Modern YEAR TWENTY-THREE (Part 1)

2011 (January to April)^[1]
_______________________________

THE IMPOSTOR WARS Part 1
——————–Detective Comics #867-868
——————–Detective Comics #869 Part 1
January 1-11. These issues overlap with Red Robin #9-10 and Batgirl Vol. 3 #8 (which are listed together in an upcoming note). Before we begin, let me quote writer David Hine from a Newsarama interview regarding this tale: “Batman isn’t readily identifiable as either Dick Grayson or Bruce Wayne. That was deliberate… My brief was to write this story with an archetypal Batman whom regular readers could identify as either Dick or Bruce. Knowing that readers would be looking for clues, I was very careful to make the character plausibly ambiguous.” Very annoying. With that in mind, we should ignore every time Dick acts a bit too Bruce-like. Also there are several scenes in this arc that take place in the Batcave. Don’t forget that this is Oracle’s HQ at the moment, not Batman’s.^[2] Ok, here we go. Six days ago, The Jokerz, a group of non-criminal Joker-impersonating thrill-seekers, began organizing flash-mob acts of vandalism all over Gotham, thus starting “The Impostor Wars.” To achieve extreme levels of vandalism, the Jokerz have been taking temporary doses of Joker Juice (Joker Venom) and run amok. Batman had been ignoring the Jokerz, but when lives are lost during a flash-mobbing, the Dark Knight is forced to get involved. The leader of the Jokerz, known simply as the Impostor Joker, leads a violent rally against the GCPD, during which more lives are lost despite the intervention of both Batman and the Question. In response, a debuting Impostor Batman declares publicly that he and the Guardian Bats will use lethal force to eliminate the Jokerz. The first four days of the Impostor Wars, which will overlap with the next two notes and take us into January, will be bloody and violent. In order to better understand the Jokerz, Batman tries a dose of Joker Juice and trips for a while, much to Alfred’s dismay. When he recovers, it’s two straight days of chaotic, bloody “Impostor War” violence, with no end in sight. On January 11, Batman and Alfred discuss the carnage of the “Impostor Wars.” The conflict will enter a lull in action beginning now, which will free up room for other stories.

–NOTE: In Red Robin #9-10 and Batgirl Vol. 3 #8. January 9-11. Red Robin #9-10, immediately followed by Batgirl Vol. 3 #8, occurs while the first part of the “Impostor Wars” is going down. Tim is finally back in Gotham. After beating up Killer Moth, Tim ponders whether or not he should tell Dick about the cave painting in Iraq. After Ra’s al Ghul announces that he is in Gotham and threatens to hurt the Bat-Family, Tim rushes to the Batcave and is shocked to find Stephanie Brown there wearing her Batgirl costume. Red Robin then teams-up with Batgirl to prevent ninjas from assassinating Leslie Thompkins (as seen in Batgirl Vol. 3 #8). Prudence then joins them in the fight against the League of Assassins.

–Red Robin #11-15
January 11-14. These issues pick up right where Red Robin #10/Batgirl Vol. 3 #8 leave off. Ra’s al Ghul forces Tommy Elliot (still playing the public role of “Bruce Wayne”) to work for him, thus gaining vital access into the inner-workings of Wayne Enterprises. Ra’s al Ghul also sends ninjas to kill Alfred, Babs, Tam Fox, Lucius Fox, Batgirl, Batman, Robin, Catwoman, Jim Gordon, Vicki Vale, and Julie Madison. Yes, Julie Madison has apparently moved back to Gotham for the first time in twenty-one years and Ra’s feels she is relevant enough to put on the hit list. Weird. Unfortunately for the ninja sent to kill Tam, she is being interviewed by Vicki Vale, who is one tough cookie and knocks out the assassin. Vicki tries to get Tam to admit that Tim is a superhero. Tam, about to crack under the pressure, blurts out that she and Tim are engaged to throw Vicki off course. Meanwhile, Red Robin meets with Batman and Robin, who demand to know what is going on with Ra’s al Ghul in Gotham. Tim tells Dick that he is leading this mission and that everything is under control. And everything is under control. Tim has already protected everyone on the hit list by providing them each with their own personal protector from either the Network or Teen Titans. An angry Ra’s al Ghul begins sword fighting with Tim, who also reveals that his play to control Tommy Elliot has been counteracted as well. Lucius Fox has invoked a special clause in Bruce’s will deeming him unfit to run the company, based upon his (Tommy’s) recent erratic behavior. Tim is now the CEO of Wayne Enterprises! This is the reason Lucius sent his daughter abroad to locate Tim months ago. This legal clause also makes Tim an emancipated minor—remember, Tim is 20-years-old, so the term “minor” here means under-21. (For details regarding Tim’s age, see “How Old is Tim Drake?”.) After Dick saves Tim from Ra’s al Ghul, Tim reunites with the Bat-Family in the Batcave and finally tells them that Bruce is alive and lost in time somewhere! Tim also says that there are clues to finding him in Wayne Manor. Dick and Alfred give each other hangdog looks, probably thinking that it was crappy of them to keep Tim out of the loop for so long. The whole “lost in time” and “clues in the Manor” are exciting new angles which Alfred and Dick had never even thought of. However, Damian is quite skeptical about the “lost in time” aspect. In any case, a legitimate investigation can finally begin. Damian also tells Tim that he’s filed motions for a “vote of no confidence” in his leadership of Wayne Enterprises in an attempt to become CEO himself, despite only being an eleven-year-old. While Tim recovers from injuries, he sketches-out a new costume design for himself (a very slightly altered version of his current duds), which Alfred tailors. (As referenced in The Batman Files, Alfred keeps Tim’s costume sketches and puts them with Bruce’s scrapbooking stuff.) Fully-recovered, Tim tells the Bat-Family that his days of “self-punishment” are over. Tim then takes to the streets for a patrol in his new Red Robin costume. We (the readers) also learn that Ra’s al Ghul was merely testing Tim to see if he was worthy of producing an heir with his debuting unnamed half-sister! Ra’s al Ghul’s unnamed sister is a member of The Daughters of Acheron, a group of women that all share the same father. It is unclear if their common father, “Acheron,” is in fact the Sensei (making them all Ra’s al Ghul’s half-sisters) or if this is Ra’s al Ghul’s sole half-sister on his mother’s side. Moving on: The next night, Alfred re-opens Wayne Manor and sweeps the property in search of clues while Batman, Robin, and Red Robin all go on patrol (as referenced in Batman & Robin #10). While Dick and Damian apprehend Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Tim begins hunting bad guys on his “wanted super-villain checklist.” First on the list is Lynx, who has become a villain and taken control of the Chinatown mobs. Tim easily apprehends Lynx, who tells him that she is a hero working undercover. Tim doesn’t care, drops her off with the cops, and crosses her off the list. Afterward, Dick goes on unspecified official JLA business, possibly regarding the investigation into locating Bruce. While Dick is away, Tim continues going after targets on his hit list, easily busting Brutale. Meanwhile, Damian learns that Tim also has a “not to be trusted superhero list” as well. And guess who makes the number one spot on the list? Damian. Robin then angrily fistfights Red Robin in Crime Alley until Dick returns to break them up. The action continues as Tim comes up with a plan to fool Vicki Vale into thinking that he isn’t Red Robin. The ruse, which involves a quicksilver Miss Martian shapeshifting into the form of Tim Drake and getting shot by Scarab, serves to both successfully fool Vicki and also to capture Scarab. However, Tim must now publicly wear leg braces and will walk with crutches for several months in order to continue tricking Vicki.

–NOTE: In Batgirl Vol. 3 #9-12.^[3] Batman isn’t involved in these issues, but they are important. Oracle moves her Birds of Prey operations into a secret high-tech bunker known as Firewall. Not long after, Oracle’s latest Birds of Prey protégé, another person with paraplegia named Wendy Harris, adopts the codename Proxy. Wendy—who has also used the last names Kuttler and White—is the Calculator’s daughter and niece of Bruce’s former mentor Harvey Harris. Wendy is also a canon immigrant from The Super Friends cartoon—she’s Wendy of Wendy and Marvin. Yes, that Wendy!

–Justice League: Generation Lost #10
The JLI continues their hunt for Maxwell Lord even though no one else even knows of his existence. Concurrently, Batman, Alfred, and Power Girl examine video and imagery of Lord, but thanks to Lord’s mind-wipe all they see are regular listings of other people who share the common name “Max Lord,” not the Max Lord. Batman and Power Girl feel like something is off, so they decide to alert the superhero community about the possibility of global psychic tampering. But before they can act, the mind-wipe makes them forget what they were doing. Lord’s telepathic deception continues.

–FLASHBACK: From Power Girl Vol. 2 #16-17. The flashbacks from Power Girl Vol. 2 #16-17 pick up right where the Batman scene from Justice League: Generation Lost #10 leaves off. Power Girl and Batman have literally just forgotten about Max Lord again, and continue with other business. Dick uses his computer database in the Bunker to help Power Girl locate a woman who has stolen millions of dollars from her tech company, Starrware. Power Girl immediately flies to Thailand only to find the suspect dead. Dick then sets Power Girl up with a Bat-Bunker of her own (I guess you could call it a Power Bunker) with computer genius Nicholas Cho acting as her version of Oracle. Three days later, Power Girl and the Dark Knight bust the heads of some hi-tech arms dealers and learn that Power Girl’s stolen property is in Antarctica. Power Girl briefly flirts with Dick before heading south.

–Superman #700 Part 3
Over a month has passed since the tragic end of the Kryptonian-Earth War. Superman is called before a Congressional Committee to determine if he can still be trusted as Earth’s primary savior. In the end, Superman proves his allegiance and addresses the media. When a tearful woman slaps Superman in the face and yells at him for being away on New Krypton while her husband died on Earth, the Man of Steel is shaken to the core. After meeting with Dick aboard the Watchtower to test a new “cosmic threat detector” that has been stationed outside Jupiter’s orbit, Superman chats with Flash and decides that he has ignored the little things for far too long. Supes decides he is done ignoring the problems of the average man in favor of confronting the metahuman super-villain. Thus, he begins a walking tour of the United States designed not only to help with all non-super-villain-related problems, but to reconnect with the average American citizen as well.

–Batman: Streets of Gotham #12-13 (“THE CARPENTER’S TALE”)
Batman busts some pool-playing mobsters and briefly bumps into Jenna Duffy (The Carpenter). Jenna is then offered a lucrative job by the Broker, who has just set up eccentric newcomer, The Director, with an abandoned movie-house hideout. The Carpenter rebuilds the theater and constructs various death traps so that the Director can achieve his ultimate goal: shooting a snuff film where Batman dies. Haven’t we seen this exact gimmick done before? Has Paul Dini given up entirely? Meanwhile, Damian meets with Colin Wilkes (Abuse) and, without Dick’s permission, provides the ten-year-old hulk with a private downtown garage and a superhero motorbike called the “Cycle of Abuse.” Batman teams-up with the Carpenter, who is betrayed by her employer, and easily defeats the Director and his crew. Afterward, Batman tells Jenna to leave town for good.

–Superman/Batman #75 Part 5
Tim tells Dick about how he (Tim) and Cassie Sandsmark have been making-out when they are sad. Dick tells Tim never to tell Conner Kent about the smooching, since Conner and Cassie have dated on-and-off-again for years.

–Detective Comics #869 Part 2
January 18. On Day 18 of the “Impostor Wars,” all has been eerily quiet with not so much as a peep from the Jokerz or the Guardian Bats. Batman and Commissioner Gordon discuss the ominous break in the action.

–DCU Halloween Special 2010 #1 Part 2
This is a Halloween Special story, but it doesn’t seem to take place on Halloween, hence why I’ve put it here. Dick and Damian do some vampire slaying in Gotham and team-up with benevolent vampire Andrew Bennett (from I…Vampire!) to eliminate the evil coven of nosferatu known as the Cult of the Blood Red Moon.

–Superman #702-703 (“GROUNDED”)
Dick hears about Superman’s walking tour of America and decides to check up on him. After spying on him in Detroit and Cincinnati, Dick is surprised to find the Man of Steel using Bruce-like intimidation tactics on small-time offenders. Dick confronts Superman and tells him that this whole “grounded” thing is a negative reaction to the loss of New Krypton, which Superman has yet to recover from. Before departing, Dick continues by saying that Superman can’t ignore the larger metahuman problems in the DCU in favor of the plight of the average man as it would be irresponsible. Afterward, when rock debris from the destroyed New Krypton plummets onto Earth and bestows people with super strength, Superman battles one of the new metas, but winds up demolishing most of the small town of Danville, Ohio in the process. Aboard the Watchtower, Dick watches a news broadcast of the event, which highlights the complaints of many Danville residents in stone cold contemplation. (Shortly after his encounter in Danville, Superman will heed Dick’s advice and decide to stop ignoring the larger threats in the DCU. However, his “Grounded” walking tour will still continue sporadically for the next two months, so have no fear, average man.)

–Superman/Batman #77
While Dick is away on unspecified official Justice League business, Damian captures Killer Croc all by himself and then is confronted by Supergirl, who is looking for Batman’s help on a mass murder case in Metropolis. With Dick busy, Damian travels to Metropolis with Supergirl. They go undercover at a college Halloween party and find the murderer: Scarecrow. Scarecrow had killed a few LexCorp interns as revenge for an altercation with Luthor during Blackest Night. Halloween is merely topical here and unfortunately must be disregarded for this story. Let’s call it a college masquerade party instead. With the case closed, Supergirl drops Damian back home at the Bunker where Dick teases the Boy Wonder about “going on a date with Supergirl.”

–Justice League of America Vol. 2 #50-53 (“OMEGA”)
While the newest incarnation of the JLA trains at the Hall of Justice in Washington DC, a distraught Tangent Green Lantern shows up claiming that the populace of Earth-9 have been decimated by a plague of lethal energy that was released by a dark-matter bomb. The dark-matter bomb was apparently created by Alexander Luthor and triggered when he was murdered by Joker (at the conclusion of Infinite Crisis)! The wave of devastation was on a time-delay and only now has begun to wreak havoc upon random sections of the multiverse, including not only Universe-9, but the Antimatter Universe as well. (The dark-matter bomb actually began to mess with the Antimatter Earth several months ago.) With their world in ruins, the Crime Syndicate of Amerika sneaks onto Earth-0. (I should mention that, due to the ever-shifting reality of the Antimatter Universe, Ultraman has been resurrected from the dead. If you recall, he died during Final Crisis. Not only has Ultraman been resurrected, he actually retains hazy dreamlike memories of his own death as well.) Oh yeah, remember when Doctor Impossible and his cronies pilfered all those cosmic artifacts months ago and used them to build a machine which can access any Earth in the multiverse? Well, it turns out that Impossible was working for Owlman, who is finally executing his master plan. The CSA (with Impossible, Hunter, Neon Black, and Tender Mercy) attacks the JLA (with Tangent Green Lantern). Owlman is able to fight off Batman and break into the Hall morgue, stealing Alexander Luthor’s corpse out of its coffin. Apparently Impossible’s “Multiverse Machine,” when combined with Owlman’s tech and the power of a kidnapped Blue Jay, also functions as a “Resurrection Machine,” which Owlman wants to use to revive Alex Luthor, the only man who knows how to stop the dark-matter wave from destroying the multiverse. However, Impossible and crew double-cross Owlman and attempt to resurrect their fallen leader Darkseid! The attempt fails and instead causes the dark-matter energy to manifest into an anthropomorphic being known as the Omega Man. Omega Man immediately kills Hunter, Neon Black, and Tender Mercy then proclaims that he will not only steal everyone’s souls, but he will continue to destroy the multiverse. Jade is able to create a giant impenetrable energy-dome around Washington DC which prevents Omega Man from leaving, but unfortunately seals everyone inside with him. Outside, literally every DCU superhero tries in vain to break through the wall. Inside, the JLA continues to battle the CSA while dealing with Omega Man at the same time. Supergirl damages the Resurrection Machine and frees Blue Jay from captivity. Omega Man is then able to activate the hidden Starheart energy within Supergirl, who transforms into the old black-costumed “bad-girl” version of her character (from her debut story-arc in Superman/Batman). Bad-girl Supergirl then makes-out with Batman and proclaims her badness to all. Batman then forms a truce with Owlman and the CSA joins forces with the JLA against Omega Man, who easily murders the latest version of Power Ring. In a twist, Ultraman and Supergirl join forces with Omega Man. Shocked, Batman submits and kneels in surrender. Omega Man then orders the JLA and CSA to fix the “Resurrection Machine,” which he can use to escape from Jade’s prison. Once the “R-Machine” is rebuilt, the CSA double-crosses the JLA and reveals that they were aiding Omega Man all along. The JLA appears to be defeated, but when Omega Man activates the “R-Machine” a surprising result occurs. Supergirl reveals that she may have a new attitude, but don’t worry guys and gals, she’s still a hero and has only been pretending to be on Omega Man’s side. Likewise, Batman anticipated that the CSA would double-cross him, so he countered with a double-cross of his own! Before completion of the “R-Machine,” Tangent Green Lantern had used her convenient meta-power–the “ability to resurrect someone so that he or she can complete one final act of redemption”–to resurrect Alexander Luthor! Luthor is able to tweak the “R-Machine” to suck Omega Man inside of it and turn him into a cure for the deadly dark-matter plague. Omega Man, reduced to “good” energy, is shot around the multiverse, curing what is left of all the damaged worlds. Jade’s protective dome is released and all the heroes celebrate the victory.

