Batman #59 – Comics Archeology

BATMAN #59 (1950)
“The Man Who Replaced Batman!” by David Vern Reed, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Bob Kane
“Batman In the Future!” by Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Bob Kane

Only first story is part of the Villain origins retrospective, but come on, could I possibly ignore the cover story!?

Before THAT insanity, let’s start with the first appearance of Deadshot.
Who is, well, just a liiiitle different from his Suicide Squad days.

It’s no surprise Deadshot will end up playing the reluctant hero, since he debuts trying to be the new Batman!

Despite his superhuman aim, he can’t join the police because he has a steel plate on his leg… which doesn’t seem to hinder his mobility in the slightest.

Sounds legit.

Well at least his version of the Bat-Signal is pretty easy to make!

Batman wasn’t there when Deadshot told this to the commissioner, meaning you can’t tell anything to Gordon without Batman knowing it.

Batman is not as jealous of the competition as Superman, but he’s pretty close.

Batman manages to recover a tiny piece of fabric from Deadshot’s clothes. If this was told today, he would run an analysis on the Batcomputer… but in 1950 he just searches through every single high-end shop in Gotham.

Was this a real thing???

So when Bruce Wayne sends a fake alarm to Deadshot, he’s rigged his home to take similar pictures in order to deduce his secret identity. As convoluted as the setup is, it does make a certain amount of sense.

I can’t decide if this is a clever plan or an idiotic one.

You do have to admire Deadshot just straight up admitting to Batman that he plans to shoot him.

Too bad he’s not exactly cut out to be a criminal mastermind.

Unfortunately the clue goes nowhere, and sad Robin is sad.

But don’t worry: Deadshot can’t actually hit anything with his bullets.

He’s not shooting blanks, though.

Just leave the jokes to Spider-Man, Batman. I don’t care if he’s not around yet.

Predictably enough, the trick is that Batman sabotaged the guns’ sights.

That would make sense if Deadshot was shooting from a distance, but he’s practically at an arm’s length… unless Batman sabotaged the barrel, how did Deadshot miss!?

Historical significance: 0/10
Deadshot was supposed to be a one-shot character (pun intended): he completely disappears until 1977’s Detective Comics #474, where he gets a much-needed redesign.

Silver Age-ness: 5/10
Props for at least giving Batman some scenes where he’s a detective.

Does it stand the test of time? 3/10
It’s not anywhere near as bad as other Batman stories from the 50s… but it’s pretty bad.

How close is this to the modern character? 1/10
He’s a master marksman and he has a moustache… that’s it. The look isn’t there, the motives aren’t there, the personality isn’t there… this is barely recognizable as Deadshot.

As promised: the cover story!

Which begins with the Joker, uhm, joking about being the descendant of clowns.

Guys… HE WAS JOKING!!!

And in case you’re wondering: yes, Bruce Wayne is friends with a scientist who can send people to other time periods by hypnosis.
This is a regular thing in the 50s.