Batman '66 #14

THE BATROBOT TAKES FLIGHT

The Clock King finds his latest crime spree thwarted by the Robot-Batman, a massive android designed by Batman and Professor Overbeck - and programmed with Batman's own thought patterns - to serve as Gotham's newest crimefighter. Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara prove skeptical of the idea, but reluctantly acknowledge that one day, the all-too-mortal Batman may need such a substitute, or even successor.  In time, Gotham comes to embrace the Robot-Batman, whose sheer bulk and many built-in gadgets makes catching criminals almost trivial; indeed, the so-called "Spark Knight" even navigates Gotham's civic functions with aplomb. Reassured, the Dynamic Duo - and, coincidentally, Gordon and O'Hara - leave on a fishing trip, little aware that the Joker and the Riddler have joined forces to sabotage the android.  By combining their mercurial modus operandi, Joker and Riddler lure the Robot-Batman to the Gotham Hall of Records, then confuse its programming long enough for Riddler to trap it with an electromagnet crane. Unable to free itself, the android becomes an unwitting wrecking ball for the two arch-criminals, who smash their way into a nearby bank - only to find Batman and Robin emerging from the dust, having been alerted by a report on Commissioner Gordon's long-distance radio.  Unprepared for human opponents, the arch-criminals are easily beaten by the Dynamic Duo. Afterward, Batman, Robin, and the police all chide themselves for over relying on the Robot-Batman, reaffirming that even the most advanced circuits are no equal for flesh and blood.