Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Detective Comics #377

Detective Comics #377 (On Sale: May 28, 1968) has a cover by Irv Novick.

"The Riddler's Prison-Puzzle Problem" is by Gardner Fox, Frank Springer and Sid Greene. The Riddler is compelled to leave clues for Batman concerning his upcoming robberies, but the crook finds a way to hide the clues from Batman by making them extremely difficult to see and booby-trapping them. Despite the Riddler's new plan, he is still captured by Batman and sent to jail.

When the Riddler is quickly bailed out of jail, Batman takes his place in the jail cell. Reprinted in Batman #260 and Batman: Featuring Two-Face and the Riddler TPB.

The back-up Elongated Man story, "The Case of the Clumsy Crook" is by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson. Thief Taps Carter believes that his criminal career is jinxed. While he never seems to be apprehended by police, he also fails to get away from his crimes with the loot. He decides to make one final heist before giving up crime. He steals a gold bracelet from Ralph Dibny's suitcase that is hidden inside a bottle of Gingold. As Carter makes his escape, his car collides with another containing a gang of crooks. The other crooks then take the bracelet.

When Ralph finds the bracelet has been stolen he goes after it. He finds the three crooks and captures them easily, recovering the bracelet in the process. Carter is wandering the woods and happens upon some counterfeit currency plates. The Elongated Man sees him while returning to the hotel. Carter denies any involvement with the plates, but confesses to the other crimes.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

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