Detective Comics #381

Detective Comics #381 (On Sale: September 26, 1968) has a dramatic cover by Irv Novick.

We begin with "One Drown -- One More to Go" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. Batman detects an coded infra-red signal being transmitted from a lighthouse that calls for the death of Robin. Batman orders Robin to return to the Batcave where he will be safe. He then investigates the lighthouse of Cyrus Spume. He spots the crooks plotting to kill Robin, but he wants to find their leader.

Batman arranges for Robin to appear to die by killing him himself. The crooks then proceed with a diamond robbery. Batman tries to stop them, but he is caught.

The Elongated Man back-up "The Come-and-Go Mansion Mystery" is by Gardner Fox and Sid Greene. On their way to a New England hotel Ralph and Sue Dibny spot an old Victorian mansion. When they inquire about the mansion, the hotel manager tells them that it burned to the ground a year ago. The Elongated Man investigates the mystery and finds that crooks have created an inflatable mansion that they inflate on foggy nights. They are trying to coerce the butler of the former mansion owner into remembering where many of the art treasures that were taken from the house before it burned down are currently hidden. The butler leads them to the paintings, but the Elongated Man stops the crooks from stealing them.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.