Comic Title: Batman #20
Publisher: DC (Detective Comics, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: Dec/Jan 1943
Approx. On Sale Date: October 13, 1943 Copyright Date October 9, 1943
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1943
Until 1958 DC did not report actual on sale dates to the copyright office
The publication dates listed in LoC records are NOT release dates.

Frequency: Bi-monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 56
Editor: Jack Schiff

Title: "The Centuries of Crime"
Pages: 12

Feature(s):
Batman (of Earth-2)

Writer: Don Cameron
Artist: Jack Burnley

Reprinted In:
Batman:The Dark Knight Archives Vol. 5 HC (2007)
Batman Chronicles Vol. 11 TPB (2013)
Batman:The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 3 HC (2017)
Batman:The Golden Age Vol. 5 TPB (2018)

Feature Character(s)

• Batman (last appearance in Detective Comics #81; next appearance in Batman #20)

Supporting Character(s)

• Robin (last appearance in Detective Comics #81; next appearance in Batman #20)
• Alfred Beagle (last appearance in Batman #18; next appearance in Batman #20)

Villain(s)

• Joker (last appearance in Batman #19; next appearance in Detective Comics #85)
• Ecla Tate and Meera Kell (con artists; no further appearances)
• Kid Glove Mixter (a superstitious crook; no further appearances)
• Several unnamed henchmen (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Percival Pruitt (a rich investor; no further appearances)

Synopsis:
With the aid of two con artists the Joker plans a scheme to rob two wealthy men. He tells both men that his friends have invented a time machine. Percival Pruitt, a greedy investor, uses the time machine to travel into the future in hopes of making large sums of money. The second victim, bank robber Kid Glove Mixter, takes the trip to the future to escape Batman.

Batman learns about the phony time machine and follows Pruitt to the Joker's lair. He and Robin are then captured by the Joker and taken to the future as prisoners. Pruitt and Mixter don't like what they find in the future, so they pay the Joker to take them back. Instead of sending them to the present though, Joker sends them to the past.

Meanwhile, Batman and Robin escape. They discover that they are on a futuristic movie set, not the real future. They locate Pruitt and Mixter and rescue them from the Joker. Batman apprehends the Joker and his men. The men then realize that they were tricked. Pruitt promises to use his wealth to help the war relief effort, and Mixter promises to reform.