One Panel #446-447: Waterworks

From "The North Woods Mystery" by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and George Roussos, Batman #7 (November 1941)

Batman and Robin out of their urban environment put themselves in a lot of danger just from unfamiliarity. I mean, what's the kid doing riding logs downriver? I don't doubt the little acrobat's equilibrium, but that sound you hear is the crashing of a waterfall. Batman to the rescue.

From Hercules: "The Dockside Saboteurs" by Reed Crandall, Hit Comics #16 (October 1941)

Quality Comics' Hercules pulls a boat to shore, invoking the Volga Boatmen (or burlaks), who pulled much smaller boats up the Russian river from the 16th Century up through the early 1900s. Yes, that was a job. Should have sent 1941's kids to their encyclopedias, though Hercules (by which I mean Reed Crandall) might have known about them thanks to the traditional Russian folk song on the topic.

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