Batman #18 - Story 1

June 9, 1943

"The Secret of Hunter's Inn"

Here's a real interesting cover for Batman #18 as we see the leaders of the Axis being blown by a giant firecracker while Batman and Robin look on. And there's another plea, as we have seen in previous issues, to buy war bonds. It's just such a different concept than what you would see on the cover of a comic today. Could you imagine a cover featuring perhaps Putin getting knocked on his butt by a firework, an image that has nothing to do with the comic in question other than Batman and Robin looking on?

Now this first story in the issue is the return of Tweedledee and Tweedledum, but based on the way we read our opening narration, you might think Two-Face was going to make an appearance as this story deals with a duplicitous house, if such a thing is possible. But it did get me thinking how cool a team-up of Two-Face and the rotund cousins would make as a story.

Bruce, Dick and Alfred are driving along a lonely road leading to the Hunter's Inn. There have been stories of robberies occurring along the road and Bruce is hoping to pick up a clue. They get a room and Bruce notes another millionaire is staying at the Inn. At dinner, Bruce notes how few people are in the dining room that is well renowned, but Dick is not impressed with his stew.

That night, Batman and Robin spring into action when they hear the cries of help from the millionaire. The owner of the Inn enters the room as he watches the two taking out the crooks. He claims he runs a respectable establishment and then proceeds to release a swarm of bees from a globe. Batman knocks the owner down by throwing one of the crooks at him. He and Robin rush from the room when they hear the millionaire calling for help again. They are shocked when they reach the entrance to the other room and see the owner, who they left before, standing before them.

They are surprised as the man released coal gas which overcomes them and they drop to the floor. Batman taps on the floor in the hopes of getting Alfred's attention and it works. Alfred finds them and takes them to their room where he applies artificial respiration. He then lowers the two out the window and gets them in the limo, escaping from the Inn and returning home.

The next day, Batman (now suspected the Tweeds are behind this), Robin and Alfred return to the Inn. There they find Soup McConnell, an ex-con who claims he owns the Inn and hires other ex-cons to give them a break. Robin spots two of the men they tangled with the night before so he and Batman engage them in a fight. They are overwhelmed by the hired help, but McConnell allows them to leave with a warning that the police will be called if they trespass again.

The two walk off and Batman is surprised as he remembered the entrance to the Inn faced the west, but the Inn that morning faced the south. They walk through the forest, trying to work out what is happening until they come upon the hotel again and it's the one they stayed in the night before with the entrance to the west.

In the Inn, Batman notes the reservation book has similar bookings to the real Inn. Batman works it out that the Tweeds created a duplicate Inn where they robbed their guests, but when the police came to investigate, they went to the real inn and even though Soup was an ex-con, they couldn't prove anything. They move about the place and are captured by a trap.

They learn how the Tweeds manage to detour cars to their fake Inn by having artificial trees move based on a control board they find in an elevator they use to escape. He uses it to set the detour to the fake Inn so the police, who are on their way, can find them. Our story ends with a "Waa Waa" moment as Alfred gets them lost making their way home.

This story had a lot of potential, but I felt that everything was rushed in order to fit in with the limited page count for the story. I would have loved to see this expanded as a full-length story, but I know we're many years from that happening. Story two coming up next, Citizens!