Batman in the Fifties

Batman in the Fifties by Bill Finger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Batman in the Fifties collects around 30 stories from the 1950s, pulled from Batman, Detective Comics, and World's Finest.

Batman has been pretty grim since Frank Miller took the wheel in the mid 1980s. This collection shows a different Batman, a funny guy who had a lot of zany adventures. People talk about the 1966 TV show making Batman campy but he was campy long before.

The stories are geared toward an audience 30+ years younger than me so simplicity is the order of the day. It's a lot easier for kids to lean into a fun, goofy story than it is adults. Some of Batman's rogues gallery have their origins told, like Mr. Zero, Killer Moth, and Two Face. Catwoman also gets some time. Bat-classics like Batwoman and Ace the Bat Hound are also introduced. Other stories seem to be included to illustrate how goofy Batman stories in the 1950s could be, like Batman wearing multiple costumes to distract from Robin's broken arm, or Batman and Robin going to the future via hypnosis.

Some of the stories in these pages made their way into The Untold Legend of the Batman in the 1970s, like Joker as Red Hood, or Thomas Wayne as the first Batman. Other stories, like the Super Batman of Planet X and the Club of Heroes, eventually made their way into Grant Morrison's run.

Dick Sprang is the highlight of the collection as far as art is concerned, as is Bill Finger on the writing. Why doesn't Batman fight villains on top of giant typewriters anymore?

Batman in the Fifties is a nifty collection of tales from a zany period in Batman's history. 3 out of 5 stars.


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