Irv Novick for the Johnstone and Cushing advertising agency in the 1960s, but was unhappy in advertising and was lured back to DC by Kanigher with a freelance contract, a guarantee of steady work and certain perks which was at the time unprecedented. After editorial and management changes in 1968, Novick began drawing superhero titles such as "Batman", "Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane", and "The Flash". Novick and writer Frank Robbins crafted the story which revealed the last name of Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman" #216 (Nov. 1969). The Robbins and Novick team was instrumental in returning Batman to the character's
Alfred Pennyworth thoughts being to consider how utterly proper it is that he should die as Wayne Manor ceases to exist. In the sequel, "", the Batcave computer has been programmed with an artificial intelligence named and apparently patterned after Alfred, to the point that it refers to Bruce as "Sir". Alfred appears as a main character in Geoff Johns' and Gary Frank's "". In this incarnation, Alfred was a member of the Royal Marines. Alfred met Thomas Wayne during a tour of duty in the Middle East and the two became good friends. During a battle, Alfred saved Thomas' life but