This is "I Remember Well," a brand-new feature spotlighting instances in which writers pull out long-forgotten plots or attributes of comic book characters. I have a similar bit called "I've Been Here Before" when writers pull out their own old plots/characters, but this is when different writers do it. I also have a bit called "Provide Some Answers," when writers resolve long-forgotten plots, but this is when writers don't resolve anything, they just bring back something that hadn't been used in a long time.

Today, we look at the surprisingly momentous return of one of Batman's earliest girlfriends, Linda Page, which changed Batman's life forever (well, at least the Earth-2 Batman, that is).

As you may or may not know, early in Batman's career, he had a fiancee named Julie Madison. Madison became an actress and eventually, she and Bruce Wayne called off their engagement. Bruce's next love interest was introduced in 1941's Batman #5 (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and George Roussos), as Bruce Wayne runs into a former socialite acquaintance of his named Linda Page. However, in the time since they last saw each other, Linda has mostly abandoned the society scene, as she has decided to go out on her own and get a job as a nurse and rent her own apartment without financial assistance from her father. The other hook for Linda when she was introduced is that she does not think too highly of Bruce Wayne, since she feels that he has so much potential and he wastes it all by being a millionaire playboy...

In her first appearance, Linda is kidnapped by a local gangster that she knew from her neighborhood, to help deal with his wounded brother, who was shot committing a crime. When the gangster's thugs show up to take her into custody, she tells them that she has to finish her makeup first. When Batman arrives at her place, he discovers that she has left a message written in her lipstick. A clever woman!

Not only that, but when Batman arrives to save her, Linda actually saves HIM at one point by attacking a gangster who was about to shoot Batman with her shoe. Batman possibly had a bead on the situation without her help, but who knows, right? At the end of the story, Linda is seeing Bruce socially, but all she can talk about is Batman. So basically the traditional superhero love triangle.

Linda remains Bruce Wayne's regular love interest for the next couple of years, with her job often serving as a narrative driver for stories (and sometimes, her connection to her rich father drove stories). She remained close to Batman, as well, and in Batman #9, she celebrates Christmas with Batman, Robin and Commissioner Gordon (that "Merry Christmas!" scene is what I adapted for the feature image for this article).

Interestingly, Linda became the first Batman love interest to make her way into the movies, as she appeared as a character in the 1943 Batman film serial (played by Shirley Patterson).

The interesting thing about the timing of the film serial is that it came out just as the comic books were STOPPING the usage of the character in the comics. Linda was never officially written out, she just stopped showing up in the comics in 1943. It is very likely that she fell victim to the gradual expansion of the creative talent behind Batman's adventures. Once you bring in more writers than just Bill Finger to tackle the Dark Knight's adventures, continuity tends to be a bit more difficult to keep track. In any event, Linda was out and soon Vicki Vale became the next love interest for Bruce Wayne (and Batman). Vale would prove to be one of the most successful love interests in the Batman titles.

After disappearing at the start of 1943, Linda would next appear in the late 1960s, but only in a flashback sequence in Batman #208 (a giant-sized look at the various women in Batman's life, built around a framing sequence that showed flashbacks starring the various women, including Linda Page. Her appearance is essentially a retelling of Batman #5).

Linda then made a minor appearance in 1980's The Brave and the Bold #167 (by Marv Wolfman, Dave Cockrum and Dan Adkins), which was a team-up of Batman and Blackhawk set in World War II (so the whole thing took place on Earth-2, which effectively established that Linda Page was an Earth-2 character). Linda makes a cameo appearance to continue to give Bruce Wayne grief over his playboy ways.

Linda's next REAL appearance was in 1983's The Brave and the Bold #197 (by Alan Brennert, Joe Staton and George Freeman), a legendary issue that shows how Batman's life changed forever. It kicks off with Bruce Wayne meeting with Linda before her wedding (the issue is set 10 years after Batman #5), as she tells Bruce that she was being unfair to him back in the good ol' days, to criticize his interests. Bruce, of course, can't help but think that his masquerade as a playboy has ruined his chance at having real love, like with Linda.

Bruce is so despondent over this very real symbol of the life that HE could have had now disappearing that he is particularly susceptible to an attack by the villainous Scarecrow. The villain exposes the wedding attendees to fear gas and in the case of Batman, Linda's marriage has made him extremely scared of dying alone, and so the gas expresses itself by making anyone Batman cares about disappear...

Batman was almost through at this point. Batman's only solution to getting to the bottom of this vanishing by teaming up with an old enemy of his, Catwoman. In the process of working the case, though, the two fell in love and soon Catwoman was ALSO disappearing, but Catwoman talked Batman out of it and helped him break free of the gas. Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman then got married and that had a daughter, Earth-2 Huntress.

And it was all due to a character who had barely been seen in FORTY YEARS!

I'm sure you folks have other ideas for examples for this column, so send them my way at brianc@cbr.com! I'd love to get a month's worth of them up!