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Orphaned boy billionaire Bert Beem has all that money could buy so what do you get the kid who has everything for Christmas? Well, as Bert has been obsessing over his hero Robin (coincidentally also an orphan residing in the lap of luxury at Wayne Manor) – and letting his interest in the family business slide – how about setting up a fake case where Bert gets to test out his detective skills side by side with his favourite boy hero?
With Robin colluding with Bert’s guardian and his butler to stage a pretend robbery at the Beem Cliffside estate the stage is set for an encounter with a jolly gun-wielding Santa Claus burglar. What boy could ask for more at the season of goodwill? For some strange reason it should also be noted that Bert, a child, is home alone for the holidays so clearly, at this point, we can say his guardian is doing a rather sterling job of looking after his welfare.
Robin, rather than phoning social services to report Bert’s guardian for reckless child endangerment on a number of counts, goes along with this ruse. But everything goes pear-shaped when the “actors” hired to pull off the fake burglary turn out to be real criminals. After lots of festive frolics, including a sleigh ride to near doom on the estate grounds, the two chums finally unmask “Santa” who turns out to be the Beem family butler all along. And so, with the ghastly working class oik apprehended and thrown in the slammer, 1947 turns out to be a super Christmas for spoilt rich kids everywhere! Hurrah!
Of course Golden Age stories were never meant to be over-analysed, nor read by men of 40+ years of age either for that matter, so all gentle (and fondly meant) mockery is largely irrelevant. "The Boy Who Wanted Robin for Christmas" has its own naive Yuletide charm and is a welcome reminder of a more innocent era of DC history.
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