Batman #26 - Story 1
October 11, 1944
"Twenty Ton Robbery"
The Cavalier is back! I have to admit, he's quickly become my favorite Golden Age Bat-villain alongside Scarecrow and Tweedledee and Tweedledum (and I never saw that one coming). This is also the issue in which he is captured, but what a ride before it happens.
To open, now that his identity is known, the Cavalier has to disguise himself. And just like his peer, Batman, he is able to come up with a makeup job that allows him to move about and recruit new members for his gang. After proving himself to them, they agree to join, but only if he doesn't engage in oddball heists. They want to make cash and he has a plan to net them some serious money.
At a masquerade of high society types, Bruce and Dick note the number of people dressed as the Cavalier. (That old Romanticism kicking in there.) It's the perfect cover though as the real Cavalier and his men rob those who are attending. Batman and Robin try to stop them, but they are confronted by the other Cavaliers which allows the real one to get away. He even has a backup plan of a large group of kids being promised autographs by the Dynamic Duo who block their way as the Cavalier escapes. In the confusion, he manages to kidnap Robin as well.
At the Cavalier's hideout, Robin is able to signal Batman and tell him where he's being held, which is just what the Cavalier wants. He plans a trap right out of Batman 66 where Robin is chained to a wall. If he strains against his chains, he will be speared. When Batman enters the room he will trigger the spear as well as one for him thanks to an electronic eye. It's perfect as Robin is gagged and can't warn him. But he manages to sketch some words of warning using dust from the holes in the wall used to place his shackles.
And in typical Batman 66 fashion, Robin comments on how the Cavalier made a comment about feeding him to the whale. And Batman realizes that was a tipoff to his next theft, a giant whale in a tank in a museum. And it's not much of a tank. The poor beast just sits there in a tank as big as himself. But it's perfect for the Cavalier to hitch a trailer truck to the tank and drag it out. He plans to ransom the whale, but in the confusion of the theft, he also picks up a random horn lantern on display, which he says is the first piece in a new collection. He leaves some of his men behind to steal from the museum's box office and they are caught by the Duo.
