Detective Comics Vol 1 33

{{DC Database:Comic Template
 * Title              = Detective Comics
 * Image              = Detective Comics 33.jpg
 * Volume             = 1
 * Issue              = 33
 * Day                =
 * Month              = November
 * Year               = 1939
 * Rating             =


 * Executive Editor   = Vincent Sullivan
 * CoverArtist1       = Bob Kane


 * Writer1_1          = Bill Finger
 * Writer1_2          = Gardner Fox
 * Penciler1_1        = Bob Kane
 * Penciler1_2        = Sheldon Moldoff
 * Inker1_1           = Bob Kane
 * Colourist1_1       =
 * Letterer1_1        = Sheldon Moldoff
 * Editor1_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Writer2_1          = Jerry Siegel
 * Penciler2_1        = Mart Bailey
 * Inker2_1           = Mart Bailey
 * Colourist2_1       =
 * Letterer2_1        =
 * Editor2_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Writer3_1          =
 * Penciler3_1        = Homer Fleming
 * Inker3_1           = Homer Fleming
 * Colourist3_1       =
 * Letterer3_1        =
 * Editor3_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Writer4_1          =
 * Penciler4_1        = Ken Ernst
 * Inker4_1           = Ken Ernst
 * Colourist4_1       =
 * Letterer4_1        =
 * Editor4_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Writer5_1          =
 * Penciler5_1        = Fred Guardineer
 * Inker5_1           = Fred Guardineer
 * Colourist5_1       =
 * Letterer5_1        = Fred Guardineer
 * Editor5_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Writer6_1          = Sven Elven
 * Penciler6_1        = Sven Elven
 * Inker6_1           = Sven Elven
 * Colourist6_1       =
 * Letterer6_1        =
 * Editor6_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Writer7_1          = Tom Hichey
 * Penciler7_1        = Tom Hichey
 * Inker7_1           = Tom Hichey
 * Colourist7_1       =
 * Letterer7_1        =
 * Editor7_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Writer8_1          = Jerry Siegel
 * Penciler8_1        = Mart Bailey
 * Inker8_1           = Mart Bailey
 * Colourist8_1       =
 * Letterer8_1        =
 * Editor8_1          = Vincent Sullivan


 * Quotation          = Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible... a . a... a bat! That's it! It's an omen. I shall become a bat!
 * Speaker            = Bruce Wayne


 * StoryTitle1        = The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom
 * Synopsis1          =

Legend: The Batman and How He Came to Be
In a flashback to fifteen years ago, Bruce Wayne is walking home from a movie with his father Thomas Wayne and his mother. They are approached by a mugger who tries to grab his mother's necklace. Thomas Wayne shouts for the mugger to leave her alone, and menaces him. The mugger shoots Thomas Wayne dead, saying that he asked for it. Bruce's mother is horrified and calls for the police. The mugger shoots and kills her also so she'll stop screaming. The young Bruce is horrified. Several days later, he kneels next to his bed by candlelight and makes a solemn vow. He swears by the spirit of his parents to avenge their deaths, by spending the rest of his life warring on all criminals. Years pass and Bruce Wayne prepares for this career. He becomes a master scientist, and trains his body to physical perfection. Finally, one night he is sitting in his father's mansion thinking about his future. His father's estate left him wealthy, but he needs a disguise. He knows that criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot, so his disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. He must become a black, terrible, creature of the night. Just then a huge bat flies through the open window, like an answer to his question. Bruce Wayne declares that this is an omen, and he shall become a bat. Thus was born this weird figure of the dark... this avenger of evil... The Batman.

The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom
Bruce Wayne is walking through Manhattan when a giant red dirigible appears. The dirigible shoots red beams that make the buildings crack and explode, hurling debris on the crowds below. The dirigible announces that it has come to rule the world. It is driven by a group called the Scarlet Horde, who swear that they will attack again if they are met with resistance. Bruce Wayne helps in the disaster relief efforts. Thousands are dead.

When Bruce Wayne returns home to Wayne Manor, he presses a panel and part of the wall opens. This reveals his secret laboratory. He goes through his files and determines that the culprit is Dr. Carl Kruger, a man with a. Kruger recently escaped from an insane asylum, and is said to have been working on a new type of death-ray. Bruce opens the chest where he stores his Batsuit and prepares his silk rope. He drives to Kruger's mansion in his car.

The Batman climbs up the side of Carl Kruger's house, and sees the Scarlet Horde inside. Carl Kruger is commanding three other scientists named Bixley, Ryder, and Travis. They have an army of two thousand men. The scientists leave and Kruger talks to himself about how he will be the next Napoleon. The Batman enters and throws a batarang at his face. Kruger reveals that there is a sheet of invisible glass protecting him. Batman is knocked out from behind by a hand with a gun reaching out of a painting. Kruger ties Batman up and sets a bomb to go off, in an attempt to fake his own death. Batman has a steel blade hidden in his boot, so he's able to cut his bonds and escape. The bomb goes off seconds after Batman leaves.

