Modern YEAR TWELVE

2000

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–Detective Comics #592-594
Cornelius Stirk debuts in issues #592-593 (entitled “The Fear”). If you don’t already know, Stirk is a cannibal serial killer with mental-projection powers. Stirk captures Batman and psychologically tortures him, but Batman eventually busts the villain. (Detective Comics #593 is also shown via flashback from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46, although penciller Tommy Lee Edwards takes some serious artistic liberties, so it looks quite incorrect.) As revealed in a reference in The Batman Files, after busting Stirk, Batman examines his Arkham Asylum case-file a few days later, in which has been placed the killer’s journal. Batman steals a page from the journal and keeps it for his scrapbook. In issue #594, we meet everyone’s favorite Gotham PI, Joe Potato. He teams-up with Batman to stop a terrorist bomber, who turns out to be a Wall Street trader that has the unfortunate combo of a stockpile of dynamite and an addiction to Ecstasy. The terrorist attempts to blow himself up along with our heroes, but Batman is thankfully able to kick him into a large safe a second after he triggers his suicide bomb.

–DC Bonus Book #11
January. Batman busts some thieves and returns a stolen wallet to its rightful owner, STAR Labs’ Dr. Jenet Klyburn. Meanwhile, Mr. Freeze is transferred from Arkham Asylum to Gotham Penitentiary where he easily escapes his new home. Typical Mr. Freeze deathtrap-with-lasers scenario here that is easily thwarted. NOTE: DC Bonus Book #11 came as a free insert in Detective Comics #595.

–REFERENCE: In Sandman Vol. 2 #71. When he sleeps, Batman begins having dreams that he is a campy version of himself à la the Batman TV show character from the 60s. How meta!

–REFERENCE: In Batman #441. Bruce very publicly buys a ridiculously expensive Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting and hangs it in Wayne Manor.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Annual #12 Part 2. In the Batcave, Batman tells Robin to make sure to allow criminals the opportunity to trip themselves up. The lesson: It’s always better to stay in the shadows and not intervene, if possible.

–Batman Annual #12 Part 1
Mike Baron is one of the best comic book writers out there. If you’ve ever read Nexus, you understand why. However, in the first part of this Annual, Baron scripts a pretty pathetic tale. Bruce is invited to upstate New York to attend a “Murder Mystery Weekend” at haunted Slade Mansion, which was designed by Satanists, and therefore, looks like a giant Jack Kirby Machine, complete with impossible squinches and spandrels. Naturally, the host of this titillating affair gets murdered for real. Batman takes the case, soon meeting a 75-year-old metahuman weirdo living in a cave that helps the Caped Crusader solve the crime. Batman also exorcises a demon that has been possessing the house by causing the entire residence to slide off a ravine. Oh, and the explanation for Batman appearing randomly in upstate New York, while at the same time Bruce Wayne mysteriously disappears? Well, there isn’t one really. Bruce shows up later and says Batman escorted him down the treacherous mountain path in exchange for a large donation to charity.

–REFERENCE: In Batman #440. The relationship between Batman and Robin continues to deteriorate. After completing an unspecified case with the Boy Wonder, an angry Batman is unable to mask his frustration before news photographers in front of the police station.

FABLES
———————–Detective Comics Annual #1
———————–Green Arrow Vol. 2 Annual #1
———————–The Question Annual #1
February—this item occurs months after Christmas, hence placement here (the earliest this story can possibly go). The Question sets up a meeting between Batman and two folks the Dark Knight hasn’t met before: Lady Shiva (!) and her mentor, the 150-year-old O-Sensei. (Thanks to his years developing informational resources and data in his vast computer database, Batman already knows a lot about O-Sensei and Shiva.) Batman winds up offering the duo a future favor in exchange for the old man’s wisdom. Talia al Ghul (!) then shows up in Gotham, having been sent by her father to retrieve a stolen neuro-chemical from the Penguin. Batman and Talia team-up and defeat the Penguin, but not before Talia nearly dies. Typical “we can never be together Talia” dialogue from Bruce in this one. A full week later, the story heads into Green Arrow Vol. 2 Annual #1, where Shiva and O-Sensei ask Batman to set up a meeting between them and Green Arrow. Batman angrily works over a punching bag while talking to Alfred about Shiva’s favor and how bad Jason has been lately. Eventually, in The Question Annual #1, Batman is called by O-Sensei and Shiva (along with Green Arrow and the Question) to help O-Sensei find his wife’s resting place. (O-Sensei is dying and wants to be buried next to his wife.) Batman arrives at the meeting already knowing the O-Sensei’s wife’s family lives in Malaya, but the Question, reeling from having been rescued too much lately, asks the Dark Knight not to come along so he can feel a bit useful. Batman still buys the team a fancy boat for when they arrive in Malaya, and O-Sensei ultimately is buried alongside his wife.

–Justice League International Annual #2
The beautiful ex-Global Guardian bombshells Green Flame (formerly known as “Green Fury”) and Ice Maiden have recently joined the JLI in Batman’s absence. You might know them better by their more contemporary names of Fire and Ice, which they will switch to soon. The League decides to throw a BBQ to celebrate the inception of the new members and guess who shows up? The Joker! The JLI expects the worst so they send Batman an emergency signal. By the time he gets there Mr. Miracle’s wife Big Barda has so-intimidated the clown that he begs Batman to take him back to Arkham! Batman is disgusted and drives off annoyed. Big mistake. The JLI casually allows Joker to flee, and he does so all the way to Bialya where he will soon acquire a nuclear missile. This missile will be the sole reason the Joker returns to the Middle East a bit later. Guess who will also be traveling in the Middle East a bit later? Jason Todd. Batman should never have let Joker go.

–DC Bonus Book #7
Batman makes a cameo in this fluffy comedy piece where diminutive JLI team manager Oberon accidentally destroys Mr. Miracle and Big Barda’s suburban home, forcing them to move into the JLI Embassy. NOTE: DC Bonus Book #7 was originally packaged as a free insert with Justice League International #18.

–REFERENCE: In JLA Incarnations #6 Part 1. Batman rummages through Penguin’s abandoned lair and discovers a video message that has been delivered by Rumaan Harjavti (dictator of Bialya and leader of the Bialyan military) to most of the prominent super-villains in America. In his video, Harjavti offers political asylum to convicted American felons. Several villains—including Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Dr. Polaris, Monsieur Mallah, and The Brain—are already relaxing on the beaches of Bialya, as can be seen in the film. There are a few more villains there as well, notably Blockbuster, Dr. Phosphorus, Weather Wizard, Cheetah, and Captain Cold.

–JLA Incarnations #6 Part 1^[1]
Batman remains on amicable terms with the JLI but is still not officially back onboard as a full-fledged member. The Caped Crusader meets with the JLI to show them the Harjavti video he found in Penguin’s lair, but Max Lord says that Bialya is out of their jurisdiction. Batman angrily storms off. Blue Beetle and Booster Gold decide to go into Bialya disguised as villains in order to arrest Harjavti and to impress Batman. Of course, Beetle and Booster get caught and jailed. Batman convinces Max to let the JLI enter Bialya clandestinely to rescue them. Sending in Green Flame and Ice Maiden first, the ladies stage credit fraud that makes it seem like the Bialyan Government has cleaned-out the bank accounts of its guest villains. Naturally, a huge riot erupts and Harjavti is forced to ask for help from the UN. The JLI, along with Superman and Wonder Woman, legally enter the country and round-up the villains.

