BAT 77 - The Brain PIckers (Detective #396)

[BAT 77]

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TITLE: The Brain Pickers
PUBLISHING DATE: March 1970
CREDITS: Frank Robbins (story), Bob Brown & Joe Giella (art)

SHOW LINK - http://bat77.libsyn.com/the-brain-pickers-detective-396

[gothosmansion]

Don't give up on Robbins just yet, JB. His best writing is still ahead of you. I think Robbins had a harder time adapting to the "big change" since he had been writing before it took place. I think this is one of his worst stories (If the Coffin Fits, Wear It before the big change was the Robbins story I liked the least). It is also another of the stories I mentioned that seem to experiment with being more of a Bruce than a Batman story.

Like you, I found this one to be a real chore to get through. The Bruce investing in a movie studio is just a little thread that will lead to the plots of a couple of upcoming issues: Detective 398 by Robbins, which isn't really bad, but isn't that great and Detective 404 by O'Neil which is very good, and would have been great if Denny had not politicized in a couple of panels.

The problem with some upcoming Robbins stuff is that every page of the story but one is great, and that one page will be a real clinker.

Oh, and I'm going to say, O'Neil has a few stinkers here and there too. Just a consequence of the writers having to churn out so much material. I think Robbins writes better mystery/whodunits than O'Neil.