Manic Bat-Monday Bonus--The ACLU's Favorite Super-Hero?!?

Some criminal mastermind--[SPOILER ALERT--He's named The Mastermind!!] has plotted several successful and spectacular crimes in Gotham.

But the good guys have caught a break--not all of the crooks escaped!!

Now, if you've only read Batman post-Frank Miller, you probably expect this is where Batman puts on his Christian Bale voice, hangs someone upside down over the edge of a skyscraper, and threatens to beat the crap or let them die or other rough stuff.

Haha, you don't know the 1960s Batman!

Really?

I mean, I'm all for civil rights and such--but isn't the whole point of being a vigilante that you're operating outside the law, unfettered by police legalisms and procedures?!? And don't their rights include you not punching the hell out of them in the first place?!?

1960s Batman--soft on criminals!!

From Detective Comics #368 (1967), as reprinted in Batman #258 (1974)