "swank" means.) He drinks, he gambles, and one night he gets up on stage with the band and plays a mean clarinet. (After which, he confesses to Bruce his long-denied dream of leading an orchestra.)

And it's not long before Diane's life is fully ruined, too. After a social "debut" (do they even do those anymore? ...outside the South, I mean.) which cost $50,000 (about $720,000 today), she is pressured out of marrying the lowly clerk, and into, well, this:

ewwwwww

Having observed all this, Bruce can only sit back, puff on his pipe, and wish he could do something to meddle in these affairs. THE END

Or it would be, if Batman didn't continue stalking the Midas family.

Step 1: Meddle.

Step 2: Ridiculously terrible unintended consquences.

Yeah, that worked well.

The newsboy is killed, and Roger's "friends" convince him to add " -and-run" to the "hit". The newspapers rage about the cowardly killer, but nobody's the wiser... Until the gamblers threaten to Roger's father to expose the truth unless Midas pays them $5000.

Let's try Step 1 again, it worked out so well last time.

Midas is not amused.

Batman, you may be right, but you're definitely being a prick about it.

Meanwhile, I'm sure Robin is off actually foiling actual criminals...

Well, you know what they say. Like creepy surrogate father, like creepy surrogate son.

Luckily for both of our heroes, these situations have developed into actual crimes. As soon as Diane slams the door, her husband begins plotting to kill her for the family fortune. Robin stows away on his car, and overhears him meeting with a couple of thugs who plan to sneak into the house, steal the jewels in the family safe, and murder the wife. The dynamic duo compare plot-lines and realize that the theft is planned for 8pm tomorrow, and the blackmail payoff for 10pm on the same day. "We'll just have to TiVo American Idol," Batman says grimly.

The first heroic act of the night is this pun, given after Batman has punched the evil husband but good:

Batman: "But wait, I have more! Looks like he shouldn't have counted on his plan!"

Robin: "We really don't have time for--oh, oh! He never accounted for this countingency!"

Batman: "I have taught you well."

Batman and Robin hide, waiting for the thugs to arrive. When they do, they are taken out effortlessly, to the shock of the Mr. and Mrs. Midas.

Batman: "It's, uh. It's not what it looks like."

Robin: "We were just trying to count--"

Batman: "Not now, Robin."

Batman tells them about the Count's betrayal, a story the thugs on the ground corroborate. Then Batman tries to parlay that into enough trust that Midas will take his advice and not pay the blackmailers. The old fool continues to be stubborn, however.

"Goddammit, Harvey! When will you learn that some of your problems can also be solved with violence?"

Batman and Robin pretend to leave in disgust, but actually hitch a ride on top of Midas's car, as Harvey and his son go to pay off the blackmailers. The payment goes down as planned, until...

Step 1: Meddle.

Step 2: Ridiculously terrible unintended consquences.

Our heroes race out after the crooks on the fire escape. Robin heads up to the roof and gets his man, while Batman's races down to a waiting car. Batman's response?

Step 3: awesome.

Needless to say, Batman lands in the car and takes him out.

His next move is to take Roger, who's been shot, to an actor specially hired for just such an occasion:

Step 4: Morality play.

Batman takes Midas aside to rub it in.

"For example, no amount of money would have kept you from interfering and getting my son shot by criminals. You bastard."

Roger does survive. Which means he has to face the music for running over that newsboy.

Look! Money does solve everything!

Later that day, Bruce stops by the office, wanting to do a little business, but Midas is busy spending time with his son. And incidentally, Mrs. Midas has relaxed her standards for her daughter's suitors--understandable given how disastrous her choice turned out to be. Let's let Bruce and Dick sum it up:

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go spend some of my unearned wealth."

[METAPOST] The List: 1941

 Two years down, 69 to go.

--

Detective Comics (issues 47-58)
Batman (issues 5-8)
World's Finest vol. 1 (issues 1-4)
All-Star Comics vol. 1 (issue 7)

[Comics]: Batman #4, [untitled - 4]

Publication date: Winter 1940
Author: Bob Kane

I have occasionally ridden the coattails of Superdickery, a site which uses ridiculous old comic book covers to demonstrate that, often, Superman was a huge dick. This doesn't happen as often with Batman, at least so far, but this title page would definitely be one of those times:

The sight of Batman sadistically gathering up criminals and weighing them on the scales of Justice is, well, pretty cool, but also a rather sinister portrayal of our hero.