–Justice League International #15-17
Guy Gardner begs Batman to officially rejoin to the JLI. Meanwhile, Mr. Miracle is kidnapped by interstellar villain Manga Khan. Later, Batman meets with Max Lord and they both agree that something must be done about the terrorist nation of Bialya (especially in light of dictator Rumaan Harjavti’s recent actions in JLA Incarnations). (Note that the Batman-less back-up story to Batman Annual #12, cleverly titled “The Back-Up” and featuring Jason’s adventures in Junior High, takes place while Batman is meeting with Max Lord in JLI #16.) With Max’s blessing, Batman, Beetle, Booster, and Green Flame go off the books and return to Bialya for an undercover mission. Can who guess who Batman goes undercover as? He dresses up as Bruce Wayne! Whaaa? You see, they are infiltrating a presidential ball which is being thrown by Harjavti, so Wayne is the perfect disguise. At the ball, the dictator unveils a zombified Wandjina the Thunderer, claiming that he’s the first ever Bialyan lab-created metahuman. (Wandjina has been turned into a grotesquely nuclear-mutated monster by the Bialyan scientists, but he’s originally from Angor.) The uncontrollable Wandjina immediately kills his master Harjavti. Batman, who has now switched to a Max Lord disguise for some reason, realizes that the villainous Queen Bee is pulling all the strings. Captain Atom flies in and kills the rampaging Thunderer, but in the end Queen Bee’s coup is successful and Batman and company head back to the States defeated. As referenced in JLA Secret Files and Origins #2 Part 2, following this affair, the JLI puts both Harjavti’s military uniform and Wandjina’s battle axe on display in the trophy room. Shortly thereafter, J’onn, Big Barda, and Green Lantern G’nort depart on a deep space mission to rescue Mr. Miracle from the Manga Khan.

–Justice League International #19-21
Picking up shortly after our previous JLI item, J’onn, Big Barda, and G’nort continue their deep space mission to rescue Mr. Miracle from the interstellar villain Manga Khan. Meanwhile, on Earth, Black Canary has just quit the JLI, Guy Gardner has returned to his asshole persona, and Max Lord has recruited notable asshole Lobo! Batman immediately butts heads with Lobo, who, unknown to our heroes, is actually a spy working for Khan. With the JLI in a particularly assholish/weakened state, it’s time for a membership drive! Batman takes charge, meeting first with Superman, who unfortunately rejects his invitation. However, Batman regroups and successfully recruits the new Hawkman and Hawkwoman. (This supposed husband-and-wife-duo are impostors. The new Hawkman claims to be Carter Hall Jr while the new Hawkwoman claims to be his wife Sharon Hall. They are actually Thanagarian spies. Don’t forget, Carter and Shiera are still trapped in a Ragnarok simulation, but they will return next year.) Concurrently, Green Flame and Ice Maiden change their names to Fire and Ice, respectively (although it takes a while for the new names to actually stick). J’onn and company chase Khan to Apokolips where Barda teleports the rest of the team to their location. Batman and the stunned rest of the team are instantly thrown into an all-out-war with dozens of Parademons. Just when things are looking at their worst, terrified little JLI manager Oberon accidentally stumbles into Darkseid’s living room. Surprisingly, Darkseid treats him to a nice conversation and hearty lunch and then simply commands everyone to leave, claiming they are a mere annoyance to him! Great stuff. Highly recommended.

–Cosmic Odyssey #1-4
This is how crossovers are supposed to be. Short, sweet, and spectacular. And when Jim Starlin teams up with Mike Mignola, that is exactly what you get. This story was retconned many, many times, and only in the 2000s—through the combined efforts of Starlin and Grant Morrison—was Cosmic Odyssey made completely canon again. As you can imagine, there is a lot going on here plot-wise, but I’ll do my best to summarize. For almost 300 years, Darkseid has been searching for the Anti-Life Equation, the cosmic mathematical formula with which one can dominate all life everywhere. And now he’s found it, but to his surprise the formula exists as a sentient “shadow-based” Anti-Life Entity that seeks the annihilation of the entire Milky Way Galaxy. Several of Earth’s heroes (including Jason Blood) Boom Tube teleport to the alternate dimensional planet of New Genesis (home to the benevolent New Gods, as opposed to Apokolips, which is home to the evil New Gods). On New Genesis, the heroes are forced to team-up with Darkseid (!) against the greater threat. Jason Blood, in order to help, reluctantly allows himself to be overtaken by the demon that has used him as a host vessel for centuries: Etrigan! The leader of New Genesis, Izaya (aka Highfather), splits the heroes (and Darkseid) into four teams designed to save four respective planets. Batman and Forager save Earth! Superman and Orion save Thanagar! Lightray and Starfire save Rann! But Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern John Stewart aren’t so lucky. Because of Stewart’s overconfidence and inexperience, Xanshi is destroyed and literally billions perish. J’onn is furious and Stewart is so distraught he nearly commits suicide. In the end, the heroes prevail, but Forager dies as well. There is a great scene where Orion makes a racist comment about Forager after his death and Batman punches him out! We’ll find out much later (in Final Crisis to be exact) that the Anti-Life Entity is the evil half of the cosmic deity known as The Source and through knowledge and mastery of the combination, one can indeed know the true evil mathematical formula for futility.^[2]

–REFERENCE: In JLA Classified #1. Batman obtains a Boom Tube Gauntlet, a high-tech alien glove that theoretically allows its user to teleport wherever they want. Batman places the Boom Tube Gauntlet into his Sci-Fi Closet. Where did the Boom Tube Gauntlet come from? We are never told, but it seems like Batman could have either gotten it during his recent Boom Tube adventuring in Cosmic Odyssey or cobbled it together with Boom Tubes taken from his recent adventuring in Cosmic Odyssey—hence placement of Batman’s acquirement of the Boom Tube Gauntlet here. Despite nabbing the Boom Tube Gauntlet, Batman won’t use this tech until Bat Year Nineteen! Why? Well, my conjectural response is that Batman is distrustful of most alien tech. Also, the Boom Tube Gauntlet is probably quite dangerous.

–FLASHBACK: From Detective Comics #828—and referenced in Detective Comics #821. At the Peregrinator’s Club, Bruce is greeted by the establishment’s major domo Ronald Edwards, after which he has dinner with a childhood friend, Matthew Atkins, and meets the beautiful socialite Peyton Riley. Riley will become the new Ventriloquist in about nine years. Notably, Bruce will also meet a few more unnamed socialites at this time, but none of them will be worth remembering.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #600. Batman saves the life of GCPD Officer Jake Burnside.

–FLASHBACK: From Detective Comics #600. Batman rescues a hostage from an escaped Two-Face.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #197. Batman captures first time crook and weapons expert Erik Webber. Webber will serve seven years in jail for his attempted armored car robbery and vow revenge on Batman upon his release. Batman is depicted wearing the wrong costume in this flashback. He should be wearing the yellow-insignia costume.

