Detective Comics #6

Batman and Penguin in hand to hand combat? Over in two panels!

Last issue, the backup story was about playing Poker by made-up rules. But the main story had Charlotte Rivers, Bruce Wayne's love journalist, going undercover at The Penguin's new casino. Batman was also headed to the casino to see what was going on because he found a casino chip or something while busting some gangsters. And on to the story!

Some low level nobody pseudo-super villain named Snakeskin seems to be the man behind losing the Penguin's poker chip. Batman found his fingerprints on the chip so he's looking for him. He believes the man who owned the poker chip was responsible for a bunch of, oh I don't know, crime? He's been doing crimes! Crimes bad! Batman hate crime! Batman catch Snakeskin real good!

While checking out Snakeskin's last know residence, Batman finds a tub filled with blood. And Batman actually thinks, "Someone's been taking a bath. A bloodbath." Oh ho ho! Batman, you clever wit you! In the tub, Batman finds Raju, one of the Penguin's runners. Raju may have been the guy Batman beat information out of to find Commissioner Gordon in the last story arc. Batman has Alfred run Raju's phone records over the last 24 hours and they find he was talking to someone named Jill Hampton. Batman seems to recognize this name because he rudely hangs up on Alfred.

It's okay that this guy shoots his toes off! Batman assures everyone that he once beat a murder rap before Batman was around to beat him up and get him to confess. Also, he's never had a boring, soul-sucking honest job in his life!

Batman asks the desk clerk at Snakeskin's motel residence if a Jill Hampton had been there recently. Since he's already blown his own foot off, Batman magnanimously decides not to rough him up anymore. The clerk blabs that a chick with an eyepatch had been there recently and Batman leaves.
Snakeskin was with a woman with an eyepatch in the beginning of this comic. So I guess that's Jill Hampton. And I guess Batman knows her.

Back in Penguin's casino, Charlotte Rivers is busy with her investigating! She's ruffling through Jill Hampton's room looking for clues! She finds a clue when Jill karate chops her on the back of the neck. They confront each other and they seem to know each other as well! Really well even because they're sisters! What?! OMG!

Charlotte has been investigating some gun runners in Gotham and found her sister's name kept coming up. So she decided to ruin her. But her sister has decided to cut Charlotte's face off before Charlotte can ruin Jill's life!

Is there a reason I should care about these women? I mean, aside from the skimpy French Maid outfit.

Deeper in the Iceberg Casino, Penguin conducts a meeting with a half-dozen new low level super villain crime bosses who have developed a Crime Syndicate of their very own. Penguin is planning on charging them for his patronage.

That's so sad! Does Penguin know he can't fly? Nor does he make a nest!

Here are some of the low level super villains Penguin is going to be working with.

Gas Man. I don't know if the skull and crossbones are Sharpied onto his glass helmet or if he has bones floating in his gassy face.

Hypnotic. Obviously created to die almost immediately.

Mr. Combustible. Don't get him angry or he'll go up in flames and put a small burn hole in your sofa's upholstery!

Penguin is telling these chumps that they'll be safe from Gotham's bottom feeders because everyone will know that their money is in Penguin's vault. It's apparently very secure. The only weakness it might have is talking about how impregnable it is in front of Jill Hampton posing as a waitress. Also, Penguin quotes Proust. I think. Wah wah!

I rather prefer penetrable friendships!

Meanwhile, Batman traces down Pog, the only other number on Raju's phone history. When he finds him, he's been chopped up and stuffed into an ice chest with a throwing star in one eye. Adn Raju's assistant tells him Pog recently met up with a woman with one eye. And she said she'd meet him at the Iceberg Casino. So Batman decides it's time to meet up with Charlotte for their date at Penguin's casino.

At the casino, Snakeskin delivers some C-4 to Jill up the service elevator from a boat under the Casino. As Jill is transporting the C-4 through the casino, Charlotte sees her and decides to follow her. I don't know what happened between Charlotte and Jill after Jill busted the bottle but she apparently didn't cut Charlotte's face off. Apparently they just left each other alone after that!
Charlotte enters a dark room while following her sister and is attacked by Snakeskin.

Batman drops in just in the nick of time because he's always in the right place at the right time! Well, this time he has an excuse. Alfred placed a tracer in Charlotte's dress. Batman beats up Snakeskin then rushes over to Charlotte to help her out. But when he does, a door closes behind him and then Batman blames himself for both of them getting killed.

Oh Batman! You quitter!

I don't know how Batman gets killed. I don't know if a trap door opens under him and he drops into the ice below. Or if the room fills with snow and ice. Or if something I can't even imagine happens. This is the problem with the writer being the artist. He probably knows what he's trying to convey in this scene. But I don't!

Also, it was a pretty weak moment to have the two sisters confront each other and then have nothing come of it. Why would Jill let Charlotte go if Charlotte was going to expose her? Maybe she's going to try to pin the robbery on Charlotte. But then Snakeskin tries to kill her so that's probably not it.
Forget it! I'm not going to try to figure out Tony Daniel's plot! With his stupid poker rules (if that was him. That could have been a different writer) and his poor spacial concepts in his drawings, I just don't have the time! I'll just hope it's understandable when I read the next issue.

Detective Comics Issue #6 Rating: No Change in Rank.