1. Hi Diddle Riddle  

First aired: 1/12/1966

A bomb goes off at the Gotham City World's Fair revealing a riddle which leads Batman and Robin to the Peale Art Gallery. The duo find out it's a trick from the Riddler who serves them subpeonas. Batman must find out the Riddler's sceme or he must reveal his true identity. Robin finds two clues in the papers and they head to a diso where he unfortuneatly cannot get in. Batman's drugged by the Riddler's assistant, Molly. Batman's drugged and Robin is tranquilliezed by the Riddler, who in turn tries to steal the Batmobile. The Riddler attempts to blow the Batmobile up after he kidnaps Robin. Batman races out to the Batmobile but in his incompacitated condition, he is forced to turn his keys over to the police. The Riddler attempts to operate on Robin.

2. Smack in the Middle  

First aired: 1/13/1966

Batman's attempts to contact Robin with no luck. Riddle copies Robin's face for Molly who infiltrates the Bat-Cave but falls to her death when Batman discovers her. Batman frees Robin. The Riddler goes after the Mammoth Of Moldavia. The Dynamic Due pursue and capture the Mole Hill Mob as Riddler escapes in an explosion.

3. Fine Feathered Finks  

First aired: 1/19/1966

Awaiting release from prison, The Penguin schemes to get Batman to plan his crimes for him. Batman and Robin investigate the alias K.G. Bird. Batman as Bruce Wayne plants a bug at the umbrella store and is captured by The Penguin. Bruce is set for doom as he head to the furnace.

4. The Penguin's a Jinx  

First aired: 1/20/1966

Bruce Wayne escapes his firery demise. Batman and Robin stake-out Dawn Robbins' place awaiting for The Penguin but he magnitizes them to the door with a giant magnet and escapes. The Penguin is soon apprehended at Wayne Manor attempting to retreive the ransom for Dawn Robbins. NEXT WEEK: Batman versus The Joker!

5. The Joker Is Wild  

First aired: 1/26/1966

The Joker espaces after a prison baseball game where he Batman and Robin at a museum and at the opera. Batman and Robin are caught and The Joker makes a move to unmask them.

6. Batman Is Riled  

First aired: 1/27/1966

The Joker escapes after a fowled attempt to reveal Batman's true identity. At the S.S. Gotham Christianing, Joker recaptures Batman & Robin only to be foiled by the Dynamic Duo.

7. Instant Freeze  

First aired: 2/2/1966

Mr. Freeze seeks vengence on Batman for his accident by steeling some diamonds. Freeze foils the Dynamic Duo with duplicates. Mr. Freeze attempts to steel the visiting Princess of Molino's diamonds only to be intercepted by Batman & Robin. Mr. Freeze freezes the Duo in their tracks as they try to apprehend him.

8. Rats Like Cheese  

First aired: 2/3/1966

Batman & Robin are thawed out as Mr. Freeze has captured the Gotham City's star baseball pitcher. Freeze proposes a trade for Batman. Robin tracks them down to Freeze's wharehouse. Mr. Freeze demonstrates his freezing system on the Dynamic Duo. Batman saves the day by knocking out Mr. Freeze & reverses the controls

9. Zelda the Great  

First aired: 2/9/1966

Zelda, The Great returns to town to steal her yearly stash of money. On her visit she tricks Aunt Harriet into believing that Dick is hurt and lures her into a trap which leaves her suspended over a vat of boiling oil.

10. A Death Worse Than Fate  

First aired: 2/10/1966

Bruce Wayne convinces Zelda her money she stole is actually real and Aunt Harriet is returned. A clue leads the Dynamic Duo to Zelda's accomplice, Eivol's lare where they get captured. Zelda informs Batman & Robin about the trap and capture Eivol and his men. Zelda surrenders and is given a repreive as a magician.

