Showcase Presents: Batman, Vol. 1 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A few significant things happen in this book which collects 16 months of Batman stories from Batman comics and Detective comics from May 1964-September 1965.

Fist, there's a new design for the Batmobile introduced in the second story of the book. Second, Alfred is killed off unceremoniously early in this book and Aunt Harriet moves in with Batman and Robin and makes perhaps two o three appearances during the rest of the period.

There are four stories featuring Batman's remarkable rogue's gallery (two with the Joker and one each with the Riddler and the Penguin.) The Riddler tale was notable because the character had last been seen sixteen and a half year's previously. The book is the best issue in the collection. Elements of "The Remarkable Ruse of the Riddler" would be the basis for very first episode of the 1960s Batman TV show. Another story that would be adapted to television would be, "The Joker's Comedy Capers."

The only other highlights is the introduction of the Outsider who periodically menaces the Dynamic Duo with wannabe supervillains. This particular storyline isn't resolved in this book. We also see Robin have one adventure on his own and one where he's the prime character as well as Batman on his own while Robin was on a mission with the pilot issue for the Teen Titans setting the stage for the future status quo.

Other than that, the comic is surprising for how out of date it is. Most of Batman and Robin's foes are the fairly generic crooks they were taking on in the Golden Age. Robin looks the same as he died when he was introduced twenty-four years ago. The Batman of this era was stuck in a rut, doing the same thing it'd been doing with the Golden Age with a few silly Silver Age touches thrown in. It's shocking that three years into DC facing competition from Marvel, Batman was this kind of book which is creaking into the 1960s.

Most of the stories are enjoyable, but there almost anachronistic compared to the other comics of their area. Not just Marvel, but other series like DC such as the Flash, the Atom, or Superman had more colorful stories. Still, they're not bad for what they are and a particular favorite of mine is, "The Genius of the Getaway Gimmicks" where a criminal figured out that rather than setting stupid death traps for Batman, it made more sense to put their efforts to getting away. A clever guy.

Bottom line, these are good but not great stories. They're fun if you're a fan of Batman and want to see character very slowly evolving.



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