Batman #28 - Story 4

February 14, 1945

"Batman Goes to Washington!"

Batman and Robin save Danny the Dip, an Ex-con who tries to kill himself when he can't land a job because of his past. Batman promises to get him a job. He comments to Robin how difficult it is for someone who has paid their debt to be accepted back into mainstream society. He decides to take the case to the public via the radio.

His speech moves a number of criminals who were thinking of giving up the rackets. It also gets the attention of a senator who is trying get a bill passed that would build a war plant and it will need workers. He contacts Batman in the hopes that his presence on the Senate floor will help the bill pass.

Batman takes with him Danny and several other ex-cons to showcase who the bill would ultimately benefit. On the road to Washington, Batman and Robin are ambushed by a landslide that they determine was manmade. It turns out the leaders of the gangs want to put a stop to this as Batman is taking away their henchmen.

When they arrive in the capitol, Batman takes the ex-cons on a tour of the historic sites. He tries to hail a cab to the capitol building which he and Robin have to share with several others. In the cab, the two are knocked out by the others and taken to John Skye, a gangster who is heading up the effort to stop Batman's bill. He locks the two in a safe in his warehouse and heads to the capitol to watch the bill fail.

But the ex-cons are there as well. One of them pickpockets Skye for his wallet for clues and they discover the address of the warehouse. There, one of them uses his safe cracking skills to free the two. But Skye returned to the warehouse. He and his men get into a fight with Batman and when things go south, they try to escape by truck, but are quickly rounded up. The story ends with Batman giving a stirring speech on the Senate floor.

And that's it. Not a bad mix of stories, if a little uneven. What's next? We're on to Detective Comics, Citizens!