Modern YEAR FIFTEEN (Part 1)

2003 (January to June)^[1]
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–REFERENCE: In Batman/Aliens II #2. Batman goes on an unspecified case and nets a human skull with a bullet hole in it, which goes as a trophy in the Batcave.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman: Joker’s Apprentice #1. January 4. “Day One” of the Joker’s Apprentice narrative. Batman busts serial rapist/killer Arthur Rankel, who is fast-tracked into Arkham Asylum. At Arkham, Joker takes a liking to Rankel and tells him it’s the anniversary of the day he first met Batman (in The Man Who Laughs). Joker is a day late, but his extremely fuzzy anniversary math will become a focal point by the end of the Joker’s Apprentice narrative, so I wouldn’t focus too much on the error. Joker decides that he’ll take Rankel under his wing and train him to be Batman’s perfect foil. These training sessions, which will run until late March, will take place only when Joker is locked in Arkham. (Joker will escape and return a lot in the coming months.)

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48 and Aztek the Ultimate Man #7. Batman adds a blowgun and new tranquilizer darts into his utility belt rotation. He also upgrades his cowl lenses with an X-ray mode.

–REFERENCE: In the second feature to Aztek: The Ultimate Man #3. Wayne Enterprises steps into the world of book publishing, starting a new company called Wayne Faction, through which Bruce endorses and produces a disparaging biography (written by Jonathan Ryle) about early 20th-century business tycoon Clarence Vane. (Note that this supplemental material/second feature to Aztek: The Ultimate Man #3 incorrectly refers to Bruce’s grandfather as “Anthony Thomas Wayne.” His grandfather’s actual name, as referenced in several other comics, is Patrick “Jack” Wayne.)

–Batman: The Vengeance of Bane II Part 2
When we last saw Bane four months ago, he had just begun a long stretch in solitary confinement in Blackgate. (Due to time compression, a six-month stint was reduced to four.) Now that the solitary stretch is over, Bane is back among the regulars and in peak physical shape, but this time without the Venom addiction. First things first, he beats up KGBeast as revenge for the trouncing Beast delivered to him before. Bane then escapes from prison with help from Buzz Galvan, the Ratcatcher, and KGBeast (who now respects him). Commissioner Sarah Essen-Gordon investigates Bane’s escape. In the city, Bane tracks down connections to Willis Danko, a Venom addict he saw in Blackgate, hoping to shut down Gotham’s Venom pushers. One of the main pushers is a former Major League slugger. MLB and steroids? No way! One of the other main pushers? The very doctor who originally administered Venom to Bane in Peña Duro. As Bane and Batman reunite and team up to take down some musclebound goons, they have a great Chuck Dixon-penned conversation in which Bane tells Batman he’s drug-free and they should no longer be enemies. Bane then heads abroad to find his father. This quest continues immediately in Batman-less Bane of the Demon #1 Part 1, which starts now and will overlap with the next bunch of stories. We’ll pick up Bane’s tale later, but for now, back to Batman’s life.

–Man-Bat Vol. 2 #1-2
Dr. Kirk Langstrom and his wife, Dr. Francine Langstrom, separated a few months ago, and unknown to Kirk, Francine secretly gave birth to his son, Aaron Langstrom, who was born with a rare form of cancer. To save Aaron’s life, Francine permanently mutated him into a bat-baby! (Notably, a few years ago, Kirk and Francine also had a daughter, Rebecca “Becky” Langstrom.) Cut to now. Kirk becomes Man-Bat again and is wrongly accused of killing off members of the Helix Commission, a geneticist group of which he and Francine were once members. Batman works the case, chatting with Commissioner Sarah Essen-Gordon twice. Meanwhile, Rambo-esque cop Billy Pettit (flanked by a reluctant Stan Kitch) goes after and shoots down Man-Bat, who lands in the sewers and is nursed back to health by Killer Croc! As seen in the Batman-less Man-Bat Vol. 2 #3, the real killer, Steeljacket, attacks Francine, Becky, and Dr. David Felcher. Steeljacket also reveals his origin (he was created by the Helix Commission), after which Man-Bat brings him to justice.

–REFERENCE: In Batman #526, Batman #528, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46-47, Detective Comics #693-694, and The Batman Chronicles #23 Part 2. Batman and Robin (with Alfred’s help) create a new Kevlar compound for their costumes, special spectrum-analyzer tech that scans environments and feeds real-time results into their cowls/domino masks, and a Deadshot-style wrist-gun that shoots a chain-link hook. Batman and Robin test their new Kevlar at point-blank range. Batman (with Alfred and Harold’s help) also finishes a brand-new Batmobile model, packed with fancy new tricks and doodads. (Harold had been working on this vehicle for a while.) Batman stocks the new car with many items, including his new wrist-gun and a tuxedo. Bruce is also invited to an upcoming post-election party Penguin is hosting at the Iceberg Casino.

–Batman #526
Batman takes the new Batmobile out for a solo patrol, busting crooks left and right. If you haven’t noticed the trend, Batman has lately relied less on others and hasn’t been regularly patrolling with Robin by his side, at least not like he used to. Plus, he’s been burning the candle at both ends. Robin and Alfred have definitely noticed, and the latter has a long talk with Batman about how he’s changed ever since Bane. Alfred says Tim is the most capable Robin of the three Robins and that Batman should put more faith in him (and patrol with him more). Batman implies it might not be safe to have a sidekick, and Alfred, taken aback, says he thought Batman had gotten over the fear he initially felt after Jason’s death. Batman goes out on solo patrol again, fighting members of the False Face Society, but Robin follows and helps. Impressed, Batman’s eyes are opened, and the Dynamic Duo is back at 100%.

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46 Part 1^[2]
With the polls set to close on Election Day in Gotham, Bruce registers his mayoral vote for Marion Grange. Early exit polls put current mayor Armand Krol in the lead, but Bruce isn’t too worried. Batman busts some safecrackers trying to break into Mayor Krol’s house.

–NOTE: In Detective Comics #693 Part 2. Marion Grange is elected the new mayor! Seth Voder, secretly in the Penguin’s pocket, is elected the new District Attorney, beating candidate Darlene Hunt and two others. Neither term will begin for a month. Grange and Voder celebrate their victory with a public rally. They humbly accept the victory and thank everyone, saying, “It’s been a long night.” Mayor Krol still hasn’t conceded, but his aide tells him that he needs to. Krol decides he’s going to appoint his buddy Andrew “Andy” Howe as commissioner.

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46 Part 2
Batman listens to live election results on the radio, which declare Marion Grange the winner. The election was called a few minutes ago, so Batman must be scanning all the news reports, station by station. Mayor Krol publicly concedes.

–NOTE: In Batman #527 Part 2. Shortly after her victory rally and acceptance speech, Marion Grange visits Commissioner Sarah Essen-Gordon and offers her a new Special Liaison position with the GCPD once her term begins. The mayor-elect also tells Sarah that if she accepts, Jim will become commissioner again. Sarah says she’ll think about it.

–Detective Comics #693 Part 1
Just after 5 AM the morning after the election, Allergent (Maxwell Veezey) debuts by spreading noxious chemicals and defoliating trees across Gotham. Without a forum to declare his intentions or his name, Allergent is named “Weedwacker” by the press. Batman and Robin chase after “Weedwacker,” but he escapes.

–Detective Comics #693 Part 3
Picking up directly from Detective Comics #693 Part 1, Allergent’s actions really piss off Poison Ivy, who escapes from Arkham Asylum to go after him. (Arkham apparently still lacks any real security.) Batman and Robin hear about Poison Ivy’s escape and find out “Weedwacker” is a man named Maxwell Veezey. They chase after Veezey again, but as before, he escapes.

–Detective Comics #694 Part 1
Picking up directly from Detective Comics #693 Part 3, Batman and Robin regroup following their harrowing encounter with Allergent. Meanwhile, across town, Poison Ivy runs amok.

–Batman #527 Part 1
As evening approaches, Alfred keeps telling Batman not to burn the candle at both ends, but the Dark Knight ignores him and goes out to bust a notorious home-invader gang that has moved into the city from the suburbs. In the Batcave, Batman and Alfred learn from the police scanner that Two-Face has just escaped from Arkham Asylum (yes, yet another Arkham breakout). After a brief investigation, Batman deduces that Two-Face plans to kill some criminals who escaped justice while he was DA. Batman phones Jim Gordon, who says that he and Sarah have finally reconciled! Jim says he’ll tell Sarah to give Harvey Dent’s old “ghost files” to Batman.

–Batman #527 Part 3
Batman meets with Commissioner Sarah Essen-Gordon, who tells him about Marion Grange’s job offer and how the mayor-elect plans to appoint Jim back as commish once she is inaugurated. Sarah gives Harvey Dent’s old “ghost files” to Batman. When Sarah still doubts whether she should accept Grange’s offer, Batman suggests she talk to Jim about it. Through Dent’s “ghost files,” Batman learns that Two-Face is targeting Jermiston Lockhart, a corrupt circus owner who Dent failed to jail when he was DA.

–NOTE: In Batman: Shadow of the Bat #47 Part 2. As the night wears on, Sarah takes Batman’s advice and invites Jim to meet in her GCPD office. They have a heart-to-heart conversation, and Sarah tells Jim about Marion Grange’s job offer. Andy Howe interrupts them, telling them to get out of his office.

–Detective Comics #694 Part 2
Picking up immediately from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #47, Andy Howe, having just burst into Sarah Essen-Gordon’s office, exclaims that Mayor Krol has appointed him as the new commissioner, effective immediately. Oh, the dirty politics of Gotham. Sarah quickly visits Marion Grange and accepts her offer, becoming Special Liaison to the GCPD. (Sarah is basically a lieutenant again.) Grange promises to replace Howe with Jim as soon as she is inaugurated. Meanwhile, Poison Ivy confronts Allergent and jokingly calls him “Agent Orange.” While Batman intervenes and defeats Poison Ivy, Robin chases away Allergent, whom Lock-Up secretly captures. At GCPD HQ, Howe proudly has Sarah’s name replaced with his own on the commissioner’s office door. However, he’s already overwhelmed by his new role and refuses to speak to anyone. Notably, a police scanner bulletin gives updates on the fugitive Two-Face. (By the way, while not explicitly stated, Howe’s appointment as commissioner is definitely headline news, so everyone in Gotham would know about the change.)

–Batman #527 Part 4
Picking up directly from Detective Comics #694 Part 2, Batman visits the Lockhart Circus, hoping to find Two-Face. Jermiston Lockhart’s freaks attack Batman upon arrival.

–Batman #528 Part 1
Picking up directly from Batman #527 Part 4, Batman fights Two-Face and Jermiston Lockhart’s freaks at the latter’s circus. A clown speaks to Batman and exposes Lockhart’s criminality. Conjoined twins help Batman bust Two-Face.

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46 Part 3
Picking up directly from Batman #528 Part 1, Batman links Penguin to the petermen who broke into Mayor Krol’s house the previous evening. Batman shakes down Penguin but can’t prove his legitimate connection to the crooks. Penguin heads to his lavish “grand election party,” where many of Gotham’s well-to-do citizens and all the candidates are waiting for him. Meanwhile, Cornelius Stirk easily escapes from Arkham Asylum and heads toward Penguin’s soirée. This means that Poison Ivy, Two-Face, and Cornelius Stirk each broke out within the same twenty-four-hour period. Security at the new Arkham seems to be even worse than at the old one! That makes at least ten high-profile escapes since Jeremiah Arkham moved his prison into Mercey Mansion (and that doesn’t include the release of Mr. Freeze, whom a board of doctors deemed “sane” thanks to Neron’s manipulation). Jeez.

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #47 Part 1
Picking up directly from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46 Part 3, Batman patrols and learns that an escaped Cornelius Stirk could be headed toward Penguin’s post-election party. After sending Robin home and turning back toward the Iceberg Casino, Batman muses that he’s had his hardest night in months, defeating “Agent Orange,” Poison Ivy, and Two-Face in a row. (Batman referring to Allergent as “Agent Orange” isn’t an error; it’s just a continuation of the joke from Detective Comics #694 Part 2. After all, Allergent is a rip-off of Agent Orange, and Batman still hasn’t even heard the name “Allergent”; he only knows Maxwell Veezey by his real name or “Weedwacker”). A weary Bruce dons a tuxedo and goes to Penguin’s party.

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #47 Part 3
Picking up directly from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #47 Part 1, Bruce saves Penguin’s life from Cornelius Stirk at the post-election party. When Stirk tries to kill Mayor-elect Grange, Bruce switches into Bat-mode and busts the villain. Batman returns Stirk to Arkham just as dawn breaks. Writer Alan Grant implies this is the morning after the election, but as we’ve shown above, it’s actually two mornings later.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Two-Face – Crime & Punishment. Despite having been apprehended mere hours ago, Two-Face escapes custody (for the second time in less than twenty-four hours). This is four Arkham Asylum breakouts in less than forty-eight hours! Yikes. With his schizophrenia becoming decidedly more pronounced, Two-Face hijacks a live TV broadcast and cryptically blames his father, Christopher Dent, for all his problems. Two-Face begins what will be a ten-day rampage, overlapping with the next handful of stories (including some specific references from Batman: Two-Face – Crime & Punishment) and culminating in the main action of Batman: Two-Face – Crime & Punishment, a bit further below. While we won’t see it on our timeline, Batman will search high and low for Christopher Dent sporadically over the next ten days.

–FLASHBACK: From the B&W second feature to Batman: Gotham Knights #47. Batman protects Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen-Gordon when an escaped Riddler invades their home. (Either Riddler escaped prior to Underworld Unleashed, or he just escaped. Either way, mark another bad escape for the new Arkham Asylum’s record books.)

–Black Lightning Vol. 2 #12-13
In Black Lightning’s hometown of Brick City, the Brick City Police Department (including sometime ally Lieutenant Tommy Colavito) falsely accuses Black Lightning of being the serial killer “Sick Nick.” The news allows the drug gang known as The Royal Family (including King, Medora, and Maria) to manipulate the local populace into an anti-Black Lightning fervor. Unsure of the truth, Colavito begins his own investigation and meets with his top informant, Beagle. In Gotham, a worried Batman watches the TV news about the “Sick Nick” case. Meanwhile, in his civilian life, Jefferson Pierce’s high school job is in jeopardy after he clashes with his boss, Principal Ryan Flaherty. Thankfully, Brick City Mayor Jackson Perry and philanthropist Gavin Wells step in, letting Jefferson keep his post. That night, Black Lightning’s investigation into the murders leads him to the mansion of wealthy asshole Adrian Wentworth. Sure enough, Wentworth is “Sick Nick,” and he’s even inside torturing his latest victim. Wentworth’s bodyguards, Wardog and Pierce, prevent Black Lightning from accessing the property. At his lowest, Black Lightning’s friends show up: Jefferson’s co-teacher, Gail Harris, offers kindness, and Batman visits Brick City to help Colavito’s investigation. Batman also reminds Jefferson that the superhero community still has his back. Inspired, Black Lightning defeats Wardog and Pierce, exposes Wentworth as the true killer, and clears his own name.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Two-Face – Crime & Punishment. Two-Face and his henchmen set off two bombs, one uptown and one downtown. Batman saves as many lives as he can.

–FLASHBACK: From the B&W second feature to Batman: Gotham Knights #47. Still on the loose, Riddler busts into a restaurant while riding a motorcycle. Bruce is dining there, which is bad news for Riddler’s robbery attempt.

