Batman '66 #6

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE CONQUEROR BOOKWORM Robin delivers the keynote address at a meeting of the Gotham Chamber of Currency, with Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, and an uncostumed Bruce Wayne (among other prominent citizens) in attendance. The Boy Wonder's speech is warmly received by all - save Bookworm, who has infiltrated the meeting meaning to steal the giant checkbook the Chamber use to fund charities.  Despite his best efforts (and his mentor's covert coaching), Robin fails to stop Bookworm and his gang from escaping with the checkbook. This forces Gotham's banks to deny all payments on the checkbook, impeding Bookworm but also numerous charities. Though the Dynamic Duo are harrowed, they retain one advantage: during the fight, Robin had managed to switch Bookworm's hat with a wired replica, letting them eavesdrop on Bookworm's plans.  Eventually, Bookworm discerns and destroys the replica hat, but not before revealing his grand scheme: to lure Batman into action via meaningless crimes (the checkbook theft being but the first), gather minutiae on him, and use those minutiae to deduce his secret identity. In following days, Bookworm attacks a matchbook collection and a police-manual delivery van, escaping the Dynamic Duo each time while observing the following:   Robin enjoys a type of vegetable juice served only at a spa from a particularly upper-class district and  Batman was educated at Londinium's Bambridge University.   From these facts, Bookworm deduces that Batman is Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred, and leads his gang to invade Wayne Manor. There, an amused Alfred immediately reveals the real Batman and Robin, who make short work of Bookworm and his cronies. As the gang is taken into custody, and their loot recovered, Batman reveals that he had deliberately planted false hints - a fact which disgusts Bookworm like none other. THE KISSING COSSACK Smarting over her beloved Egghead's latest defeat, Olga and her loyal Cossacks lure Batman and Robin to a snowy plain far beyond Gotham, where she demands Batman become her new beau. When Batman refuses, the Bessarovian exiles unleash a pack of trained bears on the Dynamic Duo.   (Meanwhile, Barbara Gordon receives a large, leatherbound tome for the library's "Arcane" section, which flashes ominous lights while her back is turned.)   Employing his rudimentary knowledge of Bessarovian (and some fish treats from his utility belt), Batman manages to tame the bears, who allow themselves to be ridden back to Olga's hideout. There, the Dynamic Duo handily defeat and apprehend Olga and her Cossacks - but not before the self-proclaimed Queen steals a kiss from Batman's lips.