Batman Newspaper Strip - Story 1
(Dan Turk's Scam)
November 1, 1943 - January 8, 1944
We will handle these strips in terms of complete story and not installments. So they will pepper the blog from time to time. Since this is the first of the several comic strips, we will be dealing with the years 43-46. I am trying to get the strips from one newspaper - The Windsor Star of Canada. I'm going with this one because the prints are clear, but also because it is one of the few papers in North America that titles each daily strip. It's a nice little touch. You can find the complete run of the story in the gallery below.
The first story appears to not feature any of our Rogue's Gallery, but is a straight up gangster story as Batman and Robin are called in when the Commissioner goes missing after a visit to the state pen. I have to admit, I like this as while Batman does work with the police in the comics, at this point, he still comes across as a loner. Here, he is leading the charge in trying to find and rescue Gordon.
The police and Batman manage to corner the escapee on the waterfront, but his gang forces an exchange with him and Gordon as they escape by boat. But now that they have Gordon free, they notice Robin is missing. He snuck aboard the boat and as the second week of strips ended, he found himself caught and fighting off the gang on the boat. As I read this, I had to wonder if this story would wind up having more panels than the average story in Batman or Detective Comics. So far, we're at 46 panels as most strips had four panels.
The gang is able to get the boat to a pier before the police can catch them, so they take Robin to an abandoned bakery where a giant oven door is the entrance to their hideout. And we're introduced to one of the gang with the weirdest name - Creepy. The leader of the gang is counting on Robin using his belt radio to contact Batman, which he does. But before Batman gets that signal, he faces the press with questions about how he is going to handle this. This is definitely different than what we see in the comic books. In fact, this is very 66 Batman. Batman also has to deal with loudmouth private eye Dan Tack who vows to beat Batman to the punch in nailing the gang. And according to the members of the press, he's got the cred to pull it off.
By the time one gets to the fourth week of the strip, more newspapers have signed on to carry it. So, one strip at the start of the week very quickly and very efficiently brings us up to speed as Robin explains to Batman where he is and how he got there. And then Batman proceeds to the abandoned factory where he manages to alert the gang of his presence by tripping an electric eye. He quickly catches his mistake and so he doubles back to the roof and sneaks in another way.
Batman gets inside and fights off Blackie's gang. At one point, the escaped convict, Dunphy comes out and has Batman dead to rights with his gun. But Blackie seems to intentionally trip, causing Dunphy not to shoot as Blackie gets in the way. But Blackie has other ideas as he knocks Batman out.
Blackie sends Dunphy back to his hiding room while he allows his men to kill the Dynamic Duo. But at the last moment, they are saved by the arrival of Dan Tack who got a tip from a stoolie that Dunphy was hiding at the bakery. They capture Dunphy, but Batman wants to round up Blackie and his men.
With Dunphy in custody, it's just a matter of Batman, Robin and Tack taking their bows. As they take questions from the press, we see there is more to Tack than we first realize as he ruminates about not donating part of his reward money to charity in Batman's name as he said he would. Later, he reveals that he and Blackie are one in the same. It's a scam where he springs a gangster for a certain sum as Blackie, but then captures him for the reward as Tack. We saw a similar con by the Penguin back in Detective Comics #59 where he would capture crooks for the reward and then spring them. But by the end of the week of strips, Robin and Batman begin to wonder how oddly the whole caper played out as Blackie appeared to save Batman from being killed by Dunphy.
It's interesting that at this point in the story, it's Christmas week in 1943. The entire week is spent with Batman and Robin working out Blackie's scheme as they return to the bakery and find that there are no bullet holes in the walls where Dunphy shot at Batman. Meanwhile, the week ends with Blackie engaging in another prison escape. There was no strip on Christmas Day as many newspapers didn't print an edition.
1943 ends with Batman in on Dan Tack/Blackie's scheme. But Blackie has freed another dangerous criminal, Freddie Frisco. Batman wants to find the hideout where Frisco is staying. So when he meets Dan Tack who's on the case, he panics him by telling him he has a tip on the hideout. He and Robin then follow Tack in the Batplane.
The story ends as Batman lowers himself from the Batplane as he takes out Tack as the detective approaches the hideout. Batman disguises himself as Blackie and enters the abandoned barn. The problem is, Blackie's men double cross him when they learn that Frisco Fred has $100,000 that he is willing to share when they spill the beans on the caper. It becomes this quick comedy of identity errors as Tack gets free and surprises everyone and Robin has to jump in and make it look like Tack is Batman. Together, Batman and Robin are able to round up the gang and shut the scam down.
This was a good story to start Batman's newspaper strip run as it's got some detective work, gangsters, and proper scheme that Batman has to work out. What's next? There's a Sunday strip to cover as well, Citizens!