–FLASHBACK: From Secret Origins Special Vol. 2 #1. Penguin captures and tortures a metal-toothed convict named Sharkey, who used to bully him when he was a boy. Batman rescues Sharkey, but never finds out why Penguin had it out for him. We (the readers) are treated to that back-story, which includes a pretty amazing and legit Penguin origin tale.^[3]

–Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
April 1—the story specifically begins on April Fool’s Day. Many say this Grant Morrison/Dave McKean tale is out-of-continuity, but I’d say they are incorrect. I’ve placed it here because it occurs when all of the following are incarcerated at the same time: Joker, Clayface III, Dr. Destiny, Mad Hatter (Jervis Tetch), Killer Croc, Maxie Zeus, Two-Face, and Scarecrow.^[4] In the narrative, the inmates have taken over the prison and Batman—fresh off of an unspecified “out of town” case—comes to restore order. We learn that one of the head Arkham doctors, Dr. Charles Cavendish, is responsible for the chaos within the facility. This graphic novel also details the long and tragic origin of Arkham Asylum (and the Arkham family) for the first time.

–Batman: The Killing Joke
The infamous 1988 Alan Moore/Brian Bolland one-shot. Joker’s origin is revealed in detail through flashback and he does the unthinkable. He shoots Barbara Gordon in the spine, disabling her for life. He also takes pornographic pictures of Babs and tortures Jim Gordon at his abandoned amusement park hideout, complete with evil circus henchmen, including bizarre diaper-wearing little people with razor-sharp teeth. I do want to point out that The Killing Joke: Deluxe Edition was came out in 2008 and Bolland was given free rein to alter his original work as he saw fit for the re-release. While I enjoy the beautiful dramatic color changes, I don’t enjoy the removal of the yellow oval from Batman’s chest. When questioned about the removal by Wizard magazine, Bolland stated, and I’m paraphrasing here, that he got rid of it because he simply didn’t like how it looked. So, to re-iterate, if you were wondering about this, there’s your answer. Batman should have the yellow oval. Period. I also want to point out that Booster Gold attempts to change history by preventing Barbara Gordon from ever being shot by the Joker (as seen in Booster Gold Vol. 2 #5).  An older Booster (from ten years in the future i.e. Bat Year 21) time-travels to the events of The Killing Joke (right now), but he is unable to alter Babs’ fate. It is Babs’ destiny to be shot and paralyzed and you just can’t screw with destiny. So, despite Booster’s time-tampering, the events of The Killing Joke are left seemingly unaltered when all is said and done, except for one giveaway. Joker has snapped several Polaroids of the badly beaten future Booster. Batman discovers the photos (as referenced in Booster Gold #1,000,000) and quickly realizes that an older version of Booster has made a time-traveling attempt to save Babs. The Dark Knight will keep the Polaroids a secret for the next ten years, but will always be appreciative of Booster’s gallant efforts.

–Superman Vol. 2 #23
Batman acquires a magickal ancient Gaelic tome from a fence. The book, despite being hundreds of years old, details Superman’s first fight against Silver Banshee. Curiously, the book begins to write new pages in itself, depicting Batman’s movements after obtaining it. The next day, Batman delivers the mysterious magick book to Superman, leading him on a Scottish adventure to fight Silver Banshee and her family members of the Clan McDougal: brother Beven McDougal and uncle Seamus McDougal. Superman saves Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen from Silver Banshee and the McDougals.

–NOTE: In a reference in Birds of Prey #1. Barbara Gordon, in the wake of her recent tragedy, breaks up with her fiancé Jason Bard.

–FLASHBACK: From the second feature to Birds of Prey #127. Bruce visits Babs in the hospital and, without words, they cry together.

–FLASHBACK: From Nightwing Vol. 2 Annual #2. Bruce, this time with Alfred, visits Babs at the hospital again, but Jim Gordon is there, so they have to act like smiling, awkward buffoons in front of Babs. Bruce tells Babs that Dick is “out of the country.” Dick is actually on interstellar Teen Titan business on the planet New Cronus and won’t be back for over six months.

–FLASHBACK: From Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Oracle #1. Bruce pays Barbara another hospital visit, this time solo, and it isn’t pretty. They exchange caustic words and Bruce tells her, “You can overcome this or you can wither and die.”

–FLASHBACK: From Batman #683. While on patrol, Batman and Robin argue. Batman tells Robin he doesn’t need “teenage rebellion,” even going so far as to say, “I’m not your father.” Damn, Bruce. The Batman/Robin relationship couldn’t be worse.

–Batman #426-429 (“A DEATH IN THE FAMILY”)
Late April—The Batman Files lists Jason’s death as occurring on April 27, which actually is a sound retcon, accommodating for Sliding-Time rather accurately. (Originally, “Death in the Family” was a November arc.) As if one tragedy wasn’t enough for Batman. This is arguably the most important storyline of the year: the death of Jason Todd. I mean, this was Jason’s year, so this is mega-super-huge. And once again, Starlin is at the helm. Here’s how it all goes down. Batman hasn’t allowed Jason to accompany him since the events of “The Diplomat’s Son,” but the former finally caves in. The Dynamic Duo take to the streets once more, but once again, Jason is reckless, and Batman is forced to put him on inactive duty. A disgruntled Jason then discovers that his birth mother (Dr. Sheila Haywood) is alive and living in the Middle East. He immediately runs off to find her. Batman tracks the freshly escaped Joker to Lebanon (where he is trying to sell the nuclear missile he received in JLI Annual #2) and joins up with Jason again. After a Lady Shiva cameo, the Dynamic Duo is off to Ethiopia where we finally meet Jason’s real mom! The reunion is short-lived. You can guess what happens next. The Clown Prince of Crime beats Jason with a crowbar and sets off a bomb killing both him and his mother. Batman arrives too late to save them. In tears, he cradles the bloody and battered corpse of the Boy Wonder. (This scene is also shown via flashback from Detective Comics #0, Robin Vol. 2 #0, Batman #614, Batman #438, JLA/Avengers #3, Infinite Crisis #2-3, the second feature to 52 #6, 52 #30, and the second feature to Countdown #42. Flashbacks from Batman #683 show several sequences from “Death in the Family,” including this iconic scene.) A reference in The Batman Files tells us that a local Ethiopian snaps a picture of Batman holding the dead Robin, but Batman steals his camera. Back in the States, Batman develops the picture and keeps it as a reminder of his failure. A devastated Bruce collects Jason’s death certificate from coroner Mortimer Gunt. A quiet funeral is then held—attended only by Bruce, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and a wheelchair-using Babs. (Note, very importantly, that Babs has not yet been officially/fully released from the hospital. This is a quick outing for the funeral before returning to bedrest.)^[5] Shortly after the sad burial ceremony, the Bat-Family tragedy continues as the Joker is named Iran’s ambassador to the UN! (Iran was retconned to the fictional Qurac in an attempt to make this part of the story more timeless and politically correct. Although, The Batman Files—the final Modern Age Batman publication—still keeps Iran in its reference to this arc, so pick whichever pleases your headcanon the most.) Superman informs the bereaved Batman that the Joker now has diplomatic immunity. This doesn’t last long, however, as the newly appointed ambassador tries to gas everyone in the UN building. A few awesome flashbacks from Batman: Gotham Knights #44 fill in a some gaps in “A Death in the Family”—although, I should also mention that Bruce is wearing the wrong costume in all of these flashbacks. Writer Scott Beatty tried to retcon Batman’s history here to make it that he doesn’t switch over to the yellow-insignia costume until now, which is absolutely one-hundred percent wrong. Deadman is also present when Jason dies and even possesses Joker’s body momentarily in an attempt to stop the fatal beating from occurring (as detailed in Deadman: Dead Again #2). Deadman, of course, fails in his mission. The powerful witch-man Darius Caldera then hijacks Jason’s soul, which is on its way to the Afterlife, and steals it away to a realm outside of time and space. Deadman is able to free Jason’s soul from Caldera, releasing it into the great beyond where it belongs. Since Caldera’s realm exists outside of time and space, this entire soul-stealing episode registers as mere seconds on our timeline.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman #683—and referenced in Batman #650. Batman puts Jason’s costume on display in the Batcave. Devastated, the Dark Knight chats with Alfred about Jason and Babs, mulling over whether or not he should kill Joker. From this point forward, Batman will think of executing Joker often. Batman will also often be haunted with revenge fantasies of murdering and torturing Joker. Batman will keep these thoughts repressed.