DC vs MARVEL
——————–DC vs Marvel Comics #1
——————–Marvel Comics vs DC #2
——————–Marvel Comics vs DC #3
——————–DC vs Marvel Comics #4
This arc goes just prior to Action Comics #719-720 (before Lois and Clark break up). Two ancient cosmic brothers (similar to the Endless), who represent their respective parts of the omniverse, become aware of each other. The anthropomorphic manifestation of the DC Multiverse (i.e. the multiverse that houses “Universe-0” as its primary universe) challenges the anthropomorphic manifestation of the Marvel Multiverse (i.e. the multiverse that houses “Universe-616” as its primary universe) to a duel between their respective people. As a result, beings from each universe begin appearing randomly where they shouldn’t. First, Earth-616’s new Spider-Man (a clone of Peter Parker named Ben Reilly) teleports to Gotham, where an escaped Joker kindly greets him. (Yes, there has been yet another Arkham Asylum breakout.) While the X-Men (Wolverine, Gambit, and Storm) fight Juggernaut, the latter teleports from Earth-616 to Metropolis, where Superman confronts him. Back at their Westchester County mansion, the trio debriefs their X-Men comrades, Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, and Psylocke, before they, too, are teleported to Earth-0. Captain America also gets teleported, interrupting his fight against the terrorist organization Hydra. The Hulk chats with his wife, Betty Ross, before getting zapped from Earth-616 to Earth-0. Superboy chats with Tana Moon before getting sent away. Other Earth-616 residents (Elektra, Thor, Silver Surfer, Sub-Mariner, Quicksilver, and Iceman) swap places with Earth-0 residents. Earth-616’s Bullseye appears in the Batcave, but Batman knocks him out. Immediately after, Robin appears at Massachusetts Academy, where Jubilee and Husk attend school. The Kingpin and J Jonah Jameson take over the Daily Planet. Across the two Earths, some transplants are friendly with one another: Darkseid and Thanos; Starman (Jack Knight) and Dr. Strange; Hawkman and Archangel; and Supergirl and She-Hulk. However, most fight each other: Batman vs Venom; Steel vs Absorbing Man; Kyle Rayner vs Green Goblin; Bane vs Captain America; Riddler vs Daredevil; Captain Marvel vs Dr. Doom; Deathstroke vs Punisher; Etrigan vs Ghost Rider; Firestorm and Martian Manhunter vs half the Fantastic Four (Human Torch and The Thing); Superman vs Annihilus; Man-Bat vs Spider-Man; Nightwing vs Gambit; and Killer Croc vs Wolverine. (We must assume that, after this fight, Killer Croc is returned to Arkham Asylum, where we’ll see him incarcerated in an upcoming Hitman story.) In Gotham, Batman stalks The Lizard and then chats with Nightwing. As they converse, Wolverine and Gambit steal the Batmobile. Meanwhile, Mole Man and his Moloid henchmen invade the Batcave. In Metropolis, Ben Reilly saves Lois Lane from Scarecrow and Earth-616 Scarecrow. Eventually, the cosmic brothers announce a tournament with eleven official battles that will determine the fates of both worlds. Snapper Carr and Rick Jones couldn’t be more excited. As Darkseid and Thanos feud, more friendly alliances form: Steel and Iron Man; Green Arrow (Conner Hawke) and Hawkeye; Black Canary and Black Widow; Captain Marvel and Earth-616 Captain Marvel; Superman and Hulk; Cyborg Superman and Dr. Doom; and Joker and Green Goblin. (Like Killer Croc, Joker must go back to prison after this, since we’ll see him there in Action Comics #719.) The official tournament then begins: Thor defeats Captain Marvel; Aquaman defeats Sub-Mariner; Flash defeats Quicksilver; Robin gets a kiss from and defeats Jubilee; Silver Surfer defeats Kyle Rayner; Elektra defeats Catwoman; Wolverine defeats Lobo; Storm defeats Wonder Woman; Spider-Man defeats Superboy; Superman defeats Hulk; and Batman defeats Captain America! Ultimately, Marvel scores six victories to DC’s five, but the brother entities vote to eliminate both universes. In Manhattan, Batman and Captain America encounter two versions of Axel Asher, one of whom is Access, a cosmic-powered metahuman working for the Spectre and Earth-616’s The Living Tribunal. This latter duo saves both universes by merging them into a single Amalgam Universe (designated “Universe-9602”), which consists of mash-up characters from both DC and Marvel. Batman and Wolverine merge to form Dark Claw; Doomsday and Dr. Doom merge into Dr. Doomsday; Superman and Captain America merge into Super-Soldier; Deadshot and Bullseye merge into Deadeye. Dr. Fate, Professor X, and Dr. Strange merge into Dr. Strangefate; Superboy and Spider-Man merge into Spider-Boy; Cheetah and Kraven the Hunter merge into Lethal; Creeper and Nightcrawler merge into Nightcreeper; Wonder Woman and Storm merge into Amazon; and Obsidian and Gambit merge into Wraith. Afterward, Marvel and DC heroes team up to defeat Darkseid and Thanos. Beyond the other small battles, Catwoman and Elektra defeat The Abomination; Superman and Hulk defeat Mole Man inside the Batcave; Spider-Man and Superboy take down the Kingpin in the Daily Planet building; and Robin hooks up with Jubilee in Venice. (Umm, Robin, you have a girlfriend; you cheater!) Eventually, the skies burn red, and Access takes Batman and Captain America to see the cosmic brothers. Both universes witness the brothers clash in a realm outside time and space, but ultimately, the bros shake hands, ending the crossover conflict and restoring the status quo. Moving forward, Access will act as a cosmic monitor for both the DCU and Marvel U.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Two-Face – Crime & Punishment and Batman: Shadow of the Bat #62. Batman again deals with Two-Face and his henchmen (including a goon named Louse) as they commit another pair of duality-themed crimes, murdering a mafia godfather and attempting to murder the district attorney. (Batman saves the DA.) I’ve taken the liberty of adding Louse’s debut (from a reference in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #62) into this item. (We know Louse debuts a few months before the main action of Batman: Shadow of the Bat #62, so it makes sense to go here.)

–Action Comics #719
The ghost of MLK Jr briefly appears in the Daily Planet building thanks to some Spectre-related shenanigans, but that’s not why we’re here. On to the important stuff! After Joker’s last encounter with Superman (in Action Comics #714), Lois took a toy Joker doll as a souvenir and placed it on the mantel in her apartment. When she now handles the toy, she gets dosed with a deadly poison. A panicked Superman rushes to Gotham to confer with Batman, who sends him on a wild-goose chase so he alone can confront Joker in Arkham Asylum. Eventually, though, Batman and Superman join together to face the jailed Joker, who tells them that they must inject him (Joker) with the doll’s poison, which will cause his toxic antibodies to turn his blood into the antidote. The catch is that Joker will die. Batman and Superman aren’t sure what to do. In the end, they decide they can’t take even Joker’s life, but luckily, it was all a ruse, and the poison from the doll wasn’t actually fatal. Lois is safe, but Joker gets the last laugh. Lois no longer trusts Clark because he was going to let her die.

–Robin Vol. 2 #26
As seen in the Batman-less Robin Vol. 2 #25, Tim’s classmate, Karl Ranck, is shot to death by teen gangbanger Young El (Eldon Adams). Robin Vol. 2 #26 picks up with Karl’s funeral, after which Tim and Ariana squabble as usual. Later, Robin and Spoiler go after Young El, but get trapped in a hail of gunfire from Young El’s gang. Thankfully, Batman saves them both, takes down the gang, and orders Young El to turn himself in. As referenced in Detective Comics #698, Young El goes to a fast-tracked jury trial but is found not guilty (by self-defense).

–Batman: Two-Face – Crime & Punishment 
Two-Face’s ten-day rampage continues as he kills hundreds of people by blowing up a nightclub. Thankfully, Batman is on hand to prevent a similar massacre at a second club. Later, Two-Face kidnaps his dad, Christopher Dent, and plans to hold his public execution live on national TV. Before Two-Face can kill his dad, Batman challenges him head-on, having deduced that Harvey Dent’s good half (unknown to the evil half) not only wants his father to live but also has been paying for his room and board in an upscale apartment for years. While Batman bests dozens of henchmen, Two-Face struggles with his schizophrenia and runs away. Unable to cope with the warring duality within his mind, Two-Face tries to commit suicide, but Batman saves him. The shock of the near-death experience exorcises Two-Face’s evil half, causing his good half to take over and return benevolent Harvey as his primary persona. With Harvey back at Arkham Asylum, Bruce and Alfred ponder whether Harvey’s sanity will last. Sadly, it won’t.

–REFERENCE: In Action Comics #720 and Superman: The Wedding Album #1. The Batman-less Action Comics #720 occurs now. Lois and Clark break up (!), with Lois leaving Metropolis to take a foreign correspondent job. A depressed Clark tells Bruce the bad news and expresses misgivings about marriage in general.

–Batman: The Chalice^[3]
Following his recent detainment in Batman: Two-Face – Crime & Punishment, Two-Face attends a commitment hearing. (Two-Face became sane while being captured, so a commitment hearing makes sense for him, and it also helps place The Chalice here.) Of course, Two-Face goes nutso evil again and uses the lax hearing security to escape. (We can’t blame Arkham Asylum for this escape, but it means Two-Face has escaped captivity for the third time in three weeks!) The Dark Knight takes a bullet in the leg, but arrests Two-Face again. (Since we’ll next see Two-Face—in Detective Comics #697—being transported by authorities from an unknown facility to Arkham, we must assume he now goes to Blackgate.) Later, an elderly friend of Bruce’s great-great-great-grandfather—Peter DeWettering (aka Lord Winsleygate, aka Earl of Grambling)—entrusts Bruce with protecting the Holy Grail. Yes, the Holy Grail. DeWettering is over 200 years old and barely alive, immobile but kept going by a sci-fi machine. (The elderly man mentions Solomon Wayne being Bruce’s grandfather, but he definitely means great-great-great-grandpa.) On his deathbed (finally), DeWettering gives Bruce the Grail and reveals that, since the Crusades, the GeVain family (later Wayne) has passed it down through generations. Bruce’s grandfather, Patrick, failed to pass it to Thomas, so Bruce never learned about it until now. Batman’s first move with the Grail is to test its power. He fills it with holy water and pours it into his open gunshot wound, and voila! He is completely healed. (This event, combined with his resurrection in a Lazarus Pit and Shondra Kinsolving’s mystical touch, helps preserve Batman’s youthful, healthy physical nature as time marches on.) A couple of days later, Azrael (whose former Order of St. Dumas brothers have long sought the Grail) is the first to warn Batman about the dangers of protecting the artifact. A few days later, Batman offers to heal Oracle’s spine, but she refuses. After a quick chat with Jim Gordon, Batman takes down Mooch Manklin and his gang. (Batman knows everything about Manklin from his Bat-computer database, including that Manklin has been running circles around the cops for over a month.) Meanwhile, Penguin hires Catwoman to steal the Grail, leading Catwoman and Alfred to team up to defend Wayne Manor against the Merivingian Brotherhood (aka Merovingian Brotherhood), a religious cult seeking the Grail. (Notably, this scene is written as if Catwoman has very little to no history with Bruce, Alfred, or Wayne Manor. At the time of publication in 1999, this was true, but thanks to the retcons in The Long Halloween, it isn’t anymore, so this part of the sequence must sadly be ignored.) Guided to Gotham by his personal antiquity librarian, Shuram, Ra’s al Ghul (along with a loyal Ubu warrior) confronts Batman. (Batman notes that Ra’s al Ghul hasn’t shown his face in Gotham for years; it’s been about two years.) After dispatching the Ubu, Batman battles Ra’s al Ghul, and they nearly kill each other until Talia breaks up the fight. In the end, Bruce realizes the Grail is more trouble than it’s worth and gives it to Superman for safekeeping. The Chalice spans a little over a week on our timeline.

–NOTE: In Batman: Bane of the Demon #1 Part 2 and Batman: Bane of the Demon #2. Batman is not in Batman: Bane of the Demon #1-3, but the events of this mini-series are vitally important to our chronology; hence their inclusion on the timeline. The first 15 pages of issue #1 (i.e. Part 1) begin right after Bane leaves Gotham at the end of Vengeance of Bane II and therefore overlap with the previous batch of stories in our chronology, which detailed Bane scouring the globe in search of his unknown father. Cut to now. In Singapore, Bane finds the Order of St. Dumas warring against the League of Assassins. The Order of St. Dumas has been experimenting with a deadly filovirus (Ebola Gulf-A, aka The Apocalypse Virus, aka The Clench), and Ra’s al Ghul wants to steal it. After getting involved in the fight, Talia takes a liking to Bane and organizes a meeting between Bane and her father. Ra’s immediately respects Bane, but the latter quickly sours on the former. Surprisingly, Bane then begins a sexual relationship with Talia! At this point, Ra’s decides that Bane is better as an asset than as an antagonist and keeps him on the team. Toward the end of issue #2, Ra’s mentions, jealously, that the deadly plague he seeks has already been released and will soon be unleashed upon Gotham City. “Contagion” has already begun!

CONTAGION
——————–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48
——————–Detective Comics #695
——————–Robin Vol. 2 #27
——————–Catwoman Vol. 2 #31
——————–Batman #529
The beginning of “Contagion” overlaps slightly with Batman-less Bane of the Demon #2. Azrael warns Batman and Robin that the deadly Ebola Gulf-A virus is coming to Gotham, seemingly because the Order of St. Dumas was careless while experimenting with it. Batman phones Sarah Essen-Gordon’s old office, but new Commissioner Andy Howe answers. (Notably, Howe has handwritten his own name on the door, but this is a continuity error, since the name was officially changed in Detective Comics #694. Also, Batman kinda sorta acts like he didn’t know Howe was commissioner yet, but he absolutely would have known by now.) Hoping to save himself, the Order’s acolyte Daniel Maris quarantines himself with the elite residents of the lavish Babylon Towers. Of course, Maris dies and infects everyone inside. At a military compound, Batman fights off soldiers to confirm the filovirus is about to spread. He also learns that virus survivors may hold the key to a cure. Quickly, thousands contract the fatal filovirus. Hundreds are hospitalized or dead in a very short amount of time. Notably, Renee Montoya’s boyfriend, Johnny, dies. Meanwhile, the Dynamic Duo learns of a survivor (Kendall Stuart) in Toronto, so Robin (guided by Alfred) visits his apartment, only to find Catwoman already there (hired by the Babylon Towers folks). Robin, Catwoman (in a white snow outfit), Tracker (a mercenary hired by Penguin), Azrael (sent by Batman), and Order soldiers find Stuart in the Yukon. The Order men kill Stuart, but not before he tells Catwoman and Azrael there are two other survivors. A dejected Robin and Alfred return home to join Batman and Nightwing. The fifth chapter of “Contagion” continues here with the Batman-less Azrael #15, in which Catwoman, Azrael, and Tracker locate survivor #2 (Fong) in San Francisco, but Fong kills himself. Chapter six continues in Gotham, with Azrael teaming up with the Bat-Family. Batman connects with Harvey Bullock, who allows him to listen in via radio as Mortimer Gunt discusses the virus at the morgue. Batman also gets the immune Poison Ivy to agree to help, pulling her out of Arkham Asylum and sneaking her into Babylon Towers to test a possible antidote. Afterward, Batman joins Robin, Nightwing, and Huntress to deal with riots across the city. (A flashback from Batman #561 shows Batman and Robin watching government officials in hazmat suits piling up bodies in the streets. Likewise, a reference in The Batman Files notes that Batman wears a Board of Health face mask to avoid contracting the disease. He also keeps a face mask as a souvenir.)

