Detective Comics #34

Issue Details

Synopsis

PERIL IN PARIS Bruce Wayne is leaving his hotel in Paris when he spots an old friend, Jed Farnol. He stops this man, but it's not Jed Farnol, in fact, the man has no face! Bruce thinks this is strange, but proceeds to his hotel. At the midtown hotel, a beautiful woman worries that she is doomed. She has received the mark of Duc D'Orterre, master of the Apaches. This woman runs outside to find a taxi, and gets into the same cab as Bruce Wayne. They are instantly attacked by a dagger thrown through the window. Bruce helps this woman escape through the traffic, and demands answers about who is trying to kill her. The woman faints when she sees the faceless man from earlier. Back in Bruce's hotel room, they revive her, and it's explained that they are siblings: Charles Maire and Karel Maire. Charles explains that they met the Duc D'Orterre at a bal masque, where the Duc fell in love with Karel. Charles interfered, and the Duc had his thugs kidnap him. They took him through the sewers to a secret laboratory where they burned away his face with a terrible ray. Charles tells Bruce that the Duc must be destroyed, because the Duc is trying to steal their fortune. Bruce Wayne promises to help, then casually leaves the room and returns as the Batman. That night, Batman enters the sewers and finds the Apaches. He is interrupted by Duc D'Orterre, who knocks him out with a knockout ray, built into his walking cane. The Duc straps Batman to a torture contraption called "the Wheel of Chance". The wheel spins so fast that Batman will either be thrown against the walls and crushed, or he'll go mad from the never-ceasing whirling. The Duc starts the wheel, but Batman breaks out of his leather bonds just by flexing his wrist muscles. Batman tries to leap off the wheel, but the Duc opens a hatch and Batman leaps into a weird garden. The garden is filled with flowers that have the faces of people! Batman worries that he is going mad. The Duc sends his henchmen to kidnap Charles and Karel. They strap Charles to the Wheel of Chance so he will reveal where their fortune is hidden. The flowers talk to Batman, and give him instructions on how to release them from this garden. Batman follows their directions back to the Wheel, and releases Charles. Charles explains that the Duc has taken to Karel to a palace in Champagne. Batman and Charles leave together in the Bat-Gyro. They spot the Duc's car on the road, and Batman descends by rope-ladder. Batman easily defends against the Ray Cane, but is unprepared when the Duc pulls out a knife. Karel kicks the Duc, making him drop his weapon. Batman and the Duc struggle while the car continues at a high speed with no driver. The car goes flying off a cliff. Batman barely manages to grab his rope ladder and rescue Karel. The Duc plummets to his death. In the aftermath, Karel begs Batman to tell them who he really is. Batman tells her that his identity must remain a secret, and bids them goodbye. THE AMBASSADOR TO BORALIA Bart Regan impersonates an American ambassador, on a transatlantic flight to Bolaria, while the real ambassador, Reynolds, travels there by cargo steamship. Over the Atlantic Ocean, Bart's airliner is attacked by two pontoon-equipped fighter planes, marked only with skull-and-crossbones insignia. The passenger plane is forced to land, on the ocean, where they also land. To save the other passengers, Bart swims over to the pirate-marked fighter planes, and trades himself for their safety. But as soon as they take off with their prisoner, the fighter planes swoop and riddle the passenger plane with bullets until it sinks. They fly to Luxor, where Regan learns that the real ambassador has also been captured. Bart then fights his way through a number of Luxorian troops, as he and the ambassador escape that building and get onto the airfield. Regan steals one of the Luxorian fighter-seaplanes and they escape to Bolaria. They persuade the Bolarian soldiers not to arrest them, and begin some high-level international negotiation with the Bolarian Government. A week later, to Luxor's chagrin, a new U.S.-Bolaria treaty has been negotiated. THE LAST TRICK THE CLEANER PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION THE SPY MYSTERY THE SECRET TREATY THE WHITE GODDESS PART 2 Bruce is marched at spearpoint into the presence of the White Goddess, and to him, she looks very American. She is drugged, hypnotized, and silent. Bruce is dragged away and tied up, by the Warriors of the Great White Goddess. He's tossed into a hut, where Mambu, also tied up, already is, and a burly spearman is stationed at the door. Bruce breaks off part of the hut's bamboo wall and uses it to cut their bonds. They both jump the guard, and knock him unconscious. They sneak across the Warriors' village and reach the hut of the Goddess, where one guard spots them. Mambu kills him with a thrown spear. They get inside the hut and find the White Goddess; she's doped into a stupor. Mambu sets a fire at the far end of the village, providing a diversion while Bruce carries off the Goddess. Outside the stockade they find an unguarded canoe and escape onto the broad river. THE VACATION