Batman 1943 - Chapter 14

October 15, 1943

"The Executioner Strikes"

As always, you can check out what writer Jim Beard and I thought of the chapter in our podcast. The player is attached here. But here are a few other thoughts I had as I rewatched it for the blog.

Have to admit, this is one of the better cliffhangers if not the best because you have a double peril. And it really looks like neither can easily be resolved by walking away. Of course, we do have Robin who finds Bruce (yes, he calls out in the bad guy's hideout, Bruce) and tosses him a crowbar to jam the closing walls, allowing Batman to climb out, by standing atop the knives. (I guess only the tips are sharp?). In any event, it's a very "in the nick of time" moment as the walls get pretty close.

Linda doesn't fare as well, unfortunately, and is turned into a zombie. Daka is not a happy man when he sees Batman once again has escaped, but he has an another trick as he mined the roof which should trap the two. It doesn't.

No sign of Batman in the back seat.

And then there's a weird bit of editing I don't think we caught the last time. There's a shadowy figure that we assume is Batman reaching the car where Alfred is waiting. We see him go in. Then Robin approaches and enters. We cut to two of Daka's men seeing him enter and saying Daka would love to get his hands on him. But as he enters, there is no one in the back seat. But then when the car pulls away and we cut to the interior of the back, Batman is in the car with him. It's a weird setup just to say, "if we get the kid, we can get Batman."

So the men follow Bruce's car and force it off the road. By then, the costumes are off and Dick is hiding on the floor of the car as Bruce confronts the two. They let him continue. They never once think that this is the same car they saw Batman go into or that, look, it's Bruce Wayne who Daka suspects is Batman. So this allows Bruce to follow their car when they leave. And then they change back to Batman and Robin - OK.

They catch up with them near a park and here is a clear example of what Jim Beard rightfully complained about throughout the entire podcast review - Batman and Robin are terrible fighters. There are only two men and they have better fighting skills than the Dynamic Duo. It's only with Alfred's intervention that they are able to take the two down - just barely.

They take the two back to the Batscave where Batman finds the note from Linda telling him to come to a particular address. This all leads up to the what is the second best cliffhanger in the series as Batman is captured and placed in a box and taken to Daka. There, Daka throws the box into his pit of alligators and we hear Batman's screams as we come to the end of the chapter.

Overall, a much better chapter than some of the previous ones as things are gathering to the conclusion. And we'll cover that conclusion next, Citizens!