Batman (1940-2011) #17

Batman (1940-2011)

by Bill Finger, Don Cameron, Jack Farr

The Caped Crusader's history is explored in "The Batman's Biographer"! Plus, "The Penguin Goes A-Hunting," "Rogue's Pageant," and "Adventure of the Vitamin Vandals"!

Genres: Comics

60 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 31, 1943

About the author

William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development. In later years, Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger", and a DC Comics press release in 2007 about colleague Jerry Robinson states that in 1939, "Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for [DC predecessor] National Comics".

Film and television credits include scripting The Green Slime (1969), Track of the Moon Beast (1976), and three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 3 out of 5]

First story is about the batman's biographer and how he mistakenly told a thief how to beat batman, but he figured it out and helped batman in the end.
second story is about the penguin and his vanity and how he tried to renew his ways of stealing by using fishing rods and rifles.
third story is about some thieves that i forgot somehow even though i read the story today...
fourth story is about the vitamin vandals and this story actually made me think of something this is batman 1943 or something and the story is speaking about ships that fish out sharks and i thought to myself i think that we humans have been killing much more sharks than sharks ever killed humans and still somehow we are the ones who are making movies about how ferocious animals they are, so back to the story shark fishing ships are getting their cargo stolen by thieves who are using a blimp to escape the scene.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is interesting about the cover is that Batman & Robin while riding a giant eagle and spouting about war bonds and stamps are both holding up peace signs!

The Batman’s Biographer! starts with B. Boswell Brown telling stories of Batman & Robin to children in the park.

Bruce & Dick overhear this and introduce themselves. Boswell tells them he is also writing a book about Batman & Robin. He mentions that he even has a collection they should see.

They visit Boswell’s little attic room and his collection.

" Robin lost this golden cape during a battle with river pirates!"

Boswell says he may never publish his book because he has not interviewed them.

Elsewhere the Conjurer frightens a crowd with fireworks to run into a jewelry store. Which they rob in the confusion and smoke.

Batman & Robin enter the store and attack the crooks but the Conjurer uses an ammonia bomb to help the gang escape.

At their hideout they decide they need to outwit the Batman and one of the crooks (Creeper) says he has an idea of who could help them.

Soon the Conjurer visits Boswell, posing as a reporter. He gets Boswell to tell him the ways Batman has been outsmarted.

During a later robbery, Batman & Robin get caught in chicken wire the same way the Penguin used and the Conjurer and his gang escape.

The same night the Batman recognizes another familiar setup and makes sure he and Robin don’t follow their usual pattern. The crooks get away but they decide to visit Boswell.

Meeting with Boswell, Batman & Robin tells him of their trouble falling for an old Penguin trick.

The next day the Conjurer visits Boswell for another ‘interview’. Boswell has figured it out however and wants nothing to do with him. The Conjurer threatens to kill Boswell unless he comes up with another fatal trick to use against Batman.

"I’m an old man, but I don’t want to die…yet!"

Batman & Robin visit Boswell’s garret room and see that it’s a mess. They decide to go to the Van Voght million dollar art auction.

At the auction the Conjurer has used fireworks to cause a distraction while Trigger and Creeper rob the place. They put Boswell in a car loaded with explosives meant to kill Batman when he steals that car to chase them.

Batman & Robin use the bat-plane instead to drop in on the crooks and beat them up. The Conjurer explains the plan to blow Batman up. Boswell has driven the car away to prevent the bomb from hurting anyone but him.

Well as an obsessed collector myself, I enjoyed the setup but it was a convoluted story after that.

3 stars

"Prof. Pipp" is two pages of ‘humorous’ astrology. Here is the most ‘sensible’ one:

A young Florida inventor will perfect a method of bottling sunshine that will make umbrellas totally unnecessary.

The Penguin Goes a-Hunting

starts with a prison warden giving a lecture on today’s greatest criminals and their foes. It is attended by Bruce & Dick and Oswald Cobblepot.

The warden names the most infamous criminals.

"The Penguin is as mean and lowdown as any of them, but not as ingenious and inventive."

This starts a chase between Batman & Robin, the Penguin and the various police who recognize him (the top hat, umbrella, monocle and spats are a dead giveaway). The Penguin escapes.

The Penguin decides to change his techniques and steals a bunch of sporting goods equipment. Using a fishing pole he nets him at least $580,000 dollars but is not exciting enough for him.

Izaak Walton (1593–1683) was a 17th-century English writer best known as the author of The Compleat Angler (1653), a celebrated pastoral work on the joys and techniques of fishing.

The Penguin sends a rich brat a birthday present of a life-size rubber wolf.

They don’t make toys like they used to. Why don’t they still make Major Matt Mason?

From outside the mansion, Penguin shoots the rubber dog which is filled with sleeping gas. Henchmen come into the mansion and rob the party goers.

Batman & Robin see the gang getting way and give chase and fight, but lose. Then Penguin captures them.

"We could kill them here - but then they’d never know how clever I have planned my sporting career."

Batman & Robin wake up tied to chairs in a room with chained-up doberman’s to guard them. Then Penguin mentions that he has starved them as he goes off to his next crime.

Batman (in true ‘66 fashion) breaks his chair, rubs candles on his ropes and explains to Robin that they’ll taste good to a starving dog and the dogs eat his ropes off him.

At a show displaying Famous Sporting Trophies of History the Penguin and his gang are robbing the place when Batman & Robin appear - with Penguin’s starving dogs on leashes. Batman unleashes them on the gang (though he has already feed the dogs).

After beating up the gang they go after then Penguin on horse-back.

At an outdoor restaurant full of umbrellas the Batman catches the Penguin.

Later Bruce Wayne reveals that he deliberately got the warden go make fun of Penguin’s umbrellas.

"You see his tenderest spot is his vanity! He refuses to believe that he’s too old a bird to learn new tricks!"

This was a solid groaner in the Batman ‘66 tradition. I hope this doesn’t continue or I may have to give up these older comics.

1 star

"Laffs" is next. Three one-panel comics. One 5 panel comic. This is about a cat that covers itself in ink so it can be a black cat. And then scares itself.

"Rogues’ Pageant!" starts with Alfred telling Bruce & Dick that he hid their costumes so that they would rest when they go on vacation.

"He knows we wouldn’t drive to Santa Pablo just for pleasure, with gas and rubber as scarce as they are!"

Bruce & Dick have both worn spare costumes under their clothes however.

We flashback to a few hours ago when Batman & Robin on patrol see "Ducky" Mallard and his gang robbing a bank. They fight and all but "Dazie" Dickens gets away.

When "Bullet" and "Ducky" see Batman questioning "Dazie" they turn around and shoot Dazie. Who then decides to use his dying words to tell them that they are going to Santa Pablo.

When they get there, they see a ‘Big Torchlight Pageant Tonight’ sign, complete with costumes. Robin thinks it might help him in history class. The see a display of cowboys and Indians. Dick is impressed by the costumes.

"Yes — except in those days Indians and white men weren’t always so friendly!"

They also see gold nuggets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on display.

At lunch they read the news that the gold has been robbed. They suspect Ducky and his mob.

Apparently the newspaper is produced with a mimeograph machine.

Later a movie is being made with a fake bank holdup but do to the noise of robbers firing guns and one of them killing an actual bat that was startled by the noise, Bruce figures that the robbers were not firing blanks.

Batman & Robin interrupt the fake robbery that is really Ducky, Bullet, Sport and the gang and fight the robbers. Ducky calls the police and tells them that Batman & Robin are the crooks in disguise!

All in all, it’s the neatest escape of the year!

It doesn’t take long to find the actors tied up undressed to clear Batman & Robin. The police apologize and guess that the robbers are long gone. But Batman has a theory that they will be back.

"All crooks are egomaniacs, and their success thus far will have gone to their heads!"