11. A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away  

First aired: 2/16/1966

After surviving the explosion unscathed in Episode 1, that crafty Count Of Conundrums, The Riddler, returns to once again overturn ceremony. Here, the ceremony is a welcoming one for the visiting King Boris, who has arrived in Gotham City to present a gift from his country, a miniature replica of The Queen Of Freedom Monument. The Riddler and his new female assistant, Mousey, present The King with an exploding bouquet of flowers, which, of course, releases a hidden riddle which leads The Dynamic Duo to believe that Riddler's planning to steal the jeweled crown from The Miss Galaxy Contest. The Caped Crusader secretly replaces the crown with a paste one containing a miniature transmitter. Later that night, The Riddler makes a surprise appearance at the contest, swipes the crown, and escapes down a trapdoor. Rushing outside to The Batmobile, The Darknight Detectives spot The Riddler emerging from an open manhole; much to their dismay, he informs them he knew from the very start that the crown was a fake, throws it back to them, and disappears.

Upon closer analysis, Batman discovered that the crown contains another riddle, which leads him to believe that The Riddler plans to kidnap the visiting King Boris. Unfortunately, The Dynamic Duo is too late to prevent King Boris' capture. The Prince Of Puzzlers plans to plant a time-bomb inside the king's statue, which in turn will be placed inside The Gotham City Museum Of Fame housed in the base of the towering monument. Batman and Robin locate The Riddler's hideout but are immediately overpowered by The Count Of Conundrums and his repugnant River Rat Gang, catching them in a net and spraying them with an adhesive spray! Then they are strapped to a giant generator shaft which will spin them into oblivion!

12. When the Rat's Away the Mice Will Play  

First aired: 2/17/1966

While The Riddler's men escort King Boris and his statue back to Gotham, Batman manages to get his blowtorch from his utility belt and burn the armature, causing the reactor to short circuit and deactivate. The Dynamic Duo free themselves and return to The Batcave. Believing he has spun The Duo to their deaths, The Riddler proceeds with his blackmail scheme: to use King Boris as an unwitting pawn by his placing the statue inside the museum, and inform Commissioner Gordon that, unless he's paid a million dollars he'll destroy The Queen Of Freedom Monument!

Meanwhile, after Whitey, one of The Riddler's men, dresses up as Batman and pays a visit to Commissioner Gordon's office and Bruce Wayne, Batman and Robin have solved the last of The Prince Of Puzzler's riddles, figuring out his scheme, and they set a trap for him inside the museum. The Riddler and The River Rats arrives to collect their cash -- only to find to their dismay that not only the statue containing the bomb isn't there, the satchel of money is phony! Suddenly, The Dynamic Duo appear from a balcony above, informing The King Of Criminal Conundrums that they've already deactivated the bomb, and then deactivate The Riddler and The River Rats themselves!

13. The Thirteenth Hat  

First aired: 2/23/1966

Jervis Tetch, The Mad Hatter, sets out to take revenge against The Batman and the 12 members of the jury that convicted him and sent him to prison. Using The Super Instant Mesmerizer concealed in his top hat, he begins stealing hats of the jurors--along with their owners! After collecting most of the jury, Tetch decides it's time to add Batman's cowl -- his "thirteenth" hat, he calls it -- so he sets a trap for The Caped Crusader and Robin The Boy Wonder at the studio of sculptor Octave Marbot, who is currently sculpting a statue of Batman.

Masquerading as Marbot, Tetch tries luring The Dynamic Duo into removing his cowl so he can use it as a model for the statue's head. Knowing full well that Marbot has finished the head already, The Batman sees through The Mad Hatter's disguise, and, pretending to fall for his deception, The Dynamic Duo retire to the back room to remove The Batman's cowl in secret. There they find the real Marbot bound and gagged in the closet, and burst out to confront The Mad Hatter. During the battle that ensues, Tetch tries his Super Instant Mesmerizer on Batman, but the latter counterattacks with his Antimesmeriszing Batreflector; unfortunately, The Hatter dodges and Robin, standing behind him, is hit by the deflecting ray. Rushing to his aid, Batman is knocked asunder by Jervis Tetch, who manages to entomb The Caped Crusader in Super-Fast Hardening Plaster!

