Detective Comics #27 is an early issue of DC Comics long-running Detective Comics series, released around May 1939 during the beginning of The Golden Age of Comic Books, with art by Bob Kane and writing by an uncredited Bill Finger. Designed as an anthology comic as many other comic books of the time were, it is notable for containing the short story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate", the debut comic tale of one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, Batman.
The story begins with Commissioner Gordon hanging out with wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne, discussing the subject of the mysterious figure known as "The Bat-Man" when Gordon gets a sudden phone call about the Chemical king, Lambert, having been stabbed to death in his mission and that his son's fingerprints were all over the knife. Gordon invites Wayne to come along, and he obliges. They arrive at the scene of the crime, and while its being investigated, Lambert's son (also named Lambert) is pressed for information. The frightened young man gives his version of the events; having heard a groan from the family library he was passing by, he came across his dying father, having been stabbed by an unknown foe who made out the window after pillaging the nearby safe. As he pulled the dagger out of his fathers body, the elder Lambert's feebly murmured the words "...contract...contract...ohhhh!" before dying right there. Gordon grills him further, asking if his father had any potential enemies or people interested in his business practices. Lambert namedrops three associates, Alfred Stryker, Paul Rogers, and Steve Crane. As if by chance, Steve Crane calls Gordon on the phone. Lambert told Crane that he had received a death threat the previous day. Crane has received a similar death threat, and asks for police protection. Bruce Wayne decides to go home, and Gordon rushes over to the Crane residence.
Steven Crane is killed by a gunman who enters through the window. The thug and his partner steal a paper from Crane and climb onto the roof. They are confronted by a figure they recognize as the Bat-Man, standing in the moonlight. The Bat-Man punches the first thug out, then grabs the second one in a headlock and throws him off the second-story roof. He grabs the paper and escapes as Gordon is pulling up. The GCPD try to arrest the Bat-Man, but they are unable to catch him. Gordon learns that Crane has been murdered, and moves on to the next business partner. The Bat-Man smiles when he reads the paper he stole, and drives off in his automobile.
Paul Rogers visits the laboratory of Alfred Stryker, having learned of Lambert's death by news broadcast. Stryker's assistant Jennings clubs Rogers over the head and ties him up. Jennings explains that he will lower a gas chamber over Rogers and kill him the same way he puts animals to sleep. Jennings leaves to activate the gas. The Bat-Man leaps into the room through an open transom. The Bat-Man grabs a wrench and dives inside the gas chamber before it closes.
He plugs the gas jet with a handkerchief, and busts through the glass with his wrench. Jennings returns and tries to pull a gun on the Bat-Man, but the Bat-Man punches him in the face really hard. Alfred Stryker enters and demands to know what happened. When Rogers explains that Jennings tried to kill him, Stryker pulls out a knife to finish the job. The Bat-Man is hiding in the shadows, and he grabs Stryker from behind to stop him.The Bat-Man explains to Rogers that they were all partners in the Apex Chemical Corporation. Stryker had made secret contracts with all of them to pay them a sum of money each year until he owned the business. He grew tired of waiting and decided to kill them so he wouldn't have to pay. Stryker breaks out of the Bat-Man's grip and pulls a gun on him. The Bat-Man immediately punches Stryker so hard in the face that he drop the gun, falls back, breaks through a railing and falls into a tank of acid. The Bat-Man remarks that this is a fitting end for his kind, and leaves via transom. Rogers tries to thank the Bat-Man, but he is already gone.
Later at his house, Commissioner Gordon relates what had happened to Bruce Wayne. Bruce brushes it off as a lovely fairy tale, and leaves. Gordon then muses to himself:
"Bruce Wayne is a nice young chap - but he certainly must lead a boring life... seems disinterested in everything."
Bruce returns home to Wayne Manor, where it's then revealed to the reader that he is in fact, the Bat-Man.
