Batman #8 - Story 1
October 10, 1941
"Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make"
The story opens with the capture by Batman of Big Mike Russo who is quickly tried and sentenced to 20 years in prison and he takes it all very calmly. And for a moment, this is seeming a little familiar. The warden, Higgins, is captured as he makes his way to the prison. An impersonator takes his place and along with some hand picked guards, they quickly take over the prison.
And as the story continues, my hunch that it seems familiar pays off. Mike uses the prison as a base of operations to launch a crime wave. After each criminal act, his boys would take a boat back to the prison island. Batman interrupts one such crime where the criminals committed their crime under the guise of movie producers.
They manage to escape after Batman tries to pursue them, but he recognizes one as a murderer awaiting execution at the prison. We get our first scene of Batman visiting Gordon to relate what has happened. Gordon finds the story hard to believe so he and Batman go to the prison to check it out. There, Batman finds the man he thought he saw behind bars. He also sees Mike Russo and the non-prison issued shoes he's wearing.
He asks Gordon to get him into the prison under guise as a criminal. The fake warden has to go through the motions of "welcoming" him, but Batman acts rude and finds himself getting the attention of Mike who brings him in on the next heist. Batman makes contact with Robin by sending a note scribbled on a baseball over the prison wall.
That night, Batman goes out with the others, but his cover is blown when his makeup he used for the disguise starts to melt. Robin quickly joins him, but the two are captured and brought back to the prison. Mike orders Batman to die by the gas chamber as the prison has no electric chair.
Batman complains of an upset stomach and Robin, who was forced to fix his last meal, brings him "Burpo" tablets. Batman is then led to the gas chamber where he appears to die, but he comes to life as they remove the body. He and Robin round up Mike and the gang. Turns out the gas pellets for the death sentence were just Burpo tablets Robin palmed and switched before the execution could take place.
