July 1963: They Grow Up So Fast, Don’t They?

The fifth Batman Annual, published in the summer of 1963, focused on Batman and Robin’s undeniably odd existences.

Readers were treated to a merman Batman, a phantom Batman, a zebra Batman, a bewitched Batman, a giant Batman, Rip Van Batman and Robin the Wonder Man, a reprint from Batman 107 (April 1957).

Imaginatively, children become instant adults when they read superhero stories. But in The Grown-Up Boy Wonder, Robin didn’t find the abrupt transition so easy.

In the Batcave, Dick Grayson is overcome when he accidentally spills “…the thing Superman found floating in outer space.” He awakens to find himself physically mature.

Things Superman brings back from space should always come with an FDA warning label, by the way.

In this tale drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, writer Bill Finger cleverly exploits the immaturity theme, making the plot turn on the advantages and disadvantages of sudden physical maturity. 

Robin’s inexperience with his new size and weight causes him to be captured by the red-clad Daredevil gang, which promptly unmasks him. But that does them no good, because no one can recognize the face of an adult Dick Grayson.

Robin’s new identity as Owlman may well have been a cheeky wink at one or two of Batman’s vanished competitors. Both the Owl and the Black Owl began fighting crime for different publishers beginning in 1940. 

This wouldn’t be the only time that Batman recycled concepts from rival superhero titles he had outlived. The same thing happened with another imitator, Cat-Man.

Despite his experience with the adult responsibilities of crime-fighting, Robin wasn’t ready to grow up — a fact that was underlined by two stories in this issue. 

The Grown-Up Robin ends with the restored Dick Grayson running after schoolmates, saying, “Gee, it’s good to be a kid again! Hey fellas, wait for me!” 

And the middle story, Robin Falls in Love, ends when the Boy Wonder assures Batman, “From now on, I’m keeping my mind on criminals, not girls!”