Tropes Exclusive To The Original 1939 Version of "The Case Of The Chemical Syndicate":
- Accidental Murder: It's implied that Batman didn't mean to kill Stryker, but he doesn't feel that bad about it either.
- Adaptation Expansion: The retelling of this story in Secret Origins #6 adds a number of elements that re-contextualize its events. For instance, we learn that Commissioner Gordon is an old friend of Bruce's Uncle Phillip. Bruce is visiting him at the start of the story hoping to get a desk job at the GCPD (his first mission as Batman having not gone entirely smoothly). It's his successful solving of "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" that convinces Bruce he has what it takes to continue as Batman, and so he gives up his dream of a career in law enforcement.
- Asshole Victim: Alfred Stryker, the real villain of the tale, is a murderer and a greedy Slimeball who only cares about getting money and power. When he meets his end at the hands of The Bat-Man, he gets absolutely no sympathy from either him or the reader, with Bats even coldly saying his death by acid was "A fitting end for his kind."
- Bald of Evil: Alfred Stryker is partially bald, and it goes in hand with his villainous nature.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just when it seems like Paul Rogers is doomed to be poisoned to death via Fenning's gas chamber, Batman arrives just in the nick of time, rolling into the glass chamber before it completely closes, quickly sealing the gas pipe with a handkerchief and untying Paul before smashing the glass open with a wrench.
- Black-and-Grey Morality: In stark contrast to his contemporary Superman, where the lines of morality were crystal clear. While Batman is definitely a force for good here and Stryker undeniably deserved his fate, Batman is far more ruthless in his methods here, up to where he straight up kills his foe without any moral qualms.
- Bond One-Liner: After punching Stryker into a vat of boiling acid, Batman merely looks down and coldly remarks "A fitting end for his kind."
- Boring, but Practical: The Bat-Man has no fancy gizmos to fall back on in this story; he drives a completely ordinary car and the only tools he carries are completely mundane things like a rope and hook, a handkerchief and a wrench.
- Breakout Character: Like Superman before him, The Bat-Man was an immediate smash hit in magazine sales, quickly gaining his own solo comic book series and eventually flat out taking over Detective Comics as the central character.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: The Bat-Man has no powers to speak of aside from being a very physically fit, intelligent and resourceful man.
- Compilation Re-release: The story has been reprinted several times, including in the books "Batman Archives Vol. 1", "Batman Chronicles Vol. 1" and "Batman: From the 30's to the 70's", though only two of the reprints collect the entire issue beyond The Bat-Man's debut tale.
- Darker and Edgier: In contrast to the more optimistic and lighthearted tone of Superman's debut tale in Action Comics, this is a much more serious and grim detective story with only the barest of superhero antics, up to where Batman ends up killing his adversary in the end.
- Death by Falling Over: How Stryker meets his end after Bats decks him into a nearby railing.
- Decoy Protagonist: The first couple of pages make it seem as if Gordon will be the protagonist but he has a minimal impact on the plot.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Batman's costume, while not unrecognizable, notably lacks the symbol on his chest, has a different cowl and wears purple gloves.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: This is Batman's first appearance, so many of the familiar trappings weren't even a spark in Bob Kane and Bill Finger's minds yet.
- The biggest whopper by far is Batman killing the bad guy personally without any qualms, something that the Dark Knight would never, ever do unless there was absolutely no other option in future stories.
- Batman's secret identity being Bruce Wayne himself is a fact anyone with even the faintest knowledge of Batman would know about now, but here it's treated as a last-panel twist. Also, no sign of his butler Alfred (who wouldn't appear for another four years) or his sidekick Robin, who wouldn't show up until 11 issues later.