14. Batman Stands Pat  

First aired: 2/24/1966

After several minutes, Jervis Tetch is convinced that The Batman has smothered to death inside the plaster, and he has the real Marbot break it open in order to obtain a mold of The Caped Crusader's cowl. As Marbot slowly chips away at the plaster shroud, they hear someone chipping away from the inside! Lo and behold, Batman - who wisely held his Batbreath - emerges from the plaster, and The Mad Hatter and his cronies Cappy and Dicer make a hasty retreat. They try to utilize The Batmobile as a getaway car, but they unknowingly trigger its Antitheft Device strategically set up by The Dynamic Duo (there have been a rash of recent car thefts in the area). Learning that The Hatter has only one more juror to capture, Turkey Bullwinkle, owner of the Bowl-O-Drome bowling alley, Batman arranges for Alfred to plant a Homing Battransmitter in Bullwinkle's bowler, hoping that it will lead them to The Mad Hatter's hideaway.

Later that night, at The Bowl-O-Drome, Alf succeeds in planting the device moments before The Hatter and his assistant, Lisa - posing as a reporter for Male Mode, a magazine devoted to men's fashion - swipe his hat. Unfortunately, as Bullwinkle confronts The Mad Hatter, they drop the hat, unwittingly exposing the Battransmitter. Jervis Tetch sees this as a golden opportunity to lure The Batman into a trap, and subsequently uses his Super Mesmerizer on Turkey Bullwinkle and makes off with his 12th and final juror and his bowler. The Mad Hatter deliberately leads The Darknight Duo directly to his digs, where he hopes to use his ghastly machinery of his homicidal hat factory to dispose of them. They do fall into The Hatter's trap, but manages to overpower their vengeful adversary, eventually sending him plummeting into a vat of shrinking solution. Bruce and Dick later buy a hat for Aunt Harriet on her birthday at Madame Magda's.

NEXT WEEK: The Joker returns!

15. The Joker Goes to School  

First aired: 3/2/1966

The Clown Prince Of Crime, The Joker, attempts to undermine student morale at Woodrow Roosevelt High School in order to recruit high school dropouts for his gang of Bad Pennies by rigging the school vending machines to give out silver dollars and negotiable stocks and bonds instead of milk. Alerted by Commissioner Gordon, Batman races out to the school. An immediate assembly is made by the school's student leaders: including Richard "Dick" Grayson, Pete, and Susie, the school's head cheerleader. Batman shows up to show slides of mug shots of The Joker, when suddenly, out of the blue, he pops up right in full view of everyone! The Batman attempts to arrest him for loitering on school grounds, but The Joker manages to get off on a mere technicality. Meanwhile, across Gotham City, a bar is held up by a gimmicked jukebox which when activated spouts a double-barrel shotgun; then two stocking-masked hoodlums, actually two of Joker's Bad Pennies, Nick and Two-Bits, rush in to rob the bar's receipts from the register!

The Joker reconvenes with Nick and Two-Bits at their hideout, The One-Armed Bandit Novelty Company; unbeknownst to everyone else, Susie is also a member of The Joker's Bad Pennies! She arranges to swipe some important exam papers to that The Joker can use them in a blackmail scheme, and also leads The Dynamic Duo into a trap set by The Joker. The Homicidal Harlequin and his Bad Pennies snag The Duo with one of the rigged vending machines which, instead of giving out silver dollars, locks them in shackles and emits sleeping gas! Batman and Robin are transferred to the inside of an insidious moving van, where they are strapped to electric chairs; on the wall is a one-armed bandit, which when activated will release instant and inescapable 50,000 lethal volts of electricity should it turn up three lemons!!!!

16. He Meets His Match, the Grisly Ghoul  

First aired: 3/3/1966

Just as the deadly one-armed bandit spins 3 lemons, Gotham City suffers a massive blackout! The Joker and his gang beat a harried retreat, just as the cops arrive just in time to cut Batman and Robin out from the electric chairs before the power comes back on! After replaying the audiotape The Caped Crusader secretly made while in the van, The Dynamic Duo were able to make out Susie as one of the members of The Joker's criminal gang, much to Robin's shock. So Robin, in the guise of Dick Grayson, Undercover Agent, tries to trick Susie into leading him into The Bad Pennies and The Joker himself. Unfortunately, Bad Penny member Nick catches immediately on and sends Dick on his way....but not before tipping him off on an impending robbery at a local bar. The Dynamic Duo enter the bar, trigger the gimmicked jukebox which spouts a double-barrel shotgun, deflect its bullets with The Batshield, and use a Batbomb to destroy the crooked machine! They then realize that Susie is in danger and rush to her aid, just as The Joker, realizing that The Dynamic Duo is on to Susie, gives her some perfume, which he instructs her to use only after she has planted answers to some important Nationwide Pre-College Exam papers she stole inside one of the rigged machines, not telling her that the perfume has been poisoned!

