Bat-Hound Week; Day 2: Our Four Footed Wonder Prevails!

(See this post before viewing the current one you're on)

So where did we leave off? *Checks*. Oh yeah! Batman and Robin in the clutches of villainy, desperately trying to contact ACE, THE BAT-HOUND to rescue them!

So what is it they're constructing to contact Bat-Hound? What else but a Bat-Signal!

Dang this issue had some cool imagery. 10/10 On Sheldon Moldoff's art.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand our Four Footed Ally comes to the rescue! Except dogs don't have feet.

"Yup, here's a photograph I happened to take in case anyone asked about that!". And you say Modern Batman is paranoid and has too many contingency plans. 50's Batman had contingency plans in just in case you asked him a question.

I was so glad when those thugs got what was coming to them. Knocking dogs out with barrels of ink isn't right. I savored that one panel of beating they got.

This post wasn't as long as yesterday's but this is only the beginning! We still have a few days of Bat-Hound ahead of us!

Tomorrow: Can Bat-Hound defeat his opposite?! He will have to come out of retirement to save Gotham from rising crime rates. But it will all come down to the Four Footed Detective battling with the Canine Crook! Or as we know them;

Ace The Bat-hound VS Whitey The Thief Dog!

Well, my ride's he-

Oh! My mistake, they're almost here. They have to pick up Ace first.

Alright they got him. Well, my ride's he-

What's that Batman? You have to visit Aunt Agatha?!

So that's why Robin's looking angry. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Alright, Aunt Agatha has been visited! Are you guys almost here yet?

At last! You guys took forever, leaving me waiting on this curb like that.

Well, my ride's here:

See you tomorrow on Bat-Hound Week; Day 4!

Bat-Hound Week Day 1: A Swimming Pooch

At long last, welcome to Bat-Hound week! A week of dedicated to the four footed wonder, Ace The Bat-Hound! (Partially inspired by Absorbascons Penny Plunderer Week & Bully say's: comics oughta fun's 365 days with Alfred Pennyworth)

Let me clarify this before we begin:

Bat-Hound is probably the coolest dog. You don't quite know him well enough yet, but you will. So here we go, lets meet Bat-Hound.

Onto Batman #92 by Bill Finger and (checks online) Sheldon Moldoff.

See? Four Footed Wonder! They should have stuck with that nick name in my opinion.

So as always, the narrator takes us back to the day before to explain how we get to the events in the opening:

Yeah Batman! What are you thinking! He could have rabies or turn rabid when he comes to.

So when Batman and Robin get home, Ace starts feeling, um, perkier, and they decide it's time to start running an ad in the paper looking for them. Then they decide to leave him all alone in the cave, a brilliant idea, until Ace does otherwise and chases the Batmobile.

I spotted Bowers sneaking in there, and called in an alarm! I didn't arrest him or anything because I figured i'd wait 20 minutes for you guys hoping he was going to take his time! I'm such a good cop!"

So they answer a robbery call from a very apathetic cop, when Robin decides it would be a good idea to bring the dog in. I mean he is 12-13, so his logic isn't always on top, but really kid. Animal endangerment is a thing. It's a good thing that Ace meets all of their high expectations, because they suck at dog training.

Meanwhile inside, everyone nearly gets killed by a gigantic clown prop if it weren't for plot Ace moving out of the way sensing danger.

Oh no! they'll bust my robbery of this, um, Circus warehouse! Drat! I better commit murder so they can't foil my plans of , um, terrorizing Gotham with jolly clown props! HAHAHA!"

Ace nabs whats-his-face and they decide the pup isn't so useless after all. More useful than the cop anyways. So Batman the criminal calls him the first thing that came to his mind, and thus dubbing him as the "Bat-Hound".

When they got home, they received a tip of where the master was leading them to John Wilker's cottage.

The lamp still being on has to be an error. No light bulb in the 1950's lasts 3 days.

They find the place looking like a college kid's dorm room, and discover Wilker works for an engraving company.

Following their lead, they check into the Gotham Printing And Engraving Company to see if Wilker happened to trash his house, throw his dog in the river, and go to work for three days straight.

Not at work either! I knew something was fishy about his house's condition and his dog drowning in a river! So this leads me to conclude..."

So it turns out that Wilker was most likely kidnapped, though they don't say anything to his boss who he has probably worked with for 20 years, and leave.

Back in the Cave, they decide to use Ace to track down Wilker, but then try to leave him again despite what Batman just said.

"Criminals Beware... Bat-Hound is coming!"

Actually, Bat-Hound is way ahead of them, already racing to Gotham to fight scum. So they pick him up in the Batmobile and are off.

That's actually pretty cool.

So in the office of Commissioner Jim Gordon, Batman and Robin receive separate reports of stolen paper and a missing 4 year old. Robin and Bat-Hound go after the kid, and Batman decides to follow the lead of the paper.

Why paper you ask? Robin wonders about Batman interests also:

"But stolen paper isn't important enough to..."

