May 1975
Slaughter in Silver
by Len Wein, Jim Aparo, Julius Schwartz
Batman goes back undercover to investigate a skeleton that was found inside one of Bruce Wayne’s statues. He sneaks into Gotham City Police HQ disguised as a janitor. His detective work is interrupted by three men who want to take the skeleton from the morgue.
He follows the thugs after his fight with them gets broken up by a couple police officers. The thugs inadvertently lead him to Sterling Silversmith, their boss. Another fight breaks out but this time Batman gets knocked unconscious. He wakes up just as Silversmith is getting ready to kill him.
Batman escapes the chair in which Silversmith’s goons have secured him. He breaks free and stops Silversmith in his tracks just before the police arrive. Batman is forced to flee because he is still wanted for the murders of Talia and Ra’s Al-Ghul.
Thoughts
Sterling Silversmith strikes me as the sort of bad guy who might show up on the Adam West Batman TV show. This is the first of just two appearances he made. His other appearance was in Detective Comics 495 (Oct 1980). That story was written by Michael Fleischer and penciled by Don Newton. Sterling Silversmith has a full page entry in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory to the DC Universe but I’m not sure why.
Is there a connection between Silversmith and the two murders? I’m not sure. I failed to find any indication of such a connection in this issue of Detective Comics. My research indicates that he won't return in this five-part story.
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