Detective Comics #336 (February 1965)

Back in 2018, I took a look at Hawkman #4 (November 1964), which was the first appearance of the Justice League's resident Mistress of Magic, Miss Zatanna Zatara. She was searching for her missing father, the Golden Age-era master of magic known as Giovanni "John" Zatara. In an innovative move for the era, Zatanna's search would take her over several titles, all connected by being edited by Julius Schwartz. Her search now takes her to the Dark Knight's corner of the DCU, because even in the Silver Age, Batman had to be involved in everything. 🙄 So, how does Batman get involved in this? Let's find out in Detective Comics #336!

The cover is a Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, and Gaspar Saladino piece. It depicts a witch getting lassoed off her broomstick by Robin, who brags that she has already gotten Batman with her "scarecrow" spell. It's a neat cover. Honestly, it's better than the story. You'll see what I mean.

"Batman's Bewitched Nightmare"
Writer: Gardner Fox
Penciler: Sheldon Moldoff
Inker: Joe Giella
Letterer: Gaspar Saladino
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Executive Editor: Julius Schwartz 

The story begins with Batman and Robin running to bust a bank robbery after seemingly being summoned by the Bat-Signal. Unknown to them, a witch is observing them. Yes, complete with black outfit, pointed hat, and everything. Well, that's all just the opening splash page. How did this really happen? Well, we look in on Gotham City, in which we see a pumpkin pulled by four white mice.

"This live-action remake of Cinderella is weird."

Yeah, Gotham City has long had the reputation of being weird. Weirder than Portland. A witch flies up to the pumpkin and turns it and the mice into a car full of gangsters. Huh. The Mouse Mafia is moving into Gotham. 

The car drives up, one of the gangsters remarking that the witch will make sure that Batman and Robin can't touch them. I think this is meant to imply that the witch turned them and their car into the pumpkin and mice to help hide them until they can rob the bank. Yeah. Why didn't she just make them invisible or something? They'd be a lot less conspicuous. Anyway, the witch opens up the locked doors of the bank for them, as the gangsters really want in.

Batman and Robin had spotted the witch flying in the air and are racing in to do something about that. It's especially weird as it's not even Halloween, yet. Robin finds the idea of a witch ridiculous, even though he lives in the same universe as an Amazon princess, a space cop with a power ring, a man that can run faster than a race car, a Kryptonian powerhouse, and a Martian investigator.

Batman finds the robbers. He and Robin easily take them down, but the Boy Wonder notices something. The robbers didn't seem to be bothered by this. In fact, they jump back to their feet, saying as long as the witch has their back, they don't fear anything. Not even the Dynamic Duo. Batman and Robin now discover they can't even touch the robbers.

Batman was unaware at the time that gangster was related to Kitty Pryde.

Yeah, if I were Robin, I'd be really regretting running my mouth about witches not being real right now. The robbers get away, the witch cackling. She does a bit of fourth-wall breaking, telling the reader that this is only the first of five special robberies. With each robbery, the Caped Crusaders will lose one of their five senses. Here, it's touch. Robin is determined to catch these men, so he leaps on their car and hangs on for dear life. The gangsters are able to force the Boy Wonder off the car by taking a sharp turn, causing Robin to hit a pole.

When Batman told Robin he needed to use his head, this was not what he meant.

Yeah, that's a concussion right there. 

Batman is able to grab Robin, and the Batmobile is in hot pursuit of the gangsters. the witch then makes the car invisible, claiming she stole the Gotham Guardians' sense of sight. Yeah, she just turned the car invisible. She didn't make Batman and Robin blind, because they were able to follow her into the Cave of Winds!

The two enter the cave, and they notice that the cave is silent. It's so quiet they can't even hear their own footsteps. It's too quiet. Way too quiet.

Batman realizes that they've just lost their sense of hearing. Batman suddenly tackles Robin and the two plummet off a cliff. They land in a pool and Robin realizes Batman must have somehow noticed the witch had caused a rockslide. Their hearing returns, and the two get out of the cave. 

Robin then tackles Batman, and the field explodes.

Farmer Brown was furious about his corn crop being ruined.

The two have lost their sense of smell, but Robin was able to detect seeping natural gas that the witch used to blow the field up. He didn't smell the flowers, so he assumed it was there.

Yeah. First of all, natural gas has no scent. Odorizers are added to it for safety reasons. I'm assuming that Robin somehow heard a leak. The Dynamic Duo find the robbers' hideout in the countryside. The witch is waiting for them, though. She freezes Batman, but Robin has a theory. He noticed that the witch had to use her broom to escape the avalanche she used to try and kill him and Batman earlier. This leads Robin to deduce she needs the broomstick to use her power. Using a Bat-line, Robin pulls her off the broomstick. Batman takes advantage of the distraction to take care of the gangsters. The Dynamic Duo puts an end to the group of criminals. The broomstick has one last surprise that reveals itself when they place the broomstick in the Batcave.

This mysterious villain, only known to the Gotham Guardians as The Outsider, last appeared in his debut issue: Detective Comics #334 (December 1964). The Outsider takes credit for this whole misadventure, and this leaves Robin worried about what he has planned next...

I admit, I'm...not too high on this particular issue. It feels like a first draft. The witch says that the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder will lose their senses trying to foil a series of robberies. In this story, they only try to stop one. Also, Zatanna is not in this issue. She isn't even mentioned. Personally, I would have had her work with Batman to stop the crooks by pretending to use magic to aid them. Maybe in the process, Batman discovers a clue that helps Zatanna find her dad. I have read better Batman stories than this. The only thing I can really praise is Moldoff's art. It's some good stuff.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2004 trade paperback Justice League of America: Zatanna's Search...although I don't even know why this issue was included in it. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!