Detective Comics #50
February 27, 1941
"The Case of the Three Devils"
There are times when you can understand why Batman might engage violently with a person, but you have to wonder about this one. The story opens with Batman and Robin engaging with three men dressed in devilish looking acrobatic outfits. Now, there is nothing in the opening panel or in the description to suggest that the men are trouble other than they are on a rooftop dressed the way they are at night. This is one of those instances where it might have been nice to either see the men engaged in something more illegal or see them react violently to the approach of Batman and Robin. But the story opens with them in mid-conflict.
And the three manage to get away from the Dynamic Duo where they lead them on a chase across the rooftops of Gotham. It's interesting also that Robin never comments on the acrobatic skills of the three as he himself was an acrobat before joining Batman. The three prove to be a menace as they engage in a series of crimes that even has the police baffled.
The three always steal jewels which gets Bruce thinking - who do they sell the jewels off to? There are two fences who would handle such a high volume of content so ther Duo stake out their hideouts. Robin also brings along his newly developed rocket skates as he feels he will need them. (He went from a roadster to rocket powered skates?)
It pays off eventually as they see the three enter one of the establishments. They descend on them and a fight breaks out. One of them pulls out a gun and shoots, just missing Batman, but he manages to stun himself in his dodge. Knowing the gun sound will attract the police, they escape with Robin following them with his rocket skates.
Meanwhile, back at the fence's place, Batman comes around to find himself at the end of a police officer's gun. But this man feels Batman, while unorthodox in his ways, is a force for good. He's willing to let Batman go, but it has to look good. He lets Batman slug him, knocking him out.
Robin follows the three into an abandoned train station where he is knocked out. They leave him on the tracks for the approaching train to run over, but he manages to avoid a crushing death. The next night, the two return to the station and find a secret alcove where the three hide out. They go through their things and learn the truth of the three former circus performers (and again, no reaction from Robin other than "that's how they do what they do so well") and are planning a big heist at a jewelry exchange atop the Capital State Building.