–Detective Comics #869 Part 3
January 22-23. On the eleventh day of silence from both the Jokerz and Guardian Bats, Batman and Oracle discover the secret identity of the Impostor Joker: Winslow Heath. Heath, who permanently looks exactly like the real Joker due to a Joker Juice attack way back in Bat Year 10, has had a personal vendetta against the Dark Knight for thirteen years. The reason for the eleven day hiatus of the Impostor Wars was so that Heath and his lieutenant Dr. Kaligari could stockpile a mass quantity of extra potent Joker Juice, with which they plan to drop on the entire city. Heath, using his influence as the philanthropic head of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Gotham, organizes a large festival/carnival known as Bartholomew’s Fair (where he plans to commit this atrocious deed). Dick confronts Heath at Heath’s pharmaceutical headquarters, but is unable to bring him to justice due to lack of evidence. Dick and Babs have no choice but to wait for the fair, which is scheduled for exactly one week from now.

–REFERENCE: In Batman & Robin #10. Dick and Alfred learn that the JLA, upon further examination of the Bat-clone, has confirmed Bruce has been sent back in time by Darkseid’s mysterious Omega Sanction.

–NOTE: In the second feature to Batman: Streets of Gotham #16. Two-Face makes a full recovery from his multiple stab wounds and returns to Gotham with a vengeance.

–FLASHBACK: From Joker’s Asylum II: Riddler #1. Batman battles an escaped Riddler and his henchmen as they try to rob the Gotham Art Museum. Riddler flees the museum successfully, falls in love with an art student, and will “go straight” for the next couple of months following the heist. This flashback is narrated entirely by Joker himself, so much of it may be apocryphal. However, its basic elements are most likely canonical. Note that, in the Batman-less “present day” Joker narration portion of the story (which occurs later this year, after Batman and Robin #16), we don’t see Penguin in Arkham Asylum, but we do see an Arkham cell with Penguin’s name on it. We must ignore this. At this stage in the game, Penguin definitely wouldn’t be in Arkham.

–NOTE: In a flashback from Batman & Robin #18. Bruce’s former girlfriend, Una Nemo, is seemingly killed during a robbery attempt by several armed bandits who are immediately arrested and sentenced. A Jane Doe is later discovered in the harbor and mistaken for Una. In actuality, Una has survived the attack despite getting shot in the head and now has a permanent giant hole in her skull. Una will learn that she has “Dandy Walker Syndrome,” meaning that her head is literally empty, her brain in a snake-like coil that clings to the inside of her skull. Thus, when she was shot, the blast gouged a permanent massive hole in her head, but went through clean. Una will keep her return a secret for now.

–Batman & Robin #10-12 (“BATMAN VS. ROBIN”)
Damian recently filed a “vote of no confidence” against Tim’s leadership of Wayne Enterprises. Our story begins with the ten-year-old addressing the Wayne board of executives, although it is unclear if Tim or Damian is really in charge at this point. Among the board members is Treadwell, who is secretly embezzling funds from Wayne Enterprises. In either case, Lucius Fox is still technically running the company. Meanwhile, Simon Hurt orders Oberon Sexton to kill Batman. However, Sexton disobeys, thus incurring the wrath of Hurt, who unleashes upon Gotham his assassins known as the 99 Fiends—a literal army of demonic-themed warriors, including Naberius, Duke Zepar, Belial, and 96 more. With orders to kill both Sexton and Batman, the 99 Fiends begin their anabasis. Batman and Robin then meet at Wayne Manor (which was closed-up for six months prior to its recent re-opening) where Alfred has had a breakthrough in the investigation into the whereabouts of Bruce. After re-hanging the Wayne family portraits in order, Alfred noticed something strange about the pictures of Mordecai Wayne, Joshua Wayne, and Darius Wayne. Alfred also notes that Mordecai’s portrait was the last painting found and added to the collection. Mordecai doesn’t seem to fit into the genealogy very well. (SPOILER: This is because Mordecai IS Bruce.) Dick thinks Bruce is sending clues from the past somehow through the pictures (and he HAS, as we will learn shortly). Dick and Damian soon find a secret passage inside the Wayne Manor library, from which Dick falls through the floor into the hidden room that Bruce has kept secret for over two decades. Meanwhile, Talia and Deathstroke are controlling Damian through his new spine! Damian is temporarily able to fight off his controllers, escaping to the Wayne Cemetery where Sexton is hiding from the converging 99 Fiends. Underneath Wayne Manor, Dick finds himself in a creepy occult ritual catacomb devoted to the worship of the bat demon Barbatos. The name “Thomas Wayne” is painted everywhere. Alfred radio-informs Dick that Thomas Wayne was the black sheep of the Wayne family, who was ostracized for Satan worship in 1765. Curiously, the paint used to write his name is relatively fresh—(fresh because Hurt wrote on the wall less than a year ago). From this Barbatos room, Dick finds an underground railway that leads to a cave on the opposite side of the mansion from where the Batcave is located. In this cave, Dick finds a statue of Barbatos and a tiny casket with a Bat-symbol on it. Upon retrieving the casket, Dick is mauled by a giant bat! (SPOILER: This is the Hyper-Adapter in bat form retreating backward through time after its defeat at the end of The Return of Bruce Wayne.) Dick runs away and realizes that he is directly below the cemetery. Above ground, Robin and Sexton fight off the 99 Fiends. Robin, under Deathstroke’s control, knocks out Sexton. A dazed and injured Dick crawls out of a mausoleum in the Wayne Cemetery exclaiming that he has “found it,” only to be attacked by Robin. Batman electrocutes Robin, thus breaking the spinal link. Meanwhile, the 99 Fiends steal the mini-coffin, chanting “Barbatos” as they escape. Back in the Batcave, the heroes wonder how it is possible that all the new secret passages exist, or have gone unnoticed for so long. Alfred also wonders if the giant bat was a hallucination. Is it truly possible that Bruce, since getting zapped by the Omega Sanction, has been altering the past to turn the uninhabited Manor into one giant clue? Yes! Makes me wonder if Alfred and Dick would have found the hints right away if they hadn’t decided to close-up the mansion and move downtown. Anyway, a suborbital rocket ride and 25 minutes later, Batman and Robin confront Talia at her tropical HQ, where Talia reveals the existence of a cloned month-old Damian fetus! (SPOILER: This baby will be known as The Heretic when it is born out of its artificial womb. The origins of the Heretic are fully revealed in the New 52 Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #7.) Talia kicks Damian out for good, telling him he is now her enemy for life. Back in Gotham, Simon Hurt has returned (!) along with the only surviving “Finger” of the Black Glove, Senator Vine (aka “The Texan”). After returning home, Dick and Damian accompany Alfred into the newly found secret cave, where they find the tattered cape and cowl that Bruce was wearing when he “died.” (This is the ancient Miagani relic: The ultimate clue to finding Bruce.) Dick then visits Sexton, who reveals his true identity: Joker! The Joker is immediately incarcerated at GCPD HQ (as referenced in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3).

–REFERENCE: In the Rip Hunter timesphere sequence in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1. The timesphere sequence in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 roughly overlaps with Batman & Robin #12. While Batman and Robin are dealing with all the ridiculousness at Wayne Manor and with Talia overseas, Rip Hunter assembles a team of Booster Gold, Skeets, Superman, and Hal Jordan (known collectively as the Time Masters) and explains that Bruce is a living doomsday weapon now that the Hyper-Adapter is linked to him. Hunter and his team travel to 38,000 BCE in search of Bruce, but arrive too late. Bruce has already Omega-leaped to the 1640s with the Hyper-Adapter in tow.

–NOTE: In a reference in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 and also through flashback from Batman #702. Rip Hunter, Superman, and company return to the present and bring back the rocketship time capsule, which has Bruce’s fingerprints all over it. The Time Masters also bring back Bruce’s final recorded entry of the Black Casebook, which they share with Red Robin. Rip and Superman (along with Booster, Skeets, and Hal) depart into the timestream in search of Bruce once again.

–NOTE: In the Time Masters: Vanishing Point series. Rip Hunter’s rescue team continues to unsuccessfully search for Bruce. However, after deciding to visit Vanishing Point (the former HQ of the Linear Men that not only resides at the literal “End of Time” mere moments before universal entropic heat destruction, but which also houses all the historical information that has ever existed), the team will run into complications that will result in their inability to contact the present. Rip’s team will also be knocked through time and space as well. Rip and company will eventually make it to Vanishing Point, but not for a bit, and we’ll get to that a later.

THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE Part 2
——————–Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2 Part 2
——————–Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3-4
Flashback to the 1640s. Bruce, as “Mordecai,” has been in a relationship with Gotham witch Annie and become a prominent member of the Gotham community for quite some time now. He has also been reluctantly working with his distant ancestor Nathaniel Wayne, the bigoted and spiteful witch-hunter extraordinaire. (Nathaniel is the earliest known patriarch of the Wayne family tree.) Bruce, as “Mordecai,” poses for sketches by artist Martin Van Derm, whose future ancestor Catherine will later marry into the Wayne family. Bruce gives Van Derm explicit instructions that will ensure that a portrait based upon these sketches winds up as a hint for his friends in the future. And, indeed, Dick does discover this clue, as we saw in Batman & Robin #10-12). When the Hyper-Adapter rears its ugly tentacled face once again, Bruce charges into the woods to face it in combat. Meanwhile, Nathaniel takes this opportunity to arrest and execute a defenseless Annie.  Before being burned at the stake as a witch, Annie places a black magick curse on Nathaniel and his kin for all time, unaware that her lover is secretly a Wayne as well. Later, while Bruce fights the Hyper-Adapter, a solar eclipse hurtles both of them roughly 75 years into the future to 1718. Bruce, with his memory of the 1640s fading fast (luckily he has with him a detailed journal which he kept during his time as “Mordecai”), washes up on the shores of Gotham Bay along with Jack Valor aka the Black Pirate. Valor has been run aground by his rival: Commodore Thatch aka Blackbeard aka Vandal Savage! Yes, Blackbeard is Vandal Savage (as we know from JSA Classified #11).^[4] Blackbeard and his men assume the stronger, tougher Bruce must be the Black Pirate and treat him as such. The villains force Bruce and Valor into the Miagani caves where it is rumored there is buried treasure. The Miagani have laced the caves with numerous deadly booby traps, which Bruce, Valor, Blackbeard, and his men all struggle to avoid. Eventually, Bruce and Valor fight off Blackbeard and his pirates and are taken in by the Miagani, who show them the ancient relic: Batman’s tattered cape, cowl, and belt. Bruce gives Valor the Mordecai journal, tells him everything else he can vaguely remember, and makes him promise to complete several tasks: First, Valor must train with and learn the secrets of the Miagani; second, with the help of the tribe, he must construct a tiny sealed casket with a Bat-symbol on it, which can only be opened with a secret whistle code; and third, Valor must also add everything Bruce said to the Mordecai journal-diary and deliver the book to the Van Derms after several decades have passed. In 1750, after a 30-year career as a superhero inspired by Bruce and the Miagani, Valor will deliver the journal-diary to the Van Derms in a tiny sealed casket with a Bat-symbol on it. Bruce’s other final instruction is for Valor to write a note and place it inside the casket as well. I won’t spoil what the note says, so you’ll just have to wait until we get there. Thus, we finally have the origin of the mini bat-casket, which we’ve seen in Batman & Robin #10-12! (The details regarding the origins of the mini bat-casket and its contents come directly via flashbacks from Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6.) From 1718, a solar eclipse Omega-leaps Bruce to the late 19th century where he quickly settles-in and becomes a masked cowboy vigilante on horseback, starting an overnight full-scale war-on-crime against Vandal Savage and his band of outlaws. In response, Savage hires Jonah Hex (!) to take out Bruce. Meanwhile, in the PRESENT, Batman and Robin re-examine the still highly radioactive Blüdhaven ground zero site of Darkseid’s former clone factory. Concurrently, Red Robin addresses the superhero community and lets everyone know what has happened to Bruce and the situation with the Hyper-Adapter.  Several heroes are in attendance including the JLA, Flash, Wonder Woman, the Atom, Huntress, and Black Canary. Shift back to the PAST now.  It’s the mid-to-late 1800s.  Vandal Savage has allied himself with Thomas Wayne aka Simon Hurt!  Both villains want the secret power which supposedly lies within the Bat-symbol casket.  Savage sends his goons to slaughter the Van Derm family, which has possession of the casket. (We also learn that at some point in the 17th century a Van Derm coupled with a Miagani, thus creating an ancestral link to the Miagani for Catherine and, more importantly, for Bruce!) The Van Derms are all killed except for Catherine Van Derm, who is kidnapped and tortured by Thomas Wayne/Simon Hurt in an attempt to obtain the secret method of opening the box without destroying the supposed contents within. Meanwhile, Bruce, in his dark-rider cowboy garb, battles Savage’s henchmen in the street outside.  Eventually, Savage and Hurt take Catherine and the casket and flee in a covered wagon with Bruce chasing them.  Hex follows as well and a huge rumble takes place that results in a wagon crash that startles a suicidal Alan Wayne. In the chaos, Alan is able to shelter Catherine as Bruce watches over them. This scene is, in many ways, a Back to the Future type moment, where Bruce essentially introduces his great-great-grandparents to each other! Catherine uses a secret Miagani whistle to open the casket. Bruce takes Mordecai/Jack Valor’s journal-diary, but is immediately shot by Hex. (As referenced in The Batman Files, the bullet hits Bruce in the stomach, but it passes through the Mordecai/Valor journal-diary, which makes the shot non-fatal.) Bruce then falls into the river just as the solar eclipse sends him to roughly 1971, the time period shortly after the murders of his parents. (As referenced in The Batman Files, the first thing the injured but momentarily clear-headed Bruce does in 1971 is to frantically write down all he can remember—about Simon Hurt, Jonah Hex, and his time-traveling—into the Mordecai/Valor journal-diary.) The bloody Bruce, still with a bad bullet wound thanks to Hex, scurries onto a busy street and collapses in front of a truck, which hits him. Bruce slips into unconsciousness and is taken to a hospital where he is saved but remains comatose. In the late 1800s, Alan builds Wayne Manor in a grand macabre style to honor the masked bat-cowboy that helped him. This fantastic architectural blueprint includes Bat-symbol-shaped layouts and hidden catacombs that will house and protect the casket for decades to come. Thus, Bruce has literally altered the architecture of Wayne Manor from the past! NOTE: The scenes at Vanishing Point from ROBW #2 are actually a flash-forward to ROBW #6, so we’ll address them later.

