The 16th appearance of The Batman took place in the June 1940 (Summer) issue of Batman issue 2. This is the second issue of Batman’s solo series. This issue is significant in that it features the return of The Joker and Cat Woman (The Cat)!
I imagine in the summer of 1940 young kids were greatly fascinated with castles the same way other generations were fascinated with cowboys and Indians or dinosaurs because most Batman issues, whether it has anything to do with the story or not, features a castle. The opening panel features The Joker menacingly peering over a castle.
Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson discover that The Joker has lived following their first encounter. So, Batman hatches a plot… I kid you not… to kidnap The Joker and have his brain altered so he can be a “valuable citizen”. Yeah, Batman’s moral compass still needs a little adjusting because, it just so happens that a rival mob has the same plan, only without the brain surgery part, they want to kidnap The Joker so he can lead their gang.
So, the race is on to see who gets to The Joker first. The good guys (I guess) or the mob.
We are led to believe that Batman has truly gone off the rails as he arrives at the hospital and knocks out a policeman guarding The Joker and kicks two off of a ladder to their deaths. Police give chase to The Batman cornering him in a barn where he kills another policeman with a pitchfork and is then shot and killed. Of course, we find out this wasn’t the real Batman but a decoy.
The real Batman has tracked down The Cat (Cat Woman) to enlist her help in his plan. Cat Woman plays an unnecessary role in this story, and it seems like the only reason she is here is to make her a recurring character.
The Joker has been successfully kidnapped by the mob but refuses to lead them. For some unknown reason, The Joker lives in a castle where Cat Woman tries to steal a jewel that was previously stolen by The Joker and gets caught.
However, Batman and Robin arrive but fail to capture The Joker when Robin gets knocked out by a club. While escaping The Joker’s castle, Cat Woman dives off the rope ladder leading to Batman’s Bat-coper/plane and escapes herself. There is no real resolution to the story as both The Joker and Cat Woman get away.
The second story in Batman issue 2 is a Jeckel and Hyde type story where a mild-mannered man named Mr. Lamb falls and hits his head while reading a book called “The Crime Master”. Now, whenever darkness comes, Mr. Lamb transforms into the evil Mr. Wolf and carries out assaults and other criminal activity. When he wakes up as Mr. Lamb he has no idea what his alter ego has done.
At one point, a mob lead by Mr. Wolf shoots Batman and Robin believes him to have been killed and goes berserk, beating up multiple members of the gang.
But Batman lives and they return to Bruce Wayne’s home (there is no Batcave yet, nor Wayne Manor either) and there Dick Grayson performs surgery (that’s the wrong shoulder there Dick) and Bruce Wayne makes a full recovery.
Sadly for Mr. Lamb, Batman pushes him down a set of stairs knocking him back to normal… and also breaking his neck and killing him. Add one more to Batman’s kill count.
The next story in this issue features a new heavy called Clubfoot who knocks out Batman in their first meeting.
Another Scooby-Doo type adventure takes place where the identity of Clubfoot must be discovered leading to a very Scooby-Doo unmaking scene. Unlike Mr. Lamb in the previous story, at least Clubfoot makes it through the story alive.
Finally, and I truly apologize for this one. Batman is randomly wandering on top of a train, as one does, I guess, when he encounters African Pygmies who begin shooting arrows at him.
We find out that the African Pygmies were trying to recapture a giant who had been taken by a Professor from Africa to study. He is essentially Andre the Giant. Anyway, the mob (yes, the mob again) manages to take control of the Giant and hypnotize him. When the Giant is normal, he is kind and gentle and when under the mind control of the mob he is mean and violent.
On one of the giant’s rampages, Robin bops him in the head with his slingshot and even references the Biblical David and Goliath.
Even though the giant is under mind control and ordinarily calm and docile, Batman kills him anyway by yanking him off a circus scaffold where the giant falls onto his head and dies. Another kill count added for the Batman. Over the course of 16 appearances, Batman has now killed 16 people.
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The Batman Timeline and Chronology:
03-30-1939: 1st Appearance of The Batman & Commissioner Gordon. Detective Comics issue 27.
06-1939: Batman swings from building to building with a rope for the first time. Detective Comics issue 28.
07-1939: The Utility Belt is used for the first time.
09-1939: Fiancée Julie Madison is introduced. First Bat-Copter / Bat-Plane
10-1939: Batman uses a gun to kill The Monk.
11-1939: Batman kills Dr. Kruger by causing his plane to crash after knocking him out with gas. Origin of Batman.
12-1939: Batman is depicted holding a smoking gun. Commissioner Gordon returns.
02-1940: First appearance of Prof. Hugo Strange.
04-1940: First appearance of Robin (Dick Grayson). Robin kills a mobster.
04-1940: First appearance of the Joker and Catwoman (AKA: The Cat).
06-1940: First appearance of Clayface.
Batman Kill Count: 16
Robin Kill Count: 1
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