chadwilliam and shaxper , I don't think it's a coincidence that Krypto and Ace appeared when they did, as both "Lassie" and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" premiered as TV shows in the fall of 1954.

Lassie won the Emmy for "Best Children's Program" in '55 and '56 and finished first in its time slot (7pm Sundays) every year of its 17-year run.

Rinny (my preferred pooch) finished 23rd in the Nielsens in 1954-'55, and was ABC's second-highest rated program, trailing only Disneyland.

So the DC dogs had sniffed out a good thing.

BTW, another bit of evidence that Batman didn't copy Superman back then is that Batwoman premiered a full three years before Supergirl and was a key member of the "Batman Family," with five appearances over three titles before Supergirl burst from her rocket in Action 252.

But...but...now I desperately want to read that story!




To be fair, that's what the original inspiration for the Bat Signal was:


from The Bat (1926)

Detective Comics #220 (June 1955)



"The Second "Batman and Robin" Team!"

Script: Bill Finger
Pencils: Dick Sprang
Inks: Charles Paris
Colors: ?
Letters: ?

Grade: B

The GCD questions whether or not Finger wrote this one, but there is no doubt in my mind. It makes references to past Finger stories (something he has been doing a lot of, as of late):




introduces fun new characters, teasing that they may appear again (just as Finger did just last issue with Ace, The Bathound):




It finds unusual ways to circumvent the Comics Code while actually making combat a tad more brutal (again, he did this with Ace just last issue):




and it has Finger's distinct idealism behind it, too:




There's a heart and warmth to this story; something Edmund Hamilton never bothers to provide in his scripts, which feel far more by the numbers. Similarly, this is one of several reasons I prefer Dick Sprang to Sheldon Moldoff. Look at the amount of heart Sprang lends to a panel like this one:



turning what could have been a tacky team-up into something that feels a little meaningful.


While we're on the subject of Moldoff and Sprang, how the hell are these two BOTH supposed to be ghosting for Bob Kane when they draw the Batmobile completely differently?

Moldoff (last issue):




Sprang (this issue):




For what it's worth, I like Moldoff's design better, but he never manages to center the cockpit bubble correctly.


As stories go, this one isn't brilliant, but it is clever. With all the travelling to the past that Batman and Robin have been doing, wouldn't someone take notice? And, as a nice contrast to Finger's Brane Taylor (the Batman from the 31st Century), why not a Batman and Robin team from the past?



Of course, it's a little odd to have folks from 1255 speaking Modern English, and in Elizabethan high court dialect, no less:




This little misunderstanding proves particularly endearing:



and Finger has way too much fun bringing medieval weapons into the climactic battle



even if it makes no sense that two random kids from 1255 would know how to build them...and build them in a matter of minutes!


All in all, it's a fun story, though, and Finger and Sprang give it enough heart to be able to forgive it its many failings. They're an incredible team for this era, and Hamilton and Moldoff could learn a thing or two from them.



Important Details:

1. 1st appearance of the Batman and Robin from 1255 AD

2. Interesting that Finger chooses for them to be an older and younger brother, suggesting that this is how we should view Batman and Robin as well. I'd always seen them more as father and son, myself.

3. The Batplane can now convert into a submarine, complete with "ejector-tubes":





Minor Details:

1. It may seem like a cheat, but Roger Bacon's method of sending his Batman and Robin into the future is one echoed in my favorite time travel novel, Jack Finney's Time and Again:

shaxper , going in reverse...

1. "Time and Time Again" is indeed as good a time travel book as there is. Charming, clever, and believable.

2. I guess being propelled from the sea bottom through "ejector-tubes" negates any effects of the bends.

3. What's with the medieval B and R sharing - - is it a hospital bed? Did Bacon see those infamous panels from that issue when Bruce and Dick were bunk-buddies?

4. I love Finger's nods to continuity and his typical concern with authenticity, like the weaponry, especuially the mantelet. See, kids? Learning history can be fun! Though that may perhaps be outweighed by the use of the passive voice: "There come into existence..." Well done, Mr. Finger.

5. As usual, Shax, an entertaining review. Comics history can be fun!

Joking aside, how much of the actual "Seduction of The Innocent" is dedicated to superheroes? I know that the famous Bruce and Dick in the bed together panel is one of the most cited pages from the book, but weren't Wertham's targets primarily horror and crime comics?

That story in Detective #220 is pure uncut 1950s comic book crack!

I’m sure it’s summarized in Fleischer’s Batman Encyclopedia, but I don’t remember reading about it. (Which makes me think I should make it a project to read the Batman Encyclopedia from cover to cover.)

Dick Sprang is my favorite Batman artist. But still I love Lew Sayre Schwartz and especially Sheldon Moldoff. Honestly, I get the idea that Moldoff was parodying Kane’s style, and he got away with making fun of Kane because Kane was so bad that the parody was better than what was being parodied, and nobody really noticed.

Interesting theory. However, as Bob Kane hadn't penciled a Batman story in over six years by this point, I have to wonder who would have even gotten the joke.