Most of the issues of Detective Comics I own fall within a specific run, which we'll look at next week. If you remember the recurring theme when I was looking at titles that started with "Batman", you'll probably be able to guess.
The other four issues I own are a hodgepodge. The two issues that mark Stephanie Brown's first appearance as Spoiler, plus the issue from Mike Barr and Alan Davis' run where Catwoman is subjected a mind-altering device by the Joker and becomes a villain again. Then there's this holdover from my dad's collection.
It's almost an extremely important or significant issue. Two issue before this was the story of Batman fighting the Outsider, which turned out to be Alfred and gave so many bloggers such joy to write about. The issue after this is the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Unfortunately, this is the first appearance of Spellbinder, who I'm pretty sure is much better known as an arch-foe of the Terry McGinnis Batman.
As you can tell, this is still before the Denny O'Neill/Neal Adams era, firmly in the same zone occupied by the Adam West TV show, which would have started the same year this came out, I believe. I guess the show is mimicking the art style, since I figure Moldoff is working the in the same general style the Batman comics had been in since the 1950s.
The story structure is of its time, too. Batman faces Spellbinder once, and isn't ready for cartwheels that hypnotize you into having dreams where you almost die. When Spellbinder's goons ask why he doesn't just shoot Batman while he's in the trance, the villain replies that then he'd be on the hook for murder. But if Batman dies because he died in his dream and that killed him, well you can't prove Spellbinder did that, can you?
I'm not sure that logic tracks even if dying in your dreams really did kill you. Even if Spellbinder claims he didn't know that would happen, which would be a lie but work with me here for a second, wouldn't that still be manslaughter? You put him in the hypnotized state. There are witnesses.
Anyway, Batman figures he's ready when Round 2 comes up, but Spellbinder hypnotizes him a different way. Why Batman was ready to punch him out before the cartwheels started, but can't do the same before Spellbinder uses a pinwheel, I don't know. It's on the third attempt that Bats figures out there's always something rotating clockwise in his dreams, and if he can make it rotate counter-clockwise, maybe he can wake up. And he does, and that's pretty much it for Spellbinder.
It's disposable entertainment, as it was intended to be.
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