–FLASHBACK: From The Batman Chronicles #5 Part 1. Batman pays Barbara another visit at the hospital. Last time, Batman gave her a rough talking to in the hospital, but this time Babs has had enough. She has also somehow found out about the events pertaining to Joker’s arrest at the end of The Killing Joke. Babs tells Batman to buzz off.

–FLASHBACK: From Green Arrow and Black Canary #5. Batman locates Green Arrow’s long lost son, Connor Hawke, and reports the news to Ollie, who thanks Bruce and gives his condolences regarding the death of Jason Todd.^[6]

–FLASHBACK: From Batman & Superman: World’s Finest #7. Superman has just returned from a long mission in deep space—(the reason he missed the annual Harrison Grey meeting)—and comes to talk to Batman about how the latter has been dealing with the recent tragedies that befell Jason and Barbara. Superman flies Bruce to Smallville where they have dinner with his parents (Martha and Jonathan Kent).

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #598. An overworked, stressed-out, and horribly disheartened Batman begins having a reoccurring nightmare that features a scarier version of himself holding a gun and laughing. Bruce will have this same dream every time he sleeps for the next two-plus months.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #596. In conjunction with a promoter named Al Jarrold, Bruce begins funding a boxing for teens program at the Southside Boys’ Club.

–REFERENCE: In Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight #1. Bruce visits Barcelona and meets Cristina Llanero, having a brief romantic fling with her. (The romance is strongly implied.)

–REFERENCE: In Daily Planet: Special Invasion Edition aka Daily Planet Invasion Special #1. Bruce attends the $500-a-plate opening of the Gotham City Gallery of Fine Art with actress Sharon Scott—a bit character in the Blue Devil series. The date, likely the first time Bruce is meeting Sharon, was probably set up by Bruce’s PR people at Wayne Enterprises. Bruce and Sharon leave early, giving the paparazzi all sorts of wild ideas as to why. Of course, Bruce has left early to do Batman stuff.

INVASION!
———————–Detective Comics #595
———————–Invasion! #2
———————–Detective Comics #596
———————–Invasion! #3 Intro
———————–Detective Comics #597
———————–Invasion! #3
Invasion! is a gigantic crossover event in which several intergalactic races form an alliance with the goal of eradicating all metahuman life on Earth (our world deemed most threatening because it has the most metahumans). Secretly, the Dominators, evil leaders of the alien alliance, want to replicate the metahuman gene and create their own super-warriors. (In addition to the Dominators, the alliance comprises the following alien races: Khunds, Thanagarians, Psions, Durlans, the Gil’Dishpan, the Warlords of Okaara, Citadelians, and Daxamites.) By the time ‘tec #595 occurs, the aliens have already taken over several parts of the Earth and Max Lord has asked Batman to help the JLI in Australia. Batman politely turns him down, stating that the alien war is a metahuman issue and therefore, out of his league. However, Batman soon encounters a shapeshifting Durlan known as a Zheerfang on the streets of Gotham and realizes the war has come to him. Batman soon winds up in Havana, Cuba with a mission to destroy an enemy munitions factory. After luring Khund hooligans and Thanagarian hawkmen out of the factory, the Caped Crusader blows up the building. Invasion! #2-3 finish out the story and involve literally hundreds of heroes, including Batman. First, a superhero summit is organized, which gathers nearly every superhero in the DCU—including the JLI, the New Guardians, Wonder Woman, Phantom Stranger, the Doom Patrol, the Suicide Squad (including Ambush Bug, Shade the Changing Man, Black Orchid, and Heat Wave), the Creeper, Deadman, Firestorm, Flash, Deadman, Hawk, Dove (Dawn Granger), Swamp Thing, Animal Man, the Atom, Power Girl, the Spectre, Wildcat (Yolanda Montez), several Green Lanterns, Atom Smasher (aka Albert Rothstein, formerly known as Nuklon), and many more. (Note that Robin is erroneously shown here in a very bad continuity error. He definitely should not be here as he has recently been killed.) Superman, Captain Atom, Amanda Waller, Max Lord, and General Wade Eiling lead the meeting, which briefs everyone on how the war will be fought. This superhero summit is also shown in Adventures of Superman #449. A more detailed slice of this scene is also shown in Hawk & Dove Vol. 3 #1. Batman then heads back to Gotham for ‘tec #596, where he works toward shutting down a snuff-film ring. GCPD Lieutenant Stanley Kitch debuts. While Batman fights tough guy Tonka in an alley, both men are startled by strange photo-negative lights emanating from the sky. This, of course, is the Gene Bomb explosion, as shown in the Invasion #3! Intro, which adds some detail to Batman’s combat versus Tonka. The detonation of the Gene Bomb has various effects. While it kills many metahumans, including Doom Patrollers Celsius and Scott Fischer, it also grants powers to some humans—most notably Crazy Jane, Lodestone, and Max Lord. (Max will soon manifest the telepathic ability of persuasion, although the use of the power will give him severe nosebleeds.) The Gene Bomb also mutates The Tasmanian Devil and resurrects Metamorpho! Notably, several others are given powers thanks to direct experimentation by the Dominators. These folks—including Snapper Carr, Looking Glass, and others—are known as The Blasters. Immediately after the Gene Bomb goes off, as seen in ‘tec #597, Batman continues his fight with Tonka, soon busting the snuff-film ring. Batman then returns his focus to Invasion #3!, which sees the alien hordes defeated. Batman angrily delivers a defeated Major Force back to General Eiling. After the Invasion dust settles, a new status quo has arrived.

–REFERENCE: In JLA Secret Files and Origins #2 Part 2. The JLI upgrades its computer system to Thanagarian tech salvaged during Invasion. All the case-files and criminal databases are uploaded into a high-powered aqua-drive. Most incarnations of the Justice League will use this Thanagarian computer, moving forward.

–Power of The Atom #9
It’s “V.I. Day” in New York, a giant citywide celebration of the human victory over the alien hordes (from Invasion). J’onn tries to recruit the Atom into the JLI, but the Atom declines, specifically citing the drunken antics of Guy Gardner as reason enough not to join. Batman tries to recruit Green Lantern Hal Jordan, who is on the fence until the Atom shows up and convinces him to say no as well. Damn you, Atom! The Atom then works crowd control in the bustling party-filled streets of Manhattan. After a second awkward conversation with Batman, the Atom returns to Ivy Town to reunite with Jean Loring.

–Black Orchid #2
Batman briefly converses with the Earth Elemental Black Orchid (who has replaced the original recently-murdered Black Orchid). The new confused Black Orchid searches for Jason Woodrue in hopes of finding out her own mysterious origins. The Dark Knight tells her to visit Poison Ivy at Arkham Asylum. There, Black Orchid chats with Two-Face, Mad Hatter (Jervis Tetch), and Poison Ivy. Later, Batman instructs Black Orchid to travel south to meet Swamp Thing.

