#(besides the fact that this was the 2nd time he's been in an abandoned tube station with the doctor as there are creatures tryna kill them-

[moreaugriffins]

I feel like we, as a fandom, really don't talk (or think) enough about 3 and the Brig being in a closet together

Like, yes, 3 brought the Brig there because that's how he got into the secret base - all innocent stuff - but from the outside, it's like "Come along brigadier, let's go to an abandoned tube station, deep enough inside that nobody can hear us, into this broom closet, that's practically empty and we've only got a few inches of space between us. Yes this absolutely is the closet to the base, and not some convoluted method to be alone with you-"

[kudosmyhero]

Detective Comics (vol. 1) #408: The House that Haunted Batman/The Phantom Bullfighter!

Read Date: June 04, 2023 Cover Date: February 1971 ● Writer: Len Wein ◦ Marv Wolfman / Frank Robbins ● Penciler: Neal Adams / Don Heck ● Inker: Dick Giordano / Dick Giordano ● Colorist: {uncredited} ● Letterer: John Costanza / Ben Oda ● Editor: Julius Schwartz ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● ah, some of that weird 2nd-person p.o.v. narration that I’ve only come across in 1970s Daredevil so far. this fits that same time period, so it must have been the trend at the time

● 👏👏👏

Synopsis: Story 1: Robin has gone missing and Batman sets out to find him in a decrepit old house; a place which appeared on the outskirts of Gotham City as suddenly as Robin's disappearance.

As Batman passes deeper into the house, he shouts Robin's name, hoping that his young sidekick will answer his call. A few moments later Batman is startled by the standing figure of Robin at the end of a long hallway. Batman runs to his young partner and once he is within reach, Robin collapses, forcing Batman to stop his fall with his arms. Batman takes a closer look at his partner and he is extremely shocked to see Robin aging at an inhuman speed until he becomes ashes in Batman's hands.

Suddenly, a raging scream breaks the silence of the abandoned house and Batman follows the source of the appalling sound, spawned from the darkest confines of the mansion. Opening a door in the upper floor, Batman is swarmed by a cloud of bats, but he continues his search despite the harrowing scenario until he finds the room form which the shrieks are coming. Once inside, Batman finds that it is all coming from a gramophone and just as he stop the record, he is attacked by an unknown assailant, who instantly runs away. Batman gives chase to the attacker, who is armed with a gun and is shooting backwards as he escapes, aiming at Batman. Dodging the bullets, Batman finally manages to corner the attacker in one of the mansion's hallways, but he is paralyzed when he realizes that the attacker is none other than Robin.

As Batman is being attacked by his partner, he is forced to step back until he falls in a dark room and a door is closed in front of him. Surrounded by absolute darkness, Batman lights a match and is able to see members of the Justice League and Batman's personal friends, gathered together around a macabre open coffin. When Batman gets closer, he realizes that the body inside the casket is his own. Soon, the members attending Batman's funeral start giving their own eulogies about the Dark Knight. Unfortunately, they all speak dreadful things, as Commissioner Gordon calls him a hypocrite and Superman resents him for stealing the glory on their past missions together. Finally, Batman realizes that everything is just a strange illusion, almost at the same time as Robin steps up and expresses his contempt for his late mentor and plans to reveal his secret identity to the world. At that moment, the light from the match fades out and the darkness returns. Lighting a second match, Batman realizes that everyone is gone and that it was in fact, all part of an illusion. However, he soon notices that the dark walls start closing in until they leave a very narrow space for Batman to move.

It is then that Batman's mind returns to reality and he realizes that he is locked in a special tube that makes him bounce up and down, with a monitor counting the number of times Batman has repeated the cycle. Besides Batman is an unconscious Robin, who is also locked in a similar tube, with the counter higher that Batman's. Finally, the mastermind behind it all reveals himself to the hero and Batman is shocked to see Dr. Tzin-Tzin on a large video screen, controlling every movement. Wanting to know how Tzin-Tzin managed to escape prison, Tzin-Tzin explains that it was easy for him to breach out and after he escaped, he tried to rejoin his old gang, but they scorned him after his defeat at the hands of Batman. Wanting revenge against the Dark Knight, Tzin-Tzin was promptly contacted by the League of Assassins, whose plans had been thwarted twice by Batman and they provided the money and equipment to create this elaborate death trap. Tzin-Tzin then proceeds to explain that the monitor counting Batman and Robin's movements on the tubes are actually triggers that would set explosions once the number reaches 100. Knowing that Robin's counter is far ahead than his own, Batman starts moving inside the tube in order to accelerate the counter so his tube would explode first. Tzin-Tzin tries to get Batman to plead for Robin's life, but Batman manages to get the counter to 100 before Robin is killed.

Tzin believes that he has succeeded, but Batman appears again and breaks Robin out of the deadly tube. Batman explains that he used his utility belt (which had earlier had its contents removed, presumably by Tzin-Tzin) to trigger the bomb and avoided being hurt by the explosion. Frustrated, but prepared for such eventuality, Tzin releases a dozen of highly trained killers to attack Batman. The Dark Knight uses his honed fighting skills to take down ten of his attackers, but the last couple of them manage to hold him, long enough for Tzin-Tzin to reach him and end his vendetta. Batman is unable to break free and his hour of doom seems to finally have arrived, when Robin appears out of nowhere and tackles Tzin-Tzin, giving Batman the chance to defeat the last two killers.

Finally, Batman and Robin take Tzin-Tzin out of the abandoned mansion and they take him towards the Batmobile waiting outside. However, as they reach their vehicle, the duo hear laughter coming from the house and when they turn around, they see Tzin-Tzin mocking them from one of the upper windows. They turn round and realize that Tzin-Tzin has escaped while they were distracted; and seconds after this realization, the abandoned house explodes and the whole place comes crumbling down in ashes and fire.

As dawn breaks, the Batmobile silently leaves the ghastly scenario and disappears in the first mists of dawn that cover Gotham City.

Story 2: In order to acquire the manuscript "Of Fighting Bulls and Men" for the Gotham Library, Barbara Gordon must travel to Madrid, Spain. There she is the guest of Don Alvarado, owner of the manuscript, who takes her to see it's subject: a bull fighter named El Grandos. However, El Grandos is upstaged during his bull fight by a young bull fighter named Paco. This causes some animosity and brings to light El Grandos' dwindling skill.

That night at Alvarado's ranch, Barbara is awoken by the arrival of a strange bullfighter hiding in the shadows. Following the figure as Batgirl, she soon finds that the bull El Diablo, favorite bull of El Grandos, has been killed. Finding that Granado's sacred sword was used as the murder weapon, Barbara begins to speculate who may have killed the bull.

(https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Detective_Comics_Vol_1_408)

Fan Art: Selfie by MaHenBu

Accompanying Podcast: ● Batgirl to Oracle - episode 14