|
 At
an exhibit of new scientific equipment, Batman and Robin
lash out at one of crime's newest threats...the COBRA gang!
"Two down...two more to go!" Batman exclaims
as he punches out a crook. While another is felled by their ally Batwoman!
"There's still another one loose around here,
Batman. We'd better find him!" Batwoman notes. But their search comes
to an abrupt end when...
"Great Scott! He turned the electronic ring on
us!" the astonished Batman cries out.
"And as I turn the dial, the circle of electricity
tightens around you until..." the Cobra crook gloats. Suddenly...an astonishing
visitor intervenes...
"Don't worry, everybody--Bat-Girl will
take care of him!" the young heroine says as she crashes in through the
window, knocking over the crippling ray machine.
"B-Bat-Girl?" Robin says, puzzled.
"Now to switch off the electronic ring...so you
can take over, Batman!" the Girl Wonder tells him.
"So long!" Bat-Girl says as she swings back out
the window.
"She...she called herself Bat-Girl! Gosh, I wonder
who she is?" questions Robin.
Later, as Batwoman, puzzled by the girl's identity,
returns to her lair...
"Well, did I do all right, Aunt Kathy?" asks
Bat-Girl.
"Betty! So it's you! And you've learned my secret
identity!" a stunned Batwoman replies.
Who is this amazing teen-ager? How and why did
she assume this disguise? For the answers, we must glance back to some
days before, when wealthy Kathy Kane has an unexpected visitor.
"Hi, Aunt Kathy! You once said I could visit
you, so here I am!" the young girl greets Kathy Kane.
"This will complicate things. I'll be secretly
going out so much as Batwoman, I hope it doesn't arouse her suspicion!"
Kathy ponders to herself. As days pass, Kathy's fears became well justified...
"I wonder where Aunt Kathy goes every night? If
she's dating a special person, why doesn't he ever call for her here?"
Betty wonders as she watches the news on TV.
"...And now for a news exclusive...Actual films
of Batwoman in action--taken by a news cameraman who happened to be on
the scene...Surprising thieves robbing the safe of a manufacturer of school
supplies, Batwoman instantly went into action...as the thieves fell back
upsetting cartons of gold stars, Batwoman followed to make the capture...,"
the news announcer finishes.
"Golly! She's wonderful. How I wish I could be
like her!" Betty sighs. And so Betty promptly sets out to make her wish
come true...
"But Betty--how--how did you guess I was Batwoman?"
inquires her aunt.
"When I brushed my hair with your brush, some
gold stars fell out! I realized those stars could only have gotten on
it when you brushed your hair after your capture of those crooks!" Betty
relates. "So I secretly made myself a costume--and tonight I trailed you!"
"You were very clever, Betty--but you must never
be Bat-Girl again!" chides Batwoman.
"If you can be Batwoman, I can certainly be Bat-Girl.
Maybe we could be a team--like Batman and Robin!" suggests Bat-Girl.
"She has no idea how dangerous fighting is! I'd
better get Batman's advice on how to cope with Betty!" Batwoman thinks
to herself. Later, at police headquarters...
"Betty's bright, and she learns quickly--but she's
also very headstrong! What can I do to dissuade her?" Batwoman asks.
"GOSH! Batman--an inexperienced girl is bound
to get hurt pursuing crooks!" Robin adds.
"That's it! Suppose, Batwoman, you pretend you'll
allow her to be Bat-Girl--but only after a lot of training!" suggests
Batman.
"Fine! I'll stall her by keeping her in training
until it's time for her to return home!" agrees Batwoman.
And so the rigid training program gets under
way...
"You're a natural athlete, Betty. But this will
teach you to be sure-footed at all times," instructs Batwoman. Day after
day Batwoman adds to the girl's assignments to occupy almost ever moment
of her time...
"Gosh, Aunt Kathy, when am I going out with you
on a case?" Betty asks.
"Er... when you've finished training! Y-you’re
not ready yet," Batwoman responds nervously. After Batwoman leaves...