–NOTE: In a flashback from The Batman Chronicles #5 Part 1. After ten weeks and three days in the hospital, a wheelchair-using Barbara Gordon checks-out of the hospital. She begins a disheartening six month-long rehabilitative stint.

–Batman: Turning Points #3
It’s been over two-and-a-half months since the death of Jason and the paralysis of Babs. The so-called “Garbage Man,” a serial murderer with the same exact MO as last year’s Dumpster Killer is at large. Despite working the case, the still-dejected Dark Knight hasn’t responded to the Bat-Signal in a while. The wheelchair-using Barbara visits Bruce in the Batcave. There, she chastises him and tells him to meet with her dad, which he does. On the roof of the police HQ, the old friends chat and Gordon talks to Batman about the loss of Robin.

–Justice League International #24
Max Lord’s meta-gene power of telepathy kicks-in. Later, Oberon and Max decide to have an “open house” at the New York Embassy and all the big names (and some small ones) in the hero game decide to show up and mingle, including Batman, Major Force, Elongated Man, the Creeper, Metamorpho, Hal Jordan, Power Girl, Flash, Animal Man, G’Nort, Firestorm, and the new Starman. (Note that the new Starman is the spirit of previous Starman Prince Gavyn merged with the living body of host vessel Will Payton.) The new Hawkman, who is embarrassed and disgusted with the current League, winds up quitting, citing blatant disregard for the values of the original League. (Don’t forget this Hawkman is a spy secretly working against the JLI!) When some Khunds show up, the big group of heroes kicks their asses. After the easy victory, Max and Oberon upgrade the JLI by splitting it into two separate factions; the current members re-assemble as the New York-based Justice League America, while fresh recruits assemble the brand-spanking new Paris-based Justice League Europe! Rocket Red (Dmitri Pushkin) and Captain Atom remain JLI members, but switch over from the JLA to the JLE.

–Justice League International Annual #3 Part 2
This issue is so good. Batman and J’onn get to know each other a little better when they team-up for a case. Also, Guy Gardner reads an issue of “JLI,” a chronicling of the team’s adventures in comic book form, and is pissed off about his characterization. After yelling at Max, who authorized the comic, he storms off to attack the writers! Giffen loves intelligent self-reflexive meta-fiction and I love Giffen.

–REFERENCE: In Batman #431. A sleepless Batman, still troubled by what has happened to Jason and Babs, begins tapping the phone of crook Ralph Stuart.

–Batman #430-432
In issue #430, Batman stops a cold-blooded rooftop sniper. Gordon questions Batman regarding the whereabouts of Robin, who hasn’t been seen in quite some time. Batman dodges the question. (We probably have to ignore Gordon asking the Dark Knight about Robin, since they already had this talk in Turning Points #3.) Also, through flashback, we see probably the ninth or tenth completely different version of what occurred on the day that led up to the death of Bruce’s parents. It is a known in-continuity fact that Bruce is tortured by this day and his recollection of its events changes constantly. In issue #431, we are treated to a flashback (which incorrectly says “ten years ago” but should say “seventeen years ago”) of Bruce’s training with Kirigi in Korea. In the present, Ralph Stuart turns himself in, bumming out a violence-addicted Dark Knight, who was itching to pummel him. After listening to Stuart’s tapped phone tapes, Batman learns about a strange murder and goes on a cross country investigation from Gotham to LA and back to New Jersey. There, Batman fights League of Assassins ninjas involved in the murder, all of whom have clearly been trained by Kirigi. After wrapping the case, Batman immediately flies to Korea to confront his former sensei. In the mountains, Batman tries to pass harsh moral judgement on Kirigi, but the old master is unfazed. In issue #432, Batman teams-up with PI Maxine Kelly to solve a child-abduction case that is seven years cold. Bats breaks into an FBI office building and fends off dozens of government agents in order to access information vital to the investigation.

—^[7]

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #598. Batman stops a getaway car, but gets hit by the car and injured in the process. This item occurs about a week before “Blind Justice.”

–Starman #9-10
A combination of steroids and the after-effects of Gene Bomb radiation (from Invasion!) have transformed Roland Desmond (brother of the original Blockbuster) into the new Blockbuster! Batman teams-up with the fifth Starman (Will Payton and Prince Gavyn merged together) to capture the rampaging hulk in the US Southwest. A flashback from Starman Vol. 2 #36 shows this story as well.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #683 Part 2. Batman breaks both legs of a baddie in Gotham’s Sheldon Park neighborhood.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #598. Batman apprehends a safe-cracker but gets injured when he falls through a skylight. This item takes place three days before the start of “Blind Justice.”

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #598. Dr. Gleason, a head executive at WayneTech, wants to meet with Bruce, who has been seriously neglecting all of his affairs at the office. Bruce, who is totally checked-out and has become completely disinterested when it comes to WayneTech stuff, cancels on Dr. Gleason twice.

–Detective Comics #598-600 (“BLIND JUSTICE”)
“Blind Justice” is screenwriter Sam Hamm’s 150+ page Batman opus. This lengthy tale takes over a month to transpire and supposedly runs from early April into mid May. Unfortunately, we must ignore the April-May season as we are already well past that. In this arc, a secret cartel aptly known as “The Cartel” uses WayneTech employees Dr. Kenneth Harbinger and Mr. Riordan to implant bio-chips into “Bonecrusher” soldiers, the thoughts and actions of which are controlled by the paraplegic Harbinger from a remote location. Batman and Commissioner Gordon become aware of this new threat to Gotham when they examine the liquefied corpse of a Bonecrusher victim. Batman then fights a monstrous Bonecrusher, who commits suicide. Meanwhile, Jeanie Bowen comes to Gotham in search of her missing brother and former WayneTech employee, Roy Kane. Roy, who had also been a Cartel infiltrator, betrayed the villainous organization six months ago, which resulted in a bio-chip implantation that turned him into a homeless amnesiac. Together with Bruce, Jeanie locates Roy and they begin to unearth the Cartel’s plot of using mind-controlled surrogate warriors. Roy and Jeanie move into Wayne Manor. Bruce accesses the Cartel’s project computer files, which prompts Riordan to send a Bonecrusher to attack Bruce at Wayne Manor. When the Bonecrusher is defeated, it self-destructs. Batman then goes after Harbinger, who puts his consciousness into a new body to both escape capture and to betray his oppressive Cartel overseers. Bruce then threatens Riordan, only to learn that Riordan is one step ahead of him. The Cartel has been tracking Bruce for the past fifteen years and knows all about his many years of training in the Orient and Pacific with infamous unsavory anti-Americans like Chu Chin Li, Tsunetomo, and Henri Ducard. This information is passed on to the FBI and Bruce is arrested for treason, specifically for selling spy tech to terrorists from Syraq, Russia, and Libya! A media circus ensues. As Bruce addresses the press, Harbinger, who can now use his device to control anyone he wants simply by talking to them, has a homeless man shoot Bruce, nearly killing him! Bruce goes into a coma and gets three pins put into his hip. When Alfred and a wheelchair-using Bruce return home a week later, they find that Roy and Jeanie have discovered the Batcave and learned of Bruce’s identity as the Dark Knight! Roy is more than eager to help Batman. Since he has a bio-chip implant, Roy suits up as Batman and the injured Bruce is able to control his body using Harbinger’s technology. Henri Ducard returns to America and pays Bruce a quick visit, revealing that he now knows he is Batman. Meanwhile, Harbinger takes over the Cartel with mind-control and an army of Bonecrushers. A Bruce-controlled Roy dons the Batman costume and defeats the Cartel, but gets killed in the process. An angry Jeanie blames Bruce for her brother’s death and leaves town. In the end, Bruce is able to clear his name thanks to the mind-controlled blabbing Riordan who spills the Cartel’s beans. Bruce rehabs his injuries and makes a full recovery after a couple weeks. Afterward, Bruce destroys Harbinger’s tech and mourns the loss of Roy, which is especially troubling because it has occurred so shortly after Jason’s death.