In the gym, Batman and Robin confront Susie and warn her of impending danger, but she brushes them off. When she applies the poisonous perfume and slumps unconscious, Batman and Robin save her life by using the Universal Antidote Pills in their utility belts, and she repays them by revealing the whole criminal scheme. Meanwhile, Joker, Nick, and Two-Bits arrive at the school in time to snap an incriminating picture of The Woodrow Roosevelt High School basketball team clutching the exam papers complete with the answers, which the team received from a rigged milk machine. The Joker then reaches a new low in crime: he plans to use the picture to disqualify and suspend the otherwise innocent team members for cheating, and stop them from playing Disco Tech in the night's big game, for he bet his cash on the opposite team and with the home players out of the game, the opposing team, Disco Tech would win from default. The Dynamic Duo suddenly swing down from the rafters on their Batropes to inform the students that the exam papers were phonies which they planted, rendering The Joker's picture useless. The Caped Crusader and The Boy Wonder then proceed to deliver the punch line, putting The Joker and his Bad Pennies out of circulation! Susie, by the way, is sent to The Wayne Foundation Institute For Delinquent Girls.

NEXT WEEK: Batman battles False-Face!

17. True or False-Face  

First aired: 3/9/1966

The wily master of disguise, False-Face, steals The Mergenberg Crown by masquerading as the Queen's escort, and replaces it with a false one right under the watchful eyes of the police. Included with the paste crown is an obscure clue revealing to Batman and Robin that False-Face's next crime will be the hijacking of an armored car. They catch him red-handed at the Gotham City Bank, but he escapes in his Trick-Truck. The Dynamic Duo spirit False Face to an alley, where his flunkies give battle. The police arrive in time to apprehend the gang, but False-Face disguises himself as Police Chief O'Hara and escapes.

Suspecting a counterfeit money scheme is in the works, The Caped Crusader and The Boy Wonder rush to the bank note printer's office and capture False-Face's slinky assistant, Blaze, who is attempting to make off with a load of money paper. At Police Headquarters Blaze is interrogated, with the fake O'Hara taking part. She is torn between infatuation with Batman and her loyalty to False-Face, but finally she agrees to lead the Caped Crusader to the criminal's hideout...but it's a ruse! False-Face, disguised as a gumball machine, gasses Batman while Blaze clonks Robin over the head. The Dynamic Duo are glued to the subway rail tracks by a super-strong epoxy, as a train hurtles toward them and will momentarily trisect them!

18. Holy Rat Race  

First aired: 3/10/1966

As the train barrels towards our heroes, Alfred hears a strange transmission on the radio that alerts him to the Dynamic Duo's peril. He contacts Batman who requests that Alfred throw the short-circuit lever of thhe Battransmitter, causing Batman's radio to blow up and melt the epoxy on his wrist. He uses his free hand to reach The Batlaser in his utility belt, which he uses to melt away the remaining epoxy and free himself and Robin just as the train passes through the station and by our heroes! Batman and Robin return to Gordon's office at Police HQ and deduce that False-Face will attempt a bank robbery in which real money will be replaced with his own fake bills, so that the only money that will be any good will be False-Face's ill-gotten gains. (After all, who would think of telling the real tender from the fake?)

The two heroes secret themselves in the bank vault, surprising the villains. False-Face and Blaze escape in the disguised Trick-Truck but are pursued by The Dynamic Duo to Bioscope Movie Studios. False-Face, discovering Blaze's crush on Batman (she was the one who sent the radio message earlier), holds her hostage and lots of mayhem ensues in and around the matchstick movie sets. False-Face blows up Batman's clever inflatable Batmobile as the chase through the movie sets continues, ending with False-Face disguising himself as a cowboy to slug it out with Batman. One last diversionary smoke screen and out pops Commissioner Gordon — a fake Commissioner Gordon. Batman sees through the disguise and rips off this last false face, and takes the protean criminal off to jail. Blaze reforms and goes off to become a shepherdess with her brother.

