Detective Comics #410 - A Reflection

Detective Comics #410, April 1971

It Came From the Long Box...

It was April 1971, the same month that I turned 11, when I went with my dad to Wallace's News Shop, the local newsstand in my home town.  As Dad perused the latest issue of Popular Mechanics, I went to the shelves where the latest comics were.  Detective Comics #410 caught my eye immediately.  The art on the cover called out to me.  I was transfixed by the image of Batman trying to save what looked-like a cross between a boy and a seal.  I immediately pulled a copy for myself.  I couldn't wait to get home and read it.

The art on the cover, as well as inside, was by Neal Adams.  He was one of the best artists on Batman at DC during this time period, in my opinion.  The story was written by Dennis O'Neil - a great writer for Batman at the time, too.  Adams and O'Neil were the perfect team-up for this strangely dark and twisted tail in Detective Comics.

The story, in part, is about Batman's pursuit of an escaped killer.  While on the pursuit, he encounters a stranded group of circus folk.  They consist of Charley Bones, Maud the Fat Lady, Goliath the Strong Man, and Skippy the mute Seal Boy.  While Batman battles the escaped con, Charley Bones is found hanged.  The Great Detective himself soon determines that it was Goliath the Strong Man who killed Bones, not the escaped killer who was blamed.  Goliath had killed Bones out of jealous love for Maud.  He flees Batman, climbing three stories in a church, carrying Skippy with him.  In the bell tower, Goliath threatens to throw Skippy to his certain death.  When Batman refuses to back off, Goliath does indeed drop the seal-boy.  Batman plunges after him, and fortunately is able to save Skippy.  As the story concludes, Batman had rescued the boy and taken into custody both the escaped con and the strong man killer.

The story haunted me after I read it.  Mainly, I was disturbed by Skippy and his plight.  He had flippers for hands and feet.  He was mute and could not express his feelings to others.  He was trapped in his own body, making his living being displayed as a freak in a carny sideshow.  But Batman had saved his life and saw his humanity beneath his disfigurement.

As I said earlier, this was a very dark story.  The mood was heavy and thick, dripping with dread.  Most of the comics that I read were lighter in nature - even the ones with Batman.  This was my first encounter with the superhero who would, in the not-so-distant-future, be known once again as the Dark Knight.  I found that I liked this darkness in the winged Detective.  But I would have to wait until Frank Miller re-imagined Batman in 1986 when the Dark Knight Returned.