–REFERENCE: In Batman & Robin #15-16 and Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5-6. Dick, Damian, and Alfred pool their collective resources and confirm that Simon Hurt is without a doubt Thomas Wayne, the twisted black sheep of the Wayne family, born in the 1730s but endowed with supernatural extended life.  Alfred also reveals that Thomas (Bruce’s father) and Martha Wayne took the wayward Hurt briefly into their lives after realizing the details of his unnatural corruption.  Shortly after trying in vain to help their ancient relative, Hurt (who Thomas and Martha referred to as Thomas Wayne Jr) was confined to Willowood Asylum before disappearing. Dick, Damian, and Alfred also realize that Bruce has been in control of the mini Bat-symbol casket for centuries, meaning the casket that Hurt seeks is not what the villain thinks it is. Thanks to Bruce’s manipulations from the past, Dick has also learned the secret whistle of the Miagani. Advantage: good guys. Dick also delivers the “cape and cowl relic” to Red Robin at the Hall of Justice (as specifically referenced in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5). Plus, Dick learns that Hurt is also “El Penitente” (as specifically referenced in Batman & Robin #16).

–Batman #703
After a high-tech super-villain robs the art museum and makes a clean escape from Batman and Robin, Dick is reminded of one of Bruce’s old foes, the Getaway Genius. Alfred mentions that no one has seen nor heard from the Getaway Genius “in ten years”—(more like thirteen years, but who’s counting?) Meanwhile, Vicki Vale is getting dangerously close to confirming the secret identities of the Bat-Family. (She basically already has, but she just wants definitive proof.) Not only that, Dick also believes that Vicki knows something about the museum heist since she was able to snap perfect close-up photos of the crime. Dick then visits Vicki face-to-face and secretly puts a tracer on her purse. This is the ultimate bonehead move (apparently) because Vicki easily finds the tracer and gains physical proof that Dick, at the very least, is a member of the Bat-Family. Back to the thievery, Batman, Robin, and Red Robin are able to nab the criminal, who reveals herself to be Olivia Reynolds, daughter of the original Getaway Genius.

–Titans #28-30 (“FAMILY REUNIONS”)
The evil “villains-for-hire” Titans team led by Deathstroke has a mission to infiltrate Arkham and free Mad Hatter and the metahuman Allegra Garcia. The Titans, which include a heroin-addicted Arsenal (now out of rehab and strung-out), Cheshire, Tattooed Man, Osiris, and Cinder, break into the asylum with ease.  Naturally, all the prisoners are released and a riot ensues as Zsasz, Clayface, Firefly, Dr. Phosphorus, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Jane Doe, Killer Croc, and Nursery Cryme run amok. Batman is on the scene and fights with Deathstroke before breaking up Osiris and Killer Croc. During the melee, the Titans reassemble and walk out of Arkham untouched with Garcia in tow. Batman’s mere presence is enough to quell the riot and the villains willingly return to their cells.

THE IMPOSTOR WARS Conclusion
——————–Detective Comics #869 Part 4
——————–Detective Comics #870
January 30. It’s been thirty days since the start of the Impostor Wars. It’s been nineteen days since the Jokerz and Guardian Bats laid down their arms and stopped fighting. Hundreds attend Winslow Heath’s Bartholomew’s Fair event, and despite the heroes’ having had a week to prepare for the worst (they’ve been quite busy), Heath’s plan goes off without a hitch and nearly all are immediately Joker Juiced by Kaligari. Immediately afterward, hundreds of Guardian Bats are led by the Impostor Batman into Bartholomew’s Fair where they battle hundreds of drugged-up Jokerz.  Batman struggles in the thick of the fray, but manages to escape into a circus fun house where he confronts the Impostor Batman.  The Caped Crusader easily unmasks the faker, revealing him to be none other than Winslow Heath!  Heath had acted out both the role of Impostor Joker and Impostor Batman from the beginning in order to play both sides against each other, purely to incite a war that would bring the Dark Knight to his knees.  In the end, the Impostor Wars conclude, but not before Heath escapes and 174 people are dead.

THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE Conclusion
——————–Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 Part 1
——————–Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 Part 1
——————–Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2 (Vanishing Point scene)
——————–Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 Part 2
——————–Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 Part 2
Red Robin speaks with the JLA, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Flash in detail about how Bruce is a “living weapon” accumulating Omega energy as he travels closer to the home.  (Don’t forget, Bruce has a deadly Hyper-Adapter along for the ride as well.) In approximately 1971 aka shortly after the death of Bruce’s parents (although Morrison reveals that Gotham was undergoing a serious 20s/30s/40s retro phase at the time), an completely amnesiac Bruce awakens in the hospital. Marsha Lamarr (future wife of Mangrove Pierce, who claims to be Martha Wayne’s “best friend”) recruits Bruce, mistaking him for an amnesiac John Doe, to play the role of the deceased Thomas Wayne (Bruce’s father) in a ruse that will supposedly flush out the Wayne killer. Bruce is told that he will don Thomas’ old masquerade bat-costume and is to appear at an underworld meeting in Wayne Cemetery where all will fall into place. A confused Bruce has no choice but to participate. A nurse gives him a 30s style suit and returns his only possession: the Mordecai/Valor journal-diary. Bruce reads the journal-diary and realizes that half of it is in his own handwriting. Marsha and Bruce then visit Elizabeth “Betsy” Kane and Roderick Kane (Bruce’s grandmother and grandfather on the Kane side) at the Crest Hill Estate (Kane Manor), with Bruce posing as a private-eye. Betsy, who has no love for the Waynes, makes wild claims that Thomas is still alive and is responsible for the execution of her daughter. Betsy also accuses Thomas of drug-abuse, rape, and devil-worship. Roderick tries to moan out Simon Hurt’s name, but is physically incapable of doing so, since he’s been permanently injured by Hurt and confined to an iron lung. After getting the spare Wayne Manor keys from Betsy, Marsha and Bruce travel to Wayne Manor where we learn that young Bruce and Alfred are away on a trip. We also learn that custody of young Bruce was given to Alfred instead of Betsy and Roderick due to the intensity of the falling-out between the Kanes and Waynes. Meanwhile at Willowood Psychiatric Hospital, where Hurt has a post, the villain bribes a nervous young Professor Carter Nichols into participating in an Occult ritual later that night. As night approaches at Wayne Manor, Bruce thinks something is fishy as he puts on the bat-costume, but Marsha distracts him with a kiss. The Black Glove members assemble to perform a Barbatos summoning ritual in the mausoleum at Wayne Cemetery. Simon Hurt, John Mayhew, Carter Nichols, Commissioner Loeb (!), and Mayor Jessup are all in attendance. Bruce emerges from the shadows only to be clubbed from behind by Marsha, who reveals herself as the sixth Black Glove member in attendance. The Black Glove selected the amnesic Bruce as the perfect sacrifice for the ritual since his identity was unknown and nobody would miss him. Hurt plans to use an invention of Nichols to open a hole in time in order to summon Barbatos, the very demon he believes gave him immortality in 1765. (Don’t forget, little does Hurt realize, but the “demon Barbatos” from 1765 was actually the Hyper-Adapter falling backward through time after its defeat at the conclusion of The Return of Bruce Wayne. Barbatos may indeed exist (in several forms), but it was always the Batman-defeated Hyper-Adapter in giant bat form that Hurt ironically got his power from and with which he became so obsessed that he chose to worship it for centuries afterward.) Beyond the actual occult summoning, the ritual also serves a double purpose. Mayhew films the proceedings with Marsha dressed-up and wearing a wig to look like Martha Wayne and Bruce playing the role of his masked father, in what will be used as false documentary evidence to smear the Waynes. After dousing the sacrificial Bruce with gasoline, the villains set him ablaze! However, before things get even more out-of-hand, Nichols turns his back on the Black Glove and refuses to open the time portal. A burning Bruce uses this momentary delay to snatch the device from Nichols’ hands. Bruce activates the machine and teleports into the future. Hurt doesn’t kill Nichols for his disobedience, but instead dooms him to a life of obscurity and failure, despite his genius (which is why Nichols, despite being one of the smartest scientists in the entire DCU goes largely unheralded and largely unseen). Bruce emerges at the furthest point Nichols’ time machine can take him: Vanishing Point, a mere hour before the total destruction of the universe and the literal “End of Time.” The Bush Robot Archivists that oversee Vanishing Point are excited that famous Bruce Wayne will be a part of their final recorded historical entry.^[5] An exhausted and still partially enflamed Bruce collapses and is either nearly dead or in fact may actually be dead, but in either case, the Archivists put him into a “lazarus transfusion machine,” which heals him completely and restores all of his lost memories! The Archivists are also able to capture the Hyper-Adapter and quarantine the beast, albeit only temporarily. Knowing that the Hyper-Adapter will escape at any moment and that the creature is linked to his own mind, Bruce comes up with a plan. He has the Archivists fix him up with a disguise that makes him look like a Bush Robot. Rip Hunter, Superman, Booster Gold, Skeets, and Hal Jordan then show up, having finally caught up, and meet with the Archivist, not knowing that it is Bruce in disguise. Bruce reveals himself to the shock and dismay of Superman and then steals Rip’s timesphere and travels back to the present! As per his request and in accordance with his plan, Bruce’s memory is once again stripped clean when he time-travels (in an attempt to sever the mind-link between he and the Hyper-Adapter). Bruce breaches into the Hall of Justice and appears before Red Robin in a sealed-off room. Tim is surprised to see Bruce, who is wearing a bizarre hybrid Archivist-cyborg Bat-suit. (I really don’t know how else to describe it.) The JLA busts into the room and attacks the future-styled Batman, whose Omega radiation levels are off-the-chart. Concurrently, at Vanishing Point the Time Masters realize that Bruce, in his last act before stealing their timesphere, has constructed a new timesphere (the most advanced timesphere ever made) using the universe’s final technological resources and his temporary Archivist powers. In the present, super Omega Batman uses indescribable powers and advanced future weaponry to easily defeat every single member of the JLA. With Bruce’s mind scrambled and his memory faded, Tim removes his mask and tries to talk down Bruce by making him remember who he is. Bruce recognizes Tim and begins to control himself. Wonder Woman uses her “lasso of truth” on Bruce, who immediately explains his plan to confuse the Hyper-Adapter by erasing his own memory and returning to the present. In an instant, the furious Hyper-Adapter takes full control of Bruce’s body, morphing itself into his cape and cowl. As time itself begins to tear away from space and manifest into its own tangible dimension, the Time Masters arrive in the super-timesphere. Bruce regains momentary control and exclaims that the Hyper-Adapter would have won at Vanishing Point, but it will fail here and now in the “Age of the Superheroes!” The Hyper-Adapter vows that Darkseid will have his revenge and that in order to defeat it, the heroes must kill his host: Bruce. The heroes fight the Hyper-Adapter-Batman hybrid until Bruce is able to literally tear himself out of the killing machine attached to him. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Hal Jordan throw the Hyper-Adapter into the timesphere and activate a self-destruct mechanism. The Hyper-Adapter, defeated, metamorphoses into a giant primordial bat based on the image of an animal consistent with the man it has been linked to: Batman. The giant bat then retreats backward through time (similarly to how Darkseid’s body fell backward through time after his death). It appears in the catacombs beneath Wayne Manor where Dick encountered it a week or so prior, in 1765 where it endowed Simon Hurt with extended life, and in 38,000 BCE where it was slain by Vandal Savage.^[6] But back to the present! The physical manifestation of time begins to splinter and shatter, before settling and returning to status quo. Severely injured from his merger with and separation from the Hyper-Adapter, Bruce dies! Bruce enters the mammoth graveyard-esque Underworld of the New Gods where he has a vivid recollection of his experiences in the desert with the Ten-Eyed Brotherhood. Bruce then confronts the defeated spirit of Darkseid (!) one final time before Metron, the final living New God, returns Bruce to his Earthly life. Bruce is clinically dead for over two minutes and goes into a coma before he begins breathing again. Wonder Woman and Superman fear the worst, but Tim has faith and exclaims that as long as Gotham is in trouble Bruce will be there to protect the city. Bruce awakens with a jounce, vomiting up black bile. Moments later, Bruce is back in his familiar garb. Bruce Wayne, THE Batman, is back!^[7] NOTE: The “Batman and Robin Must Die!” story-arc, which takes place in Batman & Robin #13-15 (detailed in the next two bullet posts), completely overlaps with the events of “The Return of Bruce Wayne Conclusion” (this bullet post). While Bruce was making his epic return, Dick and Damian have been fighting and losing a battle against Simon Hurt, who now completely controls Gotham. How did this happen? Read the next two bullets to find out!

–FLASHBACK: From Batman & Robin #13-15. This item starts at the same time as and completely overlaps with “The Return of Bruce Wayne Conclusion,” our previous bullet post. It tells the tale of how Simon Hurt is able to totally take over Gotham and capture the Dynamic Duo in the span of a mere three days. Here is the synopsis. At GCPD HQ, Damian meets Joker for the first time face-to-face. Batman and Robin interrogate Joker about his masquerade as Sexton, the death of the actual Sexton, and the domino killings. Joker claims he is trying to help Batman and that for once, he should trust him. At the Bat-Bunker, Dick chats with Commissioner Gordon and theorizes that the antidote that was delivered months ago that “cured” Gotham’s populace of Professor Pyg’s viral narcotic is in actuality an even more potent remotely-activated version of the same narcotic. Pyg needs only to trigger the virus and all the citizens of Gotham could potentially turn into stark-raving drug users. As Batman and Gordon rush back to GCPD HQ, the 99 Fiends shoot down the flying Batmobile. Hundreds of Dollotrons swarm upon Batman and Gordon while the Fiends break Pyg out of Arkham. Back at GCPD HQ, Damian beats Joker with a crowbar. A bloody Joker tries to explain that they share the same goal of bringing down the Black Glove and then scratches Damian with Joker Juice hidden under his nail. Joker then blows his way out of GCPD HQ with the immobile Robin in tow. Meanwhile, at their Park Row lair, Hurt and Senator Vine reunite with Pyg. Hurt holds the Bat-symbol casket in his hands, but still doesn’t know how to open it without destroying the supposed contents within. The first day of chaos ends as the Dollotrons kidnap Gordon and render Batman unconscious. Luckily, Alfred is able to rescue and patch up Dick, who is unconscious for several hours while Pyg activates his citywide viral narcotic, turning hundreds of Gothamites into violent drug users. As Pyg prepares to torture Gordon, Senator Vine is stricken with a fatal case of laughter. Joker has used his vast resources to lace the catered snacks inside Hurt’s HQ with Joker Juice. The final “Finger” of the Black Glove slowly and painfully laughs himself to death while Dick begins firebombing the building with a Bat-helicopter. Dick then saves Gordon, but the latter has been affected by the viral narcotic and clubs the Dark Knight back into unconsciousness. Concurrently, Joker has broken into the Bat-Bunker with a tied-up Damian and a live nuclear bomb. The third day of chaos begins with 18% of Gotham’s population inflicted with Pyg’s virus.

