Arts Entertainments

Batman Number 1: The Strange Case of Dr. Strange

Batman was introduced to his archenemy Joker in the first issue of the comic, and the second story puts Dr. Strange in the mix.


Plot

The problem starts with doctor hugo strange, who is imprisoned by Batman himself, escaping his current stage in life with a couple of other prisoners. He also goes to the asylum and breaks a couple more inmates out of the asylum. Batman finds out about this, and even before he begins to investigate, the city is attacked by giant monsters.

To their dismay, the cops discover that these monsters are also unharmed by bullets. What kind of crazy danger is the city facing now? Well, Batman decides to find the answer to the question that surely must have arisen in the minds of all readers.

Batman witnesses the giants rampage through the city and then follows them to their lair, only to be captured by the giants, who are none other than Dr. Hugo Strange’s creation. Dr. Strange reveals that he has created a concoction that allows men to grow tall and powerful. And while they unleash chaos in the city, his other henchmen plan to rob banks. Make hay while the sun shines, as they say.

Batman is knocked down and Dr. Strange injects Batman with the same serum and locks him up. But the Caped Crusader comes to just in time, a few hours before the serum takes effect on him, and gets to work. Because the bad guys took his utility belt, Bat has to rely on the chemicals he has in the heel of his boot to get through his makeshift prison. He then punches Hugo and cleverly defeats all the monsters that are in Hugo’s lair.

Afterwards, Bat takes his batplane and eliminates the truck that was transporting the monsters, as well as those who were planning to break the bank. While nothing is said about the serum working on Batman, we assume that Bat went to his cave and solved the problem himself.


Discussion:

The second story in the Batverse introduces us to Hugo Strange, who also makes an appearance in the DC Comics game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Hugo is also a central character in the Batman: Arkham Origins game.

Again, this story takes the typical ‘mad scientist’ route and is proof of how medical science was still a great mystery and therefore a fear for the general public.

In this issue, Batman claims to have killed at least three people, which is a far cry from the “oath not to kill”. This just goes to say how comics have evolved over time.

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