Batman (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1962.
Synopsis for "Formula for Doom"
Batman, Robin, and Bat-Hound go on the trail of a gang of crooks out to steal a secret Nazi explosive formula. Their chase takes them from Gotham across Europe until they find the criminals creating a deadly explosive formula in Switzerland. Batman and Robin manage to stop the crooks from developing the formula and with help from Bat-Hound, they destroy the final piece of the chemical compound so the formula for doom may never be recreated.
Appearing in "Formula for Doom"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Arnold Taney (Single appearance)
- Kuzac (Single appearance; dies)
- Kinos (Single appearance)
- Hans (Single appearance)
- Florian (Single appearance)
- Heidel (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Formula (Single appearance)
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The False Face Society"
Batman and Robin encounter a group of criminals that call themselves the False Face Society. Their crimes are committed in various masks and costumes that hide their identities. When Batman goes undercover to a criminal hideout, he learns that the False Face Society has a leader that is running a tournament across the city in order to find the crook who can perform the greatest crime. The catch of the sweepstakes is that each criminal must dress in costume for their crime.
After Batman learns of this, a crook disguised as Batman tries to steal a valuable musical instrument in front of the press. When he is confronted by the real Batman he knocks out the Dark Knight and gets away. However, the crook's escape is all a ruse , and Batman has indeed captured the criminal, but he needed to fake the escape to take his place in the False Face Society contest in order to capture the entire gang. Batman is taken to an abandoned lighthouse, where the Society gathers to declare the winner of the contest. The leader of the gang starts the poll and by the end, he declares the crook disguised as Batman as the winner. The real Batman then finally understands that the leader of the Society has tricked all the criminals in the group into stealing for a tournament that was rigged in order to keep the loot all for himself. As soon as Batman makes this revelation, Robin and the Gotham City Police Department arrive at the place and capture the entire gang. Finally, Batman unmasks the leader of the False Face Society and it is revealed that the mastermind of crime was the Joker all along.
Appearing in "The False Face Society"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- False Face Society (First appearance)
- Joker
Other Characters:
- Mr. Van Brunt (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for "Memorial to an Astronaut"
When a mineralogist friend of theirs finds he has only a few days to live and will not be able to realize his dream of examining minerals on other worlds, Batman and Robin go to work to help him achieve his goal. Even though the Dynamic Duo prepare a fake alien set in order to trick their friend into believing he was actually on the Planet Mars, the mineralogist dies happy for having achieved his lifetime dream after he helps the heroes fight some crooks disguised as aliens.
Appearing in "Memorial to an Astronaut"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Luke Haley (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Dr. Robbins (Single appearance)
- Unnamed Military General (Single appearance)
Locations:
Trivia
- "The False Face Society" was adapted into the Jiro Kuwata Bat-Manga story "The Robbery Contest".
See Also