Batman Number 1: The Strange Case of Dr. Strange
Batman was introduced to his arch nemesis Joker in the first issue of the comic, and the second story puts Dr. Strange in the mix.
Plot
The problem starts with Dr. Hugo Strange, who is imprisoned by Batman himself, escaping from his current scenario in life with a couple of other prisoners. He also goes to the asylum and escapes a couple more asylum inmates. Batman finds out about this, and before even starting to investigate, the city is attacked by giant monsters.
To their dismay, the police officers discover that these monsters are also not injured 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 rampaging through the city and then follows them to their lair, only to be captured by giants, who are none other than the creation of Dr. Hugo Strange. Dr. Strange reveals that he has created a blend that allows men to grow tall and powerful. And while they wreak havoc on the city, his other henchmen plot to rob banks. Make hay while the sun shines, as they say.
Batman is shot down, and Dr. Strange injects Batman with the same serum and locks him up. But the Caped Crusader regains consciousness just in time, a few hours before the serum acts on him, and goes to work. Because the bad guys took off his tool belt, Bat has to rely on the chemicals on his boot heel to get through his makeshift prison. Then hit Hugo and intelligently defeat all the monsters that are in Hugo’s lair.
Bat then takes his fighter plane and takes out the truck that was carrying the monsters, as well as those who were planning to break the bank. While nothing is said about the serum that works on Batman, we assume that Bat went to his cave and solved the problem himself.
Discussion:
The second story of the Batverse introduces us to Hugo Strange, who also makes his appearance in the DC Comics game, Injustice: Gods Among Us. Hugo is also a central character in the Batman: Arkham Origins game.
Once again, this story takes the typical ‘mad scientist’ route and is proof of how medical science remained a great mystery and therefore a fear for the general public.
In this issue, Batman professes to have killed at least three people, which is a far cry from the ‘oath not to kill’. This only goes to say how comics have evolved over time.