It's been interesting to watch writers like Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman writing the modern adventures of Batman and making references to some of that character's Golden and Silver Age adventures.Because, let's face it, some of those early adventures were just silly.
Today's Classic Review is an excellent example. Batman #147, published with a cover date of May 1962, is one of the earliest issues I remember reading, and it includes three stories, including the one where "Batman Becomes Bat-Baby!"
In that story, an evil scientist uses his invention to de-age the Caped Crusader, so Batman becomes a baby. Luckily, he retains his adult strength, so he fashions a Bat-jumper and continues to fight some of the most inept criminals ever. (One imagines these hoods in prison, admitting that they were beaten and arrested by an infant.)
The comic also features a story titled "The Plants of Plunder," in which a gang of crooks use some odd alien plants to commit robberies and escape from Batman and Robin. The story's a bit thin, but it's a fun story visually. (That Bob Kane was an inventive artist, wasn't he?)
The last story is the most fun - it's called "The Secret of Mystery Island," and it actually calls on the Dynamic Duo to use their brains to solve a series of puzzles while fighting the members of a gang who are trying to steal a treasure.
The Batman of this era was very much a kid's hero - the stories are all fun and adventurous, but had no grounding in the real world. Instead, they relied on gimmicks to sell comics: Batman is a baby! Batman gets superpowers! Batman fights aliens! Batman travels through time! And so on.
But the appeal of Batman is that he's a "normal" man, and as a result - and as DC eventually figured out - his adventures work best when he operates in a more "real world" setting.
While this comic shows its age, it's still a fun read and a professional package - and I suspect young readers would enjoy it today as much as I did when I was six years old.
Grade: C+
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