Detective Comics #402

Detective Comics #402 (On Sale: June 30, 1970) has a great cover by Neal Adams.

The Man-Bat returns in "Man or Bat?" by Frank Robbins, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. The story opens with some thugs pulling a heist at a biochemical lab. what they don't know is that hanging in the rafters above them lurks the tormented Kirk Langstrom, now even more bat than the last time we saw him in the classic Detective #400. He waits in an agitated state for them to crack the safe below so that he can get what he so desperately needs. But just when it seems the hour of his saving is at hand Batman appears to break up the heist. When the Man-Bat appears to join him in thwarting the crime, Batman calls him a friend, but when Man-Bat reveals that he needs something from the safe, something he has brought money to pay for, Batman tries to stop him.

When Batman tries to unmask Kirk he realizes that he is not wearing a mask, but is truly a transformed human. Still he tries to stop the Man-Bat, but is knocked unconscious in the scuffle and Kirk departs with the drug he came looking for.

When he awakens, Batman heads off for the museum when he first met the Man-Bat hoping there to find a clue to his identity. When he gets there he finds Francine Lee, Kirk's fiancée trying to gain entrance. Kirk was supposed to be at an exhibit in Chicago, but he never arrived there and Francine is worried that something may be wrong. Upstairs Kirk has concocted a formula he hopes will reverse his bizarre transformation, but when he is startled by Batman and Francine at his door he drops the serum and flees out the window.

Batman tells Francine that the strange creature who has just fled is her fiancée, Kirk Langstrom, and that when they barged in Batman saw him mouth her name. batman thinks he can recreate the dropped serum in the Batcave and heads off to find Kirk and hopefully a cure for this transformation.

He finds Kirk up on a cliff and when he comes for him Kirk leaps from the cliff in fear, but rather than dying in the fall, huge batwings appear from under his coat and his transformation complete he flies off into the night following the flight of a "brother" bat. He follows the bat to his home, which happens to be, the Batcave. Kirk reaches the inner recesses of the cave just as Batman returns. He is momentarily blinded by the lights as they come one but uses his bat sonar to find an exit. Only, Langstrom's exit is the Batmobile;s entrance and Batman leaps from the car to divert Kirk from hitting it head-on.

He latches on to the Man-Bat, telling him that he is there to help him, to create an antidote, but Kirk takes Batman on a ride to the heights of the Batcave only to drop him from there. Some light fixtures break his fall, but from the floor he sees Langstrom about to fly out the open Batcave entrance. Clicking a remote on his belt Batman closes the door and Kirk is knocked unconscious by the door. Batman then ponders what to do, should he attempt to cure Langstrom, even though his brain may have been permanently damaged by his transformation, or should he leave him alone in his cursed condition? "Merciful heaven--What an impossible decision to make! There can be only one answer...if he must ide...ket it be as the man he once was!"

Batman gets to work in a tale continued in Detective #407. "Man or Bat?" was reprinted in Batman from the 30s to the 70s HC, Man-Bat #1 and Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 HC.

The back-up story is Robin in "My Place in the Sun" by Mike Friedrich, Gil Kane and Vince Colletta. The story begins with Robin flying in on the Arrow Jet with Speedy all the way from Teen Titans #28. Dick shows Roy (Speedy) Harper around Hudson University. In the cafeteria a fight breaks out between some "punks" and a group called Project 70 who work with kids from a nearby juvenile detention farm. Dick changes into Robin to stop the fight. Robin goes after the big punk only to find out that it was the little kid Robin was trying to protect who started the fight.

Back in his room Dick is pissed at himself for jumping to conclusions without any evidence. That day Dick hears it all over campus, as Robin becomes the main topic of discussion. Some of the kids are for him, but many think he is just a vigilante and shouldn't be there. When he returns from shopping he finds Roy in his Speedy threads, heading off for a date with Wonder Girl.

After Roy leaves, Dick begins to question his role as Robin, but in the end he decides to keep the name and the costume. "...if I made a mistake once, I'm not gonna make it again! When I go out into that adult world, I want everyone to know that Robin is no longer a boy, but still a wonder!" Not a great story and certainly not great artwork.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

World's Finest Comics #188

World's Finest Comics #188 (On Sale: August 7, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Superman and Batman in "The Super-Rivals" by Ed Hamilton, Dick Sprang and Stan Kaye and reprinted from World's Finest Comics #85. Princess Varina visits the United States and meets her heroes Superman and Batman. The heroes begin competing for Varina’s affection because if she elopes with Stefan, her royal guard, a commoner, she must abdicate. Abdication would lead to civil war in Balkania.

The heroes continue their pursuit of Varina, but when Pete Kaney’s gang try to steal the royal jewels, the heroes make Stefan appear to be a hero. Stefan’s notoriety allows him to safely marry the princess without risk of war pleasing not only the princess but Lois Lane and Vicki Vale as well.

