Some Villains Just Can't Make It Stick Can They

As the cover says, this is Spellbinder. Detective Comics #358 is the only Batman-related comic of my father's I still have. If he'd waited another month, he could have bought the issue with the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. And it wouldn't be worth jack because it probably wouldn't have its cover either.

I didn't keep this issue out of some great love for Spellbinder*, though I have to admire the chuztpah of any man who stops Batman cold with cartwheels (the acrobatics, combined with the costume, hypnotized Batman). But if comicvine is right, that's the last time he tangled with Batman for almost 30 years (showing up again in a two-parter in 1995). Maybe because the Mad hatter took control of the mind control bit, and Hugo Strange had other avenues of messing with Batman's brain covered, I don't know.

Oddly enough, Spellbinder has had decent career in the Batman related cartoons. He was in an episode of The Batman, though he was a fallen monk who mastered a "third eye" which enabled him to alter people's perception of reality. He's actually one of the most frequently occurring villains in Batman Beyond, with three appearances, tying him with Inque, Shriek, and Mad Stan for second place behind Kobra**. Interesting he'd experience more success as a character on TV than in the comics.

Neither of the TV versions relied on cartwheels, and perhaps that's the key. Gymnastics were just too dorky to be a threat to Batman. Though the comic version had more up his sleeve than that, it's just what was up his sleeve were pinwheels and bottle rockets. Kind of humiliating for Batman to keep being thwarted by a guy with kid's toys.

* I actually kept it for the Elongated Man back-up story.

** Kobra appeared in 4 episodes, but it was really just three stories since one of them was a two-parter.