BATMAN AND ROBIN MUST DIE!
——————–Batman & Robin #13
——————–Batman & Robin #15
Hurt begins his third day as the undisputed king of Gotham.  Batman & Robin #13 and Batman & Robin #15 pick up right where the previous post ends, and continues to overlap with “The Return of Bruce Wayne Conclusion.”  Hurt makes his public debut, posing as a returning Thomas Wayne (Bruce’s father), claiming that he never actually died all those decades ago. Amid a media blitz, Hurt makes his triumphant return to Wayne Manor where Alfred awaits him. Meanwhile, Joker marches Damian to Wayne Cemetery and curiously drops a banana peel on the steps in front of the mausoleum. Joker then lets Damian go so the Boy Wonder can save Gordon. Damian easily saves the commish, who has shaken off the effects of the viral narcotic. Gordon flees, but Damian stays and attacks the 99 Fiends head-on, chopping of arms and legs with dual sword action. However, their sheer numbers are too much to overcome and Damian is captured and thrown alongside Dick in the Manor. Hurt then plugs a .32 caliber pellet in the back of Dick’s skull designed to cause permanent neurological damage within twelve hours if not treated. Hurt then demands that Damian pledge his allegiance to him. Damian stalls for time and Dick whistles the secret Miagani tune causing the mini casket to spring open. Hurt can’t believe his eyes or ears and rushes to examine the box. But Hurt has no idea that Bruce invented the box as a red herring for Hurt to painstakingly chase for centuries. What’s inside? A note that reads “Gotcha!” Batman and Robin double-punch Hurt to the ground, who shakes out the cobwebs and looks up only to view another Batman standing over him: Bruce Wayne! Bruce has literally just arrived directly from the final page of Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6, which had been overlapping this story up to this point.

–Batman & Robin #16
Simon Hurt welcomes Bruce back home by turning loose the 99 Fiends on him. Batman, Batman, and Robin kick some major ass (with a little help from Joker, who has dropped a healthy dose of Joker Juice on the Fiends). While Damian and Dick take care of Professor Pyg by manipulating his own Dollotrons to attack him, Bruce enters the Batcave to rescue Alfred, who has been captured by Hurt.  Bruce beats Hurt to a bloody pulp before realizing that Alfred is tied-up inside gyro-copter wreckage at the bottom of the Batcave’s deepest underwater pool. Bruce dives in to save Alfred, allowing Hurt to escape. However, as Hurt emerges from the secret mausoleum exit in Wayne Cemetery, the Joker is eagerly awaiting with his own trap. On cue, Hurt slips on Joker’s banana peel and breaks his neck! Soliloquizing like the best of ’em, the Clown Prince of Crime shovels Hurt’s limp body (and now Jokerized rictus grinning face) into an empty grave, presumably the only open empty grave in Wayne Cemetery: The former burial spot of the Batman-clone. Laughing, Joker buries Hurt alive!  In the Batcave, Bruce and Alfred reunite. Across town Damian defuses the nuclear bomb in the Bat-Bunker. Joker sings and dances in celebration all over Wayne Cemetery until Bruce punches his lights out. Within hours, the viral narcotic has been neutralized and Dick has made a speedy recovery following a round of emergency brain surgery from Doctor Pennyworth. Joker and Pyg are both incarcerated, although only Joker knows the secret burial location of Hurt (right under everyone’s noses). Damian worries about what will happen to Batman and Robin now that his father is back. Not to worry, child. Bruce has a plan—and it involves Dick continuing on as Batman. (Both Bruce and Dick will act as dual Batmen starting right now.) Although this issue doesn’t specifically show it, we can safely assume that the Bat-Family celebrates Bruce’s return and also fills him in on every detail of what he missed while he was gone. (A reference in The Batman Files also reveals that, despite his wild return adventure, Batman has somehow managed to keep at least one page from the Mordecai/Valor journal-diary, which he stores away for scrapbooking purposes.) Later, with Dick, Tim, Damian, and Alfred at his side, the REAL Bruce Wayne makes his public re-debut at a press conference. (Don’t forget, Tommy Elliott had been playing him, so no one actually thought he was gone.) Bruce drops one of the biggest bombshells in the history of Batman. As multiple Bat-Signals light up the Gotham skyline, Bruce goes full-on “Tony Stark,” announcing that he has personally financed Batman’s war on crime from the beginning and that, from this moment forward, Wayne Enterprises will publicly fund a global anti-crime network known as “Batman Incorporated.” A new era is upon us!

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #0. Now that the original Batman has returned, Bruce Wayne returns to his head position at Wayne Enterprises. In a private board meeting, Bruce announces the details behind his proposed global network of crime-fighting agents known as Batman Incorporated, with himself and Lucius Fox publicly heading the organization. One of the board members, the corrupt embezzler Treadwell, nervously tries to duck out of the meeting, but is met and apprehended by Batman (Dick Grayson) and Robin. Shortly thereafter, Bruce and Lucius activate a small group of GI Bat-Robots—the first wave of (non human) Batman Incorporated warriors. (We haven’t seen these GI Robots since way back in Batman Confidential #1-6 when Bruce first met Lex Luthor!)

–NOTE: In Wonder Woman #601. At this time the Greco-Roman gods alter the main DCU timeline so that Paradise Island was destroyed long ago, causing many Amazons to have been raised in the world outside of the island. Wonder Woman, from this point on, will don a brand new costume (with pants) and attempt to restore her history despite the fact that she barely remembers it. Furthermore, Diana, in this alternate (new) timeline, has been raised in New York City as an orphan, is only now coming into her powers, and is only 20-years-old! She is aware of the presence of other Amazons, but does not remember her true history up to this point. Likewise, the entire DCU now has no recollection of the true Amazonian past and has no idea who Wonder Woman is. Only some members of the JLI and Max Lord remember the true Wonder Woman timeline. SPOILER ALERT: Here’s what happened. The evil Greco-Roman Goddess of Retribution known as Nemesis, with the help of the witch trio known as The Morrigan, wanted to use Wonder Woman’s powers to destroy the world, so the rest of the Greco-Roman gods took Diana’s essence and placed it into a pocket universe in order to protect it from being stolen. But in the process Diana’s (and the Amazons’) entire history was accidentally erased and rewritten.

–REFERENCE: In Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Batgirl #1. Before Bruce returns full-time as Batman to kick-start Batman Incorporated, he wants to assess the current state of the superhero community and see how the Bat-Family has fared in his absence. Detailing his observations in a “White Casebook,” Bruce builds and dons an ultra high-tech Iron Man-esque suit (he’s taking this whole Tony Stark thing pretty far now, isn’t he?), calls himself The Insider, and begins a secret evaluation of his allies. (The Insider suit gives Batman the combined powers of the Justice League and allows him to teleport.) With Tim secretly assisting him from the shadows, Bruce, as the Insider, takes on Dick and Damian in a brief fight to test their skills. Bruce, during his time as the Insider, will log constant journal entries into his White Casebook.

–REFERENCE: In The Batman Files. Bruce (as the Insider) goes on a quick Gotham patrol with Red Robin by his side.

BRUCE WAYNE: THE ROAD HOME Part 1
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Batman & Robin #1
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Red Robin #1
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Outsiders #1
When a coordinated terrorist attack strikes all over the globe at different political leaders, Dick and Damian save Mayor Hady from the super-villain group known as the Hangmen (not the original Hangmen who all died during Final Crisis). Meanwhile, Vicki Vale, still debating on how best to expose the Bat-Family, demands a meeting with Bruce. Obviously Bruce couldn’t care less about Vicki and sends Tommy Elliot to pose as his double. Tommy acts like his usual creepy self and kisses Vicki. Vicki immediately realizes that Tommy is a fake. Upon further examination of her data, Vicki realizes that Dick is definitively the new Batman. Across town Red Robin has set up his very own “Red Robin Bunker” HQ where Bruce pays Tim a visit. Only Tim knows that Bruce is the Insider. They posit theories on who could be behind the organization of the “Global Assassination Tournament.” The next day Red Robin team-ups with Prudence in Amsterdam to save the life of the city’s mayor from the Council of Spiders. Bruce (as the Insider) poses as a new super-villain, goes undercover, and joins the Council of Spiders. The Council sends him to kill Red Robin, so he and Tim engage in a staged fight. Once the Council is lured into the trap, Bruce, Tim, and Prudence defeat them once and for all. Afterward, Prudence secretly reports back to Ra’s al Ghul that Bruce Wayne has returned! Back in the States, Vicki visits Alfred, who admits the truth about the identities of the Bat-Family members. Before Vicki leaves, Alfred is able to sneakily steal back Dick’s tracer. Bruce’s next stop is the tempestuous country of Markovia to check-up on the Outsiders. Bruce learns that the team has fallen on hard times ever since getting involved in the Kryptonian-Earth War over a month-and-a-half ago. Bruce, as the Insider, is able to defeat the entire Outsiders team single-handed. Afterward, a disappointed but upbeat Bruce reveals his identity to Katana, who is very happy to see him.

HOUSE OF HUSH
——————–Batman: Streets of Gotham #14 Part 1
——————–Batman: Streets of Gotham #16
Long time enemy of the Wayne family, gangster Judson Pierce, has just been released from prison for the first time in 37 years. (To accurately fit into our chronology, this number should probably be more like 50 years ago since Pierce was active as a criminal, allied with co-conspirator Dr. Death, before Bruce was born.)^[8] Allied with Mr. ZZZ and Anthony Marchetti, Pierce vows to kill Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, with Bruce still parading around as the Insider, Tommy Elliot is still parading around as Bruce Wayne. Tommy has been using Bruce’s position on the Arkham Parole Board to release dangerous criminals onto the streets and continues this trend by attempting, albeit unsuccessfully, to free Jane Doe. A smug Tommy (as Bruce) attends an awards show with Zatanna, hamming it up for the media. When a riot breaks out at Arkham thanks to an angry Jane Doe, Zatanna takes off, leaving Alfred to drive Tommy home.  En route, Judson Pierce runs the car off the road, shoots “Bruce Wayne” at point-blank range and kidnaps him.

BRUCE WAYNE: THE ROAD HOME Part 2
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Batgirl #1
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Catwoman #1
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Commissioner Gordon #1
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Oracle #1
——————–Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Ra’s al Ghul #1
In Gotham, Bruce (as the Insider) tests Batgirl’s mettle by attacking her. After sending Steph on a wild goose chase as a further evaluation, Bruce reveals himself to her. Angry at constantly being tested her whole life, she slaps Bruce and runs away! Later that night, they meet again and Steph lays it all on the table. Bruce finally approves of her wholeheartedly and gives her his fullest endorsement, but asks her to keep his return a secret from Barbara.  Next on Bruce’s list is Catwoman. Bruce writes in the “White Casebook” that if anything was truly a motivating factor helping him get back to the present, it was his love for Selina. Posing as the Insider, Bruce hires Selina to tail Vicki Vale.  Selina, along with gal pals Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, follow Vicki to an underground auction filled with villains galore. Selina then breaks into Vicki’s apartment and learns that the intrepid reporter has learned the secret IDs of not only the Bat-Family, but many other superheroes’ identities as well. Likewise, Vicki has also discovered Catwoman’s secret ID too!  Catwoman notifies the Insider of her findings and realizes that the mystery man was more than capable of finding out this info on his own.  In a tender moment, Selina realizes she is face-to-face with Bruce!  As she says his name aloud, the Insider teleports away without a trace.  Ra’s al Ghul, who has also been trailing Vicki Vale, then leaks the information that Vicki knows the Bat-Family IDs into the Gotham Underground, resulting in a wave of attention Vicki doesn’t want. After the hunted reporter is placed under Commissioner Gordon’s direct protection, Penguin sends in two B-list newcomers, Charger and Roundhouse, who are easily defeated by the intervention of the Insider (with a little help from Oracle). Ra’s al Ghul then sends his assassins known as The Seven Men of Death to permanently silence Vicki out of “respect for the returned Bruce.” (Merlyn has been permanently replaced by an unnamed shuriken-weilding assassin in the Seven Men of Death.) Oracle, who has easily realized that the Insider is Bruce by this point, sends in her Birds of Prey (Batgirl, Manhunter, Man-Bat, Ragman, Hawk, and Dove) to fight the bad guys.  At one point, Oracle asks, “Do Dick and Damian know…” but Bruce cuts her off and says, “not yet.”  Since Dick and Damian ABSOLUTELY know that Bruce is back, Bruce must simply be saying that the Dynamic Duo doesn’t know he is the Insider. Moving on, the Insider battles with White Ghost while Vicki barely manages to make it home alive. But when she manages to get to her apartment, Ra’s al Ghul is waiting for her! The Insider deals with White Ghost and rockets (like Iron Man) to Vicki’s pad.  Bruce unmasks and Ra’s al Ghul welcomes his return with a smile. Ra’s al Ghul, satisfied now that he’s seen Bruce with his own eyes, leaves town without a fight.  Vicki destroys all of her evidence against the Bat-Family citing that Bruce’s secrets are far too important to spill the beans.  Bruce tells Vicki that he might just have some use for her in the Family.  With calm returned to the city, Bruce records a final entry into the “White Casebook,” which states that he is now ready to implement Batman Incorporated.

–REFERENCE: In Azrael Vol. 2 #14-16. Bruce tailors a brand new Bat-costume based on an old model—it now rocks a slightly raised (and light-up) yellow Bat-symbol upon the chest! Bruce also constructs a new utility belt to match his new outfit.

–Azrael Vol. 2 #14-16 (“THREE MYSTERIES”)
Bruce, still wearing his Insider costume,^[9] orders Dick to recruit Azrael into the Batman Inc umbrella as long as Az is of sound mind and not using lethal force. Unfortunately, the Suit of Sorrows has begun to take its toll on the fragile constitution of Michael Lane. Not to mention, Ra’s al Ghul is secretly behind the mysterious Order of Purity (!), which contributes to Lane’s deterioration. Dick goes to meet with Azrael only to discover that the latter is indeed using lethal force on criminals. Azrael nearly kills Dick after stabbing him in the chest with the Sword of Sin. (This mystical stabbing is also shown through flashback from Batman #708 where we learn that Dick has a deep bruise on his chest thanks to the impact of the Sword of Sin. Dick will also begin having random blackouts and bizarre false memory nightmares due to the mystical wound as well.) After the attack, Az then leaves Dick beaten and unconscious before fleeing the scene. The next morning, a groggy Dick wakes up at Wayne Manor with an angry Bruce champing at the bit to know what happened. Bruce reveals that Lane has been found dead by suicide, apparently somehow having been able to crucify himself with nails on a cross. After an interrogation of Lane’s acquaintances, Dick learns that Lane committed suicide by stabbing himself in the chest and his best friend, Officer Pete Farelli, nailed him to the cross posthumously in accordance with his final request. Dick then questions Lane’s former sister-in-law (now girlfriend), Jennifer, who hints that Lane’s suicide is all a part of a higher-power’s plan. Back at GCPD, Dick is startled when an eerie voice begins emanating from within the Suit of Sorrows. White Ghost and his henchmen are then able to steal not only the Suit of Sorrows, but Lane’s corpse as well. At the Bat-Bunker, Bruce reveals that the Suit has been treated with chemicals from a Lazarus Pit. Because Bruce has worn the Suit before, he is able to psychically track the armor to its location at Ra’s al Ghul’s hideout. Dick watches the hideout from a distance for nearly three days until Bruce shows up and decides to pay Ra’s al Ghul a personal face-to-face visit. The original Dark Knight is officially back in action with his new raised yellow Bat-symbol costume! Ra’s al Ghul expects Bruce and allows him to be present, explaining that Lane is about to be resurrected. Upon resurrection, Lane will have exorcised the demons linked to the Suit, thus enabling him to wear the armor trouble-free. Ra’s al Ghul then calmly leaves after Lane re-enters the land of the living. Although, curiously surprised at Ra’s al Ghul’s nonchalance, Bruce focuses on the matter at hand and speaks with Lane, learning that Azrael has two possible destinies: to become an ultimately pure evil or a redounding force for good that will one day save the world. Ra’s al Ghul obviously believes the former (the reason for his nonchalance), while Bruce hopes for the latter. Azrael won’t be joining Batman Inc, but he will remain a trusted ally—sort of.

