Joe Krejci covers Wonder Woman 177

Original cover by Irv Novick; DC 1968. Joe Krejci's website is here.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #103

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #103 (On Sale: June 25, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover-story "The Devil's Bride" by Robert Kanigher, Irv Novick and Mike Esposito. The back-up story is "The Fantastic Wigs of Mr. Dupre" drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger and reprinted from Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #35. Lois Lane attends a performance of Booth Barry, an old actor. Barry invites Lois backstage and relates a story about magical wigs that cause a person wearing them to die in the same manor as the model for the wigs did. Barry then is accidentally shot with a pistol in a manor similar to Alexander Hamilton, whose wig he was wearing.

Lois investigates the story and is led to the shop of Anton Dupre. Lois tests two wigs herself and is nearly killed. The third attempt nearly succeeds as Lois wears a Supergirl wig, however the real Supergirl has replaced Lois. Together they expose Dupre’s plot to eliminate Lois from discovering his underworld activities. The dangerous wigs were merely a hoax, and Dupre turns out to be Booth Barry in disguise.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #101

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #101 (On Sale: March 24, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover-story,"The Super-Reckless Lois Lane" by Leo Dorfman and Irv Novick. The back-up is "The Anti-Superman Lois" from Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #13 and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. Lois Lane goes undercover as blond-haired Sadie Blodgett to get a story. Two members of the Anti-Superman Gang see her and decide to use her in a plot to kill Superman, by having her impersonate Lois Lane. The crooks train her to be Lois, while she plays dumb. The crooks pull off their scheme, but Lois had tipped off Superman. He foils their plan and captures them.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Batman #221

Batman #221 (On Sale: March 3, 1970) has cover by Neal Adams, and what a cover. This is another one of those that I would stare at for hours and think, "Yeah, this is Batman!"

This issue begins with our cover-story "A Bat-Death for Batman" by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. This story is not nearly as exciting or moody as the cover and it could have been. Novick really needed to get some more blacks into the work and the coloring provides no mood whatsoever, relying heavily on stale blocks of orange and green. The story begins with strange goings on along the Rhine River in Germany. A man is devoured in the water by killer trout and a farmer is attacked by rampaging oxen. As luck, or the story would have it, Bruce Wayne is visiting Baron Willi Von Ritter, head of Biochem-Fabrik, Ltd, a chemical company on the Rhine.

Von Ritter lives in Fledermaus Castle, created in the shape of a giant Bat. Von Ritter and his company were cleared of accusations of conspiracy with the Nazis, but he refuses to cooperate with health inspectors who are investigating the strange animal activities. Once at the castle Bruce meets Von Ritter's wife Ilga and his head bio-chemist, Professor Otto Kramm.

That night as Batman, Bruce does a little reconnoitering of the castle's underground maze. There he finds a masked man egging on a lion to fight. The lions attacker? A lamb! The masked man says that he has synthesized the essential chemical elements that trigger the killer instinct in predators and that some of it accidentally overflowed into the Rhine. He plans on using the serum to see that Germany does not fail next time because its armies will possess the primal killer instincts of predators. With that the masked man traps Batman in the room and lets loose some bats which have been exposed to the serum.

Leaving Batman to his fate the masked man takes off his protective mask to reveal Otto Kramm as Ilga brings in the valet to be used as the first human test subject for the serum. However, before they can administer the serum, Batman shows up and Ilga injects Otto with the serum. Once infected Otto turns on Ilga for hurting him and Batman has to jump in to save her. In the ensuing fight Otto is thrown into the pit with the killer lamb and is killed by it.

Ilga is dying but wants to know how Batman escaped the bats and he explains that he used a wadded up piece of tin foil, ripped into strips to confuse the bats sonar and escape. OK, not much of a story here.

The back-up Batman story is "Hot Time in Gotham Town Tonight" by Mike Friedrich, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. There is a heat wave in Gotham City and the fire department keeps being sent out on false alarms. On their way back from one such false alarm a truck gets a call of a fire in his own building. When they get there the place is in flames and a woman is yelling that her baby is trapped inside. Just then Batman is seen repelling down the side of the building, child in hand. Watching the spectacle are a couple of teenage kids who wonder what would have happened if that had been their kid sister in the fire. They decide to turn themselves in for calling in the false alarms.

Meanwhile, back at the fire the fire inspector says to the fireman that "All signs point toward the firs starting in your apartment Frank!" When they go upstairs they see that the door to Frank's apartment is not burned at all. Inside they find Frank's brother Joey who says he was just polishing an idol he brought back with him from Viet Nam. One of the firemen try to touch the idol and says he is overpowered by the feeling of evil it is generating. It begins to glow and some strange rays flash out from its eyes and suddenly Batman is there racing toward the idol.

He picks it up and with great effort tosses it out of the window where it shatters on the ground below. Once it does the eerie feeling disappears, along with Batman. The closing caption reads: "For the natural violence of life there is always the fireman! For the supernatural violence of life there is always the Batman!" Strange take and one of the first to give Batman some heretofore unknown ability to battle the supernatural. Not a great story, but it points the way that DC was moving and the way they were positioning the Batman. Reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-25.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #100

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #100 (On Sale: February 12, 1970) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

This issue begins with our cover-story, "Lois Lane's Last Mile" by Robert Kanigher and Irv Novick. The back-up is from Showcase #9, "The Un-Curious Lois Lane" is by Otto Binder, Ruben Morira and Al Plastino. Superman has created a new identity for himself, salesman Allen Todd. He does this because two nosy crooks have been trailing Clark Kent in an effort to expose him as Superman’s other identity. The Man of Steel plants clues for Lois to lead her to Todd, but Lois has taken a new approach and is now trying to cover for Superman.

