Batman #203

Batman #203 (On Sale: May 9, 1968) AKA 80pg. Giant #G-49 has a cover by Neal Adams over a layout by Carmine Infantino. I remember as a kid being excited by this issue, that there were actually some "secrets" that I was going to learn.

We begin with "The 1,000 Secrets of the Batcave" by Bill Finger and Jim Mooney from Batman #48. Escaped killer Wolf Brando on the run from police takes refuge inside Wayne Manor. Once inside, he knocks out Dick Grayson and accidentally discover the Batcave entrance.

Batman learns that Wolf is hiding in his home and follows him into the Batcave. Brando has Dick held hostage, but Batman rescues him. Together Batman and Robin then chase Brando through the Batcave. They know that once he is caught, Wolf will reveal their secret identities to the world. After a long chase, Brando is finally cornered. However, he accidentally falls into an underground stream and drowns.

Next is "The Birth of Batplane II" by David V. Reed, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris from Batman #61.

That is followed by "The Secret of Batman's Utility Belt" also by David V. Reed, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris and from Detective Comics #185.

Next is "The 100 Batarangs of Batman" by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris from Detective Comics #244. Film is stolen which contains pictures of Batman throwing his batarangs. The Dynamic Duo recalls several criminals who have been defeated by the batarangs. They determine that Jay Garris is the likely suspect. Batman locates Garris and uses Batarang X, a giant batarang that can carry a man, to sneak into Garris’ hide-out. He learns the crooks intend to use exploding batarangs for crime.

Next up is "Secret of the Batmobile" also by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris from Batman #98. When Batman pursues the Racer in the Batmobile, Vicki Vale snaps a photo of the chase. Batman sees the photo and worries that it will reveal a secret. He convinces Vicki to run several stories of cases in which the Batmobile was used before printing the photo. The reason for this is that the engine of the Batmobile was damaged. While repairs continued, Batman replaced the Batmobile with Bruce Wayne's sports car. Vicki's photo showed the sports car and would have given away his identity.

Lastly we have "The Flying Bat-Cave" by David V. Reed, Lew Sayre Schwartz and Charles Paris from Detective Comics #186.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell who began editing all of the Batman 80-Page Giants beginning with issue #198.