The Batman’s plan is to have thirty officers disguised in the parade. He then makes bat-shaped paper dolls. He then asks the police for a dozen powerful searchlights.

At night the historic parade goes on.

Fierce and haughty red men, who held the land before paleface adventurers arrived from beyond the seas.

High in the bell tower, Batman & Robin watch the parade.

"We Americans had some great ancestors, didn’t we Robin! "

Ducky and the gang meanwhile set of the dynamite charges they planted earlier. The crowd thinks it’s an earthquake and panics.

"Run for your lives!"

Using grenades and dynamite, Duck and company rob banks and jewelry stores. The disguised police officers spring into action.

For once, red men and conquistador’s cooperate!

Then the searchlights and flashlights with bat emblems on them appear in the sky.

Batman & Robin find the police and Ducky’s gang and jump in to punch the robbers.

Batman then climbs on a street light to explain to the crowd that there is no real danger, the crooks just stampeded them so they could break into banks.

"What fools we were to get excited."

Another cornball adventure that had a few moments and some awfully important history lessons.

2 stars

"Scrap Haul" by Allan Gerz is a two page text story.

Knuckles Hanley emptied the can of beans into the pot on the wood stove.

Knuckles is on the run from a bank robbery, hiding in a cabin he bought years ago. A couple of Boy Scouts knock on the door asking to pick up scrap metal (for the war). He tells them they can have whatever they find. Later the kids father and a Salvage Director for the town come to thank him. He shoots at them and the Sheriff shoots back. He thought they were onto him as a robber - but they weren’t until his shot at them.

Well written actually. Love the name, too.

"Adventure of the Vitamin Vandals!" begins of the coast of California in the rich fishing grounds on the boat Jenny Jones. They are rich because their hold is filled with priceless soup-fin sharks.

The Phantom Raiders sneak aboard their ship and holding the crew at gunpoint steal the entire haul.

Nearby Bruce & Dick are vacationing at Malibu Beach. Bruce reads about the story in the paper decides their vacation is over.

"We need vitamins to keep our soldiers healthy! Let’s go!"

Bruce & Dick get hired by the Jenny Jones as a deck-hand and cabin boy.

They are the reader learn an awful lot about shark fishing in this book.

On the way back, the Phantom Raiders are suddenly aboard. They aren’t prepared for Batman & Robin. They fight.

The Phantoms are driven off and Batman discovers a rope-ladder above the ship. He climbs up to a blimp.

Batman & Robin attack the crew. They fight. The crooks (who don’t take off their masks while on the blimp) pull a trapdoor open (to drop ballast) and drop Batman & Robin into the sea.

The fall knocks Robin unconscious - and signals to a nearby shark that there is food. Batman spots some driftwood and puts Robin on it.

"This is a break - at least will have Robin off my hands!"

Batman fights the shark with his bat-knife. They fight. He wins.

After Robin revives, Batman sends out a flare with a miniature flare gun from his utility belt. They are picked up by a patrol boat.

At least it wasn’t shark repellent! I didn’t know you could make a bat-signal with a flare!

Batman noticed a crew members signaling just before the Phantoms boarded the ship. Batman & Robin follow him to a warehouse where a blimp is stored. They grab ropes hanging off the blimp to climb in and hide behind the sandbags.

The Phantoms drop down to rob another ship. Batman lets the helium out of the balloon and shortly thereafter, Batman & Robin also drop down. They fight the Phantoms.

After their capture, Bruce relaxes on the beach.

Bruce!"How can you be so lazy with things happening right over your nose! "

To my surprise I don’t have much to complain about this story! Sure, it’s seems like a lot of trouble to use a blimp to rob fishing boats, but the story hangs together pretty well!

4 stars for being above average and teaching me about shark vitamins!

Next page is an advertisement for a book that lets you "Practice for the Army Tests".

Help yourself get the job you want in the Army….

Shave my head and sleep with men? Where do I sign!

Overall this is a 3 star book.