Detective Comics 408

Detective Comics 408

Feb 1971

The House that Haunted Batman!

by Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, John Costanza

15 pages

Batman goes looking for Robin, who disappeared 24 hours ago. His search leads him to an old mansion. He finds Robin but then he isn't sure if he really found him at all as the person he found crumbles into dust. Someone who looks just like Robin starts shooting at Batman.

Batman evades the shooter and finds himself at a funeral, attended by Robin, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, and members of the Justice League of America (Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman). He tries talking to them but they don’t hear or respond to him. The lights go out. Batman finds the walls closing in on him.

The lights come back up and Batman is trapped in a large tube. He is a prisoner of Doctor Tzin-Tzin. Robin is there, also a prisoner of Doctor Tzin-Tzin. They escape from the giant glass tubes and then have to fight off a dozen or more of the villain's henchmen. They escape from the house minutes before it crumbles to the ground. Doctor Tzin-Tzin and his goons vanish before Batman and Robin can take them into custody.

Thoughts

This feels a bit like a story that Sax Rohmer might have written, right down to the Asian villain. There is also an element in it that reminds me of the 1960s Batman TV series. I am thinking of the giant glass tube traps.

I think this story works better visually than it does in my description. I say that because there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to some of the transitions. This is my favorite of the four Batman stories I have read in the past few weeks.

Notes

This is the first Batman story that Len Wein is credited with writing. 

Doctor Tzin-Tzin first appeared in Detective Comics 354 (Aug 1966). His appearance in this issue is his first since then.

The League of Assassins first appeared in a Deadman story in Strange Adventures 215 (Dec 1968) and 216 (Feb 1969). At that time they were referred to as The Society of Assassins. The next appearance of the League of Assassins was in Detective Comics 405 (Nov 1970), their first appearance in a Batman story and the first time they were referred to as the League of Assassins. They are mentioned in this story but according to my research they do not appear in this story despite Doctor Tzin-Tzin’s claim to an affiliation with them.

04/21/26 - 19:40