Next is Superman and Batman in "The Super-Newspaper of Gotham City" also by Ed Hamilton, Dick Sprang and Stan Kaye and reprinted from World's Finest Comics #80. Lois Lane and Clark Kent are asked to work for the Gotham Gazette temporarily to save it from ruin. Bruce Wayne also joins the staff as a reporter to help track down a large crime ring. Bruce and Clark compete for stories, while working on breaking up the crime ring as Batman and Superman. They eventually track down the ring with Robin’s help and deliver the story to the Gazette. The newspaper increases in circulation due to the story and is saved from bankruptcy.

That is followed by Superman and Batman in "The Negative Superman" by France Herron, Jim Mooney and Sheldon Moldoff and reprinted from World's Finest Comics #126. Luthor uses a new device to cause Superman to split in a positive and negative half. The Negative Superman begins helping Luthor and other criminals. The real Superman is unable to stop his duplicate because of an energy field.

Batman and Robin assist the Man of Steel in combating the super-powered menace. Batman uses Kryptonite, but the mineral causes the Negative Superman to grow more powerful. When Superman collides with his negative half, the increased power of the Negative Superman breaks the energy field and allows them to merge back into one being.

Next is Green Arrow in "The World's Worst Archer" by Robert Bernstein and Lee Elias and reprinted from Adventure Comics #262. Roy Harper, a promising athlete and archer, wants to become Green Arrow’s partner. His guardian is Brave Bow, an Indian chief whose life was saved by Roy’s late father. Brave Bow has trained Roy to master the bow and arrow, but is now too old to care for Roy.

Green Arrow gives the boy a chance to prove himself at the Greenville Fair. Roy’s arrow misses the target horribly. Roy doesn’t give up and follows Green Arrow after some crooks. Roy uses Brave Bow’s lucky flint arrow to catch the criminals. Green Arrow misses the action and believes the crooks were caught by a lucky accident.

G.A. gives Roy another chance after Roy wins a track meet. Again the boy’s arrow goes wide of the target. Roy is disappointed, but again trails Green Arrow after some crooks. His flint arrow punctures the tire of the getaway car, but the shaft breaks off leaving no evidence that Roy was responsible. Roy finally gives up, but Green Arrow returns later to explain to Roy that his arrowhead was in the tire. The shots he missed were metal arrows which had become magnetized at the fair, causing them to go wide of the targets. Green Arrow gives Roy the nickname Speedy and takes him as a partner.

We end with Superman and Batman in "The Batman Nobody Remembered" by Bill Finger and Jim Mooney and reprinted from World's Finest Comics #136. Batman is forced to crash land the Batplane during a lightning storm. When he returns to Gotham City no one remembers him. He also discovers that certain things are different. Bruce Wayne is really Superman and lives with Robin and Alfred; Vicki Vale looks like Lois Lane; and the Joker is a TV comic.

Batman’s behavior causes Superman and Commissioner Gordon to think he is a criminal, so he is hunted. He eventually proves himself by helping Superman rescue Robin. After relating his story to Superman, the Man of Steel reasons that Batman has been on a parallel Earth. Then he sends Batman to his own dimension, where he belongs.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.

World's Finest Comics #187

World's Finest Comics #187 (On Sale: July 24, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin with Superman and Batman in "The Demon Sin" by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. The back-up strip is Green Arrow in "The Green Arrow's First Case" a reprint from Adventure Comics #256. This telling of Green Arrow's origin is by France Herron, Jack Kirby and Roz Kirby. Green Arrow and his partner Speedy learn of a scientific expedition bound for Starfish Island. G.A. is worried that the expedition will uncover his secret identity because the island was where he became Green Arrow. As the two archers fly to the island to intercept the expedition, G.A. tells Speedy the story of how he became Green Arrow.

One night, Oliver Queen fell overboard on a ship. He was unable to be rescued, so he swam to a nearby island. He made a home in a cavern on the island and fashioned a bow and arrow for hunting. At first his aim was poor, but long hours of practice paid off and he improved.

While fishing with his arrows, the fish would swim away after being hit, so Queen attached a vine to the arrow so that he could reel in his catch. This became his first trick arrow; a rope arrow. He soon created net and drill arrows, as well as a green leaf outfit for camouflage while hunting.

One evening Queen spotted a ship offshore. He swam to the ship to discover that the crew was mutinying. Using grease to cover the reflection of light on his white face, The masked Queen defeated the pirates and acted for the first time as Green Arrow.

Green Arrow kept a diary of events on the cavern wall. He is worried the expedition will find it and learn his secret identity. Using a fake-uranium arrow, G.A. scares off the expedition who believes there is radiation on the island. G.A. then destroys the diary so no one will learn his secret.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.