Tag: Bruce Wayne (earth-two)

Batman, billionare hero of Gotham

Dc Comics · Golden Age · Rec cause fun

1955 Feb, Detective Comics 216

BwillaLeave a comment

Batman and Robin in “The Batman of Tomorrow”

Bruce is at a gala when a machine begins to roll down the stairs toward him. Not having time to become Batman he stops it from crushing those below but that leaves him trapped as crooks rob the place. Bruce says goodnight to Vicki after having his injured arm checked on and then goes to meet up with Robin to investigate the crime. Someone disguised as a bank manager had toppled the machine as a distraction and they figure it must be this one makeup artist. But Vicki almost catches up with them and they worry if she sees his injured arm she will know he is Bruce Wayne. So they call the Batman from the future; Brane Taylor, to play the part of the modern Batman. As Vicki, Batman, and Robin track down the makeup artist we see that this Batman is not nearly as skilled as our normal one and Vicki gets suspicious. During the final chase, Bruce Batman takes over again, arm healed by the future tech Brane brought.

Roy Raymond TV Detective in: “The Man No Prison could Hold”

We open at a prison where Roy Raymond is going to be giving a live performance. Several of the men complain about this, as Roy had been the one to get them arrested in the first place. One of these men claims that his ability he had (to walk through walls) had ‘disproven’ by Roy was real, but that he had decided at the last moment to use it for crime and so rigged the whole thing so it looked like a scam. But he had been caught soon afterward trying to rob a bank and was sent to jail. Now he wants to prove Roy sucks and then go about his life.

So at the show, he showcases his ability and Roy cannot explain how he did it. So later the prisoner tells some of the others that he is going to leave the next day, and one of them tells him the location of their loot so that he can arrange a jailbreak for him. Then the police dig up the loot and we learn the prisoner was really an undercover cop.

Dc Comics · Golden Age

1954 March

BwillaLeave a comment

Detective Comics 205

Batman “The Origin of the Bat-Cave”

The Bat-Cave has received an upgrade and it requires them to add some wires so they don’t blow something. So Robin goes to get some shovels to bury the wires. While the two work they find bits of old pottery which Batman says is around three hundred years old, and so the Bat-cave must be that old as well. Thinking about this Dick wonders how Bruce found the Bat-cave and so he begins the tale.

Bruce bought his manor as an adult when he already knew he would be Batman. He was working on setting up an old barn on the property to be his base when he fell through the floor. Of course this lead to the Bat-cave and once he saw it was full of the flying mammals he took them as a sign that his was meant to be his real base. He explored the place and blocked off many tunnels while making the one behind the grandfather clock. Apparently he didn’t set up the cave until Robin joined him however, as he asks Dick to remember when they did so.

They show a diagram of the cave, and begin to talk about the snafus they had to fix, such as the Batsignal not being visible from the cave. They have it rigged now that a lightblub in the cave turns on when the signal is activated. Also the process of getting television in the cave. Still the recollections don’t last all issue and they bring the pieces of pottery to the museum curator, who translates the writing on it to mean “Death to the man of two identities”. Both are disturbed by the fact it could apply to Bruce. And so they decide to go back in time via Prof. Nichols (sigh).

Once they arrive in the past they change into their fighting duds as they hear hoofbeats approaching them. Two native men are chasing a frontier’s man, who’s horse stumbles, and so the two crusaders dash to his recuse. But Robin missteps and nearly tumbles off a cliff. Batman tosses his ward a bat-line and he climbs up while Bruce continues to fight. They tie the defeated natives to their steeds and chase them off and then check on the fallen man.

He is surprised by their clothing but brings them into his secret base, which is in a cave. He calls it the Bat-cave because of it’s furry inhabitants. In this place he disguises himself as a native, spying on the tribe that regularly attacks his home town. He was not noticed as the group of attackers are not a true tribe but a collection of outcasts.  When most attacks were being repulsed however they deduce there is a spy among them. Before he could be caught the man ran for home, only to be ambushed by some who suspected him.

The man laments that now he is unable to help his home while the not-tribe plans their largest attack yet. Batman offers to take his place, after they secure the area and hide the man’s horse. They make it so the floor of a nearby cabin can be moved up and down, and make a tube of bark with mirrors as a periscope. Then he sets up a frontier lab of sorts, from the plants in the area. He also starts the Hall of Trophies. Then he changes and goes under cover. Sadly he doesn’t get to do his shit as it begins to rain and washes away his dye. In desperation he hides and changes into his Bat suit.

He tries to make it seem like he is an outlandish medicine man and shows off his batarang. He uses his smoke pellets and his cape to make bat shaped clouds to bring Robin to his side. Dick takes the horse and sweeps up his father figure as he rides by. They bring the spy to his home and begin to fade back to their time. So they change back to Bruce and Dick and they go home. As always it is left as a could have been a dream, but one thing says it might not be: in this case the spy’s arrow heads are found in the cave.

Roy Raymond the TV Detective “The Puzzle of the Blind Artist”

Interviews! The last one of the day is of a man who says he will paint a portrait fro Roy, who doesn’t get what’s so special. But the man explains he is blind and by feeling a person’s face he could still paint a perfect picture of them. He demonstrates his talent by painting Karen, and does excellently. Roy doubts he is truly blind, so he takes him to an eye doctor, who confirms this guy is blind. Roy says he will think about letting him on the show.

To truly convince Roy, he would need to make the man paint something he had never seen before in total darkness. So he brings the blind man to a recently discovered cave that is filled with ancient carvings. Roy searches him for a flashlight and sends him in. Once the painting is done Roy checks the carvings himself and find they match. As Roy announces to Karen he has figured out how the man had done his amazing feat the rope they took to the cave is cut by the ‘blind’ man, trapping them both. Roy sends up smoke signals and is rescued, arriving back at his studio as the man confesses, apparently having called the cops himself as he tells them to go save Roy and Karen.

As the man stands and still acts blind Roy explains that he has a special blindness, where he can see in the dark but not the light. (Like Doctor Mid-nite) Being an artist is hard, and he thought he would get the proper attention if he was a blind painter. But Roy has this all figured out too- as a man has seen the guys art and wants to ‘handle him’ (like a manager?). He figured it out from the most obvious thing that had been bothering me as well- how would he tell colors?

Dc Comics · Golden Age

1954 Feb

BwillaLeave a comment

Batman 81

“Two-Face Strikes Again” (earth-one)

This is an Earth-one tale, though at the time of writing Dc (or what would become DC) didn’t yet know they would be making two distinct universes, so it is still written as if it were Earth-two. Earth-two Harvey Dent never returns to crime.

Getting to the actual thing you are here to read, Harvey Dent, face whole from his plastic surgery, passes by a store and sees that it is being robbed. Feeling moraly obligated to stop them he rushes forward, and the explosive charge for the safe goes off right in Harvey’s face! (We are all super stunned by this) Taking this as a sign, and knowing the surgery couldn’t be done again (his doctor told him so) he once again becomes Two-Face. He flips his coin to make sure though.

The very next night he robs a circus, which I don’t think is a good idea because he needs time to both heal and plan. He doesn’t steal from the box office, but from one of the clowns, who has a collection of diamond stickpins. An hour after that crime (boy he’s moving fast!) he robs a collection of jewels from a deep sea diver.

The next day Batman and Robin are told of yet another crime by Two-Face, this time he stole from a man who specialized it portraying Abe Lincoln and he had taken papers that had belonged to the real Abe. The Duo are as confused as I am about why the double themed villain such objects, until Bruce gets an idea. He points out that all of the victiems have had ‘two faces’ themselves. The actor who sometimes looks like Lincoln, the deep sea diver and his breathing mask/helmet, and a clown.

Our heroes begin a search for possible victims and we have a funny scene where Two-Face is hiring people to his gang based on flips of his coin. He also tells the reader that since Batman has two faces he will be he climax of his crimewave. Two-Face and his men are spotted as they head for Gotham Point, where only four men live. We know that they are going for the gambler, but Bruce doesn’t yet. See, his  second face is his poker face. Batman figures it out on the drive over.

Now this guy has one weird house. I’ll put a pic on the Tumblr version of this blog. Basically the place is filled with giant versions of gambling stuff, light a humongous billiard’s table. While atop this table Batman and Robin slide into on of the holes to escape the pool balls being rolled at them, and inside the slide Robin gets his foot caught. Batman makes a net for the incoming ball and saves his ward. Though Two-Face escaped once more, this time it was without the loot.

At home, alert for anything that may be able to be seen as someone having two faces Bruce sees in the paper that a Japanese man had ‘lost face’ and he and Dick conclude that must mean he must have had two- making him a viable target. They rush to the embassy where there is a gargantuan statue which a battle is soon waged on. Also it is not Japanese by any stretch, but I couldn’t tell you what Asian country the outfit the statue is wearing is form. Once again Robin is more a hindrance than a help (which we know him to be most of the time. Everyone has bad days!) and must be saved by his father figure. Unfortunately this lets Two-Face escape again.

Returning home Bruce remembers that he has an appointment with some nearby Sioux, to be made an honorary chief which would make him have two faces, well three, Paleface, Sioux, and Batman. (about that being made a chief thing. I did a tiny bit of  research and found this: For the Sioux, the title of Chief was viewed as a medal earned for outstanding performance during times of war or peace. To be Chief was considered an honorary title. It did not mean, however, that the Chief was solely “in charge” of his people. Rather than a linear chain of command, the Indians traditionally ruled by unanimous vote of a council of Chiefs of “Headmen” from a variety of bands. Decisions made by the council served to guide rather than command the people. But I have no clue how he’d have earned this)

Looking around the site as Batman before he must appear as Bruce, Robin spots a plane with two engines landing, and they know their trap is ready to spring. Before they can though they are blinded by the sand that the landing plane kicked up and are captured. Awww, Harvey ties them to a giant coin, making me relive fond memories, and then has them flipped by a truck with a sort of launcher on the back. Using their belts to form a magnetic field Batman and Robin do not land on the bed of spikes prepared for them, and manage to free themselves from the ropes and then handily take out the gang in two panels and take them to jail.

“The Boy Wonder Confesses” 

Dick Grayson is late for school one day, and a classmate jokes he isn’t there because he is heartsick over Maria, another kid in class. Maria it seems likes Robin you see, so Dick would have no chance. But Dick does turn up, and he tells the class he was late because he was chasing a crook, as he was Robin.

After the intial shock the students think it’s a joke, so he whips off his over clothing and tells them to go outside where he will preform Robin-level stunts. He does, and then, as the class watches there is a car accident and Robin truly shows his skill by jumping off a building and using a flag pole to catch himself so he can land safely and save the people trapped in the cars. One of the kids called the papers, and with Dick being Robin, Bruce Wayne must be Batman! When asked the billionaire replies ‘no comment’.

There is a panel where it says Dick has a good reason for confessing, and we go to a flashback from nearly a year before. They had dealt with a criminal known as Mr. Camera, and he had given the quite the runaround, until they met up with him in a theater. Changing clothes in the nearby alley they rushed back in. Seeing where they came from Mr. Camera laughed with glee. He fled, and took film from a camera in the alley with him.

They were able to catch up with Mr. Camera and his men not too much longer, but the film showing their identities had been hidden. Mr. Camera mocked them with the knowledge would be revealed once he was released from prison and there was nothing they could do about it. Skip forward nine months, and a friend of Mr. Camera’s is coming into town, and he knows where the film is. It would be shown next month.

They figure they can make an excuse for Bruce and Dick being in the alley, as long as they can prove they are different people. They planned on having Alfred dress and Batman, and the two meet, but Alfred would be gone next month. So they decide to up the time table.

We see Bruce with some reporters and, getting annoyed, he says he’ll get in touch with Batman, and they will prove the story silly. But Alfred fractures his leg on the way back from shopping because of the snow and can’t play Batman. Bruce comes up with an idea on the fly, and has Dick change to Robin and get the batplane ready. He is told to set the plane’s auto pilot and take a car or something to the Newell building then he use the remote for the plane to send it to the gray building across the street at 8:50. Bruce says Batman will be there, and he must fly the plane away at 9:05.

Next we see Robin on a roof, with the remote as he lands the plane. Soon both Bruce and Batman are there. Well Batman’s on the roof, Bruce is on the street with a mega phone. They chat briefly, laughing that some people think they are the same person. The plane takes off and people investigate. Robin was across the street, he couldn’t have flown the plane. There was one set of foot sets from where Batman had stood to the plane, and it all looks legit. Alfred’s in the hospital, and Batman wouldn’t hire an actor or else they would know. The only question was, why did Dick start the fuss? A girl.

So the explanation was it was a snow-batman, which was melted with a thermite pill. The uniform was designed to dissolve as well. Batman had made the footprints when he made the figure and erased any extras he had made. Oh and they told the papers Dick had asked Robin for a favor, and it really was he who did the stunts outside the school.

“The Phantom Bandit of Gotham City”

There has been a robbery at a bank in Gotham, though there had been no sign of disturbance until the vault was opened in the morning and it was almost empty, with writing on the wall that said “Thanks! The Phantom Bandit!” We see two other victims of the Phantom, valuables having vanished with only a written thanks as a trace. Vicki Vale gets assigned to the case, and Batman and Robin are called in.

A suspicious masked figure  was seen near the dragon vault, a place where all the Tong members keep their savings. (who are the Tongs? is it a family? an organization?) As Batman and Robin arrive they see the figure leaving the vault with a large bag. They attack, causing the Bandit to drop his takings but in doing so they activate a mechanism in the vault which shoots fire at them, letting the thief escape.

At another site of robbery (the Gotham Racetrack) Vicki finds a model polar bear with ice skates, which Bruce knows is a souvenir for the Polar Bear Club, which means they are going in. Dick complains about the suits, but Bruce knows they may recognize the Bandit.

By the way Vicki is also at the club, and the main attraction is a ‘swami’ who can read minds. Bruce notes that the assistant’s corsage is wilting wrong, and ruins the act by destroying the mic hidden in it (it transmits the sound to the swami). Later Batman tells Robin he’s checked into it and all the victims had been to the club, and all had their minds ‘read’. So they begin to follow all the people who had participated the previous night. They have a run in with the Bandit again, but he gets away. Once more it is shown that he can get into any vault, no lock can stop him.

While Dick is home reading one night Vicki asks him to help her set up a trap for the Bandit. Dick masquerades as a young, rich South American man (he looks ridiculous!). They go to the club, and have his mind read. Then they return to the hotel to wait. We then see two people come up to the door, the swami and his helper. The Bandit puts something in the air conditioner to knock out the people in the room.

They open the door once Dick and Vicki are unconscious, saying they have the key. The assistant came along to help search for the riches, as they don’t have a set place like a vault to grab from this time. Seeing that Dick was down for the count via his binoculars Batman rushes into action. He smashes through the window and beats both the crooks. The girl would pickpocket the people she talked to and make a wax form of the keys, before returning them.