The Trains Shall Run on Bat Time Thursday!

Every so often, you'll hear some fellow nerd discussing how lame Batman is because he can't match his super-powered compatriots. This was overcompensated (in the late 90's, in particular) by constantly resolving stories simply by giving Bats enough time to figure out the way to take enemies down. Perhaps it's because of my early childhood attachment to the character, but I always liked the fact that a mere mortal without super-speed or magic rings could succeed where sheer power could not.

I give you Exhibit "A", courtesy of World's Finest #127:



Despite having a bitchin' car, Bats has memorized every train schedule in Gotham to the point that he knows exactly where a train will be at any given time. Some might call that anal-retentive, and you might be right, but Bats got the job done.

And for no real reason in World's Finest #128, he turned into a human buzzsaw:



We've seen many oversized buzzsaws in comics, but that, my friends, is the stuff of legends.

Let's be more popular!


I found this at the back of an issue of All-Winners, and it slayed me. First, I don't think an 8 year-old boy in the 1940's was interesting in being more charming and popular. Second, even if I was interested in being more charming and popular, purchasing this product requires either crushingly low self-esteem or a remarkable level of self-awareness that I had kinks in my personality that needed intervention. In either case, I think I would have simply spent a few moments wondering what it would have been like to make out with the girl in the ad and moved on.

See you tomorrow!