The Batman visits Ryder and threatens him in bed. Batman tells Ryder that he'll be back later. Ryder immediately drives to find Kruger, and Batman follows him in the Batgyro. This leads Batman to the secret hangar of the dirigible. Batman breaks a glass vial that covers his plane in black smoke so it's invisible from the ground. He climbs down and infiltrates the hangar, taking out the guards with gas. He destroys their stockpile of death rays by shooting them with a gun, which makes them all explode. Batman tries to destroy the dirigible with an axe, but Kruger arrives and shoots him in the back. Kruger tells a guard to watch Batman's body while he prepares a death ray. Kruger uses the death ray to completely disintegrate Batman. He explains that the death ray is a fusion of ozone gas and the gamma ray.

It's revealed that Batman knocked out his guard and switched costumes with him. Kruger believes he is dead, but he makes it safely home in his plane. His bulletproof vest saved him from serious harm. He works all night in his laboratory and sprays his plane with a mysterious chemical. The next day, the dirigible attacks again. This time Batman is ready in his plane. The dirigible tries to blast him with its death ray, but the chemical he used makes his plane immune. The dirigible sends a fighter pilot out to shoot Batman down. Batman pilots his plane straight into the dirigible, destroying both of them in a massive explosion. Batman parachutes to safety, but Carl Kruger is still in the fighter plane trying to kill him. Batman ties his rope to Kruger's plane and drops his parachute. He climbs onto the wing and Kruger tries to shoot him with a gun, but misses. Batman throws a gas pellet at Kruger, which knocks him out and causes the plane to crash. Batman leaps out before the plane hits the water, and Kruger dies. Bruce Wayne later relaxes at home. The radio announces that they have recovered Kruger's corpse and captured the entire Scarlet army.


 * StoryTitle2        = Bart Regan, Spy: "Thoria Invades Luxen"
 * Synopsis2          =


 * StoryTitle3        = Buck Marshall: "Mine of Mystery"
 * Synopsis3          =


 * StoryTitle4        = Larry Steel, Private Detective
 * Synopsis4          =


 * StoryTitle5        = Speed Saunders: "The North Woods Mystery"
 * Synopsis5          =


 * StoryTitle6        = Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise: "The Sewer Robberies"
 * Synopsis6          =


 * StoryTitle7        = Bruce Nelson: "The White Goddess, Part 1"
 * Synopsis7          =


 * StoryTitle8        = Slam Bradley: "Shorty Swallows a Diamond"
 * Synopsis8          =

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearing1 =
 * Bixley
 * Ryder
 * Travis
 * Ryder
 * Travis
 * Bruce Wayne's Automobile
 * Dirigible
 * Dirigible

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearing2 =
 * Thoria
 * Karl Palchex
 * Luxen

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations:
 * Appearing3 =
 * Sheriff
 * Lenaire
 * Jim Ward
 * Wyatt
 * Sage City
 * Sage City

Items: Vehicles:

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearing4 =
 * Brenda
 * Morton Caleb
 * Mr. Hartwicke
 * Emilie

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearing5 =
 * Marcel
 * Roster
 * Norton
 * Nogata
 * West
 * Hank Blaentz
 * Canada

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearing6 =
 * "Sparky" Regan
 * Hank
 * Kelly
 * Neil
 * Baldwin

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearing7 =
 * Mambu
 * Warriors of the Great White Godess

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearing8 =
 * Doctor Farnsby
 * Fink
 * Sneer
 * Diana Penton
 * Fui Onyui


 * Notes              =
 * "The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom" is reprinted in the following issues:
 * Batman Archives, Volume 1
 * Batman Chronicles, Volume 1
 * Secret Origins (Volume 1) #1
 * Batman: From the 30's to the 70's


 * Batman's origin is revealed for the first time in this issue. The origin is a two-page spread that serves as a prologue to the main story. It is titled, "The Batman and How He Came to Be". It is reprinted in Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told. Batman chronologically appears next in Detective Comics #65.
 * First appearance of the Golden Age versions of Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne and Joe Chill. All three appear in flashback only.
 * The Batplane is destroyed in this issue.
 * This is the second time that the Batman has used a gun. But this time, rather than shooting a vampire, he kills a human being. Batman body count now = (7 plus {a dirigible crew, how many?})
 * It is revealed that Batman uses a secret laboratory at Wayne Manor to develop his weapons. The Batcave has yet to be introduced.
 * This story contains the second reference to Batman's hometown as Manhattan, New York. At the time of publishing, Gotham City has yet to be introduced into Earth-Two continuity.
 * Trivia             =

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 * Recommended        =
 * Links              =
 * Batman article at Wikipedia
 * Batman (Golden Age) biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
 * Bruce Nelson biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
 * Buck Marshall biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
 * Cosmo - The Phantom of Disguise biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
 * Detective Comics #33 index entry
 * Detective Comics #33, Batman story, recap
 * Detective Comics #33 spoilers
 * Slam Bradley article at Wikipedia
 * Slam Bradley biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe
 * Speed Saunders article at Wikipedia
 * Speed Saunders biography page at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe