Robot Birds and Adam Westian Logic

 

cover art by Mike Grell

Batman #287 (May 1977) accomplishes something notable. Writer David Vern (using the pen name David V. Reed) and artist Mike Grell put together a story that is a shout-out to the Adam West Batman series from the 1960s, but still keep it relatively grounded in the no-less-fantastical but more serious DC Comics universe.

We get that right from the start, with an alliterative narration box that you can't help hear in the voice of William Dozier, who narrated the TV show: "That pitiless, pestiferous prince of pain and plunder--that pedantic patriarch of predators--the Penguin--reaches for a new pinnacle as he proclaims: BATMAN: EX AS IN EXTINCT!"

A robot pterodactyl destroys a statue of Napoleon at a high-society party. Batman manages to bronco-ride the robot and force it to crash, but later learns that there was a jewel heist being pulled at the exact same time.

Several other robot duplicates of extinct birds launch their own attacks on other days. Each time, their rampage coincides with a robbery at another location.

Batman has a hunch that the Penguin is behind it. And, in trying to figure out what the Waddling Master of Foul (Fowl) Play is up to, he follows a chain of logic that would have made Adam West proud.

The attack on the statue of Napoleon happened at 6:21 pm. At the same time, a jewelry store at 1821 Waterloo (get it?) Road was robbed. 1821 was the year of Napoleon's death, which translates in military time to 6:21 pm.

The other two attacks involve times and street addresses relating to Nelson and Machiavelli. 

So it's off to the library. He discovers the book Big Small Men of History was earlier checked out by a Mr. Whitehead. The Welsh roots of "penguin" are PEN = HEAD and GYWN = WHITE. 

AH HA! It is the Penguin. And the next name in the book is Alaric of the Visigoths. Batman returns home to Alfred, who knows off the top of his head that Alaric died in 410 AD. Alfred and Batman do some word association and come up with a target for the next robbery.

Batman foils the robbery, but the Penguin pulls the old "propeller umbrellas hidden in his sleeves" trick to escape. In the meantime, another robot prehistoric bird had attacked a museum and destroyed an Alaric artifact.

So now Batman knows Penguin's scheme. But Penguin knows Batman knows his scheme. BUT Batman knows that Penquin knows that Batman knows Penguin's scheme. We'll see how that plays out next week when we look at the next issue.

Mike Grell's striking art looks great and the action sequences are all a ton of fun. But its the script that deserves special credit here. The Adam West series was deliberately campy while still giving us an iconic portrayal of Batman. With this story, David Vern takes the silly logic that drove the series and fits it into the DC Comic universe without making it campy. He gives tribute to the series while still recognizing his story is set in a thematically different universe. It's a loving tribute without descending into parody. It's quite an accomplishment.