CONTAGION Conclusion
——————–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49
——————–Detective Comics #696
——————–The Batman Chronicles #4
——————–Catwoman Vol. 2 #32
——————–Azrael #16
——————–Robin Vol. 2 #28
Picking up directly from Batman #529, the Bat-Family (and Jim Gordon, Renee Montoya, and Harvey Bullock) keep dealing with riots across the city. Meanwhile, inside Babylon Towers, the antidote fails, and Poison Ivy goes rogue, forcing Batman and Gordon to take her down. As Babylon Towers burns to the ground, Batman and Gordon bond for the first time in ages. The riots then worsen, forcing the governor (Dave, last name not given) to call in the National Guard, who immediately quarantine/blockade the entire city. When Tim contracts the virus, Nightwing rushes him into Alfred’s care. Batman then meets Gotham’s number-one metahuman assassin-for-hire, “Hitman” Tommy Monaghan. (Tommy previously gained X-ray vision and limited telepathic ability during the events of Bloodlines.) A low-level crook tells Batman that Tommy will soon be offered a lucrative hit on Joker. Batman eventually “helps” the crude Tommy defeat a diseased monster man known as Thrax. Afterward, when Huntress tries and fails to save one of her students, Batman offers little sympathy. (Notably, The Batman Chronicles #4 Part 3 doesn’t feature Batman; it shows an unconscious Clench-infected Robin dreaming in the Batcave.) Catwoman travels to Florida and collects the final survivor (Leanore We), bringing her back to Gotham. After Catwoman bests Tracker, Batman and Nightwing accost her and tell her the survivors are useless for a cure. Batman then has a heart-to-heart with Catwoman. In the suburbs, Jean-Paul Valley realizes he saw the glyph representing Ebola Gulf-A in the Order of St. Dumas’ African lab (in Azrael #8). (Jean-Paul says he saw it a month ago, but Azrael #8 actually took place about four months ago.) They realize someone within the Order deliberately spread the virus. Using their ex-Order knowledge and resources, Jean-Paul, Lilhy, and Brian Bryan develop a cure for the virus! Meanwhile, at the Order castle in Switzerland, Rollo discovers that Zoo released the virus on his own. The Order executes Zoo as punishment and then sends its Stateside agents (along with Carlton LeHah) to confront Azrael. After easily defeating the Order men and scaring LeHah away, Azrael breaks through the National Guard blockade and delivers the cure to a hospital. Meanwhile, Lihly and Bryan fax the cure formula to several medical officials. Bruce cooks up the cure for Tim, who recovers quickly. Within twelve hours, the plague ends. After learning more about the virus, Azrael tells Batman that the Order didn’t originally create it. In the Batcave, Batman ponders where it could have originated. (We’ll learn the answer a little further down the road.) Batman and Nightwing then take to the streets to deal with the ongoing martial law situation. A weary Tim climbs the stairs to Wayne Manor, wishing aloud that Batman would install an elevator. But when he gets an alert about gang activity, Tim suits up as Robin and takes to the streets too. Because of Commissioner Andy Howe’s and Mayor Armand Krol’s incompetence, the governor fast-tracks Marion Grange’s inauguration and makes her Gotham’s new mayor, effective immediately! She immediately fires Howe and rehires Jim Gordon as commish! In the Tri-Corner neighborhood, Robin and Catwoman take down gang bangers. Afterward, Tim reunites with his dad, Dana Winters, and Ariana, who has dyed her hair blonde to look like Stephanie. (Ariana will dye her hair back to black soon.)

–Sovereign Seven #12
This item immediately follows Robin Vol. 2 #28, occurring a couple of days after the end of “Contagion.” The Clench plague is over, but Gotham remains under martial law. Despite having barely recovered from the Clench himself, Robin goes out on patrol, during which he gets shot. Thankfully, vigilante Cascade (a member of the superhero team known as the Sovereign Seven) and Violet Jones (the Sovereigns’ bankroller) save Robin. Cascade and Violet (along with Sovereign member Reflex) nurse Robin back to health at the team’s HQ, known as Heaven’s Gate. Just as Robin meets Sovereign member Indigo and two reporters embedded with the Sovereigns, Neal Conan and Manoli Wetherell, super-villain Bosch (aka Bosche) infiltrates Heaven’s Gate, targeting Violet. (Bosch represents the Neron-affiliated group known as Dystopia.) Everyone in the HQ bands together to fend off Bosch and his hench-monsters. Bosch then flees into Batman’s waiting arms. (Batman is targeting Dystopia.) Across town, another Sovereign, Network, fights an assassin named Chimaera (Kim aka Kym). Chimaera defeats Network and imprints herself into Network’s mind, effectively infiltrating the Sovereigns as a spy for her partner, Philip Gethrin, the unscrupulous head of tech company Genesys Inc. (Notably, Chimaera represents the international criminal cartel known as Shōgun.) Meanwhile, in the small New England town of Crossroads, other Sovereign members, Rampart and Cruiser, work a connected missing-child case alongside their comrades Sheriff Molly Savoy, Conal Savoy (Molly’s son), Mitch, Jack (Mitch’s pet wolf), and Pansy Smith (Violet’s sister).

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #50-52
Martial law has ended, following the Ebola Gulf-A plague. At Gotham Chemical (aka Ace Chemical), the new villain Narcosis debuts and doses Batman with a hallucinatory drug cocktail (ketamine, acetylcholine, and strychnine), making him think he is battling an army of his rogues all at once. Batman’s vision includes nearly every Alan Grant original character from the past two or three years—Joe Public, Wild, Mortimer Kadaver, the Human Flea, Pagan, etc. Truly terrifying. Batman suffers a dark nightmare but seems out like a light to Commissioner Gordon, who calls a doctor to ask what to do if a buddy is trapped in a K-hole. In Batman’s dream, he mentions it being more than twenty years since his parents died, but it’s been more than thirty. When Batman finally comes to, he’s still really loopy and barely knows where he is. Commissioner Gordon helps him to his car, which presumably auto-pilots home. Later, Batman and Robin figure out that Narcosis plans to release his hallucinogen upon the masses via tainted dairy products. The Dynamic Duo then takes down the villain.

–Batman #530-532 (“THE DEADMAN CONNECTION”)
Batman busts some South American mercenaries at a pawn shop, during which the shop owner, seemingly possessed by an Incan artifact, kills himself. Commissioner Gordon then summons Batman via Bat-signal (the first time doing so since having been reinstated). Batman tells Gordon it’s good to have him back. Later, in the Batcave, Deadman, who’s working the same case, chats with Batman. (This is the first time Batman and Deadman have teamed up since Year Ten.) Deadman says there’s been a lot of ghost activity lately, revealing a treasure map of Machu Picchu, Peru, tattooed on the back of one of the dead mercenaries. On a Wayne Enterprises jet, Alfred flies Bruce and Deadman to Machu Picchu. There, local shaman Chimu guides Batman and Deadman. The duo fights henchmen working for international terrorist Jackson Killeen, who has enslaved the local Quechua and Aymara peoples in an effort to steal an ancient Incan treasure. After trekking into a hidden city inside a dormant volcano, Batman and Deadman continue fighting Killeen and his men. As the Indiana Jones-style adventure continues, Batman summons a swarm of bats to his aid with Chimu’s mystical flute, and ancient Incan mummies rise from their graves. Eventually, Batman and Deadman defeat Killeen.

–Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1
Jim Gordon is commissioner in this item, hence placement here. Oracle hires Black Canary to investigate a string of eco-terrorist bombings all targeted at business mogul Nick Devine. Oracle remotely guides Black Canary to meet Devine at a Gotham club. Bruce and Lucius Fox are also present. When ninjas attack Devine, Black Canary and Chinatown mob queen Lynx (who works for Devine) fend them off. Still remotely guided by Oracle, Black Canary dons a brand-new costume and, with Lynx, travels to Bwunda, Africa to investigate the bombings, eventually finding that Devine is behind them and collecting on insurance fraud. In London, Black Canary takes down both Devine and Lynx. Because the mission is such a success, Oracle decides Black Canary’s next mission will be to stop a Santa Priscan human-trafficking ring. (That mission, shown in the Batman-less Showcase ’96 #3 Part 1, will happen in a couple of weeks.) The Devine case marks the official start of Oracle’s covert-ops team of rotating members, the Birds of Prey.

–REFERENCE: In Birds of Prey #6. Now that the Birds of Prey have officially launched, Batman begins secretly monitoring all of Babs’ transmissions and communications. He also bugs Oracle’s apartment headquarters with hidden cameras and audio recording devices. Batman will continue monitoring the Birds of Prey for the next year-plus. (Unknown to Batman, Oracle knows he’s spying and is spying on him too!)

–Batman: GCPD #1
This is the start of a special four-issue GCPD Major Crimes ensemble mini-series; think of this as a precursor to Gotham Central. When Polka-Dot Man attacks Officer Clarence Foley, Harvey Bullock loses his cool and beats the shit out of the villain. Renee Montoya is so upset by Bullock’s brutality that she reports him to Gillen (Internal Affairs) and asks to be partnered with someone else. Meanwhile, Officer Hendricks starts looking into who’s been stealing office supplies. Concurrently, Stan Kitch and Caz Sallucci work a robbery/murder case and consult with attorney George Mellonshaw. Across town, Commissioner Gordon and Billy Pettit respond to a domestic violence situation, but Batman and Robin arrive first and resolve it. Back at GCPD HQ, Detective Kevin Soong becomes Bullock’s new partner, and they work the “teddy bear serial killer” case. (The “teddy bear killer” is a man named Steven Wilkins.) Later, Montoya and Hardback Bock (backed by Sarah Essen-Gordon) take on the Hasaraguan terrorist organization known as Cell Six, preventing them from assassinating the Hasaraguan ambassador Carlos Trujillo and his wife Paciencia “Pacita” Trujillo. Montoya agrees to go undercover as Pacita to infiltrate Cell Six.

–Batman: GCPD #3-4
An undercover Montoya is held captive by the Cell Six terror group. Across town, Stan Kitch and Caz Sallucci continue to work their robbery/murder case, finding a fresh victim. Mortimer Gunt performs an autopsy. Batman also investigates in his Matches Malone disguise after learning the deceased was in the Whiskey Road Gang. At a bar, Kitch and Sallucci interrogate Matches. Matches goes over his résumé, saying he’s no longer affiliated with the Whiskey Road Gang and briefly joined the Jimmy Navarone Mob (as seen in Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights #1) before going solo. Sallucci sucker-punches Matches, but of course Matches knows how to take a punch. Batman reports Sallucci’s actions to Commissioner Gordon. Eventually, Kitch, Salucci, and Billy Pettit track down their man, Mickey Cortese, who dies in a firefight. Concurrently, Harvey Bullock and Kevin Soong continue working the “teddy bear serial killer” case, closing in on a suspect, Steven Wilkins. At police HQ, Hendricks exposes Gillen as the office supply thief, ending his career. Later, an exposed Wilkins shoots Soong, but Bullock kills Wilkins. Meanwhile, Montoya escapes captivity and single-handedly brings down Cell Six. In the suburbs, Kitch and Salucci bust George Mellonshaw after exposing him as being in league with Cortese. In the end, Bullock partners with Montoya again after the injured Soong quits the force. Batman and Robin then bust some False Facers.

–Batman: Black and White #3 Part 1
February—Bruce’s birthday. In Klaus Janson’s “Good Evening, Midnight,” a crook commandeers a bus full of people and sends it teetering on the edge of a bridge. Batman saves everyone and busts the bad guy. (Ignore the B&W stylized Bat-costume.) Meanwhile, at Wayne Manor, Alfred reads a letter Thomas Wayne wrote and leaves a birthday cake out for Bruce.

—^[4]

–Batman: Gotham Nights II #1-4^[5]
While all seasonal references should be ignored, this arc belongs here because Alfred is present and Jim Gordon is commissioner. On to a synopsis. Someone has been sabotaging Little Paris, an old island amusement park in Gotham Harbor, so Batman orders Tim to visit with his friends and see what he can find. Meanwhile, Batman visits the park, going double undercover, posing as a Gotham Gazette reporter who, in turn, poses as a maintenance man. After another ride “accident,” Jobe Belden (a fixer working for City Councilman Daniel Hyde) attempts to straighten things out, much to Batman’s chagrin. After interrogating Hyde and the park’s owner, Frank Dunker, Batman deduces that Belden has been acting alone as the saboteur, collecting large bribes the whole time. When exposed, Belden blows up a gas tanker, and the whole park burns to the ground. Several people are killed in the fire, including Belden, Dunker, Dunker’s father, and Carmine Sansone. (Sansone is a misogynistic, racist domestic abuser who learns a lesson and has a change of heart in his final moments, while the Dunkers have equally complicated pasts that are both revealed with their last breaths.) In the end, Angelina (Sansone’s daughter) comes to terms with the life her father led and with her own complex interracial relationships with two guys—a local Latino boy and a Black pedophile artist. Later, Bruce chats with Angelina and says he’s considering buying and restoring Little Paris. (We can assume Bruce initiates this as a Wayne Enterprises project, but we won’t see any follow-up ahead on our timeline.)

–Batman: Black and White #1 Part 1
In Ted McKeever’s “Perpetual Mourning,” Batman does an autopsy on a Jane Doe murder victim, discovering her ID and the truth behind her murder, thus bringing justice to her case. This excellent story won an Eisner Award, and deservedly so!

–Batman: Black and White #1 Part 3
In Joe Kubert’s “The Hunt,” Batman has a strange dream in which he flies like a real bat, then brutally beats up some random criminals. Waking with a start at Wayne Manor, Bruce is haunted by the fact that he can no longer tell the difference between dreaming and waking.

–The Joker: Devil’s Advocate^[6]
Late February. At the start of Devil’s Advocate, Batman says Joker has been loose for months. This is impossible, since other comics have shown Joker in and out of Arkham Asylum all year long. At most, he’s been on the loose for a couple of days, not months. On to a synopsis. Batman and Robin bust the escaped Joker, who is falsely accused of serial murders via Joker Venom on postal stamps. Joker gets put on a fast-tracked trial and gets sentenced to death! (As mentioned above, ignore any references to months passing in Devil’s Advocate.) For the first time in his life, Joker has been remanded to a penal institution that isn’t specifically for the mentally unwell. Not only that, but his death-row sentence is also fast-tracked, with execution set to occur in less than a week. Discovering clues that show Joker isn’t guilty of the stamp murders, Batman knows justice isn’t being served. Reluctantly, Batman and Robin (and the GCPD) set out to prove Joker’s innocence. First, when one of Joker’s former henchmen and his girlfriend try to exploit the situation with an extortion scheme, Batman and Robin shake down a handful of Joker’s old goons. Meanwhile, in Blackgate Prison, a shaven-headed Joker (!) causes chaos, including beating Tommy Mangles’ ass. After Batman confronts the nonchalant Joker in his cell, the extortion case wraps up thanks to the extortionists’ bad luck. Batman then cracks the stamp case and busts the real killer. Just before the executioner throws the electric chair switch, the prison gets a call from the governor. Joker’s life is saved at the very last second. Days later, Batman visits Joker, who is back in his Arkham Asylum cell.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman: Black and White #1 Part 5. Batman busts a murderous trumpet player.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Black and White #2 Part 3. Batman busts an unnamed criminal and puts him behind bars.