The opening to this story, however, isn't nearly as interesting. It offers an action sequence we've definitely seen before: a group of thugs are beating up an innocent man, Batman and Robin enter the fray, the beaten thugs retreat to a getaway car which sprays machine gun rounds at them as it peels out. The only difference this time, in fact, is along the same lines as that title page:

I don't really have anything to say about this, other than exclamation points at such a bizarre image. Although the question of why Batman and guns are anathema arises. Future writers will connect Batman's anti-gun notions to the fact that his parents will killed with a gun; but no such connection exists at this early stage of the game. So why?

One idea is that it ties into the morality of the work--obviously we've had a lot of stories involving crime, and influencing children away from it. It's possible that the authors don't wish to glorify gun violence. But if that's true, they don't do a very good job of it. Guns are used frequently as expedient plot devices--not to mention the two other times that Batman has used guns (here, when he slaughtered the giant monsters, and here, when he killed a vampire/werewolf/whatever).

Another possibility is that it's okay for Batman to use guns when he's overmatched by his opponent. After all, in the previous instances I cited, he was fighting a giant monster and a supernatural being (of annoyingly indeterminate type). But here... it's just a machine gun. He's faced machine guns before. And (glancing ahead) there's no plot reason why he had to shoot at the retreating car.

Ultimately I'm left with no coherent explanation. I guess this instance is just a bizarre mis-step. Maybe they had a guest writer, who didn't know what he was doing, and didn't realize Batman usually doesn't use guns.

Oh, come on!

Whatever. Moving on.

When the crooks are gone, Batman recognizes the man whose life he's saved: Tim Bannon, who coaches the Panthers ("the professional football team", adds Batman in a fit of awkward exposition). Bannon explains that the Panthers are about to play the Lions, a team owned by Stacy the Gambler. Forced to live up to his nickname (man, friends can be so cruel sometimes), Stacy has placed a large bet on his own team to win, and is now trying one dirty trick after another to ruin the Panthers' chances. After a casual conversation, they're interrupted by the police, finally getting around to investigating the scene of a big dramatic fist-and-gun-fight.

Robin then added, in a creepy, sing-song cadence, "Come play with me, Batman. Forever and ever and ever..."

Meanwhile, in the lair of some truly ugly criminals...

"It's YOU!" cried Stacy, pointing his finger at Johnny Ugly, his second in command. Johnny began to sweat uncontrollably. How the hell did he know?

Stacy explains that an informant working for him at the police department has spotted Bruce Wayne hanging around the Commissioner's office (crime detection method #3). Maybe, Stacy say, this 'playboy' business is just an act.

The narration box underneath that panel goes for some "Oh no what will happen NOW" blatant dramatism. It's the verbal equivalent of that video with the prairie dog. Suffice it to say, things just got real.

"Whoever you are, you're interrupting my bored lounging time. If you call back later I might be able to give you ten minutes before my eight o'clock indolent slothing."

I love this panel. Partly it's the violet and yellow lounging ensemble. Partly it's Bruce's shifty-eyes. You can tell he's thinking, This could be a trap. I will speak gibberish just in case. "What? Who? I am confused. Chocolate? My name is Bruce."

The mysterious voice on the phone gives Bruce an address to be at tomorrow night at ten, and hangs up. This is either:

a) A brilliant plan to get Bruce to reveal himself. If Batman shows up at that address, the most likely explanation is that they are one and the same.

b) A bizarre 1940s form of prank call, involving calling up strangers on the pretense that they are superheroes and asking for help.

c) A convoluted mugging scheme.

(There are no other possibilities.)

Either way, the appropriate response is not to dress up as Batman and go over there.

God dammit, Batman, what did I just say?

Also note that (I believe) this marks the first time the comics have called it "Gotham City". As a cityscape, it's a nice introduction. From now on this is no longer New York; it's a fantastic amalgam of cities, the ur-city. An idea which is in keeping with the rise of noir imagery lately.

"No. It would appropriate if I were Flyman, you moron."

Now, to see if Batman really is Bruce Wayne, the men advance, ready to pull off the cowl...