PS. SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT:  In case you hadn’t noticed, there are two Batmen now! Follow this timeline to continue reading about the exciting adventures of the one, the only, the original Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne! To follow the ongoing adventures of Gotham’s hometown hero, the Caped Crusader and Batman 2.0, Dick Grayson, please link to The Dick Grayson Batman Chronology, which begins with the and of the “Three Mysteries” arc, specifically with Azrael Vol. 2 #16, in which the two Batmen appear together for the first time in continuity.

–REFERENCE: In The Batman Files. Damian gives his dad a letter and photo that he took from Talia’s dresser a while ago. The letter (never mailed) was written by Talia to Bruce shortly after Damian’s conception. Had it been sent all those years ago, Bruce would have known about Damian’s existence. The photo is a secret snapshot of Talia and Bruce kissing from long ago. Author Matthew Manning, via this item, inexplicably doubles-down on Grant Morrison’s continuity errors in regard to Bat Year Ten’s Batman: Son of the Demon. The continuity error in the letter is a reference to the impossible original (later retconned) ending of Son of the Demon where Damian winds up in a foster home. This obviously never happened. So, either this is just a straight-up flub that must be ignored or the letter is a deliberate sophism, merely a part of some psy-op mindfuckery on the part of Talia. Both are plausible.

–Batman: Streets of Gotham #17-21 (“HOUSE OF HUSH” Conclusion)
New villain Bedbug uses bedbugs with tiny mind-control transmitters to enslave people while they sleep. Bedbug takes control of Harley Quinn, who nearly kills Selina Kyle, but not before Batman (Bruce), in his new duds, swings in to make the save and knock some sense back into Harley. Selina thinks that Dick is wearing the cape and cowl, but Bruce tells her who he is and they immediately engage in a passionate kiss! Selina then gives the Dark Knight some guff about the whole “Insider” thing.  Bruce ends the playful tone of the scene by revealing to Selina that Tommy Elliot has been missing for days. Across town, Judson Pierce explains exactly why he hates the Waynes in a complicated 50-year-old yarn involving Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne, Leslie Thompkins, Dr. Death, Roger Elliot (Tommy’s father), gangster Sallie Guzzo, and others. Tommy Elliot then shows his surgical scars to Pierce, proving that he is a fake.  Tommy then exclaims that he hates the Waynes just as much as Pierce.  They decide to join forces against the real Wayne, but first Pierce wants to settle an old score with Dr. Death. After infiltrating Dr. Death’s hideout, the group realizes the doctor would suit their purposes better as an ally. Thus, Dr. Death joins the team. Meanwhile, Bruce neutralizes Bedbug’s insect control method, but finds the new villain to be an adequate hand-to-hand martial artist as well. After Bedbug evades capture, Batman meets with Catwoman and they begin searching for Hush together.  Naturally, lots of making-out occurs until Bedbug attacks the lovers. The Bat and the Cat easily chase the newbie away.  After breaking into Wayne Tower with the assistance of a bought-off WayneTech employee, the new super-villain team quickly falls apart as Hush betrays both Dr. Death and Pierce by shooting them (non-fatally) and leaving them in a locked room.  Dr. Death sears his way out of the room by starting a chemical explosion that excruciatingly melts Pierce’s skin off of his face and most of his body. Meanwhile, Hush is betrayed by the WayneTech employee, who turns out to be Jane Doe in disguise.  Jane, believing that Tommy is actually Bruce Wayne and head of Batman Inc, brutally carves off his face with a bistoury! The gore in this story reaches level eleven. Yikes. How many more faces can be melted off or sliced off, already? Just as Jane is about to kill a bloody and faceless Tommy, Batman (Bruce) barges in. Amazingly, Bruce winds up fighting and defeating Jane Doe, who wears his face (Tommy’s surgically altered-to-look-like his face) as a mask, while a helpless faceless fake-Bruce (Tommy) watches on. Afterward, Pierce (now calling himself “Skel”), Mr. ZZZ, and Anthony Marchetti are sent to Blackgate. Jane Doe and Hush are sent back to Arkham. At Arkham, Tommy tries to make his doctors believe that Bruce is actually Batman, but nobody believes him and nobody really cares.

–FLASHBACK: From Power Girl Vol. 2 #24. Both Batman (Bruce) and Power Girl are on hand when a plane nearly crashes in Gotham. Arab-American metahuman Rayhan Mazin, a passenger aboard the plane, is wrongfully accused and sentenced to a prison term.

–REFERENCE: In The Batman Files. Batman begins heightened surveillance of Penguin, putting secret cameras and bugs all over his properties and even putting an Iceberg Lounge waiter on the Bat-Family payroll. From this point onward, the mole will periodically snitch to Batman (albeit invisibly on our timeline).

–Batman: The Return #1
Mid February. When Bruce catches wind of an international terrorist group known as Leviathan making waves across the globe, his investigation takes him to Abu Dhabi where Hussain Mohammed has taken Sheikh Farouk’s son hostage at gunpoint with a bomb strapped to his chest. Batman saves the boy but warns Farouk to stay out of trouble, knowing that he has a criminal background.  Twenty-two hours later in the Batcave, Bruce assembles the Bat-Family: Dick, Damian, Tim, Barbara, and Stephanie. Everyone is given assignments in sealed envelopes in relation to their involvement in Batman Inc. For instance, Steph learns she will (at some point in the future) be moving to England whether she wants to or not. Bruce also tells Babs that “Internet 3.0” will be up and running by Spring. Two hours later at WayneTech, Bruce, Dick, and Damian meet with Lucius Fox. Bruce talks about activating one thousand remote operated GI Robots for Batman Inc use. I love that Bruce can order toys from Lucius now and doesn’t have to hide anything. Thirty hours later, Bruce and Damian arrive in Yemen wearing customized WayneTech R&D modified jet-suits (again, think Iron Man meets Batman) to investigate a Leviathan laboratory where Farouk was turning people into designer synthetic super-powered monsters. Bruce explains to Damian that Mohammed kidnapped Farouk’s son as revenge for tests that were done to his brother at the lab. Bruce then gets in a fight with the grotesque superhero known as Traktir. We also meet Traktir’s mutated multi-limbed girlfriend Spidra. Traktir and Spidra will later become allies of Batman Inc. Damian disobeys an order to stay put and instead chases after a mysterious figure. The masked figure, known as the Heretic (aka “Fatherless”), comes face-to-face with Damian and cryptically says, “I know you… but that day has yet to come.” The Heretic rockets off into the sky, but not before Damian plants a tracer on him. (SPOILER ALERT: The Heretic is an adult clone of Damian Wayne built by Talia al Ghul and her team of Leviathan scientists. This was revealed in the New 52 Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #7.) Back in the States, Bruce scolds Damian, who responds by quitting! Bruce calms him down by revealing his wish that Dick and Damian remain the Dynamic Duo of Gotham on a permanent basis. (Dick and Damian will undoubtedly maintain consistent communication with Bruce, giving him periodical updates on all their cases, moving forward.) Bruce then contacts Selina Kyle and asks her to accompany him to Tokyo to begin recruiting international members of Batman Inc within the next few days. Meanwhile at a secret Leviathan location (later revealed as an orbiting satellite), Farouk is punished for exposing the organization’s operations in Yemen. Farouk’s young son, brainwashed and vacantly pledging allegiance to Leviathan, shoots his dad dead.

–Batman #704
Mid February. This story ostensibly takes place on Chinese New Year, which should be in early February, but that can’t be correct, so ignore the holiday. Dick and Damian are able to take down the Reaper despite interference from Catgirl. Bruce shows up and chastises the Dynamic Duo for allowing the young Kitrina Falcone to operate as Catgirl. Dick tries to blame Selina for training her in the first place, but Bruce won’t hear it and tells Dick to make sure Catgirl is never seen on the streets again. Later, the mysterious businesswoman Sasha Lo meets with Dick and Lucius Fox at Wayne Tower with a proposal to purchase and gentrify Crime Alley. After tabling negotiations, Dick heads to a charity ball where he warns Selina to take Catgirl off the streets. Selina refers to Bruce as a “hypocrite” and tells Dick to piss off. Selina mentions that she has a plane to catch—not sure where she’s going, but oh well. Later that night Dick learns that Sasha Lo is a costumed vigilante known as Peacock. Peacock and the Caped Crusader get in a fight with oddly dressed ninjas led by Sensei (Ra’s al Ghul’s father).

–REFERENCE: In Batwoman #0. While Dick wraps up the “Peacock/Sensei case,” Bruce begins an investigation to determine whether or not Kate Kane is actually Batwoman.  Wearing various disguises, Bruce begins tailing Kate Kane on a daily basis. (Bear in mind that this Batwoman #0 is a Modern Age one-shot special unassociated with any volume number, not to be confused with the later Batwoman #0 of the New 52.)

–Red Robin #17
While Bruce begins setting the Batman Inc plans into motion in the States, he sends Red Robin to Hong Kong to recruit Cassandra Cain (!) into the fold. Tim visits with Cass, who neither accepts nor refuses the invitation to Batman Inc. Cass does, however, keep the Bat-costume which Tim offers her.  Tim also learns, from Cass, that Lynx is indeed an undercover police agent from Hong Kong.  Back in the States, Tim hires Lonnie Machin (!) as his very own version of Oracle. (In this role, Lonnie semi-returns to his old “Moneyspider” gimmick.) After recruiting Lonnie, Tim then breaks Lynx out of jail. A thankful Lynx shows her appreciation with a passionate kiss. Bruce then meets with Tim and tells him that he has already set up several operatives for Batman Inc. (Bruce has yet to make any moves yet and, therefore, must simply mean he has a list of targets.) Bruce, in a touching moment, hugs Tim.  For the first time in a long time, Bruce and Tim patrol the streets of Gotham and neither can contain their smiles.

–Brightest Day #14
Deadman is on a quest to deliver his White Lantern power ring to the most deserving and capable superhero in the world.  Now that Bruce is back, Deadman believes the original Dark Knight is the perfect candidate.  After Deadman and Dove assist Bruce in apprehending Mr. Freeze, Deadman gives the ring to Bruce, who turns into the White Lantern Batman!  However, the White Lantern Power Battery (The Entity) speaks through the ring and tells Deadman that the ring belongs to him and is not to be given away.  The ring returns to Deadman, thus saving his life in the process as he had been shot by one of Freeze’s henchmen.  Afterward, Bruce, having learned a ton of information when temporarily infused with the power of the White Lanterns, becomes gravely concerned about the fact that Max Lord is back.  Bruce also remembers Wonder Woman’s true history!

–FLASHBACK: From Batwoman #0. “Day 4” of Bruce’s investigation into Kate Kane. Bruce follows her to the cemetery and spies on her from a distance while she pays her respects to her mother’s grave.

–Batman 80-Page Giant 2010 #1 Part 6
Alfred forces Bruce to make a rare appearance at the Wayne Foundation Annual Masquerade Ball.  Bruce hams it up for his female admirers, but quickly ducks out to take down a bunch of heavily-armed crooks.  Commissioner Gordon shows his appreciation for the original Dark Knight.

–Batman 80-Page Giant 2010 #1 Part 5
Batman encounters an escaped Scarecrow, who is able to douse the Caped Crusader with Fear Gas.  Bruce has a hallucination that he murdered his own parents and is on death row for the crime.  Before Scarecrow can take advantage of the situation, Bruce shakes off the effects of the drug and kicks the super-villain’s ass back to prison.

ALL THE RAGE
—————— –Detective Comics Annual #12
——————–Batman Annual #28
——————–the third feature to Batman Annual #28 Part 1
Bruce Wayne, as a representative of Batman Inc, meets with Paris head of police Henri Lafayette to discuss recent riots associated with various assassinations in Paris. After Oracle deduces that the next assassination attempt will be against a Saudi ambassador, Bruce sends Dick to save the intended victim. Dick is not only successful but learns that the assassins have been psychically brainwashed. Bruce then meets with the President of France and earns the right to officially work the case. The Batmen (Bruce and Dick) take to the streets and bust some heads, which leads the duo to investigate a terrorist cult known as the Golden Portal.  Bruce contacts the Question, who immediately flies to Paris. Montoya then goes undercover inside the Golden Portal and meets its leader, the metahuman known as Korrigan. Meanwhile, Dick learns that Korrigan’s next target is rapper/political activist Leni Urbana.  Three days later, the Batmen meet the French rookie superhero Nightrunner (Bilal Asselah), but mistake him for the assassin. When Korrigan sends a group of brainwashed cultists to kill Urbana, the Batmen realize their error and help Nightrunner protect Urbana.  The next day, after a meeting with Lafayette, Bruce joins forces with Dick, Nightrunner, and the Question to defeat Korrigan and her thugs. Korrigan is taken to France’s version of Arkham, known as the Black Garden. After seeing-off Montoya at the airport, Bruce visits Nightrunner and offers him a position as Batman Inc’s French representative. Nightrunner accepts the offer and with it, a brand new high-tech HQ and new costume. Bruce then meets with Lafayette one more time. The latter confirms that the President has approved a Batman Inc franchise in France! A few days later, Bruce helps Nightrunner move into his new HQ. Bruce mentions that his next stop on the Batman Inc recruitment tour is Tokyo. Dick (as Batman) begins a three week-long training course with Nightrunner. (Dick will commute back an forth from Gotham depending on when he’s needed. Thus, the three week training period overlaps with the next bunch of stories.)

–Azrael Vol. 2 #17
Bruce meets with Azrael and asks him to enter into a venture that Batman Inc legally cannot—bringing down a terrorist cell deep within war-torn Afghanistan. That’s right kids, there’s been an actual war going on for the past ten years that the DC editors rarely mention, but Az doesn’t care; he’s going all-out on this one. And it’s not just a favor for Bruce. Az has a special interest in the extremist group because it is led by a young metahuman called Fireball who just happens to also go by the nickname of “Azrael.” With Bruce’s blessing, Az ships out.

–NOTE: In Azrael Vol. 2 #18. Azrael meets Fireball in Afghanistan and learns that the powerful metahuman works for Ra’s al Ghul. Az also learns that Ra’s al Ghul runs the Order of Purity. After witnessing the awful slaughter of entire village by US Army Blackhawk helicopters, Az’s view regarding good and evil is flipped completely upside down. Az no longer sees the Afghanistanis as terrorists, but now sees the US soldiers as terrorists instead. Writer David Hine sure isn’t masking his anti-war commentary in this one. Anyway, Az and Fireball return back to the States with Ra’s al Ghul. Together, they plan on creating a New World Order by “purging” the world of evil, beginning with Gotham. Turns out, Ra’s was right all along.  Az is no longer on the Bat-Family’s side anymore.

–Batman Incorporated #1 Part 1
Early March. While Dick deals with the “Absence case” in Gotham, Bruce and Selina infiltrate Dr. Sivana’s laboratory, fight off giant invisible robot rats and steal a part of a dangerous weapon known as “Project X”: A large diamond.  Afterward, the duo flies to Tokyo, Japan to continue recruiting the foreign arms of Batman Inc.  In a private hotel suite, Bruce and Selina celebrate their private time by getting re-acquainted in the bedroom.

–Batman & Robin #18
In Gotham, Dick and Damian have been dealing with the resurrected former girlfriend of Bruce, Una Nemo, now known as the super-villain called The Absence. In a telephone call to Tokyo, Dick explains the messy situation to Bruce.

