Episode 12: February 1940

Welcome to episode 12 of Legends of the Batman, the show covering everything Batman — from the beginning! The show’s premise is a simple one. Each episode, we cover a month of Batman, be it comic books, television, movies, whatever, starting with his first appearance in 1939.

This episode, your hosts Michael Bradley and Michael Kaiser take on DETECTIVE COMICS #37 where Batman takes a left when he should have went right, and ends up cowl deep in a foreign spy plot to frame the United States and start an international crisis. Prepare for hijinks and one ticked-off Batman.

Things We Learned:

• Batman’s specially built high-powered auto does not include GPS.
• Joking with a guy who’s been stabbed by a hot poker isn’t cool.
• Bruce Wayne likes sugar by the pound.
• Batman can see in the dark, just like real bats (which can’t).
• Elias Turg is really…who cares?

Images from Coverage:

Reference Links:

• Michael K. reminisced about a novel he read as a kid consisting of Batman short stories, and after some research, we’re pretty sure he was referring to THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF BATMAN anthology. Couldn’t find any references to a guy with heads for feet, but the story “Subway Jack” by Joe Lansdale involves Batman going up against a demon from another world, so maybe that’s what he’s thinking of (or he just has a bad memory).
• Here’s a look at the climactic scene from “Batman Forever” which Michael B. was reminded of during a scene from this episode’s story.
• The official web site of Batman artist Jerry Robinson.

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