Travel in Time With Dr. Carter Nichols

Several years ago I became interested in a recurring character in various Batman stories. Carter Nichols was a scientist that seemed to have a knack at time travel. As I explored the roots of this character, I came to realize that he appeared in more Batman stories than many of the major villians. After some research, I wrote this unpublished article about his adventures. I'm curious if anyone is aware of any other Golden Age appearances of this character that I missed.
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Travel in Time with Professor Carter Nichols!

For years, many of us have been fascinated with the notion of time travel. From our enjoyment of such time travel yarns as H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine�?, Star Trek’s “City on the Edge of Forever�?, the many adventures created by Professor Carter Nichols, the popular TVseries “The Time Tunnel�? and “Back to the Future�? with Marty and “Doc�? Brown, we have all at some point in our lives asked, “what if I could travel back or forward in time…�? Wait a minute, who is Professor Carter Nichols? What does he have to do with time travel? As it turns out, Professor Nichols is responsible for many DC Golden Age and Silver Age time travel adventures. What’s that? You’ve never heard of him? Let me tell you his story. Travel back in time to the Fall of 1944 and you will meet Professor Nichols for the first time in Batman 24 (“It Happened in Rome�?). With this appearance, Professor Nichols began an almost 20 year run in assisting Batman & Robin (sometimes with Superman) with some great time travel adventures. Between his first appearance in 1944 and the introduction of the “new look�? Batman in Detective Comics 327 (May 1964), Professor Nichols appeared in 35 stories. In these stories, Batman and Robin meet the likes of King Arthur, Robin Hood, Frankenstein, Marco Polo, Cleopatra, the Three Musketeers, and many, many other interesting and colorful historical characters.

The Carter Nichols stories generally have the same plots: Batman and Robin, usually in their civilian identities of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, become involved in a mystery that has it’s origins in the distant past. Bruce and Dick go to see Professor Nichols who sends them back (and on a few occasions, forward) in time to solve the mystery. Upon arriving in the past, Bruce and Dick change into their crime fighting identities to stop some evildoer,and end up embroiling themselves with a well-known historical figure. In the end, Batman & Robin save the day, and ensure that history is preserved. After the successful conclusion of their adventure, they change back into their civilian clothes just in time for the “Nichols effect�? to wear off, returning them to the present. Of course, Professor Nichols never discovers that Bruce and Dick are really Batman and Robin, and they cryptically tell the Professor that the mystery was solved.

Like Batman and Robin, Professor Nichols evolved as a character and his methods of initiating time travel changed over the years. At first, upon arriving at Professor Nichols’ laboratory, Bruce and Dick were placed under hypnosis to begin their travel in time. It was never quite clear whether they actually traveled in time or if they had merely remained in Professor Nichols’ lab to “dream�? about their time travel adventure. In later stories, Professor Nichols invented a number of time travel devices that allowed the caped adventurers to travel in time. On occasion, Professor Nichols’ own time travels resulted in Batman and Robin traveling back in time to rescue him.
As far-fetched as these stories sound, they provide great entertainment by placing Batman and Robin in well-known factual or fictional historical situations, and away from the mundane setting that Gotham City presented on many occasions. We can thank Professor Nichols for taking us there!
Following is a list of the pre-“new look Batman�? Professor Carter Nichols stories:

“It Happened in Rome�? Batman 24 Aug.-Sep. 1944
“All for One, One for All�? Batman 32 Dec. 1945-Jan.1946
“Sir Batman at King Arthur’s Court�? Batman 36 Aug.-Sep. 1946
“The Rescue of Robin Hood�? Detective Comics 116 Oct. 1946
“Peril in Greece�? Batman 38 Dec. 1946 - Jan. 1947
“The Black Magician�? (Robin Solo Story) Star Spangled 73 Oct. 1947
“The Four Horsemen of Crime�? Batman 43 Oct. – Nov. 1947
“The First American Detective�? Batman 44 Dec. 1947 – Jan. 1948
“The Batman that History Forgot�? Batman 46 Apr. – May 1948
“The True Story of Frankenstein�? Detective Comics 135 May 1948
“The Dead Man’s Chest�? Detective Comics 136 June 1948
“Batman’s Arabian Nights�? Batman 49 Oct. –Nov. 1948
“Batman and the Vikings�? Batman 52 Apr. – May 1949
“The Amazing Adventure of Batman and Marco Polo�? World’s Finest Comics 42 Sept. – Oct.1949
“The Brand of a Hero�? Batman 58 Apr. – May 1950
“The Batman of the Future�? Batman 59 Jun. – Jul. 1950
“Bodyguards to Cleopatra�? Detective Comics 167 Jan. 1951
“The Batman of Yesterday�? Batman 79 Oct. – Nov.1953
“The Origin of the Batcave�? Detective Comics 205 Mar. 1954
“The River Rogues�? Batman 89 Feb. 1955
“The Caveman Batman�? Batman 93 Aug. 1955
“The Three Magicians of Baghdad�? (Superman appearance) World’s Finest Comics 79 Nov. – Dec. 1955
“The Return of Mr. Future�? Batman 98 Mar. 1956
“Batman – Frontier Marshall�? Batman 99 Apr. 1956
“The Three Super-Musketeers�? (Superman appearance)World’s Finest Comics 82 May – Jun. 1956
“The Batman from Babylon�? Batman 102 Sept. 1956
“Batman’s Roman Holiday�? Batman 112 Dec. 1957
“Batman in the Bottle�? Batman 115 Apr. 1958
“The Last Days of Batman�? Batman 125 Aug. 1959
“The Second Life of Batman�? Batman 127 Oct. 1959
“The Secret of the Time Creature�? (Superman appearance) World’s Finest Comics 107 Feb. 1960
“The Secret of the Beast Paintings�? Detective Comics 295 Sept. 1961
“Batman & Robin, Medieval Bandits�? (Superman appearance) World’s Finest Comics 132 Mar. 1963
“The Menace of the Future Man�? (Superman appearance) World’s Finest Comics 135 Aug. 1963
“The Secret of the Captive Caveman�? (Superman appearance) World’s Finest Comics 138 Dec. 1963

Here are some images of the Nichols appearances and covers featuring Nichols stories:

Carter Nichols' First Appearance from Batman 24 Carter Nichols in Batman 24 Cater Nichols in a Robin solo story from Star Spangled Comics 73 Batman 24 (First Issue Featuring Carter Nichols) Batman 32 Cover Star Spangled Comics 73 Cover