–Batman Incorporated #1 Part 2
After some fun out-of-costume action Batman and Catwoman take to the streets in-costume once the sun goes down. Batman and Catwoman arrive at the secret HQ of Japan’s top crime-fighter, Mr. Unknown, only to discover that he has been murdered. The heroes are ambushed by Lord Death Man’s skeleton costumed henchmen, who are easily defeated. Across town, Lord Death Man (who Batman previously encountered in the States as “Death-Man”) and his cronies hold Jiro Osamu‘s girlfriend hostage. Jiro, as we soon learn, took over the mantle of Mr. Unknown years ago when his predecessor had grown too old to engage in physical combat. Jiro shoots the immortal Lord Death Man, who falls out of a window and is shuffled off to the morgue, but not before Jiro’s lady is dumped into a water-filled room that contains a giant razor-toothed squid.

–Batman Incorporated #2
Batman and Catwoman arrive just in time to save Jiro Osamu’s girlfriend from the killer squid. At the morgue, the naked skull-headed Lord Death Man awakens and begins killing in dramatic form, beginning with a bus full of children. The super-villain then decides to continue his attack on Japanese superheroes by targeting Shiny Happy Aquazon, Japan’s female version of Aquaman. After nearly pulling off the execution from his souped-up Mercedes, Lord Death Man is defeated and captured by Batman, Catwoman, and Mr. Unknown. Mr. Unknown decides to fake his death during the melee, thus freeing Jiro for a brand new identity as the Japanese representative of Batman Inc! The problem of the immortal resurrector is taken care of as Bruce has the villain locked in a bank safe and sent into outer space trapped in a tiny satellite.  With their enemy defeated, Batman holds a special ceremony in which Jiro vows to uphold the traditions of the Bat-Family as the newest international Batman Inc member.  Bruce and Selina chit-chat as a radio-broadcast declares that Batman Inc is now protecting Japan.  A giant Bat-symbol shines over Tokyo.  Jiro Osamu is officially Batman Japan (!), although he will be on a probationary period for a few months.

–Power Girl Vol. 2 #20
While Power Girl fights an army of genetically-engineered science fiction monsters—including a clone of Krypto that winds up helping her in the end—designed by Anthony Ivo’s New Cadmus organization, her assistant Nicholas Cho hacks into New Cadmus’ computer systems. After gathering an exabyte of info, Cho has no place to securely store the data, so he calls up Batman and asks if he can send him the files, which the Caped Crusader happily agrees to.

–Superman #710
Bruce meets up with Superman in Utah (after catching his attention with an ultraviolet “Superman-symbol signal”) and they have a heart to heart, relive some old memories, and talk about the future.

–FLASHBACK: From Batwoman #0. “Day 17” through “Day 21” of Bruce’s investigation into Kate Kane.  Bruce has disguised himself as a homeless veteran for the past few days and now spies on Kate and her dad. A few days later, Bruce follows Kate to a nightclub.

–FLASHBACK: From Batwoman #0. “Day 23” of Bruce’s investigation into Kate Kane.  Bruce, disguised as an old man, spies on Kate and her cousin Bette at a bookstore. Bruce then dons another disguise and attacks Kate with a baseball bat on the street in order to test her skills. Almost fully convinced that Kate is indeed Batwoman, Bruce begins tailing Batwoman on her patrols.

–Power Girl Vol. 2 #21
Power Girl once again tries in vain to convince Dick that Max Lord killed Ted Kord and has erased everyone’s memories of himself. Dick, still affected by Lord’s global mind-wipe, refuses to see the truth.  Power Girl even convinces Dick to exhume Ted’s body, but even upon examination of the corpse, still nothing.  Dick is ready to bounce until Bruce shows up and sets him straight. Bruce forces Dick to remember the truth. Dick contacts Oracle and the JLA in an attempt to make everyone else remember. Meanwhile, Bruce joins forces with the JLI to go after Max.

–Justice League: Generation Lost #22-24
Blue Beetle tells his fellow JLI teammates that Max Lord is in control of Checkmate and is planning to kill Wonder Woman. Before Batman and the JLI can go after Max, they must protect Wonder Woman.  Power Girl and Rocket Red don’t know who Wonder Woman is (due to the recent alteration and erasure of her history by the Greco-Roman Gods).  After a brief explanation, the heroes meet the rookie version of Diana in NYC.  Aboard his giant Checkmate spaceship, Max Lord (along with Professor Ivo) uses his enhanced metapowers to turn random people across the globe into OMACs!  Within minutes, an army of over a thousand homegrown OMACs attacks the Big Apple, gunning for Wonder Woman’s head.  Once the OMACs swarm Diana, Max separates the weaker heroes from the stronger ones by teleporting everyone except for Batman and Power Girl to Los Angeles.  In LA, the OMACs have all been recalled, but in their place is a towering monster OMAC known as OMAC Prime.  Not only is this guy as tall as a skyscraper, thanks to Ivo, he’s got Amazo’s ability to replicate metapowers.  While Booster goes for a head-on attack against Max, the rest of the JLI in LA begins to fight OMAC Prime.  While Booster fistfights Max, Power Girl and Captain Atom join the JLI and are able to defeat OMAC Prime.  Afterward, Captain Atom (who has absorbed all of OMAC Prime’s energy and is going to shortly explode into a random time or alternate universe) threatens to take Max with him unless the latter finally reverses his global mind-wipe.  Defeated, Max complies and the world’s memories of Max are fully restored.  Batman shows up and is ready to haul Max to jail, but Max is able to teleport safely away.

–Green Lantern Vol. 4 #62
First of all, Doug Mahnke fucked up and drew Batman with the wrong costume in this issue. Interestingly enough, he drew him with the correct costume on the cover. In deep space, Hal Jordan teams-up with the leaders of the other respective different-colored Lantern Corps to battle Krona. Things are going good until Krona unleashes the wrath of Ophidian, the living embodiment of Avarice that resides within the heart of the Orange Power Battery. Krona and Ophidian kick everyone’s asses and beat Hal to a bloody pulp. Hal wakes up with Batman, Superman, and Flash hovering over him. Batman makes cracks about Hal’s failure to defeat Krona and his alignment with evil Lanterns during the fight. Bruce even mentions the Parallax ordeal, to which Hal replies he’s been waiting ever since Bruce returned to see how long he could go without mentioning Parallax. Only a couple weeks. Despite the tension, Bruce begs Hal to let he and Superman help fight Krona. An angry Hal dons his ring, rejoins the other multiple-colored Lantern leaders, and takes off without the aid of his regular comrades. Batman, Superman, and Flash don’t bother to follow him. The “War of the Green Lanterns” is about to begin.

–Brightest Day #21
The brutal Atlantean Civil War known as the “Aquawar” has just ended. A ton of collateral damage has resulted at Miami Beach. FEMA won’t show up to help, so the entire superhero community (including Batman) comes to assist with the clean-up instead. However, the heroes are concerned because lately those who were resurrected by the White Lantern Entity (at the end of Blackest Night) have begun to vanish into thin air, including Hawkman, Hawkgirl (Shiera Sanders-Hall), and Aquaman. (The Entity is still using Deadman as a host vessel, and used him to cause the mysterious disappearances of the three aforementioned superheroes.) Meanwhile on Mars, J’onn completes his “resurrection task” by killing the evil Martian known as D’Kay D’razz. The White Lantern Entity, speaking through Deadman, then asks J’onn to choose his true home: Earth or Mars. J’onn chooses Earth and Deadman uses his White Lantern power ring to make the Martian Manhunter disappear as well. Things are soon coming to a surprising climax for Brightest Day. (See the DICK GRAYSON BATMAN Chronology for details, which includes the return of Swamp Thing!)

–Batwoman #0
March 10.  Batman has been watching Batwoman in action on-and-off for nearly a month (overlapping with previous stories). Bruce finally confirms that Kate Kane is Batwoman after witnessing her handily defeat Sister Shard and a number of Religion of Crime members at the Gotham docks.

–REFERENCE: In Justice League of America Vol. 4 #55. Mid March. Dick completes teaching Nightrunner’s three-week training course in France.

–Action Comics #900
Doomsday has returned and morphed into an even more powerful Cyborg Doomsday. The half machine/half monster has captured Steel, the Eradicator, Supergirl, Cyborg Superman, and Superboy and holds them all captive on a hidden satellite. A pissed off Superman goes to rescue them, but before he can, Lex Luthor whisks him away into deep space. A giant glowing Luthor reveals that he now has attained infinite cosmic power by merging with the Zone Child, a godlike being who manifested from the negative energy within the Phantom Zone and was partly responsible for giving power to the Black Lanterns. Luthor torments Superman by making him relive his worst nightmares and finally learns his secret identity! As Luthor’s power begins to grow, the Zone Child makes him aware that his power is no longer meant for destruction. It must be used only for good.  In an instant, a wave of bliss washes across the universe.  The world is calm and everything is perfect. In Gotham, Batman smiles and is truly at peace for the first time.  Even Death (of the Endless!) gets to take a break. Superman begins to rejoice with Luthor, claiming that he has just created a functioning utopia. All Luthor has to do is make peace with Superman and the utopia will be made permanent. But Luthor really, really hates Superman and the big jerk snaps and tries to kill him anyway. Having failed the test, the Zone Child leaves and takes his powers with him. Luthor is left broken, shaken, and with complete amnesia. Afterward, Superman meets with the other members of the Super-Family aboard Cyborg Doomsday’s satellite where it is revealed that there are now multiple Cyborg Doomsdays. NOTE: In Action Comics #901, Barack Obama publicly calls Superman to arms. Martin Suarez is definitely President, so we must assume that this is just Paul Cornell and Jesus Merino being cute or that Obama is a part of Suarez’s administration. I should mention that the story never directly refers to Obama as President.

–Action Comics #903 Part 3
This is listed as Part 3 because it overlaps with Justice League of America Vol. 2 #59 in several parts.  The Doomslayer, basically an ultimate version of Doomsday, has arrived to destroy all Doomsdays.  Sounds good right?  It would be if the Doomslayer didn’t plan on destroying the entire planet in order to do so.  Supergirl has just literally minutes ago helped Dick and the JLA save the Earth from destruction at the hands of Eclipso (in Justice League of America Vol. 2 #59) and now must rejoin the fight against the Cyborg Doomsdays.  But she’s not coming alone.  Batman (Bruce), Batman (Dick), Red Robin, Hawk, Dove, Zatanna, the JLA, the JLI, the Teen Titans, the original Dr. Fate (who has been resurrected by Hal Jordan), and Eradicator (whose consciousness now resides within Doomsday’s original body) all show up ready for action. Meanwhile, Superman confronts the Doomslayer.

–Action Comics #904
The final issue of Modern Age Action Comics Vol. 1. Superman defeats the Doomslayer with help from Eradicator (who controls Doomsday’s body and sacrifices his own life in order to defeat the villain). Batman, Batman, and the rest of Earth’s superheroes defeat multiple Doomsdays all across the planet. Go heroes!

–the third feature to Batman Annual #28 Epilogue
It’s been two-and-a-half weeks since Nightrunner’s training was completed. France doesn’t quite “get” masked superheroes the way the US does and Nightrunner’s approval rating upon his official debut is extremely low, with dozens of protesters voicing their opinion against him.  Bruce (in costume) pays Nightrunner a quick morale-boosting visit and tells him that the people will eventually come around.

–Birds of Prey Vol. 2 #7-10 (“THE DEATH OF ORACLE!”)
Late March. Birds of Prey Vol. 2 #7-9 overlaps entirely with ‘tec #871-873 (a Dick Grayson story-arc entitled “The Black Mirror”) and ‘tec #874 (another Dick Grayson story), which puts us in the final week of March. Bruce meets with Oracle, who shows him her new headquarters high above Gotham Harbor in the Space Needle-esque Kord Tower. Barbara explains that there are only thirteen allies who know her secret identity (Alfred not included), and as long as she remains as Oracle, they are all in danger. Furthermore, notes Barbara, she is the head of a network of dozens of superheroes, which is starting to make her own life a living hell. It’s been a wild ride, but Babs tells Bruce that “Oracle must die once and for all.” Meanwhile, Calculator sends Mortis, Mammoth, Current, and nine HIVE henchmen to attack the female Birds of Prey at a strip club. (Calculator is obsessed with finding Oracle’s secret identity and getting revenge against her. During their last encounter, he actually found out who she was, but Babs was able to use some advanced-technology to wipe parts of Calculator’s mind, including knowledge of her secret ID. Calculator has since become aware of this mind-wipe and ain’t too happy.) Babs reveals to Bruce that she actually goaded Calculator into attacking her team in order to bring him out into the open. However, with half her team drunk at a strip club, things aren’t faring too well. Bruce swings into action to help the Birds, but Oracle radios him to take a dive during the fight, which Batman actually does. Oracle’s plan is for the team to infiltrate Calculator’s HQ by “getting captured.” Calculator’s team is “victorious” and escapes with a kidnapped Dove, Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk. Black Canary is left behind, but unfortunately is mired in a psychologically damaged state thanks to a telepathic attack courtesy of Mortis. Batman carries her catatonic body back to Kord Tower. While Hawk argues with Oracle and Batman, Black Canary is able to fight off her inner demons and push Mortis’ influence out of her mind, thus restoring her sanity. At Calculator’s HQ, the Birds of Prey begin their attack. Oracle joins the battle from a military-grade helicopter only to get blown to smithereens by Current. Is Oracle really dead?! Nope, of course not. Hawk was flying the chopper and he is more than capable of surviving a little explosion. After the Birds (with Bruce’s help) defeat Calculator and company, the news of Oracle’s “death” spreads like wildfire. From this point on, Oracle can still act as “Big Sister” overseeing all of the DCU, but now, only several people know that she isn’t dead and, therefore, can solicit her assistance: Batman (Bruce), Batman (Dick), Red Robin, Batgirl, Misfit, Huntress, Hawk, Dove, Lady Blackhawk, and Black Canary. While not specifically mentioned among those in-the-know in this arc, Damian, Alfred, Proxy, and Savant definitely know that Oracle is still alive too. Oh, Catwoman knows too because she isn’t fooled so easily. Oracle personally meets with Bruce, Dick, Tim, Stephanie, and Charlie (Misfit) to fill them in on the details.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #0. Batman (Bruce Wayne) helps Knight and Squire defeat Jack the Smasher in London and recruits the Dynamic Duo of England as official members of Batman Inc. Knight’s first mission is to go to Australia and recruit Johnny Riley into the fold, which he does. Riley is the original Dark Ranger’s sidekick, who now becomes both a new Batman Inc agent and the new Dark Ranger. Meanwhile, in Russia, Batman, along with Robin, helps superhero Ravil bust some bad guys. He then recruits Ravil as a Batman Inc member. Then it’s a trip to Paris for Batman, who attempts to recruit the veteran Musketeer into the fold. After a shake-down of some masked thugs with both Musketeer and Nightrunner, Musketeer decides to stay retired. Batman then sends an invitation long distance to Man-of-Bats and his sidekick son Raven Red (formerly Little Raven), longtime costumed lawmen of the Lakota Sioux Nation in South Dakota. Man-of-Bats and Raven Red publicly accept during a live televised press conference.