"Don't question me Robin."

"Yes Boss."

So Robin and Bat-Hound go to see what Batman's up to:

"Unless they're the same men who stunned him and abducted his master, John Wilker! If my theory is right, they'll-." You can stop right there Batman. That's enough World's Greatest Accidental Detective for one day.

So they follow more leads (if you can call it that) to the ink factory and Bat-Hound jumps out and rushes ahead to meet his master.

The criminals spot Bat-Hound and promptly knock him out with a barrel of ink.

Next they use Wilker as a hostage and take Batman and Robin captive while they leave to their hideout.

I gotta say, seeing Bat-Hound take a hit like that made me feel bad. He didn't deserve that, you criminal scum.

So when alone, Batman and Robin begin planning their escape, but decide they need Bat-Hound's help. Batman begins constructing a way to contact Bat-Hound in his head and instructs Robin how they will do it.

Which is where I'm leaving off! What are Batman and Robin constructing? Will they be able to contact Bat-Hound? Is Bat-Hound alright? Will they be able to save John Wilker? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Same Bat-Time,

Same Bat-Blog!

I bet i'm the first blogger to use that line.

Well, my ride's here. See you tomorro-
Ace, Wait up!

Oh, and happy birthday to me.

Batman Jones ACTUAL Debut, The Batman Fan-Club, & Bat-Hound Week; Preview

Oh boy do I have a treat for you guys today. I was reading Batman #92 again in preparation for BAT-HOUND WEEK (more on that later) when I found an easter egg. You all remember Batman Jones from Batman #108, right?

Who could forget! Hold your teeth. I have found an appearance of Batman Jones that predates Batman #108 in Batman #92.

Before we dive in, I want to credit this all to Bill Finger, who's sheer genius allowed for this to happen.

Now! In Batman #92 our first story is about Batman receiving too much fan mail. Boy do I know a thing or two about that.

"My long lost egyptian half cousin is dyeing, and needs me to claim his inheritance! Oh wait i'm already rich."

I don't want to get into the entire story, so it's easier if you just read the first 2 pages:

ANY Batman comic that has the Gotham Gazette can receive a score of no less than 6/10 in my book. So any ways, they go sorting through some interesting lettters:

Wow lady. No need to call the police. Just send Batman mail! Which he is clearly so famous for answering. It's been what, at least 3 days since you sent that letter? Sorry lady, your kid is probably fish food by now.

So after the last letter, Batman saves the kid and it becomes news that Batman reads his mail. And would you know it, people all over the world decide to write in:

According to Google Translate: Drat Arga Na Batman = Thread Price of Batman (indonesian to english)

The letters continue:

But I bet you're all wondering how Batman Jones ties into this. Well, here it is. Batman reads this one letter that stuck out like a sore thumb to any golden age geek:

"..."

You can literally see the moment Batman knew his fan club is more extreme than any other. Not MLP, Superman, Spiderman, Marvel, or anything. The Batman fan club is NOT to be trifled with.

But it's time to point out the sheer genius of this moment. This comic issue took place in the first story in Batman #92. Batman Jones debuted in Batman #108. Except Batman #108 came out in 1957, while this issue came out in 1955.

That means Bill Finger wrote this little Easter Egg in 2 years before it was even a thing. No one ever noticed (except me). THAT is how you write comics, by developing a world around it. Grant Morrison would be drooling at this find, although so was I.

This does introduce a continuity flaw though, because Batman saved infant Batman Jones before Dick was Robin. Here, the letter refers to him just being born. Then later in Batman #108, Batman Jones is at least 8. that would make Robin 20 in that issue, when he is only about 14. But this was written in 2 years before #109, so my guess is it's just an unsolved error.

Oh yeah, and Batman gets a Giant Letter too:

There is no description to explain the shock that is racing through their minds. they try to find reason but there is none in a world of World Wide Batman Clubs and Giant letters.

...Dear God. Excuse my breaking of a commandment but what do you say about something that leaves Batman himself speechless? They just look at each other for something, anything, to explain what in the **** is going on. There is none. No explanation.

The Batman Fan-Club is NOT to be trifled with.

And then the final thing to make Batman lose it:

"That's too much!" Really? I that's pretty normal so far compared to what you've seen.

I might as well show you how it ends:

So that's that, Batman #92. The Batman Jones moment for my really helps defines Bill Finger's work, which is so uncredited and unrealized. I'm not one of the guys who say that Bob Kane stole Batman and took the credit, but I think it's actually a fair 50/50 on who created what.

Well, my ride's here:

Actually they seem to be stuck in traffic:

So in the meantime, a preview of Bat-Hound Week!:

Also from Batman #92! What an epic and historic issue!

What mysterious enthralling story details Ace the Bat-Hound's past? Find out next time on Batman Archives! Join us Sunday for Bat-Hound Week; Day 1: A Swimming Pooch!

Still in traffic...

Almost here...

Well, my ride's here (finally):

See you on Sunday for Bat-Hound Week!