Detective Comics #324

Issue Details

Synopsis

MENACE OF THE ROBOT BRAIN! A criminal who can control minds by means of a gimmicked camera has been using other people to commit his crimes. When the crime spree involves a friend of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, Batman and Robin investigate and they find a mysterious building shaped as a robot head hidden in the forest. As they break inside, they fall into a deathtrap from which they are only barely able to escape. They then confront the criminal who tries to escape, but Robin prevents him from going away using his own gimmicked camera and forcing the crook to surrender. THE BEAST WHO WAS J’ONN J’ONZZ A team of archaeologists unearth a cavern in which a purple monster sleeps in suspended animation. A lightning bolt revives the monster, and it goes on a rampage outside Middletown. J'onn J'onzz and Zook are alerted, but find that J'onzz's Martian powers are not enough to defeat the beast. J'onzz learns from a cave inscription that the monster was created by the sorcerer Marlon to wreak havoc on his enemies, and that one of three beasts depicted on the cavern wall has the power to defeat it. He transforms himself into a cyclops beast that can shoot lasers from its eye, but this fails to defeat the rampaging creature. Next he becomes a creature that breathes fire, which not only fails to stop the destructive monster but also traps J'onn in that form because the very fire it breathes cancels out his Martian shapeshifting powers. Eventually he manages to communicate to Zook to use his ice powers to put out the fire, enabling J'onn to change into a rubbery "blubber beast" that absorbs the attacking monster's force with no damage until it wears itself out. J'onn places the defeated monster at the bottom of the ocean where it won't be awakened again.