–Batman Incorporated #3-5
David Uzumeri had such a wonderful succinct recap of Batman Incorporated #3 on his annotations page, I thought I would paraphrase his write-up for part of this summary. Our tale begins with a prologue flashback to the Falklands War in 1982, where a group of British superheroes (including the original Knight and someone who appears to be Margaret Thatcher as a metahuman!) confine the super-villain Doctor Dedalus. In present day, Batman travels to Argentina for a team-up with El Gaucho. Our beloved heroes are tracking down three kidnapped blind kids when they get detoured into saving superhero Cimarron (of the veteran Argentinian super-team Súper-Malón) from being executed by Manteguan super-criminal El Papagayo.  After Batman and Gaucho discover a clue—the word “oroboro”—and the latter refuses Bruce’s offer to join Batman Inc, Bruce engages in a deadly tango with the seductive Tristessa (actually the villainess Scorpiana).  At one point, a jealous Gaucho questions Batman why he is parading around disguised as Bruce Wayne!  The two heroes jockey for alpha-male status while following the trail of clues to the murder site of a fictional author originally created by Jorge Luis Borges. The Dark Knight and Gaucho wind up trapped inside an abandoned building in downtown Buenos Aires where they are placed in a deathtrap created by the long-thought-dead El Sombrero and his partner Scorpiana.  The deathtrap: In order for the three kidnapped children to live, one of the two heroes must die!  Back in Gotham, Batwoman chases down the murderer Johnny Valentine (aka “Son of Pyg” aka Professor Pyg’s son), who drops an “oroboros serpent” pendant. After Valentine escapes through Katherine Kane’s recently re-opened circus, Batwoman battles and apprehends his accomplice, a femme fatale dressed up as the original Bat-Woman! (This is gymnast Una Clairemont.) Jake Kane does a quick intel search on “oroboros” and discovers that “oroboro” is codename for a British military secret hidden in the South Atlantic (i.e. where Doc Dedalus supposedly remains imprisoned on one of the Falkland Islands). Back in Buenos Aires, Batman easily figures out how to save the children while simultaneously staging a fake fight with Gaucho to distract the viewing villains. However, the fight turns real when Scorpiana reveals that Katherine Kane was originally recruited into Spyral by Gaucho, which ultimately was the catalyst that led to her murder. Gaucho then reveals that he also loved Kathy and never meant for her to get hurt. Up to this point Bruce always thought Kathy’s supposed death was at the hands of the League of Assassins, but now it becomes obvious that Doc Dedalus and Spyral were involved. Anyway, Bruce saves the kids, although Scorpiana escapes. Batwoman, The Hood (!), Gaucho, and Batman all converge upon the Falkland Islands to confront Dedalus and stop him from detonating a meta-bomb. While the former three kick Scorpiana’s ass and wrangle old Dedalus, Batman destroys the bomb. Batman then quickly realizes that Dedalus isn’t really Dedalus. The villain has long since switched places with a decoy. Not only that, his three deceased handlers were working for the terrorist organization Leviathan. From a secret Leviathan HQ (an orbiting satellite), Dedalus and the mysterious skull-masked leader of Leviathan watch the Dark Knight. The mystery of the oroboro is just beginning.

–Batman #709
Early April. Ra’s al Ghul has manipulated Azrael, The Crusader, and Fireball to attempt to destroy Gotham. The so-called “Angels of Death” nearly succeed, but Dick, Red Robin, and Catwoman are able to make Az see the error of his ways. Bruce, who is on unspecified business (in costume) in Hong Kong, presumably business that has to do with Cassie Cain, calls Dick to make sure everything is okay. PS. The Crusader is totally awesome. His powers include telekinesis, telepathy, pyrokinesis, flight ability, near invulnerability, super strength, and the power to make locusts and snakes appear at will.

FRIENDS
——————–Gotham City Sirens #23-24
——————–Gotham City Sirens #26
Early April.^[10] The shit has hit the fan for the lovely ladies of Gotham. Ivy, Harley, and Selina are no longer on speaking terms. An upset Harley goes into a full blown rage. Yearning to reunite with her puddin Mistah J, breaks into Arkham and starts a prison riot. While Harley and Joker kiss passionately amid the blood and gore of the riot, Dick unsuccessfully tries to recruit Selina to help. At one point, Selina tells Dick, “I know what you did before you won the cowl.” This is a peculiar statement that refers to a secret. Bruce later says (in GCS #24) that he knows “what Dick did around [the time] when I went away” (meaning sometime near Final Crisis), yet another reference to a secret. Suffice to say, whatever the secret (or secrets) may be, Bruce has learned a truth about Dick that doesn’t sit well with him.^[11] At Arkham, Black Mask begins feuding with Joker for control of the prison while Poison Ivy shows up in an attempt to reason with Harley. Harley speaks passionately about her sexual history with both Joker and Ivy, but eventually takes down the latter, proclaiming her true love for the Clown Prince of Crime. Meanwhile, Selina has a change of heart and meets up with Batman (Bruce) in an attempt to quell the riot. After easily defeating Clayface and Zsasz (with help from Aaron Cash), Batman and Catwoman bust Harley and Joker as well. Bruce then tells Selina that he too knows Dick’s mysterious secret. Following the riot, Catwoman definitively ends her friendship with Ivy by serving the super-villain over to the police, who lock her up in Arkham. This end scene were Selina betrays Ivy is also shown from Ivy’s perspective through flashback from Gotham City Sirens #25. In issue #26, a pissed off Poison Ivy immediately escapes from Arkham and joins up with Harley Quinn to confront their former friend Catwoman. The three do battle and Selina reveals that she formed their team on behalf of Batman (Dick) in order to keep them out of trouble. Enraged at being manipulated, Ivy begins tearing the city apart. Batman (Bruce) attempts to stop Ivy, but cannot quell her rage. The Dark Knight asks Selina to help him, but Selina is tired of the Bat-Family using her for dirty deeds. After temporarily dispatching Batman, Selina has a tender moment with Ivy and Harley. The female villains realize that Selina does indeed love them and has always looked out for their best interests. Selina then holds off Bruce long enough for Ivy and Harley to make a clean getaway.

–Batman Incorporated #5 Epilogue
This epilogue is actually the prologue to Batman Incorporated #6. Bruce travels to Africa and recruits police officer David Zavimbi into the Batman Inc fold as Batwing. Bruce and Batwing not only discover the tracer that Damian placed on the Heretic months ago, but come across a Leviathan camp that is brainwashing child soldiers.

–Justice League: Generation Lost #24 Epilogue
It’s been two weeks since Max Lord was forced to restore everyone’s memories about his past.  Max, from a secret location, records and uploads a public address via a viral Internet video in which he states that there are some good metahumans out there, but there are also many that simply cannot be trusted, super-villain or superhero. Max claims that everything he’s ever done has always been in the best interest of humanity and he will continue to monitor metahumans from the shadows as the leader of the now rogue non-government-sponsored Checkmate organization.  Batman watches the video with Booster and then reveals that, despite their mission having ended, the JLI will continue on as a team! Will Batman be in the lineup?  You bet!

–Secret Six Vol. 3 #36
The antihero/super-villain team known as the Secret Six has plans to assassinate Red Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Azrael in Gotham. However, a double-crossing Penguin alerts the hero community about the Six’s arrival in town. The Six (Bane, Catman, Deadshot, Jeannette, Ragdoll, and Scandal Savage) along with King Shark and Knockout take a bunch of Venom pills and make their glorious last stand. However, they are easily defeated by what seems to be the largest gathering of collected heroes since Final Crisis. So, yeah, it’s eight villains versus Batman, Batman, Robin, Red Robin, Superman, Superboy, Steel, Dr. Light, Obsidian, John Stewart, Red Tornado, the Birds of Prey, the JLA, the JSA, the JLI, and the Teen Titans. Overkill, anyone? Great issue though.

–Batman: The Dark Knight #1-5 (“GOLDEN DAWN”)
When Bruce’s childhood friend and college sweetheart Dawn Golden is kidnapped, the Dark Knight begins an investigation. Several days into the case Batman confronts a Venom-ed up Killer Croc and kicks his ass. Batman learns that Croc was definitely involved in Dawn’s abduction, and is pointed in the direction of the Penguin. At Penguin’s newest club, Batman finds hard evidence in the form of Golden’s amulet necklace (actually a talisman that causes Batman to beat the stuffing out of Penguin, breaking his arm and leg). We’ll get to why Golden wears a magickal amulet in a bit. Moving on, Croc immediately escapes from police custody, comes to Penguin’s aid, and pummels Batman into unconsciousness. Meanwhile, a young girl named Mira breaks into the Batmobile and takes it for a joyride, much to the chagrin of Alfred, who monitors the entire carjacking and even speaks directly to the child. The girl eventually runs off, but not before returning the Batmobile to Batman, who has just escaped being strapped to a chair covered with bombs. The Caped Crusader has not only evaded death, but has located Dawn. En route to her apartment Dawn explains what has happened to Batman. Dawn’s father, evil mystagogue and heresiarch Aleister Golden, wanted to gain ultimate occult power by sacrificing his only daughter when she reached a proper age. Thus, her whole life had been ruled by her father, including his forcing her to constantly wear magickal amulets. When Aleister died years ago, Dawn thought she was finally free from his oppression.  However, Aleister has now returned from Hell in demon form, having possessed Ragman! After slaughtering random hobos to bolster his power, Aleister-possessed Ragman tried and failed to kidnap his daughter, so he hired Penguin (who hired Croc) to do it for him. Penguin apparently had a personal stake in the matter because he was trying to date Dawn, but she spurned him. Anyway, back to the present.  Sensing the presence of an unnatural demon possession on Earth, Etrigan confronts Aleister-possessed Ragman and they do battle in the Gotham sewers. Blaze, current Queen of Hell, takes interest that an ex-officer of the netherworld is messing with a currently-employed demon and appears on the mortal plane to watch the fight. After Etrigan defeats Aleister/Ragman, an impressed Blaze recruits the former and offers him his rhyming strength powers back if he chooses to serve her bidding. Etrigan accepts the offer and Blaze sends him to fight Batman. At Dawn’s apartment, Dawn is kidnapped yet again by a swarm of miniature demons working for Aleister. Etrigan and Blaze show up just in time to attack Batman, thus preventing him from going after Dawn.  Eventually, Etrigan remembers that Bruce is kinda-sorta his friend and betrays Blaze. The “Demonic Duo” then goes after Dawn together and easily sends Aleister back to Hell. However, they are too late to save Dawn, who becomes another one of Bruce’s exes that gets chucked into the proverbial fridge. Oh, and if you were wondering about the random young girl that stole the Batmobile? Check out the Epilogue two bullets down. PS. The Mayor of Gotham, Sebastian Hady, having shown himself to be corrupt a while ago, now has it out for Gordon. With assistance from his crony Lieutenant Forbes, Hady tries to frame Gordon by planting a stash of Venom in his office. This little side-story isn’t followed-up, but we must assume Batman (or even Gordon himself) proves his innocence. We will see Hady continue his persecution of the commissioner when he tries to frame Gordon for murder in the upcoming Batman Incorporated #6 as well.

–Outsiders Vol. 4 #39-40
Thus ends the fourth volume of Outsiders. Note that issue #40 gets a retro alternate title of Batman and The Outsiders Vol. 2 #40. Markovia is under attack by several neighboring countries. Geo-Force, along with several Outsider loyalists, adds to the carnage in an attempt to repel the invaders. Meanwhile, the rest of the Outsiders, led by Amanda Waller on behalf of the US Government, infiltrate Markovia with orders to bring down Geo-Force. The result is an all-out war between two separate Outsider teams! Bruce flies into Markovia, hacks into NORAD to disable Waller’s ability to nuke the country, and quells the two rival teams. Meanwhile, Geo-Force, realizing he has been manipulated by super-villain Veritas and his ex-wife Geode, uses his full-power to end the armed conflict once and for all. A jaded Geo-Force then expels his former teammates and seals off his entire country. On the plane ride home Batman muses about what to do with the remaining thirteen Outsiders. As referenced in Batman Incorporated #6, Batman chooses to keep only five members for the new Outsiders lineup: Halo, Looker, Katana, Metamorpho, and Freight Train.

–Batman: The Dark Knight #5 Epilogue
In the “Golden Dawn” story arc, a mysterious young girl named Mira stole the Batmobile, but we never learned why. Here’s the scoop. The girl’s father used to work for WayneTech. A group of unnamed criminals, knowing that all of Batman Inc’s gadgetry comes from WayneTech, tried but failed to force information, specifically schematics on the Batmobile, out of the girl’s dad. Thus, the little techno-genius/hacker extraordinaire decided to take matters into her own hands and get the technical details of the Batmobile personally by breaking in and taking it for a joyride.  Of course Mira was caught red handed by Alfred.  Naturally, Batman uses this to his advantage. He gives Mira what is supposedly a high-tech communication device that all members of Batman Inc use and tells her to deliver it to the criminals, which she does in exchange for her father’s life. This is obviously a setup that will allow Batman to get the drop on these baddies. Oddly, the Epilogue ends with “The End?” so we must assume these bad guys are related to Leviathan since David Finch’s work during this period is inseparable from Grant Morrison’s. If we make that assumption, we must further assume that Batman either takes them down immediately or simply monitors them in relation to his greater war against Leviathan, which will soon escalate.

–REFERENCE: In Batman 80-Page Giant 2011 #1 Part 1. Bruce takes time out of his busy schedule to befriend and help out a teenage drug user named Jade O’Keafe.

–REFERENCE: In Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #1. Batman (Bruce) opens a new Batcave West for his Outsiders in San Francisco, secretly hidden behind a sex-shop. Batman has all of the Outsiders trophies and memorabilia from the old Batcave West, which was in Los Angeles, shipped to the new location.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #0—and also referenced in a flashback from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #11. We are told that Batman Inc has supposedly existed for about three months. It has actually been around two-and-a-half-months. Batman (Bruce Wayne) meets with Batman Japan at the end of his probationary period. Batman Japan now debuts his brand new custom-made goggle-cap karate outfit. (He had previously been using a regular-style Batman costume.) Batman reviews his performance and helps him nab Veiniac. The Dark Knight tells Batman Japan that he will be an official Batman Inc agent if he can defeat Doubleface, which we can assume he does, since Batman Japan becomes an official member of the team! From this point on, Batman Japan will operate with his very own Tokyo “Batbase” that mirrors Batman’s Gotham Batcave and he will go on various solo missions independent from the Caped Crusader’s guidance. Before they part ways, Batman orders Batman Japan to take down the Japanese Clayface (Clayface IX). Batman Japan asks Batman for a shrink ray (to use on himself so he can date the tiny superhero Lolita Canary).

–REFERENCE: In The Batman Files. Bruce is photographed and interviewed by a journalist for the metahuman-interest news magazine The Brave and The Bold. He discusses Batman Inc’s creation and global mission. Bruce also authorizes the printing and distribution of Batman Inc promotional material, including posters. (Note that The Batman Files author Matthew Manning uses some Frazer Irving art as an example of one of the Batman Inc promo posters, but we should probably disregard the use of this specific image since it shows some of the more secret members of the team, including Catwoman and the Hood.)

–Power Girl Vol. 2 #24-25 (“WE CAN BE HEROES“)
Max Lord has recently legally usurped Karen Starr’s multimillion dollar company away from her. Karen meets with Bruce in the Batcave and they discuss how to help her recover from the devastating loss. First step, Karen purchases a 24-7 cable news network. Second step, Karen and Bruce fund a public summit and joint venture of their companies designed to expand health services to Africa. Third step, they let off some steam by fighting wrongfully-accused metahuman and angry prison-escapee Rayhan Mazin, who has the power to control the weather.  Less than three months ago (NOT “six months” as Judd Winick tells us) Mazin was racially profiled due to his background as an Arab and sent to prison for trying to crash a plane in Gotham when in fact it was he who actually prevented the plane from crashing. Batman and Power Girl are able to stop Mazin’s rampage and also prove his innocence. Afterward, Mazin gets a tryout with the JSA. Power Girl, while admitting it is long overdue, finally gets the chance to tell Bruce how happy she is that he is back following his time-traveling ordeal several months ago.

–Weird Worlds Vol. 2 #2
Batman listens in on some of Scarecrow’s henchmen at their safe house and they speak about a mysterious “man of mud” that they hit with their car. Batman takes a sample of the mud from the car. The mud is actually a part of Garbage Man‘s body! For anyone wondering, Garbage Man is lawyer Richard Morse, who was injected with a bizarre toxic serum and blown up in an explosion by the vile Dr. Clive, who works for the even viler Titan Corporation. Morse emerged as a new superhero, sort of resembling a trash-version of Swamp Thing.

