Detective Comics #386

Detective Comics #386 (On Sale: February 27, 1969) has another dramatic cover by Irv Novick. The logo is now flopping back and forth between the Batman and Robin and Batman and Batgirl varieties.

We start with "Stand-In for Murder" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. Bruce Wayne is scheduled to pilot a VTOL aircraft during a test flight. A short time before the test he receives information about a bank robbery, so he hires Morse, a stand-in to act as Bruce during the aircraft test. The real Bruce then handles the bank robbery as Batman.

Morse is murdered on his way to the aircraft test and is replaced by Carlyle Crane, an aircraft tycoon with a grudge against Wayne. Crane pilots the plane away from the test area and lands an unmanned drone in its place. The military is shocked when Bruce appears to have disappeared from the cockpit.

Batman is called by Commissioner Gordon to investigate the case. Batman finds Wayne's helmet in his car and sets a trap for Crane. He then exposes the tycoon as a killer and recovers the body of Morse.

The Robin back-up is "The Teen-Age Gap" by Mike Friedrich, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. Dick Grayson attends a social gathering with several high school students. He notices that Craig Rockland isn't accepted by the other students because he is slightly younger. During the night, Dick slips away in order to return to the group as Robin. Three boys ambush Robin because they don't want him stealing the attention of the female students. Craig comes to Robin's aid and helps defeat the troublemakers. Robin then befriends Craig and helps him find friendship with the other teens. Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder Vol. 1 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.