Batman (1940) 247

Batman (1940) 247

Denny O’Neil and Irv Novick turned a hat trick with this, the third of Batman’s Christmas stories, since his return from post CCA crack down and television days. The previous two holiday tales were served up in Batman 219 and 239. For some reason the Dark Knight never celebrated in Detective Comics.

For the 1972 season O’Neal corrals both Christmas and New Year’s with “Merry Christmas…And a Deadly New Year!” The first vignette deals with the capture and subsequent escape of a terrorist who has stolen a deadly virus.

Christmas isn’t very merry as Batman and the Gotham Police Department spend the week prior to New Year’s searching for the vial. The adventure goes down to the wire as Batman finally discovers, and foils, the attempt as the ball drops counting down the end of one year and the beginning of another.