- The comic is also relatively much more grounded in realism (which is saying a lot considering a big part of Bats' gimmick is having no powers at all), being set in New York City rather than the fictional Gotham City, and with Batman having none of his fancy tech or the Batmobilenote or Batcave at his access, largely dealing with the crooks via Good Old Fisticuffs and using mundane equipment like an ordinary streetcar and a (implied) grappling hook, handkerchief and wrench. The villains are likewise much more down to earth common crooks and schemers in contrast to the colorful and eccentric Rogues Gallery Bats would amass in the following decades, with no allusions at all that Bats and co. are part of a larger world of superheroes and villains (this coming about at a time when superheroes were a brand new and novel thing in themselves, much less before DC even entertained the idea of having a Shared Universe between their superheroes or an entire Multiverse of them).
- Also of note is that while Bats' tale is the most iconic part of the comic, he wasn't the lone star of it, as his debut story was packed in with several other stories included due to the anthology format that Detective Comics had at the time. He didn't get his own standalone series until shortly after this comics publication.
- Unlike with Superman, Batman's origin is left up in the air to help to preserve the mystery of the character; he wouldn't get one until six issues later.
- His initial costume is very different from what we think of, most notably with purple gloves and the bat-ears being set much lower and not even visible in profile shots. The design of the costume would be adjusted over subsequent appearances, with the traditional elements not finalized until, appropriately enough, the debut of Robin.
- And, on a minor note, Bats is consistently referred to as "The Bat-Man" in the tale.
- Evil Laugh: Stryker's assistant Jennings lets out a couple of cold "Heh-heh"'s as he's about to kill Paul Rogers via Stryker's gas chamber.
- Experienced Protagonist: The craftiness The Bat-Man demonstrates and a conversation with Gordon implies that he's already spent a fair amount of time crime-fighting before the events of this tale.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Stryker meets his end by falling into a vat of boiling acid. While the results are mercifully kept off-panel, that's still a truly horrible way to go.
- Fat Bastard: Both Stryker and his assistant Jennings are overweight in physique and completely rotten to the core.
- First-Episode Twist: The identity of The Bat-Man is revealed at the end of his debut story to be Bruce Wayne, who would quickly become one of the most famous examples of a Secret Identity. There are countless stories in various media that treat Batman's secret identity as general knowledge to the audience.
- Hollywood Acid: Stryker has a giant vat of this on hand, and it ends being the cause of his demise when he's knocked into it.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: In-Universe, both the elder and young Lambert share the same name.
- Nice Guy:
- Lambert Jr. seems to have been upset to find his father stabbed, tried to help him and while nervous about being a suspect seems to understand it and tries to cooperate.
- Rogers was seemingly visiting Stryker to warn him about the murders and thanks Batman for saving his life.
- No OSHA Compliance: Stryker rather stupidly has a platform with weak railings hanging directly next to a giant vat of boiling acid. That was an accident just waiting to happen, even if Bats hadn't shown up to foil his scheme.
- Only One Name: Neither Lambert gets a surname.
- Railing Kill: How Batman does away with Stryker after unraveling his crimes; Stryker tries to attack him, but Bats punches him into the nearby railing hanging above a vat of boiling acid. The railing is too weak to handle the impact of Styker falling into it, breaking and letting Stryker fall to his death.
- Secret Identity: The introduction establishes that The Bat-Man's true identity is unknown, but the ending panel reveals it to the reader.
- Starter Villain: Alfred Stryker, the debut villain of the entire Batman saga.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The Bat-Man pulls off the first of a long tradition of these when he abruptly flees the scene after killing Stryker, leaving Paul Rogers behind to just catch him escaping through the Skylight (a large hole in the roof). While its not shown on-panel, It's strongly implied that Bats used a grappling hook to pull it off—he had to get up to there somehow.
- The Reveal: The Bat-Man and Bruce Wayne are one and the same.
Yes, this was originally presented as a twist.Bruce Wayne returns home to his room...a little later his door slowly opens...and reveals its occupant...if the Commissioner could see his young friend now...he'd be amazed to learn that he is the "Bat-Man"! - Uncertain Doom: Batman throws the thug who shot Crane off the roof and is seen lying on the street . It's unclear if he's dead or knocked out.