–Batman #433-435 (“THE MANY DEATHS OF THE BATMAN”)
Note that Batman doesn’t actually appear in Batman #433. Frederick Stone long ago trained a young man in the art of explosives. That young man, although heavily disguised and using an alias, was Bruce Wayne. Flash forward to now—Stone is aware of the fact that he helped train Batman because the Dark Knight uses explosive techniques that are uniquely Stone methods. Stone is paranoid that Batman’s rogues will discover his ties to the Caped Crusader and, thus, threaten him and his fiancée. In an effort to lessen his link to Batman, Stone starts tracking down other possible experts who might have trained young Bruce, dresses them up in a Batman costume, and murders them. Batman solves the case.

–Detective Comics #601-603 (“TULPA”)
Long before Twin Peaks exposed magickal doppelgängers known as Tulpas to the mainstream, Batman dealt with more than his fair share of the wily spirit doubles. In this arc, a Tibetan mystic creates a demonic Tulpa known as Mahakala to defend himself against mobsters in Gotham. Naturally, the Tulpa goes on an evil rampage, prompting intvervention by the Dark Knight. However, demonology is a bit out of Batman’s league. Good thing Randu Singh and the sometimes good-natured Etrigan are around to help out! Gotta love Etrigan cameos.

–REFERENCE: In Batman #436-437. In an effort to block out the pain and suffering connected to Jason’s death, Batman removes all photos of Jason from Wayne Manor. Likewise, he removes some items closely linked to Jason from the Batcave trophy room. Notably, this item occurs a couple weeks prior to the upcoming “Batman: Year Three” arc.

–Justice League America #26-27
Remember when the league last visited Bialya? Well, it turns out that while Blue Beetle was there, he was implanted with a post-hypnotic suggestion by Queen Bee. Back in the States, Beetle is “activated” by a pre-programmed code-phrase delivered over the phone and immediately tries to kill Max Lord! Batman and Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) are able to stop him.^[8] Government agent Amanda Waller is sent in to de-program Beetle through hypnosis, but due to an “azrael block” in his programming, he slips into a coma. Notably, when Batman questions Waller’s ability to handle the situation, Waller takes a crack at Batman’s handling of the “Deacon Blackthorne situation.” This is a clear reference to Deacon Blackfire from Batman: The Cult, so the use of the incorrect name is either Giffen’s mistake or an intentional Waller slip-up (as the event would have occurred a little less than a year prior to this).

–Justice League America #29
Blue Beetle is still in a coma, so Batman goes to get help from Dr. Fate (Eric Strauss/Linda Strauss). Upon arrival at Dr. Fate’s residence, Batman is surprised to be greeted by the supposedly deceased original Dr. Fate, Kent Nelson. Nelson confirms that Dr. Fate has had a different host for a while now, but he (Nelson) is more than willing to assist Batman anyway. (Nelson is indeed dead, but his lifeless corpse is currently being possessed by the cosmic Nabu himself.) Nelson/Nabu is able to fully de-program and revive Blue Beetle by entering his mind.

–NOTE: In a flashback from Batman Annual #25 and a reference in Red Hood: The Lost Days #1. Late October. Nearly six months after his death, Jason Todd now returns from the dead! When Superboy-Prime alters history during the future events of Infinite Crisis, he inadvertently revives Jason, who crawls out of his coffin, stumbles into town, and eventually collapses into a coma. Batman won’t learn about or see Jason for quite a while, but here is what happens next for the former Boy Wonder (as referenced in Red Hood: The Lost Days #1-6). Jason will wake up from his coma almost a full year later, at which time he will wander the streets as a mute amnesiac. Jason will then be discovered nearly another year later by Talia and Ra’s al Ghul. At that point, Talia will order the League of Assassins to fix the cemetery to make it look like Jason never was revived in order to hide the fact from Batman. The League of Assassins will then eliminate anyone that can possibly be linked to Jason as a preventative measure as well. A year after that, Talia will immerse Jason in a Lazarus Pit, at which point he will remember everything and spend the next several years secretly training before reemerging in Gotham. But we’ll get to that when we get to it.

–NOTE: In a flashback from Nightwing Vol. 2 Annual #2. Late October. Dick returns from lengthy adventuring on the planet New Cronus to learn that Babs has been paralyzed from the waist down for over six months! With no way of communicating with Earth while he was away, Dick had no idea about Barbara’s injury or Jason’s death. (He’ll soon find about the latter as well.)^[9] Dick has sex with Babs and in the morning tells her that he’s engaged to Starfire! Babs freaks out and kicks his sorry ass out of her apartment.

–The New Titans #55
Late October. Dick (having just returned after having been away for months) finally learns that Jason has been killed. He angrily confronts Bruce and lets it all out, causing Bruce to punch him in the face. (A version of the confrontation with Bruce can also be seen via flashback from Nightwing Vol. 2 #62. In this flashback, Dick also mentions Babs’ paralysis.) Dick and Starfire then visit Jason’s grave. Later, Dick regroups with the battle-weary Titans. Notably, Changeling and Phantasm (Danny Chase) quit the team. Donna Troy begins using the new name Troia.^[10]

–Batman #436-439 (“BATMAN: YEAR THREE”)
“Batman: Year Three” contains a detailed flashback story concerning the origin of the original Robin and his dealings with Anthony Zucco, although—thanks to retcons from The Long Halloween and Dark Victory—not all of the flashbacks are canon. (Specifically, none of the flashbacks from Batman #437 are canon. See Year Five for more details about this.) Also, “Batman: Year Three” is titled so because Bat Year Three was originally the first Robin year. However, the same aforementioned retcons have slid Robin’s first year to Bat Year Six, so really this story should be called “Batman: Year Six.” Onto a synopsis! Batman begins aggressively investigating a series of gangland murders (which actually first began about a month-and-a-half ago but have remained woefully unsolved by the GCPD). Meanwhile, Nightwing returns to Gotham, having gotten wind from afar that Batman has become more reckless and violent ever since Jason’s death. As the original Dynamic Duo both work separate cases into the same gangland murders, they are shocked to learn that Tony Zucco has been paroled. (Note that the lean russet-haired version of Zucco portrayed in this story is wrong. The correct/current version of Zucco is—and always has been—a plump, semi-bald cigar smoker. Additionally, Zucco mentions having been in jail for eleven years, but thanks to the aforementioned retcons, he’s only been in prison for about six to seven years. Likewise, gangsters Agoura and Grenada mention that Batman has been stalking them for a decade, but the longest it could have actually been is six years.) Alfred also hears about Zucco’s pending release and threatens the parolee on his last evening in the can, but Zucco laughs in Alfred’s face. Batman and Nightwing are unsure of how to handle the Zucco situation, especially when they learn that Zucco has been orchestrating the gangland killings. However, in a wild twist, Zucco is gunned down by rival mobsters just as he takes his first free steps beyond the prison walls. (Zucco has not only been executed for his involvement in the gangland killings, but because he had been threatening to reveal a bunch of mob secrets withheld in a secret ledger.) Following Zucco’s murder, Nightwing chews out Batman, accusing him of being insane ever since Jason died. Nightwing brings up Batman’s dealings with KGBeast from last year as an example, although this is technically incorrect since “Ten Nights of the Beast” occurred prior to Jason’s death. Later, Nightwing finds Zucco’s ledger at the Gotham Youth Center/St. Jude’s Orphanage. Batman arrives after Nightwing, just in time to see Zucco’s final associate fall to his death along with the ledger, which gets destroyed in the process. Still very much at odds with one another, Batman and Nightwing part ways.