–REFERENCE: In Hawkman Vol. 3 #33. Batman has nothing to do with this item, but he would surely know what goes down. Ever since Zero Hour, Hawkman has been a “hawk god” mash-up of Katar Hol and Carter Hall (with Katar Hol as the dominant personality and Carter Hall more or less considered dead). Now, having lost control of his powers, Hawkman is banished to an interdimensional limbo by Martian Manhunter, Arion, and a reluctant Shayera Hol. This magickal banishment splits Katar Hol and Carter Hall back into two separate individuals, but it kills Katar Hol in the process. Carter Hall—in a spirit-like state—will remain trapped in interdimensional limbo.

–Robin Plus #1 (Robin Plus Impulse)
Late winter. Batman remotely guides Robin into a warehouse to investigate the theft of some outdated computer equipment by ex-KGB agent Piotr Vilk. While in the warehouse, newcomer Mystral cuts Robin’s Bat-rope before fleeing. Shortly after, Batman sends Robin and Alfred to track Vilk, who heads to a ski lodge in Virginia. Under the guise of a skiing trip with Ariana Dzerchenko and Sebastian Ives, Tim and Alfred keep close tabs on Vilk. Coincidentally, Bart Allen (Impulse), Max Mercury, Carol Bucklen, and Preston Lindsay are vacationing at the same lodge. Tim meets Bart for the first time, and they hit it off! Later that evening, Impulse helps Robin fight Vilk, during which Robin immediately pegs Impulse as Bart. Robin and Impulse (with Alfred guiding them remotely) spy on Vilk, who meets with George Deegan, leader of a violent militia group known as White Heat. Robin, Impulse, and Mystral—a secret agent working against White Heat—battle the villains and thwart their plan to launch nuclear warheads using stolen computer technology.

–Batman: Death of Innocents #1
This is DC’s public service announcement about landmines. The affable WayneTech employee Ted Orbley volunteers to move his family to the civil war-ridden Kravia to work on an irrigation project. A few days later, Orbley drives his car over a landmine and is killed. His daughter, Sarah, also in the vehicle, survives but goes missing. Batman travels to the Central-Eastern European nation to search for Sarah. En route, Batman takes a crash course in Kravian (which he doesn’t know), studies Oracle’s maps, and bonds with a landmine-sniffing dog. (Notably, Batman’s hired pilot tells him it’s Kravia’s rainy season, but there isn’t really a rainy season in Central-Eastern Europe, so this line doesn’t impact story placement.) In Kravia, Batman engages in intense battles against both the Kravian army and rebel militias. (He implies that his parents died twenty-five years ago, but it’s been thirty-two years since then.) Eventually, Batman rescues Sarah. Pausing to relax and feeling proud of his accomplishment, Batman takes his eye off the little girl, who touches a landmine and is blown to kingdom come. Landmines suck.

–Aztek: The Ultimate Man #6-7 
Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum (yes, again) and flees to the West Coast. Upon arrival in Vanity, Oregon, Joker spreads his signature poison and accosts local super-scientist Fixit. (Because Joker shaved his head a little over a week ago but is seen here deliberately matching Fixit’s spiky, Super Saiyan-esque hairstyle, he must be wearing a wig.) Meanwhile, at the hospital, Vanity’s resident protector, Aztek (aka Uno, aka Dr. Curt Falconer, aka “The Ultimate Man”), and his girlfriend, Joy Page, recover from injuries. (Aztek has a few bruises, while Joy has been magickally turned into a shrunken head.) After chatting with his boss, Julia Frostick, and then Vanity Police Department Chief Helena Perrier, Aztek confronts Joker, who reveals he’s released Fixit-made hallucinogen-spraying robot-crickets across town. Aztek destroys all the crickets and saves his co-workers, Dr. Wally Mosely and Dr. Forbes Cleveden. Joker then curiously lets himself be arrested and shipped back to Arkham, where he begins raving that he’s a “cosmic trickster.” Batman comes to Vanity to help the rookie superhero take down “Heatsnap” (a grotesque Fixit-merger of villains Heatstroke and Coldnap) and interrogate Fixit. Batman calls Alfred and tells him to make sure Heatsnap gets free medical treatment. Alfred tells Batman about his father’s (Thomas Wayne’s) connection to the Q Foundation, aka Brotherhood of Quetzalcoatl (an organization responsible for giving Aztek his powers). Alfred explains that the Q Foundation solicited Thomas for funding, but Thomas was shaken by the conversation and didn’t help them. When a time-delayed computer virus spreads through all electronics in Vanity, courtesy of Joker, Batman and Aztek stop the virus and prevent a time-delayed bomb from exploding. Despite having lost, Joker seems satisfied in his Arkham cell. After Batman leaves for Gotham, Aztek collapses from exhaustion and injury.

–Hitman #1-3 (“A RAGE IN ARKHAM”)
The amazing Garth Ennis is at his depraved, funny best here. After annihilating one-shot super-villains working for the Dubelz Mob, everyone’s favorite metahuman hitman, Tommy Monaghan, hangs out at Noonan’s Bar (aka Noonan’s Sleazy Bar, a Gotham hangout for assassins) along with proprietor Pat Noonan, Pat’s nephew Sean Noonan, Hacken, and Ringo Chen. The next day, Tommy starts dating the babe of his life, Wendy. And gangster Gerry McWilliams offers Tommy the job of his life: break into Arkham Asylum and execute Joker. (McWilliams has issued the hit on behalf of a rich man, whose son was killed when Joker gassed a kindergarten class. Tommy says this happened the last time Joker was loose, but per The Batman Chronicles #4, Joker committed this heinous crime before “Contagion,” so it wasn’t the last time he escaped.) Batman, who’s known Joker hit offer was coming ever since “Contagion,” confronts McWilliams and then Tommy—a meeting that ends with Tommy vomiting on the Dark Knight. Yes, that’s right, Tommy blows chunks all over Batman! Immediately after, the GCPD arrests Tommy, who easily escapes. Batman tells Detective Deborah Tiegel (whom he knows from his Bat-computer files) about Joker hit, but tells her to keep it secret. Of course, news of Tommy’s Joker hit spreads, and Tommy quickly gets nine additional Arkham hit requests, which he gladly accepts. Tommy breaks into Mercey Mansion and, in an amazing couple of panels, he strolls down the hallways and nonchalantly kills eight inmates and shoots Mad Hatter in the kneecap. When he reaches Joker’s cell, he blasts him away, but Joker lives! That’s because it isn’t really Joker. It’s the eight-armed, gun-toting monstrosity known as The Mawzir, sent from Hell to recruit Tommy to become the new Earthly killing agent for the demonic twin duo known as The Arkanonne. Did I mention, incredibly, the Mawzir has a swastika carved into his forehead? Tommy turns down the Mawzir’s offer and then runs into the real Joker and shoots him in the chest. (Don’t forget, Joker should have slightly shorter hair from his death-row haircut a week and a half ago.) Batman and Detective Tiegel join the fray and patch up the bleeding Joker, saving his life, while Tommy and the Mawzir engage in a violent shootout. Batman takes a bullet in the arm. The ruckus disturbs Killer Croc, who is trying to watch Seinfeld, and he starts rampaging as well. Eventually, a badly injured Tommy takes down the Mawzir and puts a magnum to the demon’s head. After the Mawzir heals Tommy’s wounds, Tommy says he’ll let him go if he simply says, “The Arkanonne suck.” The Mawzir says it, but Tommy blows his head clean off anyway. Tommy then walks out of Arkham scot-free.

–Birds of Prey: Manhunt #2-3
This item goes before “Legacy” because Huntress mentions that she’s not yet sanctioned by the Bat-Family. Black Canary and Huntress team up to apprehend metahuman thief Archer Braun, with whom they have both previously been romantically involved. (The handsome Braun uses his psychic abilities to make women go gaga over him.) Catwoman also joins in the chase because Braun has swindled her. Oracle connects with Catwoman, who realizes Oracle guided her during the recent Clench outbreak. Based on this, Catwoman decides to trust her. Oracle is in constant contact with the three ladies as the “manhunt” escalates. It isn’t long before Batman and Robin join in the chase as well. When they do, Catwoman and Huntress avoid being seen by them at all costs. Oracle eventually convinces Batman to turn the case completely over to her (without telling him who she is working with, knowing full well Batman wouldn’t approve). Batman is puzzled but ultimately trusts Babs and backs off. Braun kidnaps Black Canary and takes her to a hidden city in Kazakhstan, after which Huntress and Catwoman chase her there. As seen in the Batman-less Birds of Prey: Manhunt #4, the trio fights Lady Shiva and Braun in Kazakhstan, and Braun dies in a fire.

–REFERENCE: In a flashback from Birds of Prey #42. Batman isn’t directly involved in this item, but he would be monitoring it, since he secretly monitors all of Oracle’s activities. Oracle recruits Power Girl to undertake a Birds of Prey mission in Qurac. The mission fails and causes what will be long-lasting bad blood between Oracle and Power Girl.

–NOTE: In Batman: Bane of the Demon #3-4. Batman doesn’t appear in the main action of Bane of the Demon #3-4 (though Bane of the Demon #4 includes an epilogue featuring Batman that flashes forward to the opening of Detective Comics #700). Despite the lack of true Dark Knight appearances in the conclusion of this series, Bane of the Demon #3-4 matters for the upcoming “Legacy” arc, serving as a prelude—hence our inclusion here as a Batman-less notation. On to a synopsis. Over a month has passed since Bane joined forces with Ra’s al Ghul. The League of Assassins is still searching for the Clench virus. After gathering information from the Order of St. Dumas, the League beats on the Kobra Cult and gets one step closer to its goal. Bane learns more about Ra’s al Ghul’s history from Shuram. Bane then kills Shuram. Meanwhile, Talia has come to despise Bane, seeing him as an animal. She regrets having ever gotten involved with him. Obviously. How could she even begin to compare him to her baby daddy? Speaking of Damian’s dad, Bane flips out when Talia says she loves Batman. Ra’s ends his working relationship with Bane and imprisons him at the bottom of a flooding well. Bane escapes and kills dozens of Ra’s al Ghul’s men before sword-dueling the man himself. He’s no match for Ra’s with a blade, but before he can deliver the fatal slice, Bane reveals he knows where to find an ancient artifact that can reveal the secrets of the Clench. Ra’s is so impressed that he not only lets Bane live, but also reinstates him in the League and even wants him to be Talia’s mate again. Bane, Ra’s, and an annoyed Talia begin preparing to bring the Clench’s chaos and death to the entire world, with the ultimate goal of killing billions. Ra’s al Ghul’s “legacy” will soon be at hand, and we’ll get to that soon enough.

–NOTE: In Catwoman Vol. 2 #35. In the deserts of Sudan, Ra’s al Ghul discovers an ancient artifact that can reveal the Clench’s secrets. The League of Assassins sets up camp and fortifies its surroundings. The villain known as The Collector also forces Umberto (formerly of the Order of St. Dumas) to travel to Sudan in hopes of finding the artifact. Umberto brings along Catwoman and Hellhound to aid him. (Notably, Hellhound was one of Catwoman’s original trainers.) All three end up being captured and imprisoned by Ra’s al Ghul.

–Detective Comics #697-699
Lock-Up kidnaps Two-Face from a prison transport (to Arkham Asylum, presumably from Blackgate) and locks him up in a hidden location along with his other prisoners, including Allergent and Charaxes, who have both been missing for months. Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and the GCPD bust Joe Rabbit, getting him to reveal Black Mask’s hidden location. While the Dynamic Trio takes down False Facers, Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya arrest Lock-Up and learn he is ex-police trainee Lyle Bolton. However, Black Mask flees, and Lock-Up escapes jail, so the Bat-Family splits up, and each hero goes after one of three possible targets on Lock-Up’s list. As Matches Malone, Batman commiserates with gangster Vanny Triplet. When Triplet betrays Matches, the latter causes his arrest. Nightwing surveils accused serial killer Jay Huffman, preventing him from killing a child. While in his juvenile delinquent “Alvin Draper” disguise, Robin meets with Young El. Lock-Up tries to detain Young El, but the crook flees. Lock-Up captures “Alvin” instead, adding Robin to his group of prisoners. Oracle and Nightwing trace Robin’s location; Nightwing and Batman save Robin, then send the criminals (including Lock-Up) to Arkham (probably less secure than Lock-Up’s fake prison, but oh well). Across town, very interestingly, ex-mayor Armand Krol dies as a result of a mutated strain of the Clench (Ebola Gulf-A) virus.

–Robin Vol. 2 #31
Picking up directly from Detective Comics #699, Tim and Ariana go to a car show, but they both decide to leave quickly (when Tim spots the Speedboyz gang, and Ariana spots Jake Angstrom, a schoolmate who once tried to sexually assault her). Soon after, Robin teams up with JSA alumnus Ted Grant (aka Wildcat) to stop the Speedboyz from stealing a WayneTech prototype from the car show. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon tells Batman that ex-Mayor Krol has died of the Clench (Ebola Gulf-A) mutation. In the Batcave, Batman and Alfred fill Tim in on the grisly details.

LEGACY
——————–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #53
——————–Batman #533
——————–Detective Comics #700
——————–Catwoman Vol. 2 #36
——————–Robin Vol. 2 #32
Picking up right where we left off in Robin Vol. 2 #31, Batman tells Robin that Armand Krol died because the cure for the Clench (Ebola Gulf-A) doesn’t really work. Instead, it simply mutates the virus so that it lies dormant for an unspecified period before striking again. This is terrible news for Tim because he has the virus in his system. Batman video chats with Azrael, who tells him the Clench originated at an ancient compound in the Sudanese desert. The Bat-Family plans to go there, and Bruce gives Lucius Fox full authority over WayneTech in his absence. Lucius tells Bruce that Madolyn Corbett has been calling and showing up at the office lately. The Corbett B-plot mystery continues, and as referenced in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #55, Bruce confirms (from Alfred) that Madolyn has also been phoning Wayne Manor regularly. After Commissioner Gordon briefs Batman, the Dark Knight assigns Huntress as Gotham’s temporary primary protector. (As referenced in Detective Comics #703, the Bat-Family has sanctioned Huntress, but she’s certainly not a member.) Huntress’ first act in her new role is to confront the corrupt DA Seth Voder. Meanwhile, Batman, Nightwing, and Robin fly to Sudan, where they quickly run into Ra’s al Ghul, Talia, and Bane (dressed as a masked Ubu). (This scene is also shown via flash-forward from Batman: Bane of the Demon #4 Epilogue.) At the start of ‘tec #700, while the Bat-Family fights League of Assassins warriors, Ra’s al Ghul monologues about how: One, he now controls an ancient artifact known as “The Wheel of Plagues,” a “table that configures the structure of viruses by scientifically deciphering the mysteries of recombinant genetics.” Two, he originally created the Clench using only partial knowledge of “The Wheel,” drawn from ancient texts. Three, the Order of St. Dumas stole the virus from him before releasing it on Gotham. Four, now that he has access to “The Wheel,” plans to create a more virulent strain of the plague that will kill 90% of the population to give the planet a new ecological start. After these startling revelations, Ra’s al Ghul defeats a shirtless Nightwing. Ra’s al Ghul then fights a shirtless Batman in yet another classic sword duel. Ra’s al Ghul, Talia, and Bane depart to set their evil plan in motion. Meanwhile, Catwoman (with Umberto) escapes from her Sudanese jail cell, beats up Hellhound, and gets revenge against the Collector by falsely accusing him of sexual assault, resulting in his arrest. Thinking Ra’s al Ghul went to Iran, the Dynamic Trio heads there, but Oracle tells them he went to Kenya. Oracle says that the League of Assassins have plane tickets to Paris, Edinburgh, and Gotham. Twenty-four hours behind, the Dynamic Trio traverse the globe in hot pursuit. While Nightwing and Robin (with Henri Ducard’s help) stop the League of Assassins from starting an outbreak in Paris, Batman flies to Edinburgh. Notably, Robin Vol. 2 #32 includes an epilogue in which Dick and Tim return to Gotham on Batman’s orders. This actually occurs in the middle of the upcoming Batman: Shadow of the Bat #54.

