Batman #102

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE HOUSE OF BATMAN Wealthy philanthropist Adam Penfield dies, and in his will is left a provision for his last gift: money to be used to build a House of Batman, a headquarters in the center of Gotham City to be used by Batman and Robin. The dynamic duo themselves learn of the gift after it is constructed, and after they learn from a crook they catch that safecracker Mayne Mallock is back in town. The house is equipped with all manner of security devices, including a rotating "bat" with TV-camera-eyes on the roof of the house. Batman and Robin use the House of Batman as their headquarters for a few days, during which time Mayne Mallock cracks safes and eludes their every attempt to catch him. They deduce that Mallock has some means of learning their plans and patrol-routes, which he does, having designed the House of Batman and using it currently as his hideout. When Mallock is discovered, he uses the whirling bat-symbol and a mechanical butler to attack Batman and Robin, but is netted by a pre-set trap of Batman's. Later, Batman gives the House of batman to the city, which turns it into a Batman Law-Enforcement Museum. THE BATMAN FROM BABYLON Brand Bartor, a small-time crook, walks down Gotham streets in broad daylight wearing a Batman costume. He is nabbed and put on trial for it because, he says, he wants to test the validity of the law ruling that no man may wear a Batman uniform in Gotham City except Batman himself. His major weapon is a Babylonian wall-painting excavated by Dr. Horace Halley, an archeologist, showing a Batman fighting a guard in ancient Babylon. The court, conceding that Barton has strong defense, cables Halley. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, watching the trial, know that the wall-painting is authentic, because Carter Nichols sent them back to ancient Babylon recently-- but in their civilian identities. Revealing the fact would betray their anonymity. Not long ago, Carter Nichols had dispatched Bruce and Dick to investigate the mystery of a "King that never existed" 3,000 years ago in Babylon. Once there, they discovered a citizen, Mero, revolting against doing slave labor for the evil King Baladin, a usurper of the righteous King Lanak's throne. Batman and Robin pitched in to save Mero from the guards, and Batman was hailed as "Zorn," a statue-idol that strongly resembled him. Mero offered Batman and Robin a hiding place where he and other rebels met, in what Robin termed a "Babylonian Bat-Cave!" Batman agrees to help Mero and his friends in their struggle, and, outfitting a "Bat-Chariot" with a masked steed, arranges for the rebels to show a "Bat-Sign" in front of the temple's rooftop watchfire whenever they are needed. After Batman and Robin save a merchant from being robbed-- which robbery the corrupt king's guard allowed-- the populace became convinced that Zorn had come to life. The captain of the guards made an effort to learn where the rebels' hideout was, but Batman and Robin succeeded in capturing him and learning from him the prison-place of King Lanak, in the famed Babylonian Hanging Gardens. Batman, imitating a statue of Zorn, was witness to Beladin's entreaty to Lanak that the latter publicly acknowledge him as king. Batman responded by "coming to life," shocking the false king and his guards, and leading Lanak away. With the aid of an elephant inside a wooden "tank", Robin, Mero and the rebels breached Beladin's defenses and deposed him, allowing Lanak to resume the throne. Thus, Beladin's name was stricken from every monument, and the tyrant became "the ruler who did not exist". Following this, Batman and Robin returned to the present as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. To solve their present problem, Bruce anonymously cables Dr. Halley and tells him the correct location of the statue of Zorn. Once unearthed, the statue serves as proof to the court that the wall-hanging depicted Zorn, not Batman, and Brand Bartor is convicted for the Batman impersonation. THE CAVEMAN AT LARGE An actor named Carlin, playing a caveman named Goth in a new picture called Stone Age Man, is hit in the head by a tusk of a mechanical mammoth, develops amnesia, and thinks he actually is a caveman. Carlin smashes past the crew, snarling in rage, and Batman and Robin learn on their Batmobile radio of the matter and begin a search for him. They manage to find Carlin, but he spears one of the Batmobile's headlights, forcing them into a sharp turn that flips the car. Carlin gets away and, by chance, finds his way into the Batcave from an outside entrance. When Bruce and Dick hear an alarm buzzer, they switch to their Batman and Robin identities again, but are snared by Carlin's traps in the Batcave. Their plight is complicated by the fact that Carlin has picked up a club gimmicked by a murderer with an explosive charge in its head, and they have to keep him from striking anything with it. Eventually, Carlin hits his head on a stalagmite while struggling with Batman. He wakens in the Wayne Mansion, not remembering anything during his Caveman period, and is told that Bruce and Dick found him wandering on the road. Thus, the location of the Batcave remains a secret.