After she successfully protects his new identity several times, he sends a letter with the address of Todd to Lois and leads the crooks to believe Lois knows his secret. The crooks expose Todd in front of Lois, but Superman then takes them to jail because they tried to shoot him. He then vows to adopt a new identity, which is really his old one, Clark Kent. Lois is intrigued and returns to her old ways of trying to learn the big secret again.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Batman #220

Batman #220 (On Sale: January 22, 1970) has a cover by Neal Adams. Three things about this cover: 1) I don't normally like the multi-panel covers, but this one completely works for me, 2) some attribute the inks on this cover to Dick Giordano, but I just don't see it, particularly in the Batman figure in panel one, and 3) this is the debut of a radically new Batman logo, this after reverting back to pretty much the original logo less than a year ago. Now I liked this new logo, but it would not last very long; within a year they would slip Robin's name into the logo and a year after that they will move to a new logo that is more a throw-back to the logo they are currently replacing.

This issue has the book-length "This Murder Has Been... Pre-Recorded" by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. It opens up with pretty much a rehash of the cover and then shows us how we got there. Bruce is visited by Marla Manning, the woman whose articles on "Victims Anonymous" was the inspiration for Bruce's own Victims Inc. Program. She relates how she has received anonymous threats ever since she hinted in an article that the death of young file clerk in the city contract bids department might be linked to bidder for a certain city contract. Bruce's VIP had provided some financial aid to the victims sister and when he checks his files on the woman, Sandra Sloan, they are missing and in there place is a note to "Lay off...or else!" Bruce says he will call on Batman's help and sends Manning on her way.

Manning floated the name of Nova Demolition Co. and Bruce checks into them and the other companies who bid on the suspected contract. That night Batman visits Sandra Sloan and is given the brush-off at the door. Suspecting foul play Batman crashes in and interrupts an unknown gunman who gets away. Sloan knows who it was, but refuses to tell. Batman heads to Nova Demolition where he breaks in to look at their records. There he fights with owner Zack Nova, ex-military demolition expert. Nova threatens to call the police on Batman if he doesn't leave and tells him to "lay off."

Batman then visits Manning and convinces her to say in her next article that she has evidence of who killed Sloan. When the article hits the paper, Manning gets a call from Nova, saying he knows she is lying about having proof but offers to give her what she needs for $5,000, the money to be left in a phone booth.

In preparation for the meeting Batman goes to the airport for something and then meets Manning near the phone booth where he takes her place for the rendezvous. As soon as the booth door closes a tape plays of Zach Nova confessing to the murder and then the booth blows up. Manning comes out of hiding and is confronted by Zach Nova plans on killing her just in case she heard his confession. Just then his confession starts replaying and Nova freaks out a bit. Batman comes out of hiding and takes Nova out explaining that he used a black box recorder from a plane to capture the confession and put an inflated Batman costume into the booth while he then ran for cover, expecting that a demolition expert was planning an explosion.

Afterward we learn from Sloan's sister that Nova had saved Sloan's life in Viet Nam and used that to get secret information from Sloan so that he could win contracts. When Sloan could bear it no longer and threatened to expose Nova he murdered Sloan.

Once again, I am disappointed by the Robbins' story, yet I recall loving this stuff 40 years ago.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #99

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #99 (On Sale: December 23, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

This issue, the last DC book of 1969 begins with our cover-story, "Is Lois Lane Guilty?" by Robert Kanigher and Irv Novick.

The back-up story is "The Man Who Was Clark Kent's Double" from Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #3 and drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. While investigating a story of a modern day Robin Hood in the town of Hadley, Lois Lane meets Mark Benton who looks identical to Clark Kent. She quickly falls in love with Mark, but he slips away several times. She begins to suspect him of being Robin Hood.

While several attempts to learn the truth fail, Lois finally finds the Robin Hood mask in his coat pocket. Mark is upset because his Robin Hood act was done to help the poor. He is really a wealthy man named Ronald Van Horton. He assumed the Mark Benton identity because he doesn’t want people to like him for his money. He had planned to propose, but Lois’s suspicions show a lack of trust. She is heartbroken when Mark dumps her.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Brave and the Bold #88

Brave and the Bold #88 (On Sale: December 23, 1969) has a cool Batman and Wildcat cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with Batman and Wildcat in "Count Ten ...and Die" by Bob Haney, Irv Novick and Mike Esposito. Much like the Vigilante in this month's Justice League of America, this too is a new Wildcat of Earth 1 and never before seen. Bruce Wayne visits a flophouse on skid row to find Ted Grant, the retired undefeated heavyweight champion, who has fallen on hard times since he left the world of heavyweight competition to open a gym for underprivileged children. Over time Ted lost the gym and is now just another bum existing on the seedier side of town.

Bruce offers to pay off all of Grant's debts if Ted will coach the American boxing team for the World Youth Games in Vienna, in which Bruce is coaching the fencing team. Ted declines, saying his best days are in the past and after Bruce leaves he pulls out his old Wildcat costume and thinks how he is even too old and slow to wear it anymore. But when he sees Bruce being hassled by two guys on the street, Ted leaps into action and takes the two out easily. He decides that maybe their is still life in his old bones after all and accepts Bruce's offer. After Ted leaves Bruce pays off the two "thugs" whom he hired to rough him up knowing it would spur Ted into action.