NEXT WEEK: Batman faces The Catwoman!

19. The Purr-Fect Crime  

First aired: 3/16/1966

The Catwoman purr-loins one of a matched pair of Mark Andrews' priceless Golden Cat statuettes (which holds a secret to the lost treasure of Captain Manx) from a Gotham museum, so Batman and Robin rush to safeguard the other one from her clutches. After Alfred and Robin recharge The Batmobile with the atomic pile in The Batcave, The Dynamic Duo coat the cat with golden radioactive mist, and The Dynamic Duo wait in the shadows for Catwoman to appear. But the factions of law and disorder clash, and Robin is drugged by the felonious feline and her two accomplices, Felix and Leo. In the fracas surrounding Batman's efforts to save his pal, Catwoman and company make off with the second statue.

After Robin resuscitates, The Duo, aided by the radioactive mist, trace Catwoman to her lair, The Gato And Chat Fur Company warehouse @ 2809 West 20th Street. There, Batman and Robin plummet through a trap door into Catwoman's clutches! After subjecting her prey to moving walls of spikes (made of rubber!) and a toy bomb, as a normal cat will do, she spirits The Boy Wonder away to unknown torments while The Caped Crusader is forced to choose between two doors (Holy Let's Make A Deal!) — behind one is Catwoman; behind the other is a deadly Batman-eating tiger, answering to a rather unsuitable moniker of Tinkerbell! Much to his consternation, Batman chooses the door leading to the tiger and not the lady...

20. Better Luck Next Time  

First aired: 3/17/1966

After Catwoman slips away to administer nameless horrors to Robin, Batman fends off Tinkerbell long enough to remove from his utility belt a pair of Batclaws, which he uses to climb up the wall and out of harm's reach. Realizing he won't be able to stay there for long, he plugs his Batears with a pair of Batearplugs and subdues the tiger with super-amplified sounds (20,000 decibels!) from a Batcommunicator on his utility belt. The Caped Crusader leaps from the wall, takes refuge in the room where the tiger was released, and heads out to save his sidekick---only to find himself lost in the catacombs of Catwoman's lair. Meanwhile, Catwoman is on to bigger and badder things, having Robin balanced on the end of a board over a pit of more hungry tigers and supplying sand (matching The Boy Wonder's weight) to the other end of the board. As the sand is released, the board lowers Robin slowly, deeper and deeper into the tiger den! Leaving her henchmen to her own devices, The Catwoman departs in search of Captain Manx's treasure, using a map created by fitting the two Golden Cats together and drawing their outline. Batman saves his chum in the nick of time, and pit their fists against Catwoman's lackeys; during the battle, Leo escapes to join his female boss and warn her of Batman's pursuit of her.

The Dynamic Duo spirit the Golden Cats to the Batcave, where they deduce Catwoman's scheme. Soon they are at McElroy Point, where the treasure is supposedly buried — and suddenly they find themselves forced to navigate Catwoman's minefield (sabotaged by Leo.) The pair make use of The Batmobile Batarmor and Automatic Tire Device to escape the mines unscathed, just as The Feline-eous Femme Fatale and Leo locate the treasure in a nearby cave. Overcome by greed, Catwoman double-crosses Leo by gassing him to sleep, and she winds up being chased through the dark cave by the arriving Dynamic Duo. Catwoman arrives at the edge a bottomless crevice which she tries unsuccessfully to leap; with the heavy booty weighing her down, she barely manages to catch hold of a stalactite on the other side. Batman tries to save her but, because she refuses to let go of the treasure to save at least one of her lives, she plummets into the bottomless chasm! (Wonder if she landed on her feet?) Later at Wayne Manor, Alfred, Bruce and Dick, in the midst of playing chess, are surprised by Aunt Harriet, who presents them with Catwoman's pet feline and claims he stole a lobster she was preparing for dinner. Dick merely quips, "He comes from a broken home."

NEXT WEEK: the return of The Penguin!