LEGACY Conclusion
——————–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #54
——————–Batman #534
——————–Detective Comics #701
——————–Robin Vol. 2 #33
——————–Detective Comics #702
Picking up directly from Robin Vol. 2 #32, Batman learns that Ra’s al Ghul has mailed a large shipment from Sudan to Edinburgh Castle. Bruce calls the castle several times, then takes a walking tour. Later, in Bat-mode, the Caped Crusader teams up with the local Tasker Brothers to prevent the League of Assassins from releasing the plague in the Salisbury Crags overlooking Edinburgh. Batman then helps the brothers steal (i.e. recover) an ancient stone from Edinburgh Castle that once belonged to their father. Batman calls Nightwing and Robin, who tell him Ra’s al Ghul’s trail now leads to Calcutta. (As referenced in the epilogue to Robin Vol. 2 #32, Batman orders Nightwing and Robin to return to Gotham.) In Calcutta, Batman, remotely guided by Oracle, meets up with Lady Shiva. Together, they prevent League of Assassins agents from releasing the Ebola Gulf-A virus during the crowded Festival of Durga Puja celebrations. (Sadly, this festival runs annually from September through October, but since we’re nowhere near September or October, we have to ignore the topicality. Similarly, we are told it’s MLB playoff season, meaning “Legacy” was meant to occur in September. Again, due to sliding-time, we must ignore this.) Back in Gotham, Batman faces off against Bane in an ultimate rematch. Who wins? You guessed it. Batman finally gets revenge and knocks out Bane. An unconscious Bane floats out to sea. (The Batman versus Bane rematch is also shown via flashback from Batman: Bane Part 1.) Ra’s al Ghul learns of Bane’s failure and once again deems him unworthy of Talia. Nightwing, Robin, and Huntress then take on and defeat Ra’s al Ghul, Talia, and dozens of goons aboard a yacht. With Robin’s help, Oracle hacks into Ra’s al Ghul’s computer to find a formula to cure the Clench. The yacht explodes, destroying the files needed to recreate the Clench, thus eliminating the virus from existence. As the cure is quickly synthesized and distributed (by Wayne Pharma) across the city, dozens of dead mobsters—all dead from the Clench mutation—curiously wash upstream from Blüdhaven. (While tallying bodies, Harvey Bullock mentions it’s summer, implying late summer, i.e. September, but again, while this arc was originally meant to take place in September, we must ignore that line.) While thousands of lives are saved in Gotham, hundreds who didn’t get the cure in time still die of the Clench. Bruce and Lucius Fox view the pile-up of bodies at the morgue. While the GCPD repels a final League of Assassins strike on their HQ (ending with Jim and Sarah smooching and running home to get it on), Batman and Robin chat in the Batcave, lamenting the loss of life in their city. Alfred tells them they did a great job and shouldn’t hang their heads. In the immediate aftermath of “Legacy,” the Batman-less Batman: Bane Part 1 occurs, in which an unconscious Bane drifts across the sea into a gigantic cogeneration super-tanker with a nuclear reactor. Bane wakes up, climbs aboard, hijacks the massive ship (including first mate Erica Mooney), and meets up with League of Assassins loyalists still willing to serve him.

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #55
This item is said to specifically occur on August 9, but we must ignore that. In fact, the August 9 date was even a continuity error when this issue was first released; the previous Shadow of the Bat #54 issue was connected to “Legacy,” which originally took place in September. In any case, ignore any calendar specificity whatsoever here. On to a synopsis. Commissioner Gordon asks Batman to protect a shopkeeper gangsters have been harassing lately. But before Batman can head out, Madolyn Corbett shows up at Wayne Manor and finally reveals herself as nothing more than a celebrity stalker obsessed with Bruce, so much so that she begs him to marry her! Spurned, Madolyn runs off to her apartment, and Bruce follows to make sure the unstable woman gets the help she needs. Before Bruce arrives, Madolyn calls 911 and falsely claims that Bruce is attacking her. Then Madolyn stabs herself to death! Bruce arrives just in time to see her commit suicide and for the police to arrest him for murder! While Bruce is being interrogated, Dick dons the Bat-costume (!) to patrol Gotham (and help the oppressed shopkeeper). After a long night in jail, Bruce proves his innocence.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Joker’s Apprentice #1. Late March—”Day 83″ of the Joker’s Apprentice narrative. Batman busts Scarecrow. As Arkham Asylum officials escort Scarecrow to the courthouse, Joker creates a distraction that lets his “graduating” protégé, Arthur Rankel, escape. Joker has prearranged for Rankel to use an abandoned film studio as a hideout. Rankel immediately moves in and takes a rat as a pet, naming her Lassie.

–Batman & Superman: World’s Finest #10 Part 1
Late March—the anniversary of Harrison Grey’s death. This item also occurs specifically after “Contagion.” Major breakouts occur simultaneously at Stryker’s Island and Arkham Asylum. (This is getting ridiculous; when will they get some security at Mercey Mansion?) Batman and the authorities keep Arkham’s breakout secret to avoid a citywide panic. The next morning, Superman flies to Gotham not only to meet with Batman to commemorate Harrison Grey’s death, but also to stop Jimmy Olsen and his camera operator Angie from shooting an annoying documentary about Batman. (As seen in the recent Batman-less Action Comics #721, Jimmy Olsen and Cat Grant have quit the Daily Planet to become TV news anchors for WGBS. Also, ignore all mention of Batman being an urban myth and Jimmy being unsure whether Batman is real. Also note the continuity error: Superman is illustrated incorrectly, sans his long hair, in this item. Maybe he’s got it up in a neat, tight bun?) Batman and Superman also discuss the dual prison breakouts. Soon, Metropolis villains show up in Gotham and attack Arkham escapees, sparking a “villain war” immediately. Batman and Superman easily recapture Bloodsport and Deadshot. But across town, Jimmy gets caught in the middle of a battle pitting Joker, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Charaxes against Hellgrammite, Anomaly, Riot, Toyman, and Metallo. Sadly, another major continuity error must be addressed: Clayface (Basil Karlo) fights alongside the Arkham escapees, but Clayface shouldn’t even be here. At the end of Year 12’s “The Mud Pack,” Karlo was left trapped deep underground. That’s where he currently should be (and where he will remain until next year’s “Aftershock” arc). So, you should ignore Clayface’s appearance here. Batman and Superman call in the reserves and intervene with Superboy, Supergirl, Steel, Robin, Nightwing, and Azrael. The heroes round up all the villains. Meanwhile, across town, Jimmy films Lonnie Riven and Donnie Riven, who have captured Dr. Harrison Grey, who has been secretly alive for the past decade but has had amnesia. After Batman and Superman watch the footage, they rush to a waterfront warehouse to rescue Dr. Grey. At the warehouse, Two-Face reveals he organized the “villain war” and deliberately timed it to coincide with the anniversary of Dr. Grey’s “death.” (Yes, not only is it that easy to break out of Arkham, you can even arrange the date. Sigh.) Two-Face kills the Rivens before the heroes take him into custody. Superman flies in Dr. Grey’s fiancée from ten years ago (Savannah Summers), reuniting her with her long-lost partner so they can start piecing their life back together.

–Nightwing Vol. 2 #1
About a week ago, during “Legacy,” a bunch of mobster corpses floated upriver from Gotham’s sister city of Blüdhaven. Following a briefing from Mortimer Gunt, Batman sends Dick down to investigate. (Batman sending Nightwing on this mission is also shown in a flashback from Nightwing Vol. 2 #8.) In Blüdhaven, Nightwing finds the source of all the murders: a gang war between Black Mask’s False Face Society and Freddy Minh’s Southeast Asian mob. (Unknown to all, Freddy is dead and his criminal empire is run by his wife, Madame Minh.) Nightwing battles False Facers, including Pescado, Doc, and Black Mask’s new number one, Reynard, who cuts off his ponytail. Say goodbye to Dick’s long braid! Nightwing then introduces himself to the Blüdhaven Police force (specifically Chief Delmore Redhorn and Detective Lieutenant Dudley Soames), not realizing most of the BPD are totally corrupt. Chief Redhorn cuffs Nightwing, but (as seen in Batman-less Nightwing Vol. 2 #2), Soames, who approves of Nightwing’s vigilantism, goes behind his boss’ back and lets him go.

–Nightwing Vol. 2 #3
Picking up shortly after Nightwing Vol. 2 #2, Dick rents a centrally located apartment in Blüdhaven from the superintendent/landlady, Bridget Clancy. Nightwing won’t officially move in full-time yet, but he’s now ready whenever he needs to. After a conversation with Dudley Soames, Nightwing confronts drug dealer Sulieman Thomas Ali, during which the False Facers attempt to violently rob the latter. Nightwing busts Reynard, Pescado, and Doc. Later, in a video chat, Batman offers to come down and help Nightwing, but Nightwing declines, declaring that Blüdhaven is his city.

–Batman: Bane Part 2
Bane and his crew take their stolen nuclear platform ship and sail it on a collision course to Gotham. As Bane’s ship enters the southernmost channel into Gotham Bay, it passes through Blüdhaven. Nightwing puts up a fight, but Bane quickly defeats and captures him. When news of Bane’s ship hits the Gotham airwaves, Batman studies blueprints for similar cogeneration-platform ships owned by Wayne Enterprises. In Gotham Harbor, the GCPD exchanges fire with Bane’s men. Batman and Robin sneak aboard the ship, just as Erica Mooney rescues Nightwing. When Nightwing is no match for Bane again, Batman steps in for another rematch. As he duels Batman, Bane falsely claims Talia has died. While Nightwing and Robin take down Bane’s henchman, Batman and Bane fight to a stalemate. Batman prevents nuclear destruction, but Bane escapes.

–REFERENCE: In The Batman Chronicles #6 Part 3. Bruce obtains the 17th-century (or possibly 18th-century) journal of Hiram, a freed slave of mixed African and European ancestry. The journal details Gotham’s dark early history, specifically the actions of Hiram, mad killer Epsilah “The Mimic” Clevenger, and paranoid merchant/constable Rance Benedict. The journal also details how part of old Gotham began as an insane asylum run by murderers. Bruce puts Hiram’s journal into the Batcave’s trophy room. Bruce also tells Alfred that one of the three men (Hiram, Benedict, or Clevenger) is related to the Wayne family, but he won’t say which one.

–The Batman Chronicles #23 Part 2
This short “Lost Tale of the Batman” fits right here because it features a Batmobile model used around this time. (It could really go anywhere this year.) In the story, a burglar flees the crime scene only to run smack dab into the Batmobile. Even though the Batmobile is unoccupied, he freaks out and opens fire, triggering its sensors. Autopilot kicks in, and the car chases the burglar straight into Batman and Robin’s waiting arms.

–Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #142-145 (“THE DEMON LAUGHS”)
Despite his failure in the recent “Legacy” arc, Ra’s al Ghul still wants to eliminate 90% of the world’s population. This time, he’s got an ace up his sleeve. Rather, he’s got a Joker up his sleeve. Talia and company break Joker out of Arkham Asylum and ask him to do what Bane couldn’t. (Don’t worry, Talia doesn’t have sex with Joker.) After looting a Quraci bio-weapons plant in the Indian Ocean, Joker and the League of Assassins obtain a virus equivalent to the Clench. Meanwhile, Batman visits Arkham, passing by Scarecrow’s, Riddler’s, and Mad Hatter’s cells. (Mad Hatter should still be in recovery from having been shot in the kneecap last month, but he certainly isn’t drawn that way.) After confirming that Joker is allied with Ra’s al Ghul, Batman and Alfred load an airplane with special gear and pick up Henri Ducard in Marseilles, who leads them on a wild goose chase through the Arabian desert. Batman and Alfred part ways with Ducard, but not before he points them toward Ra’s al Ghul’s stronghold in Antarctica. Inside the compound, the League of Assassins has put their new virus into a bioweapon.^[7] When Joker tries to betray Ra’s al Ghul, Talia fills him with lead. Batman arrives on the scene just in time to witness his bullet-riddled arch-enemy quickly bleeding to death (possibly actually dead). Batman and Alfred decide to save Joker (for the millionth time and the second time in a month). Thus, they do the unthinkable; they put Joker into the Lazarus Pit! Joker emerges not only completely rejuvenated and healthy, but also completely timid, self-effacing, and 100% certifiably sane! Batman then stops Ra’s al Ghul (as usual) from killing nearly everyone on the planet and even has a very brief sword fight with him. Once the Lazarus Pit’s initial effects wear off, Joker is back to his old evil self in Arkham.

–Batman/Judge Dredd: Die Laughing #1-2
April 7—this item is said to occur specifically on this date, albeit 2120 in Mega-City One. We can presume the date is also April 7, 2003, on Earth-0. Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum again (his sixth escape this year) and gets his hands on the inter-dimensional belt last seen in Scarecrow’s hands (in last year’s Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham). Batman can’t stop Joker from activating the device, but something malfunctions during the trans-universal leap to dystopian Mega-City One’s Earth, causing only Joker’s spirit to jump and leaving his corporeal form in a comatose state on Earth-0. Joker’s ghost, loose in Mega-City One, takes over a gang leader’s body as a host vessel and frees the imprisoned Judge Death, Judge Fire, Judge Fear, and Judge Mortis. Judge Mortis manipulates (via an infectious toxin) law enforcement agents (including Deputy Chief Judge Paul Herriman) into going after, attacking, and shooting Judge Anderson, who manages to trans-jump to Gotham, where Batman nurses her back to health. While Anderson recovers, Batman universe-leaps to Mega-City One and joins up with Judge Dredd. An immortal “Judge Joker” and his four “Dark Judges” then take control of all the judges and begin wreaking bloody havoc all across the domed city. After a battle at a hedonist cult event inside a sealed super-arena, Batman and Dredd defeat the evil judges and Joker. Trying to escape, Joker accidentally universe-jumps back to Earth-0 (losing his immortality in the process). However, Joker’s spirit leaves his host body and returns to his own body, which is safely secured at Arkham. Back in the Batcave, a slightly injured Dark Knight checks on Anderson, who has nearly fully recovered and lounges nude on a bed in the middle of the cave. The story ends with the implication that Batman and Anderson get it on before she returns to Mega-City One. Cool.

