DC Releases a Vintage Batman Halloween Story

DC Comics has kicked off the Halloween season by opening up its vault (or is it a crypt?) and reissuing Batman #237, which was originally printed in December 1971.  Over half a century later, it's always fun to look back at Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson during their long-hair-and-bell-bottoms era.

This issue opens with Dick and some friends (one of whom appears to be stoned throughout) taking a break from their college studies to attend the Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont. The parade is a real event held in this small town every year since 1960. The festivities include a float featuring  citizens dressed as both Marvel and DC superheroes — a tongue-in-cheek gag that is repeated throughout the story as Halloween may be the only time of the year when you can dress in tights and capes and look normal.

However, Dick and company don't get to enjoy the parade for long when they stumble upon a group of men savagely beating Robin, The Teen Wonder. It's not really Robin of course, just a bewildered man in a store bought costume who can't understand why strangers would choose to attack him. 

Concerned, Dick changes into his Robin garb and takes off after the assailants, only to find another town resident (dressed as Batman) impaled to a tree with a large wooden stake. There's an obvious pattern here, but before Dick can investigate further he's attacked by scythe-wielding Grim Reaper. Batman rescues his injured partner and takes him to the home of Tom Fagan. (Fagan, who passed away in 2008, was a comic book enthusiast who was instrumental in developing the Rutland Halloween Parade.) At Fagan's house, Dick's injuries are treated by Dr. Benjamin Gruener, a Jewish German survivor of the Nazi holocaust.

Batman informs Dick that he's come to Rutland in search of an escaped Nazi war criminal named Colonel Kurt Schloss, whom Dr. Gruener has been tracking for years. Batman is convinced that Nazis are responsible for the attacks against both the Batman and Robin lookalikes, and are somehow using Fagan's costume party to locate a cache of gold stolen by Schloss. 

But the question remains — who or what is the Grim Reaper?

​I won't ruin the fun by giving away the ending. Suffice to say that this throwback is a lot of fun, if only to giggle at the ridiculous dialogue...

Dick's friend: "Why'd those cats jump you, fella?"

Dick: "You guys go ahead to the party! I'll search for our zonky pal!"

Dr. Gruener (with German accent): "Zur clerk in zur shop tells me he rented him pirate suit!"

...and a plot that starts out like a Scooby-Doo mystery but ends up being pretty grim. 

The reissue also includes an earlier story from 1940 entitled "Down Memory Lane with Batman" which is not Halloween themed. This edition is currently available in local comic book stores. 

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