Signalling Your Crimes

 

Batman cover art by Sheldon Moldoff

Wanted cover art by Murphy Anderson

In 1972, DC began publishing a reprint book titled Wanted, highlighting stories usually featuring lesser-known villains (though Joker and Penguin show up at least once. It ran for a total of nine issues. For the next three weeks, we'll be taking a look at the stories reprinted in the first issue (cover-dated July/August 1972).

 "The Signalman of Crime" originallly appeared in Batman #112 (December 1957). Written by Bill Finger and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, actually gives us a reason why so many crooks in Gotham  City take on bizarre secret identies.

A new crook arrives in Gotham, intending to form his own gang. But no one knows who he is, so without a reputation, no one wants to work for him. So, like a Wild West gunslinger calling out Wild Bill Hickock, the crook decides to call out Batman and Robin. If he beats them, he'll have the rep he needs.

Gee whiz, Gotham City actually makes sense now!

Well, it makes sense within the confines of Comic Book Logic. Adopting the identity of the Signalman, the crook sends a broom labeled with the symbol of an atom to police headquarters. Commissioner Gordon immediately calls Batman, since a broom apparently frightens him into thinking a major crime wave is afoot. 

I learned something else from reading this story. It turns out that new submarines hoist a broom after completing their first voyage, signalling a "clean sweep." I didn't know that. Fortunately, Batman does know that and he is able to foil Signalman's attempt to steal a solid jade model of the submarine Nautilus. 

(The Nautilus--the first nuclear sub--had been commissioned two years before this story was published and would make the first trip under the North Pole a year afterwards. I did know that. Take that, Batman!)

The Signalman escapes, though, happy with having scored some headlines if not the loot. He next tries to rob jewelry being worn by rich people at a planetarium show.

But Batman has again figured out the clues he left. Signalman once again escapes without the loot, but makes the front pages of the Gotham newspapers. 

His next plan is made in expectation of Batman figuring out his clue, which allows him to lure the Dynamic Duo into a trap aboard a booby-trapped boat, while he himself steals the Bat-Boat. But Batman escapes from the trap (by ironically using a signal flag). While attempting to escape, Signalman ignores a danger signal and runs the Bat-Boat aground. Irony abounds.

This is a fun story, with the intial two encounters with the villain featuring those oversized props that were so common in Gotham City at that time. The villain isn't particularly memorable and never does become more than a minor player in Batman's Rogue's Gallery. But he's a credible threat here, giving us a story in which Batman exhibits not just fighting skill, but detective skill and escape artistry. 

Also, after reading a Batman story from this era, does anyone else wish oversized props had become a thing in real life? That would be cool. 

Next week, we'll see how Green Arrow does against a another second-tier villain.