–FLASHBACK: From Nightwing Vol. 2 #75. Batman, Nightwing, and Huntress go on an unspecified adventure, after which Batman gives Huntress an earful and tells her to hang up her superhero boots. At this juncture, Batman certainly isn’t getting along with Nightwing, and he’s never quite gotten along with Huntress, thus making this outing quite a strained affair. This is the beginning of what will only develop into an even rockier relationship between Batman and Huntress for years to follow.

–REFERENCE: In the second feature to Detective Comics #782. Late November—the anniversary of Batman’s parents’ deaths. Batman places two roses at his parents’ Crime Alley murder site.

–Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome radio show
Late November. (This BBC radio broadcast from 1989 occurs very shortly after Batman #436-439 aka “Batman: Year Three.” To preserve the sanctity of canon, this item is a slightly shortened and modified version that works for our timeline.) While still visiting Crime Alley, having just left two roses at the site of his parents’ murders, Batman is accosted by a League of Assassins villain that has surgically altered his face to look like Bruce Wayne. Their fight ends in an explosion, after which the injured Batman is kidnapped by Talia al Ghul. When Batman fails to respond to the Bat-Signal, Commissioner Gordon questions Joker and Catwoman. Meanwhile, the fake Bruce Wayne takes over every aspect of Bruce’s life, even telling Alfred and Nightwing that he is retiring from crimefighting. Batman eventually recovers, escapes from the League of Assassins and boots the fake Bruce Wayne out of Gotham.

–REFERENCE: In The Batman Chronicles #5 Part 1. Bruce gives a grant to Babs so she can set up a high-tech computer system in her bedroom. Using her new computer system, she meddles in the affairs of criminal cyber-hacker Ashley Mavis Powell, which nearly gets her killed. Batman then sets Barbara up with a personal trainer, one of his old mentors, the martial arts master Richard Dragon. (Bruce’s training with Richard Dragon from years ago can be seen via flashback from Richard Dragon #7.) Babs will train with Richard Dragon for several months.

THE TEASDALE IMPERATIVE
———————–Justice League America #31
———————–Justice League Europe #7
———————–Justice League America #32
———————–Justice League Europe #8
More great self-reflexivity as Booster and Beetle run-down the “JLI” comic book! Dr. Fate is still a merger of Eric Strauss and Linda Strauss, but now the script gets flipped as Nabu does a gender switcheroo. Instead of using Eric’s mind/body as host, Dr. Fate now uses Linda’s mind/body (with Eric’s consciousness attached), giving us the first ever non-male-bodied Dr. Fate! Both this new version of Dr. Fate and Huntress join the JLA! The JLA and JLE then team-up in Eastern Europe against a horde of zombies controlled by both Dr. Irwin Teasdale (who wants revenge against his former employer) and the Grey Man (who wants to rule the cosmos). After growing to size of Godzilla, the Grey Man squashes Teasdale like a bloody bug and is set to do the same to the JLA and JLE until the Spectre and both the Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos come to destroy him.

–REFERENCE: In Manhunter #17. A new Sportsmaster (Victor Gover) debuts by robbing and trashing a club belonging to the NFL’s Gotham Wildcats owner Tom Melcher. Batman examines the crime scene and chats with Commissioner Gordon.

–REFERENCE: In Superman Vol. 2 #44. Bruce is invited to attend the Zenith Awards for Excellence in Journalism, but he turns it down upon learning that Lex Luthor is the primary sponsor.

–Detective Comics #604-607 (“THE MUD PACK”)
The original Clayface (Basil Karlo) is released from prison and together with Lady Clay (Clayface IV), they are able to free Preston Payne (Clayface III) from Arkham. Karlo also steals the earthly remains of Matt Hagen (Clayface II) in a failed attempt to revive him. After capturing Batman, the foursome (including Hagen’s muddy corpse) are in mid-celebration, when Karlo turns on his teammates, knocking them out and injecting himself with samples of their blood to become the strongest “Ultimate Clayface.” Batman’s ex-Outsiders teammate, Looker, comes to his aid and saves him. Karlo is defeated. On another positive note, Clayface III and Clayface IV fall in love and fly off into the sunset! (Hint: Clay Baby coming soon.)

–Captain Atom #33
Captain Atom’s powers have disappeared (temporarily) and he is in panic mode, unsure if he can hack it as a superhero without quantum abilities. Fearing that he will lose his position with the JLE, Captain Atom visits Batman in Gotham and begs him to call Max Lord and tell him he’s still good to go. Batman agrees, but not before he verifies firsthand whether or not a powerless Captain Atom is worth a damn. Batman and Captain Atom go on patrol, meeting with Commissioner Gordon, who shows them a grisly murder scene. Scarecrow henchman Stan Trowell and his entire family have killed themselves while under the influence of a new strain of Fear Gas that Scarecrow had been testing. Batman and Captain Atom then take to the streets, bust a few crook heads, and then confront Scarecrow, who doses Captain Atom with the new fumes. Captain Atom has a nightmare where General Wade Eiling nukes the entire city, killing everyone. This is an amazing bit of foreshadowing here since Eiling will later become a super-villain. The heroes shake off the effects of the drug and bring a subdued Scarecrow back to Arkham. Batman says he will make the call to Lord—it’s a moot call anyway since Captain Atom will soon regain his quantum powers.

–Detective Comics Annual #2
When a cold case involving former members of the KKK seemingly warms up, Bruce takes a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about his training years with Chu Chin Li, specifically when the master sent him (under the pseudonym “Frank Dixon”) to racially-torn Birmingham, Alabama to study under detective extraordinaire Harvey Harris. While Bruce studied under Harris, the latter was murdered by the KKK. Now, all these years later, Bruce is finally able to solve the mystery behind his mentor’s death.

–REFERENCE: In the B&W second feature to Batman: Gotham Knights #42. December 31. Bruce meets photographer Georgia Gerstner at a New Year’s Eve Party. Bruce also befriends art gallery owner JD. The second feature to Gotham Knights #42, which occurs in Bat Year 18, tells us that Bruce often visits JD’s gallery openings and always spends a lot of money at them. These visits won’t be documented on our timeline, but we should imagine them happening randomly throughout our chronology from here on out.