–The Batman Chronicles #6 Part 1
Ra’s al Ghul just won’t quit. When Batman hears that the League of Assassins plans to rob a museum in Istanbul, Batman does some necessary research and flies there. Instead of Ra’s al Ghul, though, Batman runs into another immortal, Talon, who tells him not to get involved. Batman stops the League of Assassins from stealing Talon’s 16th-century journal (now partially burned by fire), then reads it and learns that Ra’s al Ghul was Talon’s ally for centuries, initially warring with him against another immortal called Blackheart in Latin America in the mid-1500s. Ra’s al Ghul, flanked by an Ubu, shows up and demands the journal. (He wants the arcane knowledge within, but doesn’t realize that the fire has ruined those pages.) When Talon also shows up, Batman returns the journal to him. Rather than fight, Ra’s accepts Batman’s decision and departs. Talon thanks Batman before leaving.^[8]

–Batman #535
Years ago, the US government’s “Project Mirakle” tortured and killed 22 men and 22 apes while conducting top-secret eugenics experiments. The 23rd pairing escaped before the “scientific” procedures could finish. Now, “The Ogre” and “The Ape” are back to seek murderous revenge on the doctors who forever changed their lives. At the morgue, Batman listens in as Mortimer Gunt discusses the first murder victim with Harvey Bullock. When a second victim turns up, and a spray-painted arcane symbol is found at both murder sites, Batman patiently listens to Hardback Bock lecture about the history of graffiti tagging. After further investigation and Commissioner Gordon’s help, Batman finally meets the Ogre and the Ape and fights them to a stalemate. While the Ogre and the Ape kill two more men, Oracle hacks into an encrypted National Security Agency (NSA) database and fills Batman in about the villains’ tragic origin story. Batman prevents the Ogre from killing the final Project Mirakle doctor, who fills the Ape with bullets. Disgusted with the doctor, Batman punches him out and hauls him in. Sympathetic to the Ogre, Batman lets him (along with the injured—and possibly dying—Ape) go free.

–Batman: Shadow of the Bat #56-58 (“LEAVES OF GRASS”)
Here we go with an Alan Grant story that feels like a lengthy anti-weed after-school special. Having recently been killed and resurrected as a marijuana/human hybrid, the Floronic Man (aka Jason Woodrue, aka Floro) secretly returns to Gotham and begins distributing a new brand of super-weed, intensely more powerful than normal pot. Floro believes that, once the world becomes addicted to his reefer, everyone will be in a calm state of ecstasy (i.e., wars will end, crime will go down, etc). But with Floro’s new (and cheaper) drugs on the street, this spurs a drug war, which Batman gets right in the middle of, surveilling and roughing up a big-name gangster and his main dealer. Floro’s henchwomen, the scantily clad Eva Green and Holly, break Poison Ivy out of Arkham Asylum, after which she agrees (for a hefty fee) to donate her blood so that Floro can create a cloned plant baby out of a mix of his and her DNA. Soon, Batman confronts but is captured by Floro, Eva, Holly, Ivy, and a bunch of Floro’s weird Molemen. Acting on her own agenda, Ivy betrays her comrades and releases Batman, who begins fighting Floro. Refusing to accept Floro’s claim that he’s only trying to help the world, Batman busts him and shuts down the drug’s production center. Ivy escapes. Afterward, Commissioner Gordon tells Batman that, ever since Floro’s weed started selling in Gotham (about a week ago), crime statistics have dropped noticeably across the board! Batman shoots down Gordon’s line of reasoning in a heartbeat, and we cut to Tim (who spent this arc helping a school friend, who went insane after smoking Floro’s weed) giving his classmates a long lecture that ends with the line, “and that’s why I’ll never do drugs!” This sure ain’t no Garth Ennis tale. Sigh.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: The Hill #1 Part 1. Bruce begins regularly golfing at the fancy country club with racist business acquaintance Kingford. Bruce also begins getting haircuts at the club from a barber named Eliot.

–FLASHBACK: From the B&W second feature to Batman: Gotham Knights #47. Batman apprehends an escaped Riddler.

–NOTE: In Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #4-5. Last year, Lex Luthor gained a new healthy body from Neron (as seen in Underworld Unleashed and Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #3). Since that time, Luthor has remained in hiding, deftly avoiding the authorities. While staying out of the law’s reach, Luthor now gets married (for the eighth time) to Contessa Erica Alexandra Del Portenza, the current CEO of LexCorp. (His first seven marriages occurred before Batman and Superman debuted.) Luthor and the Contessa immediately begin a seafaring honeymoon aboard a luxury yacht.

ANGEL IN HIDING
——————–Azrael #22
——————–Azrael #23 Part 1
Jean-Paul Valley has quit being Azrael, but just when he thinks he’s gotten out, they drag him back in. The Order of St. Dumas (specifically Rollo’s Acolyte henchmen) are out to kill Jean-Paul and Nomoz and kidnap Lilhy and Brian Bryan. After the Acolytes accost his friends, Jean-Paul, seeing no other options, visits Batman and asks him to fight the Order on his behalf. Batman says it isn’t his problem, but he is sympathetic. Instead of helping directly, Batman has Harold construct Jean-Paul a new Azrael costume. Batman also (as he always does with Jean-Paul) throws money at the situation, depositing a million dollars into Jean-Paul’s bank account. Batman then briefly trains with Azrael, seeing that the latter has lost his fighting edge and must rebuild himself from scratch. Guilty about sending Jean-Paul to his possible death, Batman disguises himself as a Wayne Enterprises pilot and personally flies Jean-Paul and his comrades to the Order lab in Africa, where they hope to find something to reactivate his fighting abilities. Upon landing, the “pilot” kicks some would-be muggers’ asses, and then delivers a high-tech vehicle to Jean-Paul. Feeling more comfortable about Jean-Paul’s mission, Batman flies back to Gotham. En route, Alfred radios him, telling him to hurry back because a serious situation has arisen. “The Final Night” arc has begun.

THE FINAL NIGHT
——————–The Final Night #1-2
——————–Batman #536
——————–The Final Night #3
Late April. Superman gathers the superhero community to hear an alien named Dusk reveal that a gigantic Sun-Eater is coming to engulf and devour the sun. (Sun-Eaters, massive amorphous blobs that feed on stars whole, are the larval form of their species. Eventually, Sun-Eaters grow into regular-sized humanoid forms in adulthood. The most notorious Sun-Eater is none other than the villain Starbreaker!) (Clark is also now acting editor-in-chief at the Daily Planet because Perry White has been diagnosed with lung cancer—as revealed in the recent Batman-less Action Comics #725.) Superman and Dusk’s big meeting includes Batman, Robin, Flash, Kyle Rayner, Phantom Stranger, Waverider, Takion, Rampage (Dr. Kitty Faulkner), the Marvel Family (including Captain Marvel Jr, aka Freddie Freeman), Captain Atom’s Extreme Justice (including newest members Amazing Man and The Wonder Twins—Zan and Jayna), Martian Manhunter’s Justice League Task Force, Wonder Woman’s Justice League America, the 30th century’s Earth-247 Legion of Super-Heroes (Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Ultra Boy, Gates, Spark, and Inferno), and more. (Bear in mind, this is an alternate Legion than we’ve met before. This is the “Reboot” Legion from Earth-247.)^[9] While Batman watches anxiously from below, Superman leads several other flying metahumans in a failed effort to prevent Earth from going dark. The end of days seems imminent; global temperatures plummet, and the sun begins a trajectory toward going supernova. Superman’s powers begin to rapidly diminish without the sun’s yellow light to recharge him. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor decides the best way to convince everyone he isn’t a criminal is to help the world’s heroes save the planet. Thus, Luthor ends his honeymoon and finally returns to the public eye, teaming up with the superheroes. (Luthor will soon be cleared of virtually all criminal charges, but not because he’s playing babyface. He’ll be cleared by claiming his “son,” Lex Luthor II, was responsible for all the wrongdoings. In actuality, Luthor was Luthor II, but he’ll fool the world as he usually does.) As weather patterns worsen, Batman makes Oracle the remote point person for several superhero field units that help quell fear and riots across the globe. Aren’t people used to this shit in the DCU yet? At the Louvre, Batman and Superman prevent Vandal Savage from stealing the Mona Lisa. (Savage knew her personally in the early 1500s but was spurned by her!) While Kyle Rayner flies into the sun and goes missing, rookie superhero Ferro debuts to help the heroes on Earth. After 27 hours without sunlight, Batman patrols Gotham and learns that Man-Bat (Kirk Langstrom) has freaked out and has been attacking people, including his estranged wife, Francine. Afraid he can’t control his bloodlust in the eternal darkness and not wanting to kill anyone, Man-Bat fends off Batman and flies north. By day three without sunlight, several heroes (including Tiger-Man) regroup at Warriors Bar. Acting as a messenger from Hell, Etrigan offers to save the world in exchange for every human soul, much to Pope John Paul II‘s chagrin. Humanity rejects the offer. Meanwhile, superheroes keep saving lives and tackling problems worldwide. Notably, Batman and Robin defeat an escaped Mr. Freeze.

THE FINAL NIGHT Conclusion
——————–Detective Comics #703
——————–Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 #86
——————–The Final Night #4
Late April. By day four without sunlight, crime in Gotham explodes, but Batman—patrolling solo—has it under control. Robin patrols with Huntress, who desperately wants to officially join the Bat-Family. Meanwhile, as part of a jailbreak scheme, Riddler pays off an Arkham Asylum orderly to break his wrist so he can transfer to the less secure Mercy General Hospital. (Based upon what we’ve seen this year, the hospital might actually be less secure than Arkham, but oh well.) Later, in Metropolis, with only two hours left until the sun goes supernova, Batman joins a group of heroes (including the Earth-247 Legion’s Apparition and Shvaughn Erin) and learns that Luthor and Brainiac 5 have developed a special bomb to deal with the Sun-Eater. Ferro volunteers to deliver the bomb, but everyone says Kyle Rayner (now back) is a better choice. But when Kyle disappears, Superman volunteers. As the precocious Ferro sneaks aboard the delivery ship and rockets toward the sun, Kyle returns with Hal Jordan! Superman welcomes him with open arms, but Batman amazingly flips out and sees Hal only as the insane monster we last saw in Zero Hour. (There is a recapitulation of this Hal return scene in a flashback from DC Universe Legacies #9 Part 1.) In the end, Hal stops Ferro’s suicide mission and redeems himself by using Parallax’s power to save Earth, but at the cost of his own life. Superman praises Hal as a martyr, saying, “I’ll always think Hal died a hero.” To which Batman replies coldly, “Too bad that isn’t how he always lived.” Notably, don’t forget that Parallax is a separate parasitic entity that had a symbiotic relationship with Hal during this time. (Hal was indeed insane, but the alien inside of him helped bring out the demons.) PS. As referenced in Green Lantern Vol. 2 #1, right before his death, Hal uses Parallax’s power to secretly bring the original Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) back from the dead! However, Ollie is resurrected without his soul and will live as a mindless, unhoused man in an alley for years before anyone finds out he’s alive. PSS. Even though the sun has been restored, the past week without sunlight completely drains Superman’s powers. He will be without them for a couple of weeks.

–Batman #537-538 (“DARKEST NIGHT OF THE MAN-BAT”)
Notably, this story is set in mid-March, but we should ignore that specificity. Picking up directly from “The Final Night,” Commissioner Gordon tells Batman that scientists have found Man-Bat (Kirk Langstrom) at the North Pole. Gordon also tells Batman that US government agents are planning to assassinate Man-Bat. Alfred flies Batman in a thermal suit to Kamchatka, Russia (erroneously spelled “Kimchatka”), where he hops a secret ride on the US government assassins’ helicopter. At the North Pole, Batman jumps into the fight between the assassins and Man-Bat as the local scientists activate a Tesla-coil-like lightning/mind-control weapon. Batman destroys the weapon, then rides with a friendly scientist on a dog sled to chase the assassins and Man-Bat. Eventually, Batman takes out the assassins and restores Man-Bat to human form, returning him to Gotham.

–Green Lantern Vol. 3 #81
Picking up directly from Batman #538, Hal Jordan gets an epic hero’s funeral near Coast City’s former location. Attendees include: Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Huntress, Metamorpho, Guy Gardner, Swamp Thing, Carol Ferris, the Question, Lobo, Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, Starman (Jack Knight), Donna Troy (now taking time off from superhero-ing and dating Kyle Rayner), the Kalmaku family, multiple Green Lanterns (including Kyle, John Stewart, Torquemada, Ash, Brik, and Salaak, aka Salakk), multiple members of the Superman-Family, multiple members of the Flash-Family (including Flash’s fiancée Linda Park), all three branches of the JL, and more. Batman isn’t happy about the love-fest for Hal, but he does begrudgingly honor his memory. Afterward, Swamp Thing and Kyle erect a statue (and garden) in Hal’s honor.

–Superman: The Wedding Album #1 
Lois Lane exposes the criminality of drug dealer Dr. Nazeer Naga, then returns to Metropolis, having been gone since she broke up with Clark Kent a couple of months ago. Realizing they are made for one another, Clark (still de-powered from the effects of “The Final Night”) and Lois decide to get back together. (Clark mentions “The Final Night” having occurred “a while ago,” but it was only a week ago!) Clark proposes again, and Lois says yes! Rather than wait any longer, Lois and Clark send out invitations for a shotgun wedding scheduled for just a week later! Lois excitedly prepares for the wedding with her mom, Ella Lane; her dad, Major Sam Lane; and her sister/maid of honor, Lucy. The next day, Ella, Lucy, and Lori Lemaris throw a surprise bridal shower attended by Maggie Sawyer, Toby Haynes (Maggie’s girlfriend), Fran Johnson, Martha Kent, and others. Lois also has a gown fitting, while Clark has a tux fitting. Then, Lois also looks for an apartment suitable for newlyweds. Bruce hears she’s set on some Wayne Enterprises real estate, so he makes sure she gets it. Across town, Maxima asks Superman to marry her, but when she realizes he doesn’t have powers, she gets disgusted and leaves. At the White residence, Jonathan and Martha Kent spend time with Perry White and his wife Alice White. Later, Lucy hosts Lois’ bachelorette party, attended by Ella, Martha, Lana Lang-Ross, Allie (aka Alice), Lori, Maggie, Toby, and others. After that, Bibbo Bibbowski hosts a wedding rehearsal dinner, attended by all the bachelorette partygoers, family members, Bill Henderson (now the MPD commissioner), Maddie Henderson (aka Maddy, Bill’s wife), Jimmy Olsen, Dan Turpin, Ron Troupe, Emil Hamilton, Dirk Armstrong, Franklin Stern, Pete Ross, the Whites (including Keith Robert Parks, whom they’ve adopted from Myra Allen’s orphanage), Lamar Johnson (Fran’s husband), Mayor Frank Berkowitz, Kevin Dooley (a recurring analog of the real-life DC editor), Colin Thornton (a disguised Satanus), and others. (Clark is late because he’s busy trying to bust the fugitive Naga. Thankfully, Batman arrives to stop Naga and his henchmen from killing the powerless Superman. With Naga behind bars, Batman wishes Superman luck with his marriage and reveals his wedding presents: first, a dozen superheroes (including Robin, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and others) to protect Metropolis during his wedding and honeymoon; and second, the new apartment. At the rehearsal dinner, Clark asks Jimmy to be his best man. On the eve of his wedding, Clark cuts his hair short. (Of course, not all writers/artists were told this was going to happen, so we’ll unfortunately see Superman still with long hair in several upcoming stories. Instead of treating these instances as error after error, it’s probably better to ignore Clark’s haircut here, since the error is limited to this title alone.) The next day, after Clark quickly shoos Mr. Mxyzptlk away, the wedding is held! And unlike most comic book weddings, it’s really sappy and happy, and nothing bad happens. No villains have the stones to crash this event. Afterward, Clark’s friends, a punk band called The Riot Grrrls (Azuki, Dis, Margo, and Sinda), perform at the reception.^[10]

–Batman: Gordon’s Law #1-4
Commissioner Gordon deals with rampant corruption within the GCPD (which had only gotten worse during his recent absence) and rogue federal agents in this crime story. “This is a police affair,” Gordon says, and he forces Batman to wait in the wings, a move that nearly costs him his life.

