Batman #119

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE ARCH-RIVALS OF GOTHAM CITY Vicki Vale and Batwoman are tied for first place in Gotham's annual Woman of the Year contest, with the winner getting a date with Batman. The judges give each contestant a six-hour period in which to gather further achievements, with the winner to be decided at the end. Batman goes to quell a prison break, hindered by Vicki Vale taking pictures in the yard (though she gets splendid action shots). Robin then tips Batman off to a lead on the Harbor Pirates, informing him that Batwoman is donning scuba gear to check it out; he dons similar gear and follows, helping rescue her, even though she takes in two of the gang on her own. The judges declare the contest still tied. Both women then see a gangster from Moose Malloy's mob outside the building, and they each independently decide to follow him. The gang captures the duo, and Batman's rescue attempt is foiled when he is overpowered by Malloy's men. The women join forces, mistakenly grabbing each other's equipment, but manage to use it to their advantage to stop Moose's assault. Once Batman recovers, he then helps them bring down the crooks. Later, the judges call it even, and both women share the same date with Batman. THE SECRET OF BATMAN ISLAND! A.K. Barnaby, one of the richest men in the world, has built a museum dedicated to his heroes, Batman and Robin, on an isle he calls Batman Island. Barnaby happens to be on the scene when Batman and Robin battle a gang of diamond thieves in Gotham City, and films it with his hand-held camera for posterity. Two members of the gang, keeping watch, notice Barnaby and prepare to take action of their own. Batman and Robin bring in part of the gang, but the evidence of their theft - the diamonds - have disappeared, rendering their conviction impossible. The gang members trail Barnaby to Batman Island, where he discovers them on a television monitor. Barnaby activates his own Bat-Signal, drawing Batman and Robin to the island. A battle between the dynamic duo and the thieves ensues, amidst the memorabilia of Batman's career collected by Barnaby. Batman fakes his death a second time around in False Face's tank-trap, even when one of the crooks is duped into riddling his empty cowl with bullets, and manages to save Robin and corral two members of the gang minutes later. When the film is shown, it reveals the hoods in the robbery dropping the diamonds into a open tank-truck, and, as the boss of the gang explains when he bursts into the scene with a drawn gun, it also proves that the truck company has been collaborating with the gang. Barnaby saves the day by switching off the projector, plunging the room into darkness, and drawing the boss's fire with a Batman statue. The real Batman takes out the gang-boss, and later suggests that Barnaby remember his part in the caper by making a statue of himself. Smiling, Barnaby considers doing just that. RIP VAN BATMAN Batman and Robin split up to try and discover which of two places gangster Al Hackett may be hiding. Batman investigates Hackett's mountain lodge, which contains a greenhouse; the exotic plants within exude an aroma which sends him reeling out of the building, falling head-over-heels down the slope of a hill, and finally losing consciousness at the edge of a pond. Batman finally awakens, and looks at his reflection in the pond. He finds that he has grown a long white beard and become old, a modern Rip Van Winkle. Batman hikes into Gotham City, finding it a metropolis of the future, and spots a brand-new Batman and Robin team chasing and catching a pair of crooks. He recognizes the new Batman as Dick Grayson, now grown up, and when he tries to talk to Batman II, he is written off as a senile old man with a Batman-complex. The old Caped Crusader hobbles to Wayne Manor, now a deserted ruin with a Batcave filled with debris. He also discovers that Commissioner Gordon has long since retired and moved away. Batman wanders through Gotham Park, past his statue, feeling as useful as a fifth wheel. However, upon hearing crooks' voices from the nearby planetarium, Batman investigates and finds the new Batman and Robin team tied up by criminals. He attempts to take on the thugs, but his muscles are weak from age and lack of use. The hoods tie him up and leave him beside the new heroes, who thank him for trying. Batman, declaring the game not up yet, smashes the lens of his Utility Belt's microscope and uses it to saw through his ropes, and then fools some returning hoods into fleeing by projecting the image of a moon scorpion on the wall. With the coast clear for a moment he releases Batman II and Robin II, who are now reassured they have the original Batman back at last. The trio attack and capture the hoods, but Batman faints afterwards. He reawakens back in the present, with a young Robin shaking him awake, and his reflection returns to that of a young man. Robin relates how he captured Hackett and came there to find his mentor unconscious. Batman deduces that one of the plants in the greenhouse was a rare breed from the Amazon, whose fumes can trigger hallucinations. Relieved to find himself young and strong, Batman races Robin back to the Batmobile.