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1. ^[1]TENZEL KIM / COLLIN COLSHER: JLA Incarnations #6 Part 1 barely fits in with JLI Annual #2 and JLI #14-17, but it must go before JLI #15 due to Mr. Miracle’s presence in the story. He gets kidnapped in JLI #15, so JLA Incarnations #6 Part 1 needs to be before that. Plus, Guy Gardner returns to his old brash self before that storyline is over.↩
2. ^[2]COLLIN COLSHER: Here’s a little bit more about the metaphysico-theologic-cosmology of the DC multiverse. The Source Wall exists at the edge of each universe and operates as as the first barrier between gaining access to an alternate universe (although there are other means of traveling to alternate universes such as Boom Tube technology, metahuman speed/vibrational/teleportation abilities, some sci-fi devices, etc…). As revealed in the canonical-across-all-continuities flashback from Justice League Vol. 4 #22, the Source Wall was created 15 billion years ago when the Judges of the Source, the Monitor, the Anti-Monitor, and the World Forger fought against Perpetua and her armies (comprised of warriors of her own creation). (Despite being associated with the Light, Perpetua has gone rogue and rebelled against the Source.) Upon defeat, Perpetua’s fellow Great Hand super-celestials trapped Perpetua and her armies in the Source Wall, which was created by the Source specifically to be a prison for them. Notably, DNA from the Perpetua’s warriors wound-up providing the evolutionary building blocks for proto-human life and proto-Martian life to emerge on their respective planets billions of years later. Also notable, since that time, the Source Wall has trapped many other adventurers that have dared attempt breaching through to the other side. These imprisoned explorers appear—intermixed with Perpetua’s frozen warriors—as gigantic stone idols attached to the face of the Source Wall. Beyond the Source Wall is the Source itself, which also separates the various universes. Within the Source resides the mysterious and dangerous Anti-Life. And of course, also beyond the Source Wall exists the Bleed, a tesseract space that serves as the final blank void/highway between universes. The Monitors refer to the Bleed as Ultramentsruum. Marvel Comics refers to the Bleed as “The Superflow.” Notably, all of this cosmology was created as a joint Marvel/DC project! Walt Simonson and Chris Claremont, inspired by the works of the illustrious Jack Kirby, devised this shared cosmology for their 1982 Uncanny X-Men/New Teen Titans crossover. The term “Bleed” was first coined by Warren Ellis in 1999, in Planetary #1 and The Authority #1.↩
3. ^[3]COLLIN COLSHER: Secret Origins Special is a wonderful book, but it’s non-canon (aside from the great Penguin story, entitled “The Killing Peck”)—hence its inclusion as a flashback on our list here. (Secret Origins Special contains one narrative that details a newscaster interviewing Batman’s rogues for a TV special, with each interview functioning as a section of the main story.) Here are the reasons the rest of the issue is non-canon: First, there are a ton of Two-Face bits that are just way off base and don’t jibe with anything else continuity-wise. I won’t even get into these errors, as there are so many. And, secondly, while the Riddler tale is one of the finest comics I’ve ever perused, both in its prose and for its aesthetic value, author Neil Gaiman has a bit of non-canon fun with it and treats it as a meta-commentary about how the comic industry morphed from the camp of the 60s into the “dark age” of the 80s. Gaiman cleverly throws in lots of direct references to non-canon camp villains from the Adam West TV show. Even the dramatic oversize props that litter the mise-en-scène harken back to a different Golden era—an epoch that registers more clearly with a past continuity.

   VINCE: “The Killing Peck” by Alan Grant and Sam Kieth is a pretty good Penguin origin story from Secret Origins Special #1 (1989). Penguin captures a mob guy named Sharkey who he went to school with as a child. Sharkey teased Cobblepot because of his protruding gut and long nose, calling him “Penguin,” and years later he adopted the name and persona as a villain. Batman is in it too, pursuing the Penguin as he tortures Sharkey (which, by the way, he does by feeding him fish through a funnel..). Don’t see why it couldn’t be canon. The really cool Riddler origin by Neil Gaiman and BEM (Bernie Mireault!) in the same book where Riddler tells his own origin to reporters could be canon as well, but that’s a tough personal headcanon call. The equally good Two-Face origin story by Mark Verheiden doesn’t line up with Long Halloween, so it should probably be excluded.↩

4. ^[4]COLLIN COLSHER: On the canonicity of Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth—it’s definitely experimental, there’s no doubt. Steeped in heavy symbolism, over-the-top surrealism, and interpretive psychological horror, the incarcerated villains are not visually portrayed as they typically are in other comics. But this is merely meant as a psychological deconstruction of the characters, befit for the thematic setting of the mad house in Morrison’s story. You can’t look at Maxie Zeus, Clayface, Dr. Destiny, or Joker as is. These are meant to be phantasmagorical abstract representations of the characters that jibe with the uncanny nature of the tale. The same can be said of Batman in the story. Even Morrison, in annotated scripts, has said Batman in Arkham Asylum exists the “symbolic concept” of the darkest excesses of the character. Morrison has also said, “The portrayal of Batman [in Arkham Asylum] is not definitive and not how I would write the character otherwise,” citing that the depiction was meant to be a “critique of the ’80s interpretation of Batman as violent, driven, and borderline psychopathic.” So, yes, there’s certainly an argument to made for Arkham Asylum not being canon. However, I place the burden of finding proof of Arkham Asylum‘s non-canonicity on those that are against it. Looking beyond Morrison’s psychedelic lens, there’s a fairly straightforward narrative at play, one that reasonably fits on the timeline. Being one of the most distinguished comics of all time, one that definitely influenced later writers’ psychological profiles of the Bat-Rogues, I’d say Arkham Asylum is not only canon, but a rather important piece of canon as well. If you are seeking some definitive nail in the coffin link to Modern Age canon, the backstory of Arkham’s history (which is told in the story) is definitive and can’t be ignored. Overall, you’ll find many people saying it’s non-canon or only partly-canon, while others say it’s fully-canon. Others still will say that it’s Batman’s fever dream or some drug induced nightmare. That, my dear readers, is up to you to decide. For further more info about Morrison’s Arkham Asylum, check out a lovely Quora write-up/companion piece by site contributor Mike Thompson.↩
5. ^[5]COLLIN COLSHER: Originally, in 1988, Babs didn’t spend that much time in the hospital after getting shot, thus allowing her to be present (albeit in a wheelchair) for Jason’s funeral. However, in 1996, the publication of The Batman Chronicles #5 gave Babs a more realistic ten week stint at the hospital. Thus, her appearance at Jason’s funeral must merely be part of a quick temporary release, as we have fanwanked above.↩
6. ^[6]COLLIN COLSHER: Notably, Richard Dragon #7 shows that Connor Hawke trained with Richard Dragon at some point in the past. In Richard Dragon #7, Dragon seems to think that Hawke was sent his way by Batman, but this cannot be the case. (Dragon has long mistakenly assumed that every single anonymous stranger that comes his way for training must be linked to Batman. It’s only most of them.)↩
7. ^[7]MARVofSINCITY (MATT): The Question #26 doesn’t include Batman, but it takes place now and features the Riddler and Commissioner Gordon. This issue is the first time Riddler’s original last name of Nashton (before he changed it to Nigma) is revealed for the Modern Age.↩
8. ^[8]COLLIN COLSHER: Justice League America #27 is the first time Batman meets Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) in the comics. However, Huntress: Year One retconned this—Batman first meets a debuting Huntress in Bat Year Nine. Thus, we must ignore the fact that Batman seems to be meeting Huntress for the first time here.↩
9. ^[9]COLLIN COLSHER: In Nightwing Vol. 2 Annual #2 Dick says to Babs that he was away on Tamaran. This is incorrect. He was actually on New Cronus. (There had been a recent prior trip to Tamaran before this, but New Cronus is the correct response.)↩
10. ^[10]COLLIN COLSHER: In The New Titans #55, Dick mentions that he was Robin for a whopping twelve years. We may be in Year Twelve now, but Dick was Robin for about four years. Also, someone in the issue mentions that he “thinks” Jason died a week or so ago. He thinketh incorrectly. It’s been longer than that.↩