"Not ready yet!--Hmmph! I've got a feeling she's
deliberately stalling me!" Betty thinks. "This shoe was taken from one
of the Cobra gang arrested by the police. When it fell to the floor, some
particles stuck inside became loose. I'd better do a chemical analysis
on them right away!" So Betty begins her work. Soon after...
"Cellulose acetate! I read about it in school.
That's used in the manufacture of gunpowder, rayon, and other products.
I'll bet their hideout is a place that once used cellulose. So Aunt Kathy
thinks I'm not ready yet!—Huh! I'll show her! Bat-Girl will search everywhere
until she locates the Cobra gang's hideout!" Betty swears to herself as
she changes into her Bat-Girl uniform. Thus, some time later, the determined
girl comes to the end of her hunt...
"Just as I thought, an abandoned rayon plant--and
that must be the boss himself, King Cobra! I-I really should notify Aunt
Kathy...but I'm not!! I'll prove to her I am ready!" says the determined
Bat-Girl as she makes her move!
"This self-inflating balloon from my crime-compact
will startle them so I'll be able to lasso them with my bat-rope!" Bat-Girl
says as she releases the balloon into the room.
"W-what's that?" one of the crooks gasps.
"YEOW!" exclaims the King Cobra!...
"I've found you myself--and now I'll capture you
by myself!" declares Bat-Girl. But, as the surprised gang boss’s lighted
cigar flies from his hand, it touches the balloon and...BOOOM!
"What?" cries out Bat-Girl.
"It exploded in her face! Quick! Grab her! It's
that kid--Bat-Girl--who was responsible for our boys getting caught the
other day!" orders King Cobra. Minutes later...
"We'll lock her up in this old office--and keep
her as a hostage to force Batman to release our pals from jail!" the crook
tells Bat-Girl. Alone now, Bat-Girl realizes the damage her over-confidence
has caused.
"Oh, what a fool I've been. Those crooks Batman,
Robin, and Batwoman caught will be freed--and all because of me! If I
could only make up for my mistake!" Bat-Girl thinks quietly to herself.
"Hmmm! These sheets of thin carbon paper--and that ventilator! I've got
an idea! If I cut the carbon paper into bat-like shapes...!" And so she
sets to work.
Soon after, an updraft wafts the cutouts to the
roof’s exhaust vent, where a newspaper delivery boy is wandering by the
rayon plant,
"Paper bats! It's some kind of Bat-signal! I'd
better call the police!" the paperboy rushes away. Sometime later...
"HUH? They found us!" cries out a crook as the
terrific trio breaks into the room.
"ULP! We're finished!" yells another crook as
he tries to flee.
"Not yet! I've still got an ace! Hold them off!"
commands King Cobra. Swiftly the cunning crime chief returns...
"Hold it! I've got a gun on her!" orders King
Cobra.
"Bat-Girl!" exclaims Batman.
"Oh--I'm so frightened! I-I feel faint! Ohhhh!"
Bat-Girl begins to fall to the ground. But as she seemingly collapses...
"Drop it!" Bat-Girl orders King Cobra as she knocks
the gun from his hand.
"OWW!" he exclaims in pain as the gun falls to
the ground. As if on signal, the crime fighting quartet catapults into
action.
"How am I doing, Robin!" Bat-Girl sweetly asks
the Boy Wonder.
"Not bad--for a girl!" he responds.
"YOW! It's like trying to fight an army! We give
up!" cries out the beaten King Cobra.
Later, after the thugs have been turned over
to the police...
"I learned my lesson! I'll never be so foolish
again!" Bat-Girl admits.
"I'm glad of that. But you proved you can be a
good crime fighter. Maybe we will go out as a team some day!" Batwoman
tells her niece.
"OH! I can hardly wait! And perhaps Robin and
I can work on a case together too!--is that a date?" And Bat-Girl smiles
sweetly at Robin.
"ULP!" the Boy Wonder swallows hard, as Batman
and Batwoman look on with laughter.
|
Prev
Page 
Next Page