Weeks later in Vienna, the seemingly Russian coach (if is never said for sure), Koslov, taunts Grant in front of his team, saying he was too afraid of Koslov to ever fight him. Meanwhile, as Batman, Bruce is briefed by "Military Intelligence" in Vienna on a free-lance spy named Kurt Schimmerling who was supposed to sell some information on the date the "other side" is planning on launching an armed space station. Schimmerling never delivered the information and it is now assumed that the "other side" has offered him more to sell it back to them. Batman's job is to get the information from Schimmerling before he sells it back.

Back in the athlete's village Ted breaks up a fight between the American boxing team and the team from the "other side." Koslov is there to say that the Americans started the fight and are bad sportsmen. Signs of "Americans Go Home!" and "Americans Don't Play Fair" spring up around the village and later Koslov eggs Ted on and challenges him to a fight, which Ted backs away from. His kids see it all and are afraid of becoming a laughing stock and Bruce tells him that he has now become part of the cold war and needs to fight Koslov and win. Grant is unsure what to do and walks off to think it over.

Bruce needs the time to change back into Batman and pick up Schimmerling's trail. He finds him and begins following him through the streets of Vienna. Meanwhile Ted has borrowed a bike from the cycling team and is tooling through the streets in his old Wildcat uniform when he sees Batman chasing Schimmerling into the sewers. Schimmerling loses Batman there but Wildcat picks up the trail only to lose him as well when he is suckered over a waterfall.

Back as Ted Grant spots him entering an amusement park and when Ted takes a ride on the giant Ferris wheel, Batman joins him in the car. Batman tells Ted that he must fight Koslov and says that Ted has not lost his old gifts at all and to prove it takes Ted on in a massive fight in the car. In the end only Ted emerges, Batman flat on the floor and thinking that though he pulled some punches, that Ted was quite a scrapper in his time.

The ploy works and Ted begins to train for the fight with Koslov. Batman meanwhile sets a timer on the arena lights to turn them off in the seventh round, figuring that if Ted is losing he will "take his place using a plasti-face-mask from my disguise kit." Batman then gets back on the trail of Schimmerling finding a ticket to the Koslov/Grant fight in his room, but before he can act on this information he is captured by agents from the "other side."

Later the big fight takes place and Ted goes out strong against Koslov, but by the fourth round Ted is tired out and Koslov is coming on strong. Later when Koslov gets Ted in tight he tells him that they have Batman and that if he wants to see him alive he needs to lose the fight. Just then the lights go out and Ted knocks Koslov out, carries him out to a nicely placed cycle with sidecar and gets the now awake Koslov to tell him that they are keeping Batman on a river barge.

Ted drives off a bridge onto the barge and rescues Batman and they somehow manager to get back to the arena before the lights go back on. Batman spots Schimmerling as Koslov knocks Ted to the mat. As Batman follows Schimmerling out of the arena and Ted is being counted out, Batman throws a batarang into the ring to land in front of Ted on which Batman has written "has-been!" This is enough to inspire Ted to his feet where he knocks out Koslov. Meantime Batman is able to intercept the transfer of information between Schimmerling and the folks from the "other side"

The American boxing team does well in the games and Ted begins to think that maybe Wildcat isn't completely washed up either. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 2 TPB.

The back-ups are both filler stories written by Murray Boltinoff and drawn by George Tuska: "Death Turns the Dial" and "Killed with Kindness."

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Batman #219

Batman #219 (On Sale: December 4, 1969) has a nice cover by Neal Adams. This is the last issue to use this long-time logo.

We begin with our cover-story, "Death Casts the Deciding Vote" by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. Bruce Wayne heads to the state capitol to find public funding for his Victims Inc, Program but when he reaches the governor's office he finds Senator Lincoln Webster already there. Webster is visiting on the sly and informs Bruce that a new anti-crime bill he is sponsoring will put V.I.P. out of business, but that there might be a federal "Health and Welfare" bill that some of Bruce's ideas might be tacked on to.

Webster invites Bruce to fly with him back to Washington, DC where he needs to be tomorrow to vote on his bill and promises to introduce Bruce tot he right people. Little do they know that they are being watched and followed as they leave the state house. They take a commuter flight back to DC but things go bad almost immediately.

Unbeknownst to Bruce and Webster, the plane has been hijacked. Bruce notices that the plane is flying in the wrong direction and breaks into the cockpit to see what is going on. There he is knocked out and hijackers tell the passengers that Bruce was a hijacker and that they are the FBI. Webster knows something is up, but does not want to reveal his identity. They put Bruce in a back room where he escapes and returns to the front of the plane as Batman. They threaten to kill Webster if Batman doesn't stop and he is also captured and thrown in with Bruce Wayne (Bruce used inflated Mae Wests to fill out his clothing when he changed into Batman garb).

The hijackers land the plane at an abandoned airfield. There they reveal that they are simply holding Webster until after the vote of his bill, so that it will fail. When they go to check on Batman, they find an unconscious Bruce Wayne and an open door where they assume Batman has escaped. They move Bruce back up with the passengers and he talks the Senator into faking a heart attack. Bruce convinces the hijackers to fly to a nearby medic. When they take off, batman pops up in the cockpit. The gunmen freak out and run back into the passenger area where Bruce gets the better of them. He then rushes to the cockpit where he deflates the Batman suit he had rigged with the wheels hydraulic mechanism and tells the pilots to head for DC.

As they approach DC for landing the wheels open and suck the Batman suit out of the plane, which is sort of what you see on the slightly misleading cover. Not a great story by any means, but also not what this issue is known for.

