Batman Writers: Detective 301-326



"I must be a creatue of the night..."

This is Batman's best period for me, the one in which I first read him. It didn't hurt to have the original writer still working on the character. The Clayface and Cat-Man series where each story built upon the earlier ones, the Dr. No-Face and Flying Bat-Cave stories, didn't disappoint in the rereading.

The stories I've read now for the first time are just as good. "The Bizarre Batman Genie" stands out—it uses the strange-transformation trope of the period to turn the second half into a Robin/Bat-Girl story when Batman becomes an antagonist.

"Targets of the Alien Z-Ray" in #305 is the only story in this run to use the sound effects Kwoom and Crzzzz and the creature roar "Rawwwr" that Arnold Drake, and not Bill Finger or Dave Wood, employs.

Batman in Detective 301-326—Writers

Mar/62	#301	The Condemned Batman	Bill Finger
Apr/	#302	The Bronze Menace	Finger
May/	#303	Murder in Skyland	Finger
June/	#304	The Return of Clay-Face	Finger
July/	#305	Targets of the Alien Z-Ray	Arnold Drake
Aug/	#306	The Wizard of 1,000 Menaces	Finger
Sept/	#307	Alpha, the Experimental Man	Finger
Oct/	#308	The Flame-Master	Finger
Nov/	#309	The Mystery of the Mardi Gras Murders	Finger
Dec/	#310	Bat-Mite's Super-Circus	Finger
Jan/63	#311	The Challenge of the Cat-Man	Finger
Feb/	#312	The Secret of Clayface's Power	Finger
Mar/	#313	The Mystery of the $1,000,000 Treasure Hunt	Dave Wood
Apr/	#314	Murder in Movieland	Finger
May/	#315	The Jungle Man of Gotham City	Wood
June/	#316	Double Batman vs. Double X	Wood
July/	#317	The Secrets of the Flying Bat-Cave	Finger
Aug/	#318	The Cat-Man Strikes Back	Finger
Sept/	#319	The Fantastic Dr. No-Face	Wood
Oct/	#320	Batman and Robin—the Mummy Crime-Fighters	Wood
Nov/	#321	The Terrible Trio	Wood
Dec/	#322	The Bizarre Batman Genie	Wood
Jan/64	#323	The Zodiac Master	Wood
Feb/	#324	Menace of the Robot Brain	Wood
Mar/	#325	The Strange Lives of the Cat-Man	Finger
Apr/	#326	Captives of the Alien Zoo	Wood