No typical mysteries to solve here

Detective Comics No. 449
DC Comics
Creators: Elliot S. Maggin, Ernie Chan, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (PBHN), Mary Skrenes and Dick Giordano
Cover date: July 1975

This is yet another of those older Batman issues I’ve been looking at of late. This one in particular is a comic I bought and read off the stands at the time, subsequently lost track of for one reason or another, and purchased again in adulthood out of a sense of nostalgia.

I never forgot the cover to this issue’s main story, “The Midnight Rustler of Gotham City!,” as it isn’t every day you see Batman depicted on horseback amid stampeding cattle. And re-reading the issue now did not disappoint.

Commissioner Gordon seeks Batman’s help in solving the mysterious disappearance of several herds of cattle from slaughterhouses during a beef shortage. Batman tracks down a suspect and some of the missing cows in less than an hour, but something continues to nag at the back of the Masked Manhunter’s consciousness. This continues for a week before Batman’s sharp mind and keen detective skills ferret out the real mastermind, who is finally brought to justice, but not before the scene on the cover plays out with Batman on horseback trying to round up the remaining missing cattle that are loose on the roadways of Gotham.

One doesn’t usually expect to find horses and cows running through a Batman tale, but I think the reason this story continues to hold up is it again showcases the hero’s brains and his analytical mind. Batman has no powers, and he has honed not only his body but also his mind to allow him to stand side by side with other heroes with fantastic abilities.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the back-up story in this issue. As soon as I saw the title page of the Elongated Man story, “The Mystery Man Who Walked On Air,” I remembered it, too, and started to chuckle. I just hadn’t remembered that it was in this particular issue of Detective Comics. This is one of the few Elongated Man solo stories I recall reading as a kid, but I always liked the character in the satellite-era of the Justice League. This story is a fun romp as Ralph Dibny (the Elongated Man) tries to solve the mystery of this little old man who keeps showing up and defying the laws of physics. Turns out it is all a prank arranged by Ralph’s wife, Sue, for his birthday. It showcases the fun this couple often was in the Silver Age of comics.

So this issue once again earns a “great read” seal of approval from me! Come back in two week for a look at a nearly 10-year-old original graphic novel that is soon to debut once again.

More pleasant surprises to be found

Batman No. 250
DC Comics
Creators: Frank Robbins, Irv Novick, Dick Giordano, Elliot S. Maggin and Frank McLaughlin
Cover date: July 1973

Frequent visitors to this blog know I have purchased a number of back issues and trades throughout my comics collecting history that get tossed on a pile to read “sometime.” During times when my monthly collecting habits ebb, I manage to get more of those “sometime” books read, and this happens to be one of those times.

Most recently, I’ve been reading some older issues of Batman and Detective Comics, specifically ones from the 1970s. Several of these books have held promise of one form or another, be it an oft-seen, familiar cover for which I’m finally getting to read the story behind or a fondly remembered childhood read I’m re-experiencing. Of course, it is always best when the actual read lives up to the anticipation.

The main story in this issue, “The Deadly Numbers Game!” by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano, is a decent, entertaining tale about the Dark Knight that showcases his detective skills nicely. But I was surprised to find that this regular-sized comic included not one story but three.

The second story in this magazine is a quick six-page Robin story by Elliot S. Maggin, Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin. I’m a huge Dick Grayson fan, so I was delighted to see a Robin solo story. But the plot of this story involves Dick’s pre-Robin life, as indicated by its title, “Return of the Flying Grayson.” The story begins with two young boys marveling at an old poster of the Flying Graysons circus act. The boys know Dick Grayson as the Hudson University student tutors one of them, but they doubt the tutor is any relation to the acrobats depicted on the poster. Dick overhears their comments as he is in the same store, staking it out, hoping to catch some art thieves. Then later, when Robin stops the fleeing art thieves, he must also save the two boys who happen to be nearby during the take-down.

As fun as the Robin story is, though, the gem of this issue is the six-page final one. The story, “The Batman Nobody Knows,” by Frank Robbins and Dick Giordano is a simple tale of philanthropist Bruce Wayne taking three inner-city youths camping. Sitting around the campfire, the boys see a bat flit by in the moonlight and begin to share their ideas of who or what the Batman is. If the story sounds familiar to more modern audiences, it is because it was adapted into an episode of “Batman: The Animated Series,” specifically “Legends of the Dark Knight,” episode 19 of the third season of the show. The framing sequence and the children’s tales differ in each version, but both stories involve Gotham City youth relating how they each see Batman.

I had no idea such a significant story was hiding in the back of this issue, or at least, I don’t recall knowing that when I bought it. So it was a very pleasant surprise indeed to “discover” it.