The back-up story is "The Silent Night of the Batman" by Mike Friedrich, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. This is a beautifully done Christmas tale of a Christmas Eve which Batman spends singing Christmas carols with Commissioner Gordon and his men, while out across Gotham the spirit of Batman stops one crime after another. Sometimes it is a Batman toy, sometimes a blind man in a Batman costume, sometimes the shadow of a suspension bridge forming a Batman symbol. It is a classic tale like no other and has been reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition C-43, Christmas with the Super-Heroes #1 and Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 HC.

One more back-up before we go and that is "Time to Kill" by Henry Kuttner and John Giunta and reprinted from Phantom Stranger #5. This is a great little story about a rivalry between two scientists, a time machine and a murder that becomes a suicide. Henry Kuttner was a client of Julius Schwartz's, a science-fiction writer who only wrote 21 stories for DC comics. Twenty of them were written between 1944 and 1946 and all twenty were Green Lantern stories. This, his 21st and last story was written in 1953. Besides his work for DC, Kuttner also wrote for Fawcett, Ace and Avon Comics and worked for a while out of the Chesler Studio.

Kuttner was married to Catherine Louise Moore, also a writer and they co-authored a number of science-fiction novels together. Kuttner is the creator of Elak of Atlantis, an early sword and sorcery character. Ten of Kuttner's novels were published after his death in 1958. The Best of Henry Kuttner was published in 1987 and Catherine Lucille Moore and Henry Kuttner: A Marriage of Souls and Talent: A Working Bibliography was published in 1986.

Kuttner wrote under a number of pseudonyms including Lewis Padgett. One of his stories (co-written with his wife) was Mimsy Were the Borogoves which was adapted into the feature-length film The Last Mimzy.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #98

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #98 (On Sale: November 13, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with "I Betrayed Superman" by Robert Kanigher and Irv Novick. This story was reprinted in Superman Family #176. The back-up story is "Tomorrow I Die" by Robert Kanigher, Curt Swan and George Roussos.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Batman #217

Batman #217 (On Sale: October 16, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams, which is sometimes, inexplicably, credited to Irv Novick and Dick Giordano (which is pure lunacy).

Maybe Julius Schwartz was heeding the advice of Neal Adams when he told Julie that Batman had to change, had to be more like the Batman in the Brave and the Bold. Maybe that explains this issue and the massive changes it attempted to bring to the character. Whatever the reason, this issue marks the beginning of yet another revamping of the Batman character. As the cover depicts, Wayne Manor and the Batcave are mothballed. As last week's Detective Comics cover hinted at, Batman and Robin are a team no more as Dick Grayson goes off to college. This certainly allows for the opportunity for Batman to return to being a figure of the night, which is good, but there are other changes here that don't fare nearly as well, as you will see.

"One Bullet Too Many" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano and you certainly cannot complain about the artwork, which is wonderful. We begin with Dick Grayson saying his goodbyes to Bruce and Alfred at Wayne Manor as he heads off to Hudson University. After he leaves, Bruce explains to Alfred that Wayne Manor is just too big for the two of them and that Batman must change as well. He plans on streamlining the Batman operation and reestablishing the trademark of old: Batman as a figure that strikes fear in the hearts of criminals.

And not just gangsters but those who use "phony respectablilty...big business fronts--legal cover-ups--and hide in the fortress towers of Gotham's metropolis!" So they move out of Wayne Manor and into the heart of Gotham, to the Wayne Foundation building. Bruce goes on to tell Alfred how he wants to set up a special program of the Wayne Foundation to help the victims of crime, a program they end up calling V.I.P., Victims, Inc. Program, an inane name if ever there was one. Based on a newspaper article, Bruce chooses Dr. Susan Felding, the widow of a recently slain doctor, as their first "client."

Bruce first insults the woman and then offers her a zero-interest loan from the Wayne Foundation and the Batman's help in solving the murder of her husband. they go over the night he was killed, how he answered the door late at night and helped a wounded man into his office. She later heard two gunshots and went down to find her husband shot dead and a bullet in a tray that he had taken out of the wounded man. There are no clues to the wounded man's identity and Bruce leaves.

Later that night Batman visits Susan Felding and talks her into being the "bait" in a plan to flush out the killer. In many disguises Batman plants the story in Gotham's seedier side the Susan Felding got a look at the man who shot her husband. The next day he stakes out her office to see if anyone takes the bait. The killer does show up and Batman almost misses him only to be caught flat-footed and letting the killer escape while he takes a bullet meant for Susan.

He asks Susan to extract the bullet immediately and they take it to police HQ where they compare it to the bullet that shot Susan's husband and the bullet he removed from the wounded stranger's arm. They are all the same, meaning that the man who killed Susan's husband was not the wounded man, but another individual who must have also been in Dr. Felding's office that night.

Surmising that the wounded man was killed by his partner, the man who shot Batman and Dr. Felding, the police are able to track down and arrest "Stub" Sartel. Later in Bruce's office he writes a letter to Dick telling him of the first success of Victim's, Inc. Program when a Native American bursts into his office and pulls a gun on Bruce. This story was reprinted in Batman from the 30s to the 70s HC, Batman in the Sixties TPB and Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB.

My problem with this whole Victim's, Inc. Program idea is that it is so unnecessary and restricts and confines the stories that can be told. It just seems like a really dumb idea and not the kind of thing that is going to help in making Batman a fearsome character again. Instead it makes him a pawn used by a charitable organization. V.I.P. was a step in the wrong direction for Batman. And instead of this issue breaking up the Batman and Robin team, it began the Batman and Bruce Wayne team, and man was that a dumb idea.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Detective Comics #393 (On Sale: September 30, 1969) has just a really ineffective cover by Irv Novick. The Batman figure seems squeezed in under the massive logo and it is hard to tell exactly how old Novick thinks Robin is. Ugh, I just don't like this one.

