Batman: Caped Crusader 2.04

The Devil's Due

Someone murders a burglar, takes the loot he was in the process of stealing, and leaves behind a bat symbol. Batman gets blamed for the killing. Commissioner Gordon knows it isn't him. Batman looks for the killer. He meets the culprits, a cult devoted to bringing back the demon Barbatos, to rule the Earth.

The Mad Monk is the villain behind the cult. His followers all wear bat costumes and consider Batman to be the avatar of Barbatos. They try to convince Batman to join them but when he refuses they savagely beat him up and then disappear.

Commissioner Gordon agrees to appear on Hattie Tetch's television program but before it begins they are abducted by Dala Landry, Tetch's producer, and a couple other member of the Cult of Barbatos. Batman finds them, with some help from Alfred, just in time to prevent them from being sacrificed.

Thoughts

Linton Midnite makes a brief appearance in this episode. This is the second of two episodes in which he has appeared. He first appeared in 1.06 Night Ride.

I like this episode very much. It gets kind of dark. It looks like it is based on some comic books stories that I have never read. I love the designs for the costumes worn by the Mad Monk and Dala. I love the way Dala behaves at the end of the story. It was chilling.

Notes

Dala (Landry) first appeared in Detective Comics 32 (Oct 1939). She had a different first name in the comic books but she also worked with the Mad Monk. She appeared in several issues of Batman and Detective Comics in 1982, starting with Detective Comics 511 (Feb 1982) and ending with Detective Comics 518 (Sep 1982). She appeared in five issues of each comic book series. The first and last issue of Batman in which she appeared in 1982 were Batman 511 (Mar 1982) and Batman 517 (Sep 1982).

All of the stories from 1982 were reprinted in Tales of the Batman: Gerry Conway volumes 2 and 3. I believe both of these can be found on Hoopla. Dala later showed up in Batman and the Mad Monk 1-6 which tells an expanded version of the story from Detective Comic 31 and 32.

The Mad Monk first appeared in Detective Comics 31 (Sep 1939) and 32. He did not appear in the stories from 1982 mentioned above. He was also a player in Batman and the Mad Monk 1-6.