Detective Comics #357

Issue Details

Synopsis

BRUCE WAYNE UNMASKS BATMAN! When Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are invited to appear on the William B. Williams show, they're shocked to find that the other guests to appear are Batman and Robin. The show gets underway as the group discusses various aspects of crime. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are aware they are talking with imposters but they play along. Unbeknownst to them, the show is being watched by a couple of would be thugs named Beefy and Boo Boo. They both aspire to be included in criminal gang activity but feel left out because they tend to gum up their jobs. They then get an idea to lift their reputation by heading to the tv studio and kidnapping Batman and Robin. They fill the studio with gas which renders everyone unconscious. They apprehend the dynamic duo and successfully unmask them. The only problem is that they have no idea who they are since they carry no identification. They decide to wait until they regain consciousness and then they follow the pair. They discover that they are Tom Wiley and Stewart Hall, both students at Gotham State University. They had agreed to impersonate Batman and Robin for the show but Boo Boo and Beefy are under the impression that they have discovered the identities of the real caped crusaders. The bungling thugs report their activity to their crime boss who becomes upset at the lost opportunity to rub out the caped crime fighters. The thug gang heads to Gotham University to eliminate the false Batman and Robin but they are stopped by the real dynamic duo. They apprehend the main crime boss known as Frankie and capture the entire gang. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson later appear on the William B. Williams show once more where the fake Batman and Robin unmask themselves and reveal their identities. TRAGEDY OF THE TOO-LUCKY THIEF! Ralph Dibney is attending the horse races at Hollyvale race track with his wife Sue. They then notice a troubled man by the name of Joey Cutler who seems upset at his uncanny winning streak. Ralph follows the man to the parking lot where he is accosted by a group of thugs demanding a payment for a two thousand dollar gambling debt. Dibney subdues the thug gang as elongated man. Cutler then explains that his horoscope foretold a lucky streak for him for the day. It also foretold that something fatal would occur to him at the end of the day. He was at the racetrack trying to discredit the horoscope but everything came to pass so far. Dibney then offers to protect Cutler to prevent anything happening to him. He tells Cutler he will be at his house at 10pm. Hours later Judge Albert Tolliver is turning off his alarm clock at about 10 pm. He is about to watch his favorite tv show, the Kenny Day show when he is interrupted by a masked intruder. The intruder announces that he is after the judges rare stamp collection. The judge struggles with the thief and unmasks him and gazes at his face. Judge Tolliver recognizes the thief as someone he sentenced years before for robbery. The judge is knocked out and the thief leaves thinking that he has a perfect alibi and won’t be caught. A few hours later, Cutler is arrested by police. He is charged with stealing the judges stamp collection but supposedly he was with Elongated man during the robbery. Cutler is confident that he will be out on bail in an hour with his full proof alibi. Dibney then starts to consider how Cutler might have pulled off the robbery. He reasons that Cutler sneaked into the judges house before the robbery and adjusted the clocks an hour ahead. When the judge woke up he thought it was 10 rather than 9 o’clock. Dibney decides that the best way to get to the bottom is to find the stolen stamps. He discovers the stamps in a mailbox along with a mask that was used in the robbery. Dibney informs the police that Cutlers fingerprints will be found on the mask proving that he was responsible for the robbery. Later, Dibney explains to his wife that Cutler had bought tickets for every horse in the race which would explain his incredible winning streak. He did this to gain Dibneys attention and use him for his alibi after the robbery.