You saw this coming, right? Good.

Turns out, it was a trap... for THEM! (The gangster them.) Anyway, Batman and Robin punch their way out. Then Stacy continues to prove that his superpower is not thinking like every other Batman villain--he orders his men to follow Batman and Robin home.

Our heroes lead the criminals to a barn near the Wayne home, and then disappear. Stacy asks the men he's had posted around Wayne's house if Batman came through here, and they tell him nobody has. And yet...

Bruce: "You'll have to come back some other time, I'm just about to practice being debonair and I need total concentration."

The surprised criminals leave Wayne alone, only to stand outside his window creepily watching him read a book. Perhaps they were wrong about him?

What the?!

While Batman leads the (very tired) gangsters on another merry chase across the grounds, the narrator explains how he got back inside the house without anyone seeing him. You see, there's actually a trapdoor in the barn, leading to a secret passageway which comes out in the house. Once there, he threw off his costume, donned the robe, and answered the door in full playboy regalia. But how did Batman and Bruce Wayne manage to be in two places at once? 

Cloning?!?!

...No. This isn't Spiderman, for god's sake.

don't think about why they have that
don't think about why they have that
don't think about why they have that

Actually, this is the exact same scheme used in "The Adventure of the Empty House", the Sherlock Holmes story wherein he is resurrected after his literary demise. I encourage you to go read it.

Anyway, while Batman put on his costume and ran back out of the house, Robin moved the sleeves of the dummy, making it look like Bruce was reading in his armchair.

"...wait a second. How did you know Bruce Wayne got that call?"

The next night, the gang scratches their collective heads. With no more Batman suspects, they can only go ahead with their original plan--sabotage the Panthers and hope it all comes out alright. SPOILER: It won't.

The next night, Batman and Robin go around to the quarters of the Panther's star quarterback, to make sure Stacy hasn't intimidated him into throwing the game. (I'm beginning to think Wayne has a bet of his own down.)

Instead, they find the quarterback gone, and his roommate stabbed to death. Robin concludes that the man has been kidnapped. Now, if you had to guess, what would you say their next action should be?

a) Inform the police that a murder has taken place.

b) Find Stacy's gang, punch him in the face for killing the roommate, and rescued the kidnapped player.

c) Figure out some way to win the game anyway.

If you guessed c), you're wrong. I asked what they SHOULD do. C) is what they actually do.

Yeah, this isn't creepy.

The next day, at the game, Bruce heads out onto the field, disguised as Stockton, the quarterback. Stacy, in the stands, is shocked. Poor guy. Nothing seems to work out for him, does it?

Anyway, he immediately goes back to his gang's hideout, to ask why they let Stockton go--when he sees that the player is right there, still tied up. Stacy is confused and, I'm sure, a bit depressed. It can't help when Robin, who trailed him from the stadium, bursts in through the skylight. Naturally a fight ensues, and poor Stacy's miserable week is concluded in the worst possible way:

"At least, I hope so," said Stacy plaintively as his body crumpled to the floor. "This has all been so very confusing."

Robin frees Stockton, who is shocked to hear that Batman is standing in for him in the game. "I'll bet he's fumbling every play!" he cries. He races over to the stadium; Robin stays behind to take any thugs who're still breathing to jail.

Meanwhile, Batman is doing terrible, of course.

Just kidding. Of course he gets the first touchdown. He's Batman.

Bizarrely, they let the quarterback do the extra kick. Although who knows what crazy rules they had back when the helmets were leather. Probably it was legal back then to use utility belts, but only during passing plays.

Stockton arrives at the stadium to cheers--for his doppelganger. During half-time, he and Bruce switch out, and Bruce and Dick take their rightful place--in the stands, taking in the rest of the game.

Ah... there's nothing so American as a rich man and his unofficial ward, smoking a pipe and watching a game of football they rigged against the bet of a dead man.

You heard it here first, kids! Guns are awesome, cheating is great if you do it better than the other team, and rich guys always come in first. Who ever said comics didn't teach you things?

----

Well, that's it for 1940, the first full year of Batman. We had some ups, some downs, but on the whole it was a year for narrative experimentation; for growth on the part of the artists toward a noir sensibility; and for some exciting stories.

Anyways. Onward and upward! 1941 starts on Friday. See you there!