–Weird Worlds Vol. 2 #5
Batman examines the mud sample that he took from the Scarecrow henchman’s car and it turns out to be a mixture of mud, trash, toxic material, and organic plant-like material. Batman is also able to link the substance to the six-month-old explosion that occurred at Titan Corporation’s Hazelton lab outside of Gotham. Unfortunately, Batman won’t ever have time to follow up on this investigation or actually meet Garbage Man due to the myriad of important events that will soon rock his world.

–NOTE: In Detective Comics #879. Neither Batman (Bruce or Dick) make an appearance in ‘tec #879. James Gordon Junior has been working for Leslie Thompkins for a week now and he seems to be doing quite well. Everyone loves him, including Leslie, but Jim Gordon knows his son too well. Jim and Barbara not only learn that James Junior is not well, but that he plans on mixing a psychotropic drug into the factory chemical vats of a large baby formula distributor. Oh, Joker escapes from Arkham too.

–Batman: Gates of Gotham #5
After several days of a tough investigation, Dick, Damian, Tim, and Cassie Cain (!) defeat the new villain known as The Architect.  Afterward, Dick reports the results of the case to Bruce, who is overseas on Batman Incorporated business.  Bruce tells Dick that he’s done a great job as Batman, but he’s coming home to Gotham for good soon and when he makes his permanent return to the city, they must have a talk about the future (i.e. Dick will have to become Nightwing again).  Whoa, big news.

–Red Robin #23
Tim uses his position with Wayne Enterprises to greenlight the rebuilding/revitalization of Crime Alley.  Tim then accompanies Bruce to Montreal for a series of Wayne Enterprises meetings.  In Montreal a new Black Spider tries to assassinate Bruce, obviously fails, but manages to evade capture. May I kindly remind you that this is the fourth Black Spider and there are now currently three active Black Spiders in the DCU. Back in Gotham, Red Robin meets with Lynx and gets info from Lonnie Machin regarding another next assassination target: Lucius Fox. While Bruce is still on business in Canada, Batman (Dick) and Red Robin are ready for action when the assassin, a man wearing Scarab armor, shows up to off Lucius.  Tim, being the master of fake-death trickery, fools the assassin (and the news media) into believing that Lucius has indeed been killed.  Don’t worry, as usual Lucius is fine.  Red Robin then obtains a special government release for the imprisoned Scarab, who leads him to her lair in Cairo.  Just as Red Robin and Scarab enter the lair, Lonnie messages Tim with the news that the “Global Assassination Tournament” has begun again! (The last one was less than four months ago!) Red Robin is then attacked by Scarab and eight Scarab-armored assassins, collectively known as the Covenant of Ka. NOTE: In the next two issues (which feature neither of the Batmen and overlap with the next eleven items on our list) Red Robin will do the following: Defeat the Covenant of Ka, discover that the Tournament was just a lure by the Daughters of Acheron (specifically by members Promise and Ra’s al Ghul’s unnamed half-sister from Red Robin #12), avoid impregnating Ra’s al Ghul’s sis despite the sexpot’s best efforts to “get down,” defeat the Daughters of Acheron with Cassie Cain’s help, fake his own death in an attempt to figure out who was behind the “Global Assassination Tournament” (someone who is immortal, thousands-of-years-old, but apparently isn’t Vandal Savage or Ra’s al Ghul), help Cassie in Hong Kong fight against a ten-year-old metahuman called Cricket, and get multiple broken bones courtesy of Cricket. (I’ve included the last item as a note further down the list, in order to let you know when we’ve caught up on the timeline.)

–NOTE: In Wonder Woman #613. Wonder Woman finally makes the world right again and everyone remembers her true history. What happened? The nasty Greco-Roman Goddess of Retribution known as Nemesis, with the help of the witch trio known as the Morrigan, originally wanted to use Wonder Woman’s powers to destroy the world, so the Greco-Roman gods took Diana’s essence and placed it into a pocket universe in order to protect it from being stolen.  But in the process Diana’s entire history was erased and rewritten. Now, Diana confronts Nemesis, who is endowed with the sliver of Diana’s original Wonder Woman essence. After defeating Nemesis, Wonder Woman regains her history and her memories, but opts to keep her new pants-costume look. Likewise, the rest of the DCU’s history in relation to Wonder Woman shifts back into proper place.

–REFERENCE: In Wonder Woman #614. After defeating Nemesis and regaining her history and memories, Wonder Woman returns home. Bruce leaves a message with Hippolyta on Paradise Island for Wonder Woman asking for help against Gorilla Grodd. We must assume Diana joins Batman for a serious beat-down of the simian super-villain.

–Green Arrow Vol. 4 #14
Green Arrow has been dealing with the religious fanatic Reverend Billy Miggs and his cult-like followers recently. Batman, on his way across country to check up on his operations (presumably his Batman Incorporated operations) visits Green Arrow and gives him new high-tech arrow weaponry to use against Miggs’ army-grade battle-mech suits.

–Justice League of America 80-Page Giant 2011 #1
This is a strange JLofA issue, especially since it centers mostly around non-JLA members.  Our story begins with various random heroes being transported to Hell.  Plastic Man winds up alongside Batman (Bruce) at the gates of Hell. When Plas asks Bruce if the “rest of the League” is present, he must be referring to the JLI, since Bruce is not a member of the JLA, but is a member of the JLI. Batman and Plastic Man confront the demon Geryon, who tries but fails to hurt the heroes by confronting them with visions of their worst fears. Other heroes are paired up and face-off against demon trials with varying success until they are all summoned to Purgatory. Batman, Superman, Plastic Man, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Bulleteer, Booster Gold, Oracle, Fire, Lobo, Hawkman, Supergirl, Red Tornado, Power Girl, Zatanna, Etrigan, Green Arrow, Ragman, and John Stewart have all been summoned by the imprisoned Lord Satanus, who is attempting to overthrow his sister, current ruler of Hell, Blaze. Satanus used the heroes to defeat various demons in an effort to retrieve and assemble pieces of the all-powerful Hell Mask, an artifact that can grant him the power to reclaim his throne.  However, Batman and Plas have planned ahead.  The Hell Mask is actually Plastic man in disguise and Plas holds the real mask in his possession.  Plas dons the mask and sacrifices his own life to save the day.  However, due to the “unexpected anomaly” of having been brought to Hell and then killed, God deems Plas should not be dead and delivers him back to life via the caring arms of Zauriel. Zauriel then helps the heroes leave Hell.

–Batgirl Vol. 3 #22
Bruce sends Stephanie a message “activating” her as an official Batman Incorporated member. Steph’s first mission is to move to London. Beryl Hutchinson (Squire) meets Steph at Heathrow to brief her, but before they even get to the hotel, trouble is afoot. Batgirl and Squire team-up to stop Orphan and his cronies from stealing Greenwich Mean Time. Afterward a tired Steph finally makes it to her hotel room, but Batman is waiting for her with important news about Leviathan.^[12]

_______________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________

<<< PREVIOUS: YEAR 22 Part 3 <<< | >>> NEXT: YEAR 23 Part 2 >>>

1. ^[1]COLLIN COLSHER: Welcome to Year 23. This is a pretty hectic final year for the Modern Age. Things have spiraled to complete editorial compression. January, February, and March have more stories packed into them than possible. We must suspend our disbelief and take these months on the timeline as if they are a day-by-day listing of events. Here’s a little op-ed from yours truly before we move on. Dick Grayson is featured primarily in Batman, Batman & Robin, and Detective (although Bruce does make cameos in all of those books). Bruce is primarily featured in Streets of Gotham, Dark Knight, and Batman Inc. Long ago, there once was a time when all you needed was Batman and Detective and that was it. In many ways it’s a shame that Batman is such a hot money making commodity. You put a Bat-symbol on the cover and the issue sells out immediately. It’s a shame because it often winds up diluting the continuity and spreading the character way too thin. Although, I guess I shouldn’t complain because this happens to other characters in a much more damaging way—(I’m thinking Deadpool or Wolverine, for example). Anyway, DC didn’t want to limit Batman’s cameos in other books around this publishing time period because there was no way they were going to scale back on the guaranteed profits of having twenty Bat-Family books a month. Maybe one day in the world of Batman comics, DC will scale back on the Dark Knight appearances to make it is easier for their readers who actually want to read a continuous story. But they probably won’t.↩
2. ^[2]COLLIN COLSHER: Professor Pyg is referenced in “The Impostor Wars,” thus placing it after the start of the Batman & Robin series and definitively making this Batman Dick Grayson.

   MITTENS2317: It would make much more sense in “The Impostor Wars” to ignore the line about Professor Pyg, have the Caped Crusader as Bruce Wayne, and place it elsewhere on the timeline.

   COLLIN COLSHER: There are a lot of things I’d like to ignore about “The Impostor Wars.” I can’t believe out of all of the amazing Batman story-arcs they chose this one to synergize into a video game.↩

3. ^[3]COLLIN COLSHER: The Birds of Prey disbanded in BoP #127 (right before Final Crisis in Year 22 Part 1) and reformed in BoP Vol. 2 #1 (part of the “Brightest Day” crossover in Year 22 Part 3).↩
4. ^[4]THIERRO / COLLIN COLSHER: Vandal Savage is the primary recurring villain throughout Bruce’s time travel trip in The Return of Bruce Wayne, so it makes a lot of sense for the immortal super-villain to appear in the 18th century as Blackbeard. However, while acting as a foil to Bruce and Jack Valor, Blackbeard is surprisingly depicted by writer Grant Morrison less as a stereotypical evil pirate and more of an honorable antagonist. This is because, at the time of writing, Morrison didn’t realize that Blackbeard was Vandal Savage in the DCU! Morrison addressed the Vandal Savage-is-Blackbeard fact in one of their Multiversity annotation posts on Substack in 2023. As per Morrison: “I had no idea it was established canon that the DC version of Blackbeard the Pirate was an alias of Vandal Savage! Although if I’d known this, it would have compromised The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 where I depicted Edward Teach/Thatch, the historical Blackbeard, in a largely favorable light based on my research, which suggested that, contrary to his popular image, Blackbeard was never a ruthless monster in the Vandal Savage mould.”↩
5. ^[5]COLLIN COLSHER: An interesting note about Grant Morrison’s Bush Robots, the last living beings in existence prior to universal heat death. Bush Robots are hypothetical AI technology consisting of fractal-branching ultra-dexterous machinery. The idea of a Bush Robot was first hypothesized by science fiction writers Robert Forward and L Neil Smith (in the early 1980s), then later fleshed-out by sci-fi writers Harry Harrison and Ken MacLeod (in the 1990s), and then theoretically-conceptualized by scientists Marvin Minksy (MIT) and Hans Moravec (NASA) in the 1990s. Interestingly, Alan Moore introduced Bush Robots to the omniverse of superhero comics (as the final living things in the universe, no less) in “Majestic: The Big Chill” (from Wildstorm Spotlight #1) in 1997! Therefore, the Bush Robots not only have a cool legacy in sci-fi, but the ones in Return of Bruce Wayne could very well be the same Bush Robots from the Wildstorm Universe—or at least connected to them.↩
6. ^[6]COLLIN COLSHER: Several sources on the Internet claim that the Hyper-Adapter, in giant bat form, appears in Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One” as the very bat that crashes through the Wayne Manor window inspiring Bruce to become Batman in the first place. I’m not sure if this was Grant Morrison’s intention, but it is worth noting. The defeated falling-through-time Hyper-Adapter might also be the demonic presence that takes over Riddler in Dark Knight, Dark City as well.↩
7. ^[7]COLLIN COLSHER: Bruce’s bonding with both the Archivists and the Hyper-Adapter allow him to witness a dark vision of the future (the one portrayed in Batman #666 and Batman #700). This vision, combined with parts of his Thögal visions and other hypnotically-suppressed nightmares, will be a major impetus and contributing factor in the building of the upcoming Batman Incorporated venture.↩
8. ^[8]PURPLEGLOVEZ (TIPTUP JR 94): In Paul Dini’s “House of Hush,” Judson Pierce is released from Blackgate Penitentiary. It’s stated that he served a 37-year sentence. It’s also stated repeatedly that Bruce was not yet born at the start of this sentence. Hush even says this too, and he would know. One crook speculates that Bruce Wayne is 34-35-years-old. So, this is either a huge cluster of continuity errors/major retcon (forcing Bruce to be much younger when he starts out as Batman, thus compressing the timeline to absurdity) or something requiring a creative fanwank. Here’s the fanwank that saves the day: Blackgate had mass breakouts when “Cataclysm” struck and formed a land-bridge to the mainland; and the prison also suffered breakouts in Chuck Dixon’s Batman: Blackgate one-shot and Battle for the Cowl. Therefore, it’s possible Pierce was paroled briefly before being sent back. It’s also possible that Pierce was at large at some point and these aforementioned periods of time were not counted as part of his sentence; thus, he could’ve started a 37-year sentence at which point Bruce was not alive, but Bruce could be much older than 37 when it ends.↩
9. ^[9]BATFAN REBORN: In Azrael Vol. 2 #14-15, entitled “Gotham Shall Be Judged” and “Voices in an Empty Room” respectively, Bruce is still in his Insider suit. Thus, Azrael Vol. 2 #14 occurs before the “House of Hush” conclusion.↩
10. ^[10]ALEKSANDAR: Gotham City Sirens #23-26 takes place right here for a few reasons. First, the Batman-less Gotham City Sirens #20-21 take place right before (or even around the same time) as the Azrael-centric “Judgment of Gotham” crossover, which includes both Batman #709 and Gotham City Sirens #22 and shows the Crusader “judging” Gotham with a violent attack. In the lead-up in Gotham City Sirens #20-21, Harley breaks into Arkham to free/kill Joker while Selina is going to Devil’s Square to see what is going on with the Crusader there. Catwoman is then judged by the Crusader in Gotham City Sirens #22. Therefore, the Arkham breakout in Gotham City Sirens #23-24 must happen immediately after “Judgment of Gotham”—or maybe even around the same time.↩
11. ^[11]COLLIN COLSHER / SAM GROOVER: We never truly learn definitively about Dick’s dark secret(s). Some internet people say it’s simply that Dick manipulated the creation of the Sirens team, but that wouldn’t have happened before Dick winning the cowl or near Final Crisis. Furthermore, Dick brokered a deal with Catwoman to start the Sirens team, so there was nothing sneaky going on there. While it’s possible Catwoman is referring to the time Dick allowed Tarantula to kill Blockbuster, it’s way more likely she is referring to something that occurred a very long time before the cowl when Dick was just a young boy: his “original sin,” allowing his circus comrade “The Prodigy” get beaten while he stood by and watched. Since Selina and Dick were both very recently subjected to Azrael’s tests, which revealed their “original sins,” it’s probable that she attained the knowledge of Dick’s “original sin” through these supernatural proceedings. This would actually connect to recent events quite nicely. Since Bruce wouldn’t be partial to this information, he is likely referring to the circumstances of Blockbuster’s death. (Bruce already knew that Blockbuster died on Dick’s watch, but he now knows the gritty details, that Dick purposefully allowed Blockbuster to die on his watch.) Thus, this is probably a case of Bruce and Catwoman getting their Dick Grayson character flaw stories crossed.↩
12. ^[12]BATFAN REBORN: Steph will have been in England for a month by the time Leviathan Strikes kicks in, hence the reasoning for Batgirl #22 being placed well before Batman Inc #8. In fact, Oracle mentions Steph has been sending her e-mails from the school in Batman Inc #8 and it’s hard to imagine Bruce doing virtually nothing (pun intended) for a whole month in that time.↩