December 1959: The Terrific Trio’s Double Trouble

A guy who can double himself would hardly seem to pose much of a challenge to the foremost superhero team of the 1950s — Superman, Batman and Robin.

But because Duplicate Man’s power had a built-in teleportation aspect (and because of Bill Finger’s clever writing), he managed to give the Terrific Trio a run for their money in World’s Finest 106 (December 1959).

Batman artist Dick Sprang was particularly fond of drawing World’s Finest stories because of the outlandish science-fictional high jinks prompted by the presence of Superman. After all, it’s a rare character that offers you the opportunity of showing him mopping up a massive spill of pancake syrup with his hair. 

Whether the stories were silly, somber or both, Sprang’s art made them prized little gems for seven years, from 1955 to 1963.

At one of Gotham City’s innumerable exhibitions featuring giant props, the Dynamic Duo encounters a man in a blue-and-orange costume stealing a valuable telescope. When they try to stop him, they find he’s twins, and that one of his selves can merge into the other.

Finger comes up with interesting uses for the power. For example, when Batman and Duplicate Man fall off a tall building locked in battle, Duplicate Man can vanish to the safety of his other self. And luckily, Batman had Superman looking out for his welfare.

A criminal scientist who steals inventions, the Duplicate Man wisely decides to keep one of his selves in a lead-lined cavern hideout so that the other can always dematerialize while committing crimes. 

But the superheroes manage to capture him anyway by following Batman’s plan and using hypnotism and a phony teleportation device.

When banner headlines proclaim the Duplicate Man’s capture, a man on the street says of Superman, Batman and Robin, “What a trio! No one can ever duplicate them — or their feats!”

And why a “Duplicate Man?” Probably because that same year, Xerox went to market with something called a “photocopier.”