Batman 255

Batman 255

Apr 1974

Moon of the Wolf

by Len Wein, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano

Batman fights off a werewolf that attacks a woman. The werewolf escapes while Batman is forced to abandon the fight after the werewolf throws the woman out a window. Batman goes to see commissioner Gordon, after rescuing the woman.

The werewolf goes to see Doctor Milo, after the fight with Batman. He changes back into a man, Anthony Lupus. Milo helped Lupus overcome debilitating headaches by accelerating his proclivity for lycanthropy. Milo now demands that Lupus kill Batman before he cures Lupus of lycanthropy. 

Detective Comics 408

Detective Comics 408

Feb 1971

The House that Haunted Batman!

by Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, John Costanza

15 pages

Batman goes looking for Robin, who disappeared 24 hours ago. His search leads him to an old mansion. He finds Robin but then he isn't sure if he really found him at all as the person he found crumbles into dust. Someone who looks just like Robin starts shooting at Batman.

Batman 245

Batman 245

Oct 1972

The Bruce Wayne Murder Case!

by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Dick Giordan

15 pages

Bruce Wayne has faked his own death or at least let a rumor spread that he was killed while traveling in South America. Bilker, one of the two candidates for mayor of Gotham City, has accused Harvey, the other candidate for mayor, of murdering the missing multimillionaire. Batman knows that Bruce Wayne is safe and sound but he doesn’t know what Bilker knows until he has done some sleuthing.

Batman 237

Batman 237

Dec 1971

Night of the Reaper!

by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, John Costanza

25 pages

Dick Grayson visits Rutland, VT with some of his friends. They are there for the parade and the floats which includes people dressed as superheroes, some of which are from Marvel Comics. Dick and his friends see three men wielding blackjacks attack a guy dressed as Robin. They rush in to help and chase off  the three men without finding out what it was all about. 

Batman 234

Batman 234

Aug 1971

Half an Evil

by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams

15 pages

Two-Face resurfaces after being off of Batman’s radar screen for more than a decade.

It isn’t clear at first who may be behind a string of crimes but Batman puts together the trail of information that the thieves leave in their wake. Even after he determines that it must be Two-Face, Batman still isn’t sure what his old friend Harvey Dent is up to until Two-Face makes his move. 

Detective Comics 448

Detective Comics 448

May 1975

Bedlam Beneath the Big Top!

by Len Wein, Ernie Chan, Dick Giordano, Julius Schwartz

Batman follows some information that Jack Ryder (aka the Creeper) dug up for him and goes to see Gaston St. Lucifer’s Circus Extraordinaire. He sneaks around, finds some answers, and gets into fights with several of the circus performers. He locates Ra’s Al Ghul and Talia, both very much alive and learns how and why he was framed for murder. 

Detective Comics 447

Detective Comics 447

May 1975

Enter: The Creeper

by Len Wein, Ernie Chan, Dick Giordano, Julius Schwartz

Batman digs up the coffin of Ra’s Al Ghul but finds it empty. He is about to do the same for Talia’s coffin when a couple police officers show up. He tries to show them that the coffin is empty but when he does it is no longer empty. They try to arrest him. He runs.

Alfred performed some forensic work on the gun that killed Ra’s and Talia. It was handmade and there was a hair from a lion on it. Batman takes Alfred’s discoveries into account and heads to the Gotham Zoo. The Creeper, convinced that Batman is a murderer, tries to apprehend the Dark Knight. They both find themselves in danger when someone frees the zoo’s lions from their cage.

Detective Comics 446

Detective Comics 446

May 1975

Slaughter in Silver

by Len Wein, Jim Aparo, Julius Schwartz

Batman goes back undercover to investigate a skeleton that was found inside  one of Bruce Wayne’s statues. He sneaks into Gotham City Police HQ disguised as a janitor. His detective work is interrupted by three men who want to take the skeleton from the morgue.

He follows the thugs after his fight with them gets broken up by a couple police officers. The thugs inadvertently lead him to Sterