Batman 348 – bait for Man-Bat, and Catwoman takes a bodyguard job

Batman and family move back home to Wayne Manor, but deal with an unwanted squatter in Batman 348 (June 1982), by Conway, Colan and Janson.

I knew I would love this story when Bruce and Dick have problems moving the giant penny back into the Batcave.  Alfred is wise enough to stay out of this completely.

No sooner have they moved back into the Manor than Francine Langstrom and her daughter Rebecca show up, to bitch at Bruce about not doing anything to find and cure her husband, Kirk – better known as Man-Bat.  Why this should be Bruce Wayne’s responsibility is not entirely clear.  Francine then promptly passes out, and remains unconscious until the end of the story.

A couple of subplots get built on.  Barbara Gordon is upset to see her father so forlorn, and decides to contact Jason Bard.

Vicki Vale informs her editor that she has photographic evidence of who Batman is, but refuses to show him or reveal his name, having given Alfred the opportunity to prove her wrong, in the last issue of Detective.  The editor then immediately calls Boss Thorne, and we discover that he is another of Thorne’s men.

Batman takes baby Rebecca down into the Batcave, and basically uses her a bait to draw Man-Bat out.  Kind of heartless, really.  It sort of works, although Man-Bat grabs the child, and Batman has to fight to get her back.

Still, in the end it is because of Rebecca that Man-Bat is able to be taken by surprise by Batman, who injects him with the cure.  All is now well with the Langstroms.  For a year, anyway, before he returns in the pages of Detective.

Jones, Von Eeden and Marcos start another Catwoman tale in this issue, as she encounters a man running to lead a union.

They know Selina Kyle by sight, which is kind of surprising, and also of her Catwoman background.  They hire her to be a bodyguard for the man, who has received death threats.

Catwoman does stop a man she suspects before he can enter the hall, but by then someone else has already killed the candidate.

The story continues in the next issue.

Batman 346 – lots of disappointed people, and what Catwoman’s dad did in the war

Two-Face is back, a couple of months after his last appearance, in World’s Finest Comics, in Batman 346 (April 1982), in a story by Conway, Newton and Chiaramonte.

Two-Face escapes from prison to the mystification of two guards, who cannot figure out how he vanished right in front of them, but Batman figures out he had hypnotized them with a special coin.

Barbara Gordon spends some time consoling her father after Gordon is forced to resign a Commissioner by Hamilton Hill.

Batman has decided that being Bruce Wayne is getting in the way of his activities, and has placed Lucius Fox in control of the Wayne Foundation.  Lucius is dismayed to see Bruce now acting like a worthless playboy.

Dick Grayson is having a bad day as well, as Dala has dumped him, and is now avoiding him.  This makes Dick curious about who Dala is spending her time with, which is exactly what she intended.

And Vicki Vale is none too happy either, when Bruce gets rid of her in the middle of a date, after something she says sparks his Batman brain.  But then, Vicki just takes the whole thing as further proof that Bruce is really Batman.

Batman figures out where Two-Face is hiding out, but falls for a double when he arrives.

As the story ends, Boss Thorne meets with Hamilton Hill, and introduces him to the new Police Commissioner, a man completely in Boss Thorne’s pocket.

The story continues in the next issue of Detective.

Jones, Von Eeden and Marcos conclude the Catwoman story from last issue, as she finds herself a captive of Nazis.

The disappearing trains were done in a pretty cool way, but the entire thing was done to lure her into a trap.  The government agent who approached her is the son of a Nazi killed by Catwoman’s father during the war, and he has been setting all this up to get revenge.

His death trap is somehat old-fashioned, having her run over by a train.  Catwoman escapes, and it’s the Nazi who winds up getting crushed instead.

Batman 345 – a new Dr. Death debuts, and Catwoman begins

An evocative cover for Batman 345 (March 1982) a Conway, Colan and Janson introduce a new version of one of Batman’s earliest foes, Dr. Death.

Dr. Hellstrom doesn’t actually get to do an awful lot in this tale, aside from being introduced.  He is a popular physician with wealthy Gotham society, although Bruce Wayne is taken aback by his deathly cold eyes when they meet at a party.  He is escorting Vicki Vale, and also meets Dick Grayson’s new girlfriend, Dala.

There is a scene with the new mayor, Hamilton Hill, demanding Commissioner Gordon’s resignation, as he had promised to do during his campaign.  Batman and Robin wind up in Dr. Death’s trap as the story comes to an end, being continued in the next issue of Detective Comics, as the two books begin to share continuity.

Catwoman begins a real back-up series, as opposed to just chapters in a larger storyline, as had been the case the previous year.

Bruce Jones, Trevor Von Eeden and Pablo Marcos are the creative team as Selina Kyle gets recruited by a government agent investigating some truly impossible thefts.

Entire train are vanishing, and the disappearances are being caught on camera.  Not only do the government agents have no idea how this is being done, they also are not certain why.  Being one of the best thieves ever, they want Catwoman to work with them on the case.

So Catwoman gets into costume, and boards the next train. She notices that the tunnel seems to go on for far longer than it should, and then things begin to start going very creepy, with graves and ghosts, and a spectral noose that ensnares her.

The story concludes in the next issue.

Batman 339 – Poison Ivy’s corporate power play, and Robin reflects on his origin

In the years since her debut, Poison Ivy had faced Batman as part of the Injustice League, and the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and had gone solo against Wonder woman and Rose and Thorn, but Batman 339 (Sept. 81) marks her first time back in these pages, going one on one against the hero, since her two part introductory story.

Conway, Novick and Mitchell spin this tale, which begins with a mysterious woman kissing Bruce Wayne at the exclusive Empire Club.  He does not realize that this is Poison Ivy in disguise, but then, as I said, it’s been a long time since they faced each other this way.

While out on patrol as Batman, he feels an overwhelming urge to head to an abandoned building, and has the presence of mind to change back into Bruce.  It turns out that Ivy has approached and kissed all the members of the board of the Wayne Foundation with lipstick that gives her mental domination over them.  She forces them all to sign a document turning over the company to her, although she keep this a secret, not acting on it in this issue.  She also forbids them to discuss what has happened with anyone.

Once everyone departs, Bruce changes back into Batman, coming back to confront Ivy.  The character as yet has no element of supernatural abilities, and relies on various plant-themed weapons, but this is enough to allow her to escape.

Hoping that the mind control might be limited to his Bruce Wayne persona, Batman attempts to inform Commissioner Gordon of what has happened, but finds that even as Batman he is incapable of talking about Ivy’s plan.

This story arc then sits in the background for the next few months, before Ivy returns to put her plans into action.

Dick Grayson is back performing acrobatics, now with Hill’s Circus, as he reflects on his origin in this story by Conway, Novick and Bruce Patterson.

The story spends a bit more time on the boy’s life and experiences with his parents before their deaths, something rarely give much focus, so we see how much they taught him about continuing to try, and not giving up.

After covering his recruitment by Batman, the story jumps ahead to their current problems, and Robin striking out on his own once again.  Curiously, no mention is made at all of the New Teen Titans.

Batman 337 – the Snowman debuts, and Robin begins

Batman faces a new villain in issue 337 (July 1081), and Robin begins a new back-up series in this issue as well.

Garcia-Lopez and Steve Mitchell have some beautiful art on this Rozakis and Thomas story, which introduces a villain capable of freezing people, but with a bit more style than Mr. Freeze.

It’s really obvious that the Snowman is the same person as Klaus Krispin, an albino champion skier, currently in Gotham.  In fact, the one real weakness to this tale is how short it is.

Batman breaks into Klaus’ room, and reads his dead mother’s diary.  We discover that she was lost in the Himilayas, and got into a hot romance with the Abominable Snowman, having his child.

Klaus is that boy, able to transform his appearance from human to Snowman at will, killing to support his posh lifestyle.  He and Batman fight briefly, before Klaus goes over the edge of a cliff.  I liked this character, and would happily have read a two-part introduction, rather than this quick one.

The Snowman does return for one further story, a few months down the road in the pages of Detective Comics.

Robin starts a back-up series with a story by Gerry Conway, Don Newton and Larry Mahlstedt, which sees him head to the circus most commonly seen in the Deadman series.

Waldo Flynn, a clown he knew back before his parents were killed, who had appeared a few months earlier in DC Comics Presents, is now working at Hill’s Circus, and Vashnu, Tiny and Cleveland Brand all get small roles in this tale, with only Lorna Hill having a major role.  All were last seen a couple of years earlier in the Deadman series in Adventure Comics.

When Cleveland gets injured, Dick Grayson is more than happy to climb up and hit the trapeze, which means he is right on the scene when a rival for Lorna’s affections gets shot, seemingly by Waldo.

Robin knows Waldo could not be the killer, but the only other suspect appears to be Lorna herself.

The story concludes in the next issue.

Batman 335 – The Lazarus Affair concludes

Wolfman, Novick and McLaughlin conclude The Lazarus Affair in Batman 335 (May 1981).

Batman accepts Ra’s Al Ghul’s offer to join him, despite the protestations of Robin, Catwoman and King Faraday.  He implies to Robin that his romance with Talia is the deciding factor, but of course he is only playing for time.  Anyone could guess that.

And, indeed, it’s not long before Batman reveals his true loyalties, turning on Ra’s, who is not surprised at all. There is a bad continuity error in this story, with Ra’s shown to be primarily concerned about building a global corporate empire, rather than using his League of Assassins to rule from the shadows, and he even is said to have not been aware that Batman was Bruce Wayne before the events of this story. This not only contradicts every previous story he has been in, but means that Talia knew Batman was Bruce, even though her father didn’t.  Absurd.

Talia gets shot by one of Al Ghul’s men, after she betrays her father to aid Batman, and gets put into the Lazarus Pit to restore her to life.

Then there is a last big fight between Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul.  It’s been done before, and has looked much better.

Ra’s Al Ghul ends off supposedly dead (again), while Catwoman takes off, and Bruce and Dick reach a kind of detente over his dropping out of college.

Pretty much a disappointing story arc all around, sad to say.

Catwoman next appears in a couple of months in the pages of Brave and the Bold, and King Faraday pops up shortly after in the Dial H for Hero series in Adventure Comics.

Ra’s Al Ghul and Talia return next year in the Batman annual.

Batman 332 – the death of Gregorian Falstaff, and Catwoman begins

Wolfman, Novick and McLaughlin begin The Lazarus Affair in Batman 332 (Feb. 81), which will run through the next few issues.  This book also sees Catwoman get her first solo story, although it’s really more of a chapter in The Lazarus Affair as well.

The issue opens with an expanded version of the confrontation between Batman and Robin that concluded the previous issue.  Though the art is not the best, it sure looks like Talia Al Ghul is taking pleasure in the friction her presence is causing. Bruce is still upset with Dick about dropping out of university, while Dick cannot understand why Bruce is choosing to trust a woman who is a proven killer.

Batman prevents an attack on Caroline Crown by a giant thug, and learns that she is being blackmailed into spying on Bruce Wayne by Gregorian Falstaff. She later admits this to Bruce herself, just after Wayne learns about Falstaff’s attempt to lure Lucius Fox away.  Bruce goes to confront him, only to learn that Falstaff has been making every play possible to weaken and take over the Wayne Foundation.

Meanwhile, Robin seeks out an ally who he believes has as much reason to distrust Talia as he does – Selina Kyle.  Considering how easy it is for Robin to find Catwoman, it’s pretty clear that Batman has not even bothered to look for her after she walked out.

Batman goes to confront Falstaff, finding Talia already there, as well as the monster men.  Talia kills Falstaff, using a weird energy orb that had been created by one of her father’s scientists.  Robin and Catwoman show up as well, only to find Batman and Talia locked in a hot embrace.

The story continues in the next issue, as well as in the back-up tale.

Catwoman’s first solo outing, by Wolfman, Don Newton and Steve Mitchell, has her seeking out some of Falstaff’s minions. She does not believe that Gregorian Falstaff was the real mastermind, and thinks that she can find evidence of who was controlling him.

The art is certainly moody enough, and Catwoman does make a fairly ruthless detective, as she digs her way through the underworld.

And though she fails to get any proof of her suspicions, the story does tie up the loose ends of Falstaff’s second in command, and ends with a highly suspicious cameo by Talia.

Catwoman would return in a team-up story in the following issue, but would eventually get a solo back-up series in this book in another year.

Batman 331 – the Electrocutioner debuts

The Electrocutioner makes his debut in Batman 331 (Jan. 81) in a really awful costume that he wisely hides under a large coat for much of the story.

Wolfman is joined by Michael J Fleisher as they script this tale, with art by Novick and McLaughlin.  The Electrocutioner fancies himself a hero, like Batman, as he seeks out and kills highly placed criminals who have used their wealth and influence to avoid going to prison.

Robin is also around in this tale, to Batman’s dismay.  Bruce loses more and more patience dealing with Dick, and refuses to accept his decision to drop out of university.  And while Bruce is concerned about the kids who attacked Lucius and the Wayne Foundation building, it’s Dick who notices how suspiciously Caroline Crown is acting.

Bruce goes to see Lucius, and does his best to console him about his son’s involvement with the gang in the previous issue.

The story culminates in a big fight between Batman and the Electrocutioner, who cannot grasp why Batman is even opposing him, when in his eyes they are on the same team.  Really, the only bad thing about the character is his costume, and when he returns in a couple of years, in the pages of Vigilante, he will have a much better outfit, and become a much more important villain.

The issue ends as Talia Al Ghul shows up. With tensions already high between Bruce and Dick, she is what pushes things over the edge, and Robin storms out.

The story continues in the next issue.

Batman 330 – who is pulling all the strings?

The cover for Batman 330 (Dec. 80) really excited me when I was 15.  The woman pictured is clearly Talia Al Ghul, and I had high expectations for the tale.  Expectations that the Wolfman, Novick and Colletta tale did not live up to.

The story has a death row criminal put out a contract on Batman, determined that the hero should die before he does.  But there are a lot of other plot threads weaving their way through this tale. We discover that Caroline Crown, Bruce Wayne’s new secretary, is really channeling information to Gregorian Falstaff.

This is also the first story that delves into how upset Bruce Wayne is that Dick Grayson has dropped out of college, a reference to events in the recent New Teen Titans series. As a result, he is less than happy to have Robin accompanying Batma.  While Robin, on his side, is none too happy that Talia Al Ghul has come back into Batman’s life.  This is her first appearance after the conclusion of the war between Ra’s Al Ghul and the Sensei that had been playing out in the pages of Detective Comics until a few months earlier.

Lucius Fox’s recent leave of absence was, indeed, to deal with his troubled son, Timothy, who had been being manipulated by a street gang, who had lead the boy to believe that Bruce Wayne was a callous slumlord.  But that gang, we learn, is also being run by Gregorian Falstaff.  Despite the fact that Falstaff appears in only one panel of the story, his influence is everywhere in this issue.  He even has his killers go after the contract on Batman, though Talia helps the hero defend himself.

And, when push comes to shove, so does Robin.  Timothy Fox discovers how he has been used as well.

It’s not a bad story, and does pull together a lot of the stuff that has been set up over the past year.  But the confrontation between Robin and Talia promised by the cover never really gets going.

Needless to say, the man who started it all goes to the electric chair, dying without having Batman killed first.

Batman 300 – Batman retires?

David V Reed is joined by Walt Simonson and Dick Giordano for a special anniversary issue in Batman 300 (June 1978).

The story is set in the future, although it’s not clear about exactly how many years ahead. Twenty would be a good guess.  The world is much similar, with the notable exception that there is now a Moon base.

Batman and Robin are still both operating, although Robin has adopted a new uniform, a variant of the one created by Neal Adams for the adult Robin.

As Batman and Robin try to figure out what is going on with destructive bombers painted in varying colours, we also see that Alfred is still working for Bruce Wayne, and learn that Dick Grayson is now married, with two children.  Although Dick’s wife is not identified, the children are named Bruce and Jame, which would imply that Barbara Gordon is Dick’s wife.

Commissioner Gordon is still around as well, though we learn that many of Batman’s old enemies have reformed and retired over the years.

Batman and Robin track the criminal organization to the Moon, learning how Spectrum has wormed its way into overriding control of all criminal activity on Earth.

The climax of this storyline is kind of abrupt, although it looks great.

As the issue ends, Bruce reveals to Dick that he has been asked to run for governor, and is considering stepping down as Batman, getting married (although to who is not clear), and entering politics.

Although as a kid I was disappointed with this story – for not having any of the big name villains, and not really being all about Batman retiring – on reflection, I like the way it deals with the future without doing any of those things.