"The Combo Caper" is by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella and although the cover scene does sort of happen in this issue, it is basically the last panel, so in that way this cover is sort of a cheap "come on." as the captioned question, "Why?," is never addressed. We begin with Batman and Robin noticing while on patrol a light on at the Winslow mansion. They knew very well that the Winslows are vacationing at their beach front estate next to Bruce's in Ocean Point so they enter and surprise an thief in mid caper. Before the thief escapes in the Batmobile no less, Robin lands a right jab to his covered face. The thief didn't have enough time to crack the Winslow's safe, but left behind a clue, an aluminum pop-top with the two sets of safe combinations scratched into its surface, the Winslow's and one other.

The next morning, after retrieving the abandoned Batmobile, Bruce, Dick and Alfred head out for Ocean Point for a little R & R. On the way they pick up Skeet Callum, an under-privileged teen in crisis that Bruce is attempting to mentor for the Civic Conscience Council. Skeet has an attitude the rub Dick the wrong way, and he also has a shiner and an addiction to Kool-Up soda, in the aluminum pop-top cans.

Once at the beach, Dick and Skeet run into Deena Winslow, who is also sporting a shiner and a Kool-Up addiction. That night Bruce, Dick and Skeet attend a big bash at the Winslow estate where they are introduced to world-traveler and yacht-owner Aristide Naxos. The teens all head out for a party on the beach where Skeet and Deena have an argument and Skeet takes off alone.

As the night wears on, Aristide makes his exit to his yacht and Mrs. Winslow tries to hit on Bruce, resulting in Bruce going upstairs to fetch her wrap, only to discover that the Winslow's safe here has been robbed. Looking around Bruce finds another pop-top with this safe's combination. Bruce remembers that Skeet is always drinking Kool-Up and tells him that if he robbed the place he can still give the jewels back, no questions asked. Skeet runs off and later Bruce laments that he may have pushed Skeet towards crime by accusing him. This sends Dick out to find him, which he does lying unconscious on the beach. Skeet says that he found Deena digging in the sand and that she was being signaled from Naxos's yacht and when he tried to ask her what was going on she decked him with her surfboard.

Later Dick rides out on a surfboard toward the yacht, gathering the attention of the guards on board. What they don;t see is Batman tagging along with the board underwater. using a rebreather. While Dick catches a few waves at night, Batman sneaks on to the yacht where he confronts Naxos and Deena. When Naxos pulls a gun Deena disarms him. Inside her can of Kool-Up are the jewels, which she stole to punish her parents for only buying her things instead of loving her. Later Skeet finds out that Batman came to his aid and that if Batman thinks he is worth something, then maybe he should too.

The final panel is a close-up of Batman thinking, "The case is over...the team-up is finished! This is good-bye for Batman and Robin!"

The Batgirl back-up is "Downfall of a Goliath!" by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #97

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #97 (On Sale: September 25, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with our cover story "The Three Super-Sirens" drawn by Irv Novick.

The back-up is "The Mystery of Skull Island" a reprint from
Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #16 drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger. Clark Kent and Lois Lane go undercover as servants to Carlos Floyd, a rich actor, in order to get a story. Floyd has been faking the existence of his wife throughout the house, and no one has met her. Lois begins to suspect that Floyd has done away with his wife in order to gain her inheritance.

Lois finally discovers that Mrs. Floyd is just a mannequin. She sets a trap to force a confession from Carlos, but she ends up getting thrown from a balcony. Superman rescues her and catches the real killer, Sidney Willis, the Floyd lawyer. Carlos had been faking Mrs. Floyd’s existence in hopes of exposing her real killer.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Batman #216

Batman #216 (On Sale: August 28, 1969) has a cover by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano.

"Angel -- or Devil?" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. Really good art in this one and another winner from Frank Robbins. His work throughout the DC line a this time gave them a scripting boost that they needed to move past some of the excesses of the past.

The Old Avon Players are in town and Alfred is wondering when he will hear from his brother Wilfred, a veteran thespian and a long standing member of the troupe. Meanwhile batman has has a run in with some thugs threatening bodily hard to a beautiful young woman outside of the theater where the Avon troupe is staged. the woman takes off, but Batman tracks the thugs to the theater where he loses them in the throng of costumed players. On the way back the the Batcave he finds the young woman hitch-hiking to Wayne Manor. She is Alfred's niece, Daphne.

Batman takes her to Alfred then makes a hasty change into his civilian duds. Dick, who has been nursing a nasty cold, jumps up at the sight and sound of a pretty girl and shows Daphne around Wayne Manor and its collection of Shakespeare artifacts, including one of Bruce's prize possessions, the original manuscript of Romeo and Juliet. That night as everyone sleeps Daphne removes an candle from the candelabra and the next morning she has left early, but Alfred notices the shortened candle and some wax droppings on the floor.

At the theater Daphne gives one of the thugs a wax impression of a key. That night, Daphne takes Alfred, Bruce and Dick to the theater for the troupe's final performance of Romeo and Juliet, but during intermission Daphne sneaks off. Alfred suspects something is up and follows her to Wayne Manor where he catches her trying to steal the Shakespeare manuscript. She and Alfred tussle and the gun goes off and Alfred sinks to the floor. Meanwhile Bruce notices that Alfred has not gone back stage like he said he was and also finds out that Daphne left during intermission.

Back at Wayne Manor, Daphne faints seeing Alfred's prone form and Alfred sits us and picks up the gun, which is a prop using blanks. As they had fought over the gun Daphne had said something about not wanting to have to choose between Alfred's life or that of her father.