21. The Penguin Goes Straight  

First aired: 3/23/1966

While attending a matinee performance at a Gotham City Theater, The Penguin, with the aid of his trusty bulletproof umbrella, foils a would-be thief who attempts to steal beautiful actress Sophia Starr's great ruby. The forces of good suspect that this is a plot, but Penguin insists upon his good intentions. Later, at The Millionaire's Club, Penguin once again prevents a crime, this time fending off 2 crooks (actually Eagle-Eye and Dove, Penguin's Finks!) from kidnapping millionaire Reggie Rich from a steam-room. The Dynamic Duo finally show up, and Penguin announces his Penguin Protection Agency, intended to protect the wealth of Gotham City's society crowd (and as actual competition for Batman and Robin!), including Sophia Starr's Jewelry. In an attempt to prevent The Abominable Avian from swiping Sophia Starr's jewels, The Caped Crusader has Alfred the butler pose as an insurance company agent and sends him on a secret errand to photograph the jewelry, and switch Penguin's cigarette holder for one containing a hidden microphone. Unfortunately, Alfred didn't count on Penguin's bug detecting handle of his umbrella, and when he discovers the switch, Alf manages to yank the rug out from under Penguin and escape with the photos.

That night, after using Alfred's pictures to create phony jewels to replace the real ones, which Penguin has been hired to protect, The Darknight Detectives break into Miss Starr's apartment in order to replace the real jewels with the fakes. Unfortunately, they are caught trying to make the switch and are charged with burglary by The Felonious Fowl and his Finks. The Caped Crusader and The Boy Wonder escape, but are now labeled fugitives from justice! When The Penguin throws a party at The Gotham Amusement Pier, The Dynamic Duo arrive to investigate, but quickly fall into a Penguin trap and are pelted with cement-filled umbrellas! They are strung up behind the balloon-shooting gallery, and the pop guns (wielded by an unknowing Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara) are loaded with real bullets!

22. Not Yet, He Ain't  

First aired: 3/24/1966

Just as Gordon and O'Hara shoot, The Dynamic Duo lift up their feet and deflect the deadly bullets with the bulletproof soles of their boots. The Batman then cuts himself and Robin free of their bonds with his Batknife, and they both escape. Upon discovering The Dynamic Duo's escape from his trap, The Penguin gets his new society friends to put pressure on Commissioner Gordon to rally Gotham to a manhunt — or bat-and-robin-hunt — and Gordon has no choice but to agree. Batman & Robin arrive at The Penguin Protection Agency, faking insanity and ready to tear The Penguin, Eagle-Eye and Dove apart! Following the ensuing melee, The Dynamic Duo immediately depart upon the arrival of the authorities, who, after chasing The Demented Duo for a couple of blocks, apparently kill them in a shootout in an nearby alley — but the cops' guns were loaded with blanks, as Batman had planned.

Convinced Batman and Robin are finished, Penguin and his Finks swipe The Batmobile and speed off to plans their master caper, which is scheduled to transpire during his wedding to Sophia (the theft of his own wedding gifts!). Eagle-Eye and Dove rig a water pipe, which explodes; then the umbrellas which Penguin has passed out burst out in spectacular display, diverting attention from the fact that the wedding gifts are being burgled, using the ex-Batmobile (rechristened as The Birdmobile!!) as a getaway car, and they head for their secret impregnable hideaway. Batman and Robin, riding The Batcycle, use their deep knowledge of the vehicle (and a remote control!) to force The Batmobile to do their bidding and deliver The Pompous, Waddling Master Of Fowl Play and his Finks to justice. Sophia Starr, despite this experience, still believes she can reform Penguin by marrying him, but believes otherwise when The Avaricious Avian fancies the wedding gifts more than his would-be bride!

NEXT WEEK: Batman jousts with The Joker again!

23. The Ring of Wax  

First aired: 3/30/1966

The Riddler smuggles a revolutionary new ring of Universal Wax Solvent, a substance that can eat through anything, from the French Cognac District into the U.S. of A. inside a wax statue of Batman intended for display at Madame Soleil's Wax Museum. (Since the U.S. Government has forbidden its importation for fear that it might fall into the wrong hands, Riddler had to devise something to fool Customs!) In place of the wax Batman statue is a wax replica of The Conundrum King himself, which at its unveiling sprays the audience with a gun filled with red paint while a tape recorder blares out 2 Riddles. In his hideout at The Kandle Lite Kandle Factory, Riddler melts the wax-figure of Batman, containing the wax solvent, into a vatful of boiling wax, as Moth, his new female assistant, looks on.

