Batman #125

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE SECRET LIFE OF BAT-HOUND When John Wilker takes a job which will keep him traveling constantly, he asks Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson to keep his dog Ace permanently, not knowing his dog is secretly the Bat-Hound. Soon after, Batman and Robin go on a mission against Mr. Midas, a masked criminal whose gang specializes in gold robberies. When he steals a solid gold car at an exhibition and scatters gold coins in his wake, pedestrians rush into the street and obstruct the Batmobile. Detective work leads Batman and Robin to Midas's hideout, an abandoned gold mine, but the villain traps them there with a cave-in after telling them he is about to "pull the Jason job!" Batman is able to signal Bat-Hound back at Wayne Manor via radio signal from Batman's boot to a receiver in Ace's collar. Ace, as trained, puts his head through a harness holding the Bat-Hound mask, summons Kathy Kane as Batwoman, and leads her to the source of the signal, where Batwoman digs out the heroes with a steam shovel. Batman and Batwoman deduce that "the Jason job" refers to a movie nearby being made of "Jason and the Golden Fleece," with a fleece made of real gold. When the four crime-fighters arrive, Batman, Batwoman and Robin defeat the gang, while Midas makes a break for it in his car. Bat-Hound gives chase, corners Midas at an airport, keeps him from reaching a plane, and holds him until Batman can arrive and kayo the master thief. Later, Bat-Hound receives a hug from Batwoman as his two masters look on, grinning. THE LAST DAYS OF BATMAN Batman and Robin are sent back to 17th century Venice to successfully verify that a painting reputedly done by the artist Verillo was indeed his work, and that museum curator John Kirk has not erred in purchasing it. But, when the time comes for their return to the present, Carter Nichol's time machine is struck by a bolt of heat lighting. Batman is returned to his time of departure plus one hour, but Robin is shot forward in time three days, and picks up a newspaper whose headline tells of Batman's death falling from a TV tower in Bay City while saving Robin from a villain named El Bolo. Desperately, Robin realizes that he may yet have a chance to save his mentor, if he can change history when he returns to the present. Nichols's machine, once repaired, retrieves Robin from the future, but he refuses to tell Batman about the headline, realizing his guardian would not be stopped from sacrificing his life for Robin. The heroes do encounter El Bolo twice, resulting in the bolo-wielding villain's escape each time. But, when Robin, acting on his own, is trapped by El Bolo on his TV-tower hideout in Bay City, a Batman-costumed figure swings toward them--and falls after his Bat-Rope is cut in two by El Bolo's bladed bolo. A reporter, seeing the fall, hurries to call in the story of Batman's apparent demise. But, seconds later, the real Batman swings onto the TV tower, having distracted El Bolo by a costumed dummy, and apprehends the villain with a bolo of his own. Robin reveals all to Batman, and they pass by a newsboy later who holds the erroneous report of Batman's death, more than slightly exaggerated. KING BATMAN THE FIRST Batman and Robin, on the trail of a criminal named Gurney, wind their way through underground caverns until they encounter a "time warp" that places them in another dimension (as it already has Gurney). Soon after, they find themselves in an athletic arena, where they overhear a crooked athlete named Rakk fixing a competition to ensure him victory. Batman enters the lists against Rakk and defeats him in two alien sports. Then, startling enough, he is unmasked and crowed king of Plaxius, the alien world--the objective of the competition. But Gurney, who has watched the contest, informs Rakk of their alien nature, and Rakk, declaring same to the officials, has Batman and Robin jailed on grounds of illegal alien competition. The heroes are freed from imprisonment by Selina, fiance of Rakk's rival, Vol, who has been abducted by Rakk. Batman, Robin, and Selina track Vol to Rakk's satellite castle, where they smash his defenses with a boulder taken from the weak gravity of Plaxius's moon, and Batman defeats Rakk in personal combat. They return with Gurney to Earth knowing that Gurney has recognized Batman's unmasked face during the coronation ceremony. But, when they return through the warp, neither Batman, Robin, nor Gurney can remember anything of their adventure, and Batman's identity remains secret.