Bruce heads back to Wayne Manor and Alfred returns to his "death spit" as Daphne wakes up. Thinking Alfred is dead she grabs the manuscript and exits. Moments later Bruce finds the manuscript is missing and changes into his Batman duds.

Back at the theater we find that the "thugs" have been holding Daphne's father hostage in order to get Daphne to steal the manuscript. Daphne learns that the gun she "used" on Alfred was a prop and her father pushes her onto the stage before anyone can stop him. He thinks he has saved her, since no harm could come to her while on stage, but he finds out that the prop knife that Juliet is to kill herself with is not a prop.

Alfred shows up and attempts to break thinks up but is interrupted by Batman. eventually it is Dick who saves Daphne and after the bad guys have been taken away Alfred forgives Daphne for "killing" him and the whole thing seems so much like a Shakespearian play. Reprinted in Best of DC #9.

The two-page back-up is "You be the Detective" from Gangbuster's #51 and is only notable for the Ed Robbins artwork and the trick of printing the solution to the crime in the last set of panels which are printed upside down.

Edited by Julius Schwartz

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #96

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #96 (On Sale: August 12, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson. This one has an interesting gimmick on the cover, with the empty word balloons and the question to the reader.

We began with "The Girl Who Died for Superman" by Cary Bates, Irv Novick and Mike Esposito. The back-up is "Weep for Lois Lane's Baby" by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Roussos.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Batman #215

Batman #215 (On Sale: July 17, 1969) has a cover by Irv Novick. I have always wondered if this cover inspired the soon to happen desertion of Wayne Manor.


"Call Me Master" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. Three of Gotham's leading citizens, J. Carlyle, Andrew Barclay and Clem Sterling, receive strange phone calls giving them orders of some sort. A fourth call to Bruce Wayne is not completed as Bruce is out that night patrolling as Batman. While on patrol Batman and Robin foil a robbery at Carlyle Department Stores warehouse only to find Carlyle himself on site and calling it a legitimate shipment , even though the men a a bunch of ex-cons.

Later on the Dynamic Duo break up a robbery at Andrew Barclay's mansion only to find Barclay there and insisting that the man in the mask breaking into his safe is a locksmith. Still later that night Batman and Robin spy a group of phony guards stealing jewels from Sterling gems. When they call Sterling he says that he turned off his alarm system and opened the vault an hour earlier, but does not know why he did it.

Bruce notes that all three men involved in tonight's crimes are members with Bruce of the Gotham Civic Conscience Council. The next day, after more digging Bruce learns that all the members of the Council have been similarly involved in strange activity where they have somehow assisted in the participation of crimes against themselves. Just them Bruce gets a phone call and won't tell Dick who the caller was.

When it comes time for their nightly patrol, Bruce says he has some business to attend to and Dick tails him as Robin. Bruce drives to one of his warehouses and unlocks the door for a group that Robin recognizes as pharmaceutical smugglers.. Robin breaks up the heist and confronts Bruce, who says he doesn't know why he did it, but felt compelled to do whatever the voice on the phone told him to do. Robin orders Bruce to hit him on the chin and Bruce does it, proving that Bruce will do whatever he is ordered to do by anyone.

The next day Bruce calls an emergency meeting of the Council and lays out his theory of what is going on and gives each member a locket containing a bug that Batman will be listening in to. Should any of them receive a call ordering them to do something Batman will be there too break up the crime and hopefully catch the mastermind. However one of the people at the table is the mastermind and thinks this is his opportunity to get rid of Batman.

That night Myron Mycroft gets a call ordering him to bring his negotiable securities to the Gotham First National Bank. Batman and Robin stake out the place and when Mycroft shows up to hand over the securities the Dynamic Duo attempt to collar the bad guy, only a gunman tries to ambush Batman. Robin takes care of the assassin, but the bad guy gets away with the securities. Batman assumes the gunman was aiming for Mycroft and when he apologizes to Mycroft for bungling their planned trap Mycroft tells him to "Take your inept paws off of me!" to which Batman responds, "Yes, master." Mycroft realizes that Batman is also somehow subject to voice control.

Later Mycroft calls police headquarters and asks to speak to Batman. Robin notices that Batman gets the same strange look on his face as Bruce did when he was ordered to do something. When they return to the Batcave, Batman says he needs to do some "gardening," but Robin and Alfred follow him as he plants explosives around Wayne Manor. Mycroft arrives and orders Batman to complete the destruction of Wayne Manor as he has been ordered. Batman tries to fight the mind-control, but in the end he cannot and he presses the detonator, causing a massive explosion. However when the smoke clears, Wayne Manor still stands and Mycroft thinks that Batman was only pretending to obey his orders in order to capture him, that Batman realized he was wearing on of Mycroft's "micro-wave will-power nullifiers" and removed it. His hands behind his back batman removes something from his wrist and knocks the gun out of Mycofts's hands.

Alfred and Robin appear revealing how they followed Batman around replacing his explosives with fireworks and smoke-bombs. Mycroft is confused by this and Batman explains how when Mycroft revealed that Batman had to be wearing the mind-control device he realized it must be the gold, electronic watches that the Civic-Conscience Council was given that were provided by Mycroft's company. Mycroft then admits that he had made some bad investments and was on the verge of bankruptcy and that the devices contained a "micro-mechanism that tunes the watch-vibrator to a frequency that numbs the voluntary-control center of the brain."

The probmen I have with this story is that it does not explain how Batman got one of the watches unless his secret identity is as one of the members of the Civic-Conscience Council.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Detective Comics #390

Detective Comics #390 (On Sale: June 26, 1969) has a Batman cover by Irv Novick.