–Nightwing Vol. 2 #5
Nightwing is back in Blüdhaven, dealing with Blockbuster’s goons, most notably Lady Vic. We start to see the beginnings of Dick’s official life in Blüdhaven around now. He has an apartment there now, but he’s still technically in a transition period between Gotham and Blüdhaven. (Eventually, once Nightwing settles, he will become the official protector of Blüdhaven.) After Nightwing chases Lady Vic out of Blüdhaven, she travels to Gotham. In her alter ego of socialite Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton, she seduces J. Devlin Davenport, who introduces her to Bruce.

–REFERENCE: In Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborne. May 9. Bruce, via Alfred, sends Dick a floral arrangement to commemorate the anniversary of the Flying Graysons’ deaths.

–REFERENCE: In Superman: The Man of Steel #64. This item has zilch to do with Batman, but he’d be made aware of it for sure. Thanks to Metron, Superman regains his powers! (He had been without them since “The Final Night.”)^[11]

–Total Justice #1-3
Batman and Robin bust a super-villain named Iggy. A day later, a lone Parademon—who has gained autonomy and a sense of self and calls himself Mike—attacks Tim and his dad while they are yachting in the Caribbean. When Mike kidnaps Jack Drake, Robin sends out an alert signal that all three JLA branches receive. Batman, Aquaman, Flash, and Green Lantern head to a nearby cloaked island to help Robin, but Mike enters an underground lair. The metapowered heroes realize the island’s cloaking device nullifies their super-abilities. Thus, Blue Beetle and Gypsy arrive with gaudy silver “Fractal Armor” for the heroes to wear (at the request of the toy makers associated with this mini-series). The heroes fight Mike and deal with holographic illusions created by an Apokoliptian machine. Batman eventually confronts Mike, who reveals his backstory: Long ago, Darkseid stationed a troop of Parademons on the island. Over time, some of the Parademons developed personalities and the ability to speak, notably Mike, who became the group’s leader. Just as Mike finishes his story, Darkseid arrives to retrieve his lost squadron. The heroes defeat the Parademons before a bored Darkseid returns to Apokolips. Afterward, Batman secretly escorts Mike back to his underground lair on the island and gives him a functional satellite TV and internet to keep him occupied, warning him never to leave again.

–The Batman Chronicles #7 Part 1
Superman and Batman investigate a cold death-row case in order to save someone’s life at the eleventh hour. Their investigations tell a tale that neither one expected. In the end, the duo is able to get the inmate’s case appealed, but she dies before the news can reach her executioners. Batman doesn’t appear in The Batman Chronicles #7 Part 2, but it overlaps with the first part and features Dick and Donna Troy meeting up to have a long chat about life, love, and whatever. Batman appears only in flashback from The Batman Chronicles #7 Part 3, where Tim and Connor Hawke (the new Green Arrow) reminisce about their mentors in action. This flashback shows a Batman/Ollie Queen team-up from roughly two years ago.

–JLA Incarnations #6 Part 2
Captain Atom’s “extreme” JL team invades Bialya in order to end Queen Bee II‘s dictatorial reign of terror. (Queen Bee II is the sister of Bialya’s now-deceased former leader, Queen Bee I.) However, Atom’s invasion isn’t sanctioned by the US Government. The UN, wanting to distance itself from the political mess, withdraws funding and support for all of the Justice League branches, thus officially dissolving the entire League (and all League branches). On TV, a panel consisting of Lex Luthor, Amanda Waller, Maxwell Lord, and Ralph Dibny discusses the ostensible collapse of the superhero community. In the wake of the dissolution of the League(s), Batman meets Superman, and they vow to be a part of the next version of the JLA, promising to make it the best version of the team yet. Notably, Superman should have his long hair look in this issue, but he doesn’t. Chalk it up to an artistic error.

–Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare #1-3
Dr. Destiny joins forces with the evil Know Man. With the recent abolishment of the Justice League there isn’t anyone strong enough to confront the villains, so DC’s “Big Guns” (having worked together well during the recent “Final Night” conflict), join forces to stop them. Batman fights side-by-side with Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, GL Kyle Rayner, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman. These collective superheroes don’t officially call themselves a team yet, but this adventure sets the tone for our very next story. PS. This story obviously doesn’t take place in midsummer. The title is simply a Shakespeare pun.

–JLA Secret Files and Origins #1 Part 1
The same heroes from A Midsummer’s Nightmare prevent a Star Conqueror (a gigantic green member of Starro’s parasitic alien race) from taking over Flash’s hometown of Blue Valley, Nebraska. Batman saves everyone’s ass by rescuing Flash, who had been mind-controlled and was leading an army of zombified humans. The Spectre, after initially disapproving of the team’s intervention in Blue Valley, designates them as the new Justice League of America! (Following this case, the JLA keeps a mini-Starro as a trophy—as referenced in JLA #22.)

–REFERENCE: In JLA Secret Files and Origins #2 Part 2. The new JLA poses for a photo, which gets developed, framed, and added to the trophy room.

–JLA #1-4 (“NEW WORLD ORDER”)
As the old Justice League is cleaning their stuff out of the JLA Satellite, a strange alien craft lands on Earth. The Hyperclan has arrived! These all-star superheroes from a galaxy far, far away have come to clean up Earth and take over as the brand new meta-powered protectors of the world. Superman is skeptical, as well he should be. In a short amount of time, the Hyperclan wins over the hearts of the planet, and crime is down significantly as each alien Hyperclan warrior acts as judge, jury, and executioner. It’s not long before Batman realizes the truth. The Hyperclan comprises evil White Martians who have been successful thus far in their slow quest to take over Earth! The “Big Guns” that assembled in Midsummer’s Nightmare meet once again and join forces to defeat the White Martians. Unfortunately, in the process, the JLA Satellite is ruined, and Metamorpho is killed. (As referenced in JLA Secret Files and Origins #2 Part 2, the JLA keeps a large globe from the Hyperclan’s fortress as a trophy. The JLA also collects all of its old trophies, which were undamaged but blown out into space when the Hyperclan destroyed the satellite. As also referenced in JLA Secret Files and Origins #2 Part 2, the JLA decides, as a general mandate, that they will keep much of what they do in the future a secret from the general public—for the public’s own safety. The JLA also meets with several national governments across the globe, who specifically request keeping as many JLA cases top secret so as not to cause widespread panic among the various citizenries.) In the following weeks, a gigantic fortress known as the Watchtower will quickly be constructed on the Moon. It will house the new JLA headquarters. The JLA is officially back, and there’s no question that this is one of the strongest lineups ever. Classic Grant Morrison stuff. If you want to see a truly badass Batman, Morrison’s JLA version of the Dark Knight is second to none. (Note that canonical flashbacks from the second feature to 52 #8 and the Rebirth Era’s Flash Vol. 5 #47 both show the “Big Guns” JLA lineup posing.)

–NOTE: In Dr. StrangeFate #1. The Amalgam Universe (created during the DC vs Marvel Comics story arc) is destroyed. The only survivor of the cataclysm is Dr. StrangeFate (a mash-up of Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange, and Professor X). StrangeFate hides himself deep within the psyche of Dr. Strange on Earth-616.

–DC/Marvel: All Access #3-4
The follow-up to DC vs Marvel Comics and the destruction of the Amalgam Universe. When several Marvel characters accidentally breach into the DCU, Access is on the case. He recruits Jubilee, and together they visit Robin in Gotham. Robin and Jubilee team up to defeat Two-Face, while Batman defeats Scorpion. Afterward, Robin and Jubilee smooch a bit, and Tim feels bad about cheating on Ariana. Access can’t figure out what is going on with the random inter-dimensional breakdown, but Batman volunteers to accompany him back to Earth-616’s New York City to investigate. In NYC-616, Batman and Access accost Dr. Strange. Then the X-Men show up, and Batman successfully holds his own in a fight against the entire team! As the sheer manpower of the X-Men eventually begins to overtake the Dark Knight, the JLA bursts onto the scene, ready for action. As the X-Men battle the JLA, Dr. StrangeFate makes his dramatic return and begins merging characters together in an attempt to recreate his lost universe. The individual X-Men merge with the individual members of the JLA to form a mash-up “X-League.” For instance, Batman merges with Jubilee to become a Batgirl-type character. In the end, Dr. StrangeFate recreates the original Amalgam Universe as it was. Still, Dr. Strange contains the entire Amalgam Universe (including StrangeFate) in a tiny pocket-sized sphere, which he will hold onto for safekeeping. The “X-League” is un-merged, and the JLA returns to Earth-0.

–JLA 80-Page Giant #1 Part 5
It has been nearly two weeks since the formation of the new JLA. Their new Watchtower headquarters, built on the surface of the Moon, is just about operational. While finishing construction touches on the Watchtower, the team holds a globally-televised press conference, much to the chagrin of the DCU’s super-villain community. Afterward, J’onn disguises himself as Brain Wave and organizes a huge entrapment sting operation, inviting a bunch of bad guys to join together as a supposed new Secret Society of Super-Villains. “Brain Wave” gets thirty suckers to buy his bogus crime syndicate by convincing them that there are many other members waiting in the wings in other cities for a coordinated attack against the JLA. When the thirty dupes—including Cheshire, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, The Prankster, Monocle, and several of Batman’s rogues—are assembled, J’onn marches them into the waiting arms of the JLA.

–REFERENCE: In Superman Vol. 2 #123. Batman has nothing to do with this item, but he’d be well aware of what goes down. Superman unexpectedly transforms into a blue, electromagnetic being and dons his new capeless “electric” containment suit. Welcome, Superman Blue!

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Poison Ivy. May. Bruce attends the Cannes Film Festival, where he meets up with his friend Christopher DeJardin. A countess invites both Bruce and DeJardin to an afterparty, but Bruce declines. Bruce later hears that DeJardin has hooked up with the countess.

–Superboy/Robin: World’s Finest Three #2
With Bruce away on official Wayne Enterprises business for the weekend, Robin is on his own. Robin meets Superboy for the first time! Unfortunately, the Boy of Steel gets seduced by the pheromones of the deadly Poison Ivy. Dick grabs Alfred and Batman’s Kryptonite ring and chases Superboy and Ivy to Hawaii. There, Ivy pits Superboy against Robin. Eventually, Superboy shakes off Ivy’s spell and teams up with the Boy Wonder to defeat both Poison Ivy and Metallo. Back in Gotham, Batman returns and congratulates Robin and Alfred on a job well done.

–REFERENCE: In Infinite Crisis #1 Part 1. Batman secretly installs his own black box recording system aboard the still-under-construction Watchtower Moon-base.

–REFERENCE: In Robin Vol. 2 #36. Batman has nothing to do with this item, but he’d be well aware of what goes down. For the first time in two years, Tim’s father, Jack, is fully rehabilitated and able to walk again (!), thanks mostly to physiotherapist Dana Winters, who will eventually marry Jack and become Tim’s stepmom.

–The Power of Shazam! #22^[12]
Batman travels to Fawcett City and teams up with Captain Marvel to defeat the villain Lady M.

–JLA Secret Files and Origins #1 Part 2
The new JLA meets the new electrically powered blue Superman, who says they should test his new powers to make sure he is still worthy of being on the team. Superman runs through a gamut of testing, which Batman doesn’t even bother to help administer, citing remotely, “Of course he’s in. He’s Superman.”

–REFERENCE: In JLA Secret Files and Origins #1 Part 3. Aquaman watches live footage of Batman busting an escaped Joker on a Watchtower monitor.

–JLA/WildCATs “Crime Machine”
The JLA meets the ultimate superhero team from Wildstorm’s Earth-50, the WildCATs (Grifter, Majestic, Maul, Void, and Zealot). Together, the two teams prevent Epoch aka The Lord of Time from destroying the multiverse.

–Detective Comics #704
This is a one-shot story about the loser criminal Al Gabone, who attempts reform but just can’t catch a break.

–second feature to Batman: Gotham Knights #37 (Batman: Black & White)
In this B&W back-up, Scarecrow and his henchmen steal a bio-weapon from STAR Labs and combine it with his patented Fear Gas. Unfortunately, the combo leaks from its canister and penetrates the minds of both the bad guys and Batman. Batman is able to shake off the effects of the drug and send Scarecrow back to Arkham.

–Batman: Blackgate #1
Batman hears a tip that something big is going down at Blackgate Penitentiary, so he dons a fat suit and goes undercover as the “man who can get anything on the inside” baby-killer known as Shoppie. Once on the inside, Batman unravels a complicated plan masterminded by the former Cluemaster, Arthur Brown. Brown has long planned on escaping Blackgate with Titus Samuel Czonka (aka Czonk), Firefly, Ratcatcher, Dragoncat, Actuary, and a few other buddies. After a prison riot and cameos from every Blackgate inmate from Gunhawk to the Trigger Twins to Steeljacket, Brown and company make it outside the prison walls, where they meet up with the returning Cap’n Fear (!), who has been hired by Brown to taxi-boat them off the island. Fear quickly realizes Batman is on the case and high tails it outta there. No one passes “Go.” No one collects $200. They all end up straight back in jail (except for a few lucky ones who actually manage to get away).

–Detective Comics #705-707
During the events of “The Final Night,” Riddler paid off an Arkham orderly to break his wrist so he could transfer to Mercy General Hospital. Now, Riddler easily escapes the hospital while his lovely henchwomen, Query and Echo, bust Arthur Brown (Cluemaster) out of his parole hearing at the courthouse. (For the past few years, Query has been paired with Quiz, and it’s never stated expressly whether or not Quiz was a new character or merely Echo using a different name for a while. Either way, Echo is now back for good. Additionally, Query and Echo have been around since Year Two, but they never really develop into fully-fleshed out characters beyond their background henching roles until now.) Anyway, Riddler straps remote-controlled bombs to the Cluemaster’s chest and forces Batman and Robin to haul him all around town solving a bunch of riddles. If they fail to solve the puzzles, the Cluemaster will explode. Think Die Hard With a Vengeance. With Oracle’s help (and Brown’s) the Dynamic Duo are able to discover the Riddler’s secret location and stop him.

–The Batman Chronicles #9 Part 3
Poison Ivy creates a plant-gerbil hybrid and gives it to an Arkham Asylum guard, who then gives it to his daughter to have as a pet. Yeah, the logic of some dude giving his six-year-old daughter a present from a deadly killer known as Poison Ivy is completely inane, but whatever. The gerbil thing multiplies like a Tribble overnight, and by morning thousands of the creatures are swarming all over town. Batman visits Ivy at Arkham, where she reveals she caused all the chaos because she missed him. In exchange for a kiss on the cheek, Ivy turns all the critters into strawberries. Crisis averted.

