The Batman & Robin Adventures #3

I've managed to find some more Batman & Robin Adventures in the dollar comics bins, including this well worn copy of issue #3, A Christmas Riddle! Just in time for the holidays!  In addition to the fun art, I'm pleased that all of these I've found were well read: some kid read this two dozen times, loaned it to a friend, who loaned it to a friend... it was really enjoyed, then enjoyed again by me  :D

During the yearly holiday festivities at Gotham City's exclusive Peregrinator Club, an appearance by Father Christmas turns out to be one Edward Nygma in disguise, who literally holds his wealthy audience captive! Insisting that Batman must be wealthy to afford his war on crime, the Riddler begins to call out names of Gotham's patriarchs, listing aloud the reasons why each might be the one which wields the gauntlet of the Dark Knight. Television reporter Summer Gleeson gets caught in the fray, Nygma now given a live media platform on which to expose & humiliate his arch enemy & his teen sidekick!

Picking up the news in the Batmobile, Batman quickly realizes that while a couple good guesses were made, Nygma doesn't really know the identity of the caped crusaders, and that his very public stunt is merely cover for the real crime- stealing the club's treasured pair of gold Mayan statues!

The Dynamic Duo nab Riddler's henchmen robbing priceless statues, and confront the Riddler in the club's ballroom, where cornered, he detonates a bomb planted in the giant Christmas tree! Batman & Robin are forced to let Riddler escape with one of the statues in order to save the trapped patrons.

Slipping through Commissioner Gordon's line of officers surrounding the Peregrinator Club dressed in swat gear, Nygma commandeers a paddy wagon for his getaway. But the Dynamic Duo hitch a ride atop the stolen vehicle, and Nygma runs it off a bridge in the struggle, crashing into the icy lake with Batman while the Boy Wonder leaps onto shore. "It's not fair", the defeated villain coughs as Batman pulls him and one of the gold Mayan statues to the surface.

In the epilogue, Bruce Wayne & his young ward survey the club's damage, and the young billionaire is asked if he will finally accept the invitation to join in light of his generous donation toward the building's repair. Straightening an oil painting on the wall of his father & former member Thomas Wayne, Bruce declines, adding that while his father wanted him to become a Peregrinator, he never was the club-joining type   :)

***Merry Christmas to my partners in blogging BubbaShelby & ChunkyB, and to all of our readers here at Batman the Animated Toys!***

-Colin, the Boyish Wonder