Detective Comics #70

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE MAN WHO COULD READ MINDS One night, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson attend to the show of Carlo, the man who can read minds. When the show is over, Bruce reveals Carlo's secret trick to Dick and they go home. That night, Carlo is driving his car on a rainy road and the vehicle starts spinning out of control until he crashes against a billboard. Carlo is rescued and taken to a hospital, where he is saved by a complex surgery. When Carlo recovers from surgery, he realizes that he is now really able to read minds. Using his newfound powers for crime, Carlo attracted the attention of Batman and Robin, who tried to stop him, but when they realized that Carlo knew their secret identities, the duo hesitate and allow him to escape. At Wayne Manor, the dynamic duo deduce the identity of the new criminal and the place where he would strike next. Knowing that their actions might lead to the reveal of their secret identities, Batman and Robin prepare for what could possibly be their last adventure. Using the Batplane, the dynamic duo reach Miser's Island, where Carlo is trying to steal Old Pete Jorgen's hidden treasure. Batman and Robin confront Carlo, but with his mind-reading powers, he is able to put them both in different traps. Batman is locked in a cellar with the walls closing in, while Robin is placed on a small bathysphere and sunk to the deep waters of the ocean. Batman manages to break free from the death trap by stopping the walls with oil and he saves Pete Jorgen using his special bat-badge. After this, Batman tries to reach for Robin, but he is confronted once more by Carlo. This time, Batman is saved by Jorgen, who shoots Carlo in the back, causing the man to fall to the water below. Batman dives to the water, finds the bathysphere where Robin is locked and saves the boy wonder. Carlo reaches the beach and with his last effort, he writes Batman's secret identity on the beach sand and then he dies. Batman creates a make-shift Bat-Signal with the lighthouse and the Coast Guard reach the island in a few minutes. When they find Carlo's body, the message he had written in the sand had been washed away by the water and Batman's secret was safe again. Batman and Robin had once again saved the day and they return home. X MARKED THE SPOT AT THE TEE THE MYSTERY OF THE MUSICAL MUGGS THE MAN WHO LOOTED LIVES WHO RUBBED OUT THE EDITOR? Three wealthy men are murdered and robbed by an unknown criminal who leaves misleading notes at the crime scenes, crediting "Keen Arrow," "Showerman," and "the Sunburned Kid" with the crimes. District Attorney Larry Jordan visits Kolossal Komics to question Editor Murray; no sooner do they step out of the room than three high-strung cartoonists (Elsom, Blake, & Angelo) start fist-fighting among themselves and accusing each other of framing them. Amidst this confusion, in another room, Editor Murray gets stabbed to death with a steel pen. Police are called in. Jordan is stymied, all four suspects (3 artists plus Murray's secretary Duke) have stories that hold up. Everyone is released. Jordan returns that night as Air Wave, with his parrot Static, and stealthily breaks into the office. A masked intruder is there, who throws a steel pen at him, misses, and flees. Air Wave knocks a giant stack of comic books down onto himself and by the time he struggles free the mystery man is gone and he finds a dead cartoonist, Elson, with an arrow in his chest and a mocking note from Keen Arrow. Also a typewriter has been stolen. Using his weird radio powers, Air Wave broadcasts a message to every typewriter in the city, warning that Air Wave is on the case. This has some amusing results in some places but more importantly it frightens the murderer fleeing with the incriminating typewriter, who blurts out panicky remarks, which Air Wave, using his unusual super powers, is able to hear and to trace to their source (at Market and Front Streets). Harnessing electrical energy from the Earth, via his sensitive radio aerial, Air Wave attains amazing speed on his electrical skates, and quickly overtakes the fleeing felon, who is quickly subdued by teamwork between Air Wave and Static the very smart parrot. The killer turns out to be Duke the secretary and the murder weapon turns out to be the typewriter which was rigged with a steel-dart-hurling spring. FURY RIDES A TAXICAB