–Batman: The Hill #1 Part 1
Batman and the GCPD chase international jewel thieves into the Black Gotham ghetto known as The Hill. In the ensuing chaos, a fourteen-year-old local gangbanger is killed by police gunfire, inciting the neighborhood. Tensions in the Black community rise and protests erupt outside of police headquarters, much to the chagrin of Commissioner Gordon. At the boy’s funeral, Batman (in disguise) meets the untouchable criminal Demitrius Korlee, who runs the Hill Gang with an iron fist. Batman busts one of Korlee’s drug dealers, Bobby Z, prompting Korlee to bail the latter out only to silence him with a quick death.

–REFERENCE: In Resurrection Man #7. Batman learns about Resurrection Man (Mitch Shelley), a metahuman hero who can supposedly reanimate himself after death. Curious, Batman begins logging each reported sighting of Resurrection Man into a database. The Dark Knight won’t actually meet him for a few months.

–Batman Plus #1
Cheshire has just detonated nuclear bombs in Qurac, virtually destroying the entire nation. In retaliation, Quraci nationals, led by KGBeast, kidnap her. Who could possibly care enough to risk life and limb to save a woman who literally just nuked an entire country? Arsenal, of course! Why? Because Cheshire is the mother of his child. You may know him better as former Teen Titan, Speedy (Roy Harper)! Anyway, Roy heads to Blüdhaven and asks Dick to ask Batman for help. Batman and Arsenal team up and travel to Zurich, where Arsenal takes out the Beast while Batman talks with Cheshire, adding another layer to the case. Unknown to Roy, his very young daughter, Lian Harper, had also been kidnapped by the Beast, and Cheshire was being blackmailed for a ton of cash. Lian, being held back in the States, is saved by Nightwing. Any book by Devin Grayson is usually a good read, and this one’s no exception, especially if you like some amazing Roy banter.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: The Hill #1. A week has passed since the first part of Batman: The Hill. Batman steals maps detailing the Hill neighborhood from the Hall of Records. The Dark Knight begins building a fake Batcave in the Hill as part of an elaborate ruse to nab crime boss Demitrius Korlee.

–FLASHBACK: From Nightwing Vol. 2 #75. Dick tells Batman that he is permanently moving to Blüdhaven. Batman is sad to see him leave, but Dick assures him it is for the best.

–Batman: Phantom Stranger
Common criminals seek the mystic secrets of the 10-thousand-year-old Lemurian civilization. The Phantom Stranger shows up and asks Batman for help after an ancient Lemurian power ring is stolen from a tomb. By the end of the story, Batman and the Stranger stop the criminals. Jon Konik (remember him from way back in ‘tec #614?) dons the power ring, and we learn the mystic secret of the Lemurians: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Shit, that’s the Golden Rule. Words to live by.

–Batman: Black and White #2 Part 2
Summer. Batman hears about an eleven-year-old felon involved in a drive-by shooting. He studies up on the boy, learning that he’s part of a gang led by a drug pusher named BD. Three days later, a bunch of pre-adolescent gangbangers silences their partner-in-crime, killing the eleven-year-old in cold blood. Batman takes down the murderous kids before turning his attention to BD and his adult crew.

–Batman: Black and White #2 Part 3
One of Batman’s prior busts breaks out of prison and sets a trap for Batman as revenge. The fugitive kills a family in an alley, leaving it as bait. Sure enough, Batman takes the bait, which leads to multiple bullet wounds. Batman gets dumped into the sewers, left for dead. Thankfully, Batman is wearing body armor. He recovers and presumably busts his would-be assassin.

–Batman: Black and White #2 Part 4
Commissioner Gordon asks Batman to look into a series of unsolved gangland murders. Batman takes the case and begins his investigation, quickly discovering that a tricky, mob-linked concrete worker is behind all the hits. Batman makes an easy bust.

–Batman #539
Peter Ostine is a grave robber who sculpts with human bones. After he gets arrested, he chokes on a chicken bone and dies. Sweet irony.

–Batman: Black and White #3 Part 2
When a psychiatrist learns that a woman he is treating is having recurring nightmares about Batman, he does some digging and learns that she has a repressed childhood memory of being kidnapped by a bad guy and then rescued by Batman. Seeing that a ruined doll is a key fixture in her nightmares (and was also a central part of the kidnapping), the doctor reaches out to Batman (presumably via the police) and gets him to help out. While the woman sleeps, Batman visits her and gives her a doll. Now that’s therapy.

–Batman: Black and White #4 Part 2
Batman investigates a super-scientist’s laboratory and discovers he’s kidnapped a bunch of people and turned them into hideous monsters in a giant vat. Caught, the scientist shoots at Batman, accidentally releasing all the creatures. They drag the scientist to his death while escaping into Gotham Bay. The tale ends with Batman saying, “It’s going to be a long night.” We can guess Batman catches some of these monsters, but this might give a nice origin for some of the unexplained, strange creatures we’ll see in the DCU moving forward.

–Batman: Black and White #4 Part 4
Batman gets shot in the chest by a bad guy, after which he has a series of intense near-death hallucinations.

–Batman: Black and White #4 Part 5
Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo does Batman! Batman aids Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD in tracking down a serial killer with multiple personalities. As Batman confronts the killer, the latter hulks up and escapes. Later, at Wayne Manor, Bruce contemplates whether or not his dual identity could lead to multiple personality disorder for himself down the road. When the serial killer is trapped by police but refuses to give in quietly, a bare-chested Batman confronts the killer one-one-one to bring him to justice. No longer acting as Bruce or Batman, our hero has donned his “third mask” in order to take down his schizophrenic foe.

–Batman: The Hill #1 Part 2
Two weeks have passed since the first part of The Hill. After a fancy gala (attended as Bruce), Batman sets into motion an elaborate plan that involves a ton of subterfuge and espionage tactics. The Dark Knight then feeds Demitrius Korlee disinformation and, a few days later, lures him to a fake Batcave within the boundaries of the Hill neighborhood. Korlee, thinking he has exposed a huge secret of the Bat, lets his guard down, allowing Batman to get the jump on him and bring him to justice. Afterward, Batman reflects on the case with Gordon and then with Alfred.

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1. ^[1]COLLIN COLSHER: Bruce turns 40-years-old in February 2003. But before moving on, I have something important to say! In comics around this publication era, Tim is said to be in 10th grade and roughly 14 years old. However, due to retcons, he should actually be in junior high and 12 years old. As usual, here are the first six months of the year. January through June are particularly compressed and packed with material. This is almost a literal catalog of every day of Batman’s life for six months.↩
2. ^[2]COLLIN COLSHER: With Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46-47 (“Cornelius Stirk”) by Alan Grant, Batman #527-528 (“Two-Face”) by Doug Moench, and Detective Comics #693-694 by Chuck Dixon, the Batman writing/editorial group decided to do something way too ambitious by completely overlapping these six issues to show the roughly 36 hours comprising election eve and the day afterward. Instead of using the typical crossover method, where one issue leads into the next, these six issues combine haphazardly, showing scenes out of order. I’ve done my best to break it out below, split into parts, so it flows chronologically and makes sense.↩
3. ^[3]COLLIN COLSHER / AVINOAM YAGUR / SAM GROOVER / ODI: Chuck Dixon wrote The Chalice after penning Bane of the Demon #1-4 (and contributing to “Contagion” and “Legacy”). While The Chalice definitely precedes “Legacy” and Bane of the Demon #3, it is hard to place more specifically beyond that. However, in The Chalice, Batman is very cold towards Azrael, suggesting this occurs before “Contagion.” Because Bane isn’t mentioned in The Chalice, it also seems to predate Bane’s partnership with Ra’s al Ghul, i.e. prior to Bane of the Demon #1 Part 2.

   The one thing that really complicates placing The Chalice before “Contagion” and Bane of the Demon #1 Part 2 is Jim Gordon’s brief cameo. The implication is that Gordon is the commissioner, but that can’t be true if our tale is set pre-“Contagion” (when Gordon is reinstated). However, in The Chalice, Gordon is never specifically called commissioner. He does refer to himself as a cop, but he always does, no matter what. And while Batman and Gordon do meet in an office complete with a note board and crime files, it’s not entirely clear they are at police HQ. (This probably isn’t Gordon’s home, but maybe he is still keeping an office at police HQ, or renting office space? He was just running for mayor, so he definitely kept office space for that, which he very well might be leasing. There are various easy fanwank possibilities. Or, worst case, we can ignore this single page as a continuity error or simply ignore its setting.) It’s vague, but it seems Dixon always intended The Chalice to act as a prequel to Bane of the Demon and “Contagion.” So it makes sense to place The Chalice here, while noting that Gordon isn’t the commissioner. Of course, placing The Chalice immediately after “Contagion” doesn’t break the timeline either, so it’s totally up to you.↩

4. ^[4]COLLIN COLSHER: Batman: Black and White #2 Part 2 is a Bruce Timm story that takes place in the Batman: The Animated Series universe, thus rendering it non-canon on our primary timeline. Likewise, Batman: Black and White #2 Part 5 is a Neil Gaiman/Simon Bisley meta-story about actors playing Batman and Joker. As such, it is non-canon. Last but not least, Batman: Black and White #4 Part 3 is an Eisner Award-winning story by Archie Goodwin and Gary Gianni. It is also non-canon—an imaginary story featuring a Golden Age-styled Batman in the 1940s.↩
5. ^[5]COLLIN COLSHER: Batman: Gotham Nights II is technically also named Batman: Gotham Nights Vol. 2, as it is the follow-up to the previous Batman: Gotham Nights mini. The third volume of the series (Batman: Gotham Nights Vol. 3) was released in 2019-2020 as Batman Giant Vol. 2, before being reprinted as Batman: Gotham Nights Vol. 3 in 2020.↩
6. ^[6]COLLIN COLSHER: The memorable Joker: Devil’s Advocate one-shot features a reinstated Commissioner Jim Gordon, hence its placement here. It also takes place shortly after Bane escapes from Blackgate Prison and months before strawberries are in season. Notably, Devil’s Advocate supposedly spans months, but this is impossible and wouldn’t jibe with the other stories on our timeline. In fact, it can span at most a week and a half, meaning we must fanwank Gotham’s fast-track justice system for this story. With that in mind, Devil’s Advocate must start shortly after the Batman-less “Day 46” (February 19) of Joker’s Apprentice. Additionally, Joker loses all his hair in Devil’s Advocate, but no other issues will acknowledge this, showing him with a full head of hair. Ultimately, editorial probably never bothered to tell any other artists to account for Joker’s depilated dome. Since artists don’t show Joker growing his hair back after shaving it off, we can easily fanwank that he’s wearing a wig or toupee. After all, Mark Waid has him wear a toupee after shaving his head bald in a later continuity!↩
7. ^[7]COLLIN COLSHER: Joker mentions that it is currently hurricane season in the South Atlantic, sirocco season in North Africa, and Nor’easter season in the Grand Banks. Since sirocco season in North Africa is in spring and autumn, Nor’easters tend to hit the Grand Banks hardest between November and March, and the South Atlantic actually almost never gets hurricanes (although Joker probably means the Southern US, which would be from June to November), it’s nearly impossible to use this information regarding placement. November probably makes the most sense, but we’re nowhere near November, so ignore Joker’s weather talk.↩
8. ^[8]COLLIN COLSHER: The second part of The Batman Chronicles #6 is a flashback to Bruce’s training in Chicago a few years before becoming Batman. The third part of The Batman Chronicles #6 doesn’t feature Batman at all. In this part, Alfred and Tim read from Hiram’s journal, a 17th-century (possibly 18th-century) text that Bruce keeps in the trophy room.↩
9. ^[9]COLLIN COLSHER: What is the deal with this new Legion? It’s confusing, no doubt, but I’ll try to break it down in layman’s terms. Originally, there was only one Earth-0 Legion of Super-Heroes. In 1991, a time-paradox duplicate version of Legion (the “Batch SW6” Legion, aka “Batch South Weisinger 6”) appeared—and was subsequently killed in 1994. Also in 1994, Zero Hour rebooted the Earth-0 Legion entirely, creating a new version that was basically a mash-up of the SW6 and original versions. (This Legion was nicknamed the “Reboot Legion.”) In 2004’s Teen Titans/Legion Special #1, a separate Legion was created for the Earth-Prime timeline. (This Legion was nicknamed the “Threeboot Legion” because it was the third legit version of the team, not including the SW6 duplicates.) However, in 2006, Infinite Crisis (and 52) retconned Legion history in a very specific way. The post-Zero Hour Earth-0 Legion became a wholly separate Legion from an alternate timeline, specifically from Earth-247. This meant the original Earth-0 Legion, the one that existed before Zero Hour, was reinstated and nicknamed the “Retroboot Legion.” (This is another big example of Zero Hour being completely neutered in terms of its narrative retcon effect.) Final Crisis (2008-2009) then clarified the three separate Legions, collectively known as the “Legion of Three Worlds.” Our chronology already reflects the retcons mentioned above, meaning the three Legions in the Modern Age are:

   1. Earth-0 Legion (aka the original pre-Zero Hour Legion, aka the “Retroboot Legion”)
   2. Earth-247 Legion (aka the post-Zero Hour Legion, aka the “Reboot Legion”)
   3. Earth-Prime Legion (aka the “Threeboot Legion”)↩

10. ^[10]COLLIN COLSHER: The only other novel (i.e. one-shot) characters to appear at the wedding are Fran Johnson’s young daughter Ayesha, and several analogs of famous comic book creators and editors, including Jon Bogdanove, Brett Breeding, John Byrne, Mike Carlin, Joey Cavalieri, Ron Frenz, Tom Grummett, Stuart Immonen, Dennis Janke, Dan Jurgens, Jenette Kahn, Karl Kesel, Paul Levitz, José Marzan, Jr, Mike McAvennie, David Michelinie, Jerry Ordway, Denis Rodier, Joe Rubinstein, Paul Ryan, Louise Simonson, Julie Schwartz, Roger Stern, Glenn Whitmore, Joe Shuster, and Jerry Siegel (as Chaplain Herbert Fine). Kal-El Bogdanove (Jon Bogdanove’s son) and Quinn and Seth Jurgens (Dan Jurgens’ sons) are also present.↩
11. ^[11]TROY DOLINER / COLLIN COLSHER: Superman gets his powers back in the Batman-less Superman: The Man of Steel #64. Notably, Perry White also suffers an emergency and goes to the hospital in the very same issue. For Superman’s chronology, the also-Batman-less Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #7 is supposed to (according to the cover “triangle number” order) directly follow Superman: The Man of Steel #64. However, in Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #7, Maxima mentions Extreme Justice’s dissolution. Plus, Perry White is out and about, fully healthy. This not only implies a gap between the aforementioned issues, but it also means that Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #7 must unequivocally go after JLA Incarnations #6 Part 2, which occurs about a week from now. This doesn’t directly affect our Batman chronology, but it helps us sync with Superman’s.↩
12. ^[12]TROY DOLINER: The Power of Shazam! #22 goes before JLA Secret Files and Origins #1 Part 2 to align with Supergirl’s chronology. Supergirl’s appearances around this era go in the following order: The Power of Shazam! #22-23, then Supergirl Plus #1 (aka Supergirl Plus the Power of Shazam!), then Supergirl Vol. 4 #9, then JLA Secret Files and Origins #1 Part 2, then JLA/WildCATs, then eventually JLA #5 Part 1—thus dictating the order for Batman-related titles as well.↩