Meanwhile, Riddler's puzzles lure Batman and Robin to The Gotham City Public Library, where The Riddler and his 2 henchmen, Tallow and Matches, has broken into the rare book vault with his wax solvent to swipe a rare book about the fabled lost treasure of The Incas! When The Dynamic Duo arrive at the factory, they are unwittingly anticipated by The Riddler and company, who give battle; after which, he uses a can of his own Dr. Riddler's Instant Forever-Stick Invisible Wax Emulsion to glue The Duo's feet to the floor, and he and his cronies beat a hasty retreat. The Caped Crusader and The Boy Wonder track their foes back to The Wax Museum, where they are immediately overpowered and taken to Riddler's hideout, where they are suspended by rope over a huge vat of boiling wax, which Riddler plans to use to convert them into giant human candles!

24. Give 'em the Axe  

First aired: 3/31/1966

The awful fumes from the molten wax ultimately force Riddler and crew to take refuge downstairs, giving Batman the distraction he needs to reflect a single ray of sun off the shiny buckle of his utility belt into an open barrel of an explosive formula! The explosion that results frees The Duo from their bonds only to knock them out. Believing the explosion has finished them off, The Riddler informs Commissioner Gordon, et al, of the demise of Batman and Robin, and he and his crew hasten to The Gotham City Museum, to break into the sarcophagus of the ancient Incan emperor Hualpo Cusi — which supposedly contains the long-lost treasure. Meanwhile, a very much alive and well Batman and Robin regain consciousness and trace Riddler to the museum only to find it locked, with the only entrance seeming to be a small window on an upper floor -- too big for Batman to fit through, but small enough for a Boy Wonder.

Robin climbs through the window and while making his way through the building to the front door to let Batman in, Robin is overpowered by Matches and Tallow, and brought to The Riddler, who has him tied down to a medieval rack to be stretched! The Caped Crusader suspects that The Boy Wonder is in trouble and makes ample use of The Batram under The Batmobile to smash open the museum doors. He arrives in time to rescue Robin and The Dynamic Duo thwart Riddler, Matches, Tallow and Moth in their attempt to plunder the ancient treasure, and stop their Universal Wax Solvent from destroying a rare old sarcophagus containing an Incan mummy and the treasure. Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson later take Aunt Harriet to The Gotham City Museum to see the mummified exhibit of Hualpo Cusi.

NEXT WEEK: Batman jousts with The Joker again!

25. The Joker Trumps an Ace  

First aired: 4/6/1966

The Clown Prince Of Crime, The Joker, returns to commit what appear to be senseless crimes: first he raids a fur salon, where he steals a hairpin from one of the rich patrons, then he pilfers one of the holes from a golf course. The Dynamic Duo, au naturel, are called in to investigate, arriving at Gordon's office just as an inflatable jack-in-the-box sent in by The Homicidal Harlequin is delivered. The Batman deduces that The Joker plans to steal the solid gold golf clubs belonging to the visiting Maharajah of Nimpah and immediately rushes down by Batmobile to the golf course to thwart the villain. Just as The Maharajah hits the golf ball into the hole he's playing, a cloud of colored gas spews from it, knocking everyone unconscious. (As it's revealed, The Joker stole this hole; he used the stolen hairpin as a trigger, and it was struck by the golf ball and activated the sleeping gas smoke bomb cleverly hidden inside the hole.) The Joker's henchmen then sees fit to kidnap the Maharajah (with a forklift, as the Nimpahnese monarch weighs over 350 lbs.!) and spirit him away by van. The Caped Crusader and The Boy Wonder immediately gives pursuit in The Batmobile, but, just as they gain on them, the van, which is covered by folding mirrors which allow it to blend totally into the background, quickly vanishes! Later, Batman and Robin trace The Joker to his GHQ at the abandoned Katz, Katz & Katz Company Oil Refinery, where they are captured and locked inside an enormous chimney. As if this isn't enough, deadly gas starts to pour in!