Every day this August I'll be spotlighting strange but ultimately endearing comic stories, one a day (basically, we're talking lots and lots of Silver Age comic books). Here is the archive of past installments of this feature.

Today we look at the first (and so far only) appearance of Batman Jones!

Appearing in Batman #108, written by Bill Finger with artwork by Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris, Batman Jones has a great origin....





Forget the idea of naming the kid Batman. That's actually pretty normal. But Batman sticking around to build the kid a crib? Huh? Batman being in action long enough for a baby born after Batman's career started to now be about Robin's age? Huh? Companies sending presents to a kid with Batman's name? Huh?

Things get better when Batman Jones shows up on a case Batman and Robin are working and totally figures out where the missing statue is!!



Batman Jones is naturally quite pleased with himself, which pisses Robin off. Batman then takes him to the Batcave to teach him a lesson...



Batman's plan is to show him how tough it is being a crimefighter by using some of their old cases to test Batman Jones (with the idea being that he'll fail miserably and quit, now knowing how tough it is being a crimefighter). Instead, the kid nails every test!

Thus, Batman is forced to do what no one ever wants to do - he tells on the kid to his mother...





Isn't that awesome? Batman Jones learns no lesson. Hilarious. It also must make Robin feel dumb, as Batman Jones is as good (if not better) than him with little to no real training.

Batman Jones should really be a cast member in Batman Incorporated!