Tropes Related To The 1969 version, “The Cry of Night is — Sudden Death!”
- Adaptation Expansion: The story is substantially altered and is more than twice the length of the original tale.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Mel Lambert, the son of the senior Lambert, is far more confrontational and aggressive in personality than in the original tale. Robin even assumes his behaviour is a smoking gun that he's the murderer, but he's proven wrong by the end when its revealed that Mel is innocent.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: The encounter with Alfred Stryker here occurs later than the original Golden Age tale, as indicated by the fact that Stryker was the first villain Batman confronted in the original story and this adaptation has him encountered sometime after Robin entered the picture.
- Backported Development: Batman's personality in this retelling reflects the far more noble character he became after the early stories, and having Robin added to the story further reinforces this.
- Humble Pie: Robin gets a lesson in humility in the story when his arrogant assumptions that Mel Lambert is the culprit (which are largely based on his very sour first impression of him) are proven wrong in the ending."I'm not in the mood for sleeping—I was all wrong tonight! I was after a guy who wasn't even involved—just 'cause he turned me off personally—I've got mr some heav-vy thinkin' to do—"
- Mythology Gag: While the title is changed for this retelling, Robin alludes to the original by proclaiming "So ends The Case Of The Chemical Syndicate!"
- Spared by the Adaptation: Alfred Stryker doesn't die in this version of the story, instead simply being captured by Batman and Robin.
Tropes Related To The First 1991 Retelling of "The Case Of The Chemical Syndicate":
- Adaptational Heroism: Alfred Stryker is not the villain of this version of the story. He actually tried to dissuade the elder Lambert from using illegal toxic chemicals, only to get toxic waste dumped on him by Lambert in a staged accident over it.
- Alas, Poor Villain: While Priscilla unquestionably crosses the line by committing murder, she has a perfectly understandable motive for what she does due to Lambert and Paul Rogers ruining her fathers life. When she unwittingly kills herself in the ending, Batman actually feels genuine pity for her, as he realizes how consumed by revenge she was.
- Anti-Villain: Priscilla/Pesticyde, the daughter of Alfred Styker. She clearly wants to avenge her father by killing all the leads involved in the chemical company that staged an accident which crippled him for life, but she becomes so consumed with revenge that shes willing to kill innocent bystanders just for being remotely involved with the company.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: Alfred Stryker is crippled and unable to speak in the present day of this adaptation due to having acidic waste dumped on him by Lambert.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the ending, Pesticyde unwittingly brings out her own end when she tries to evade Batman by using her acid to burn a hole in the factory walkway—only to find out too late that there was a vat of boiling acid waiting right below for her.
- Hollywood Acid: Pesticyde's weapon of choice is a pinkish acid cannon that can completely melt both flesh and metal in a matter of seconds. Its rather poetic considering its composed of similar materials to the toxic waste that crippled her father.
- Not His Sled: Alfred Stryker is not the villain in his version of the story. In fact, the accident that leaves him paralyzed and scarred is the catalyst for his daughter becoming Pesticyde in order to take revenge for him.
- Once More, with Clarity: The flashback to the elder and younger Lambert and Alfred Stryker is shown twice; the first time only shows half of it as told by Lambert's son, with Lambert and his son arguing about the effects of the toxic waste is creating and Alfred coming in to reveal that the chemicals do in fact exceed legal standards. The second time shows the (staged) accident that the elder Lambert causes, which permanently cripples Stryker.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Tragically subverted. Pesticyde tries to pull this off in the ending by burning a hole in a factory walkway to escape Batman, but it winds up dooming her, as there was a vat of acid right below the improvised hole.
Tropes Related to The New 52 Retelling of "The Case of The Chemical Syndicate":
- Spared by the Adaptation: Stryker once more falls into chemicals, but this time is shown to survive the plummet and is even implied to become the Joker.
