Batman Part IV

There was a mystery in the 1960s Batman reprint collections that bothered me. I wrote a letter to DC asking why stories clearly drawn by different artists were always signed "Bob Kane". DC didn't answer my letter. One of the artists was OK but the other one drew a dynamic Batman and Robin fighting crime and solving mysteries in an off-kilter Gotham populated by "Dick Tracy" like villains.

Many years later I learned the "good" artist was Dick Sprang who drew hundreds of B&R stories from 1941 to 1963. Before he died in 2000 he had received the recognition that he deserved. In 1987, for the 50 year anniversary issue of Detective Comics, he drew a two page spread with all the B&R characters of the 1940s and 50s. The bald gentleman middle far left is Professor Nichols. The good professor sent B&R on 35 time travel adventures, six of which were reprinted in the Batman Annuals and 80 Page Giants. Here is a Dick Sprang Professor Nichols story from Batman 112 (December 1957) reprinted in 80 Page Giant 12 (July 1965).