We begin with "If the Coffin Fits -- Wear It" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. There is a new villain in Gotham, the Masquerader, and every time Batman fights him his goons rip Batman's costume to shreds. Batman is down to his last bat-suit when he gets a call from Commissioner Gordon, who has a note from the Masquerader. The note contains a clue that sends Batman and Robin to the Gotham Coliseum where the Annual Gotham Sports Show is being held. complete with an exhibit of gold medal, cups and trophies. While Robin releases the bound and gagged guards, Batman interrupts the Masquerader and his gang in mid theft, but his goons once again manage to shred Batman's costume. Robin and the police show up to help mop up the gang but the Masquerader gets away through an air-conditioner duct that seems way too small for the Masquerader's bulk.

Bat at his hide out one of the Masquerader's goons hands him a piece of Batman's costume containing the label of Batman's tailor, Sam Tweed. Back in the Batcave batman calls Tweed to order a new costume and Sam says he has one ready and waiting and that he will drop it off at police headquarters as usual. Robin is sent into town to fetch Batman's costume and arrives back in time to hear Batman get another call from Gordon with another clue from the Masquerader. Inside the box with Batman's costumes they find a Masquerader costume and when Batman calls Sam Tweed, Sam confesses that he was forced at gun-point to put add in the extra costume. Sam is about to reveal the Masqueraders identity when Batman hears two gunshots and the Masquerader gets on the phone.

Batman sends Robin off where the clue seems to point and he heads over to Sam's shop, finding him barely alive. He gives Batman an address before slipping into unconsciousness as the ambulance arrives to take Sam to the hospital. Batman heads off to the address Sam gave him, bursting into the building and finding the Masquerader waiting for him. The Masquerader turns on some giant heat lamps and Batman attacks him. Batman's fists, seem to bounce off the Masquerader to no ill effect as the Masquerader mentions that Batman must be feeling a little constricted right about now.

Batman grabs the Masquerader in a bear hug, but he presses a button in his suit and it deflates, making him much smaller. Batman is fining it almost impossible to move as his suit is getting smaller and smaller and the Masquerader brags that he has "sewed you into your own shroud!" He reveals himself to be Sam Tweed, who had created a special costume made of hygroscopic mono-filament, strong as steel but loose and flexible ass long as it can absorb moisture from the air. Under the head-lamps it is slowly constricting and will crush Batman, leaving Tweed to become the mastermind of crime in Gotham. With his last bit of strength, batman pulls a small laser from his utility belt and aims it at the ceiling causing the automatic sprinkler system to engage. Moister returned to his suit, Batman makes quick work of Tweed.

The back-up Robin story "Countdown to Chaos" is by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. This is a story of vignettes that don't seem to come together as a whole, yet, though I'm sure they will by next issue. Dick Grayson returns to Gotham High after having the flue, specifically to the editorial offices of the Gotham High Owl. There we learn that Dick not only has a date tonight with cutie editor Sandy Cole, but that he has been working on digging up information about which side of the campus, east or west, will be the site of new classroom construction. This is apparently a sticking point in the negotiations between the contract-less teachers union and the school district. We also learnt that editor Craig "Rocky" Rockland is working on a major, "hold the presses" editorial, but he is keeping its contents under wraps.

That night after Gotham High beats Skyline, some kids wearing Skyline jackets start attacking Gotham students. Unfortunately one of their targets has a secret identity and quickly changes into it in order to pound some Skyline butt. One of the "kids" seems older than the rest, but he gets away and Robin can't take the time to chase him as he has to turn back into Dick Grayson or spoil his date with Sandy. None of the Skyline kids will say why they attacked the Gotham kids.

The next week Rocky's editorial has come out, stating why the west-side site is superior for the new construction. that same afternoon the head negotiator gets a phone call threatening his family if he doesn't do as he is told. He then holds a press conference saying that because of the obstinance of the teacher's representatives, there will be no further talks. Dick knows this means the teachers will go on strike. It has been reprinted in Batman in the Sixties TPB and Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Batman #214

Batman #214 (On Sale: June 5, 1969) has one of those covers where DC was trying so hard to be hip and failing so hugely that it made you want to cry. Well, in retrospect it does; I think I thought it was kind of hip when I was 12. Cover by Irv Novick.
The feature-length Batman story "Batman's Marriage Trap" is by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Joe Giella. The winner of the Queen of Gotham beauty contest wins a night on the town with Gotham's most "coveted male," Batman. A gang leader, Strack figures since the whole night will be televised, and they will know Batman's every move, this is the perfect night to go on a crime spree. It works just as Strack planned and the next morning finds Bruce and Dick lamenting that they can never get a night off and Strack working on a scheme to make this kind of night a regular occurrence.

The beautiful Cleo is brought in and shows up the next morning at a posh Madison Avenue ad agency with a million-dollar budget for promoting W.E.B., Women to the End of Bachelorhood, a group dedicated to removing Batman's bachelorhood, the "one barrier to happy marriage in Gotham, the symbol of all single male eligibles." The city is soon flooded with wave after wave of Batman, "Wanted for Marriage" signs, fliers, and posters. Barbara Gordon smells something fishy in this supposed "grass-roots" movement to snare Batman and goes to check out the local W.E.B. chapter. Women begin picketing City Hall and when Batman and Robin show up they find Batgirl among those picketing "Batman Unfair to Gotham Gals!"

Trying to get away from the mob Batman and Robin are thwarted by the mass of women until they are saved by Cleo, whose smoking car puts out a smoke screen, letting the dynamic duo escape. But Cleo is playing "hard to get" and pretends she is uninterested in Batman. Later Cloe passes out police-band radios to the women so they can track batman's every move and they show up when Batman and Robin intercept a gang of fur thieves. The only thing that saves them from the mob is Cleo, who once again brushes Batman off.

Back at Strack's hideout he informs Cleo that the plan to keep Batman distracted is working great and that the gang is making more money than ever. Meanwhile, Batman is finding it hard to get Cleo off his mind, but soon the duo finds themselves on the trail of a gang of luxury car thieves. When they see the gang trying to steal Cleo's sports car they intercept them only to find it is a trap. However, once again they are saved by Cleo who confesses that she has fallen for Batman, but the gang get the drop on her and are about to execute all of them when Batgirl shows up and the ass-kicking begins.

Batgirl relates how she joined W.E.B. to get to the bottom of the campaign and then started following Cleo. Cleo admits she was part of the gang and is tearfully put into handcuffs. Batman however, gives her a chance to make things right and using her information and her car Batman and a disguised Batgirl are able to capture Strack and end the gang's crime spree. Because of her help Cleo has been promised clemency and without the W.E.B. campaign stirring things up, Batman's life goes back to normal. Well, as normal a life as you can have when you dress up as a giant bat and fight crime. This story, guest-starring Batgirl has been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #93

Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #93 (On Sale: May 13, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Neal Adams featuring the New Wonder Woman.

"The Superman-Wonder Woman Team" is by Robert Kanigher and Irv Novick. I remember just liking the fact that DC was showcasing the powerless Wonder Woman in other books, though I don't remember anything about this story in particular. This has been reprinted in Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 TPB.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

Detective Comics #388

Detective Comics #388 (On Sale: April 29, 1969) has a so-so Batman cover by Irv Novick. The big news on this cover though is not the art, it is the price! DC comics used their flagship title to usher in the era of 15 cent comics.

I wish I could say the lead-off Batman story was worth the extra three cents, but it isn't. "Public Luna-Tic Number One" by John Broome, Bob Brown and Joe Giella is laughably bad. I think Broome had been watching too many episodes of the Batman TV show; every line of dialog Robin has rings of Burt Ward's over-the-top delivery and it may have seemed cool in 1969, I don't remember, but in retrospect it's just grating.

There is a crime spree going on in Gotham being perpetrated by someone the press has dubbed Public Luna-tic Number One because the crimes were all committed under a full moon. The Dynamic Duo are tooling around Gotham discussing how they think he must be the Joker when they see a light on at the planetarium. Rushing in they find the Joker and his henchmen. A fight ensues and the Joker and his men get away.

Sometime later Bruce Wayne attends a demonstration of believed crack-pot scientist Dr. Doomer, who has invented an anti-gravity device. He tests if for some military fellows and it fails to do anything. The Army brass storm out vowing to never attend another one of Dr. Doomer's demonstrations, but Bruce hangs back and he and the doctor discover that a fake device has been substituted for Dr. Doomer's anti-gravity device. When they pull a string they find in the fake device a recording of the Joker's laugh plays.

The next full moon finds the Joker's gang at Gotham Central Station where they use the anti-gravity device to disable the police while they steal funds from the cash drawers. The Joker himself pushes the alarm button and they await the arrival of Batman and Robin. Joker's men have been practicing with the anti-gravity device for weeks and are therefore able to subdue Batman and Robin, knocking them out cold.

When they awake they are in space suits on the moon, where Joker explains through a radio in their suits that since America is going to the moon he wants to be the greatest criminal on the moon and has decided that his first lunar crime will be to kill Batman and Robin. Figuring out that they are not really on the Moon (duh!), the Dynamic Duo bound through the underground cave they are in until they find the Joker and his men, subduing them and destroying the anti-gravity device in the ruckus.

They take the broken device back to Dr. Doomer who laments that it will take him years to build another one.

The back-up Batgirl story, "Surprise! This'll Kill You" is by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson and the artwork is just beautiful. Gil Kane's Barbara Gordon/Batgirl is beautiful and sexy and Anderson's smooth inks add just the right touch. Barbara Gordon answers a personals ad offering to share a free apartment with a 5ft. 4in. medium build redhead. She shows up to a hallway of other applicants, all of which DC has given the wrong color of hair. Each woman knocks on the door and is told through the peephole to leave. When Barbara knocks, the door opens and a woman in a Batgirl costume invites her in.

Darlene Dawson explains that she is a flight attendant who is being awarded "Air-Hostess With the Mostest" at the annual airlines costume ball tonight, but that it is also her granddad's 85th birthday and she plans on being in two places at the same time, with Barbara's help of course. Barbara gets into Darlene's Batgirl costume and Darlene heads off to her grandfather's telling Barbara that her escort will be arriving soon. Through the peephole Barbara sees that Darlene's escort is dressed as Batman, but when she opens the door he points a gun at her and threatens to kill her for being a double-crosser.

A fight seemingly between Batman and Batgirl ensues and Barbara falls out the window, supposedly to her death. In reality she maneuvered there in order to fake being killed so she could trail "Batman" back to his leader. She follows him back to the airline costume party where he meets with Superman, Green Lantern and Flash, all members of a diamond smuggling gang of which Darlene was a part. She had apparently been using her position as a flight attendant to smuggle gems into the country, but had been keeping more than her fair share.

The gems that "Batman" had recovered from Barbara are found to be fakes and Barbara confronts the gang only to be outnumbered and without her own bag of weapons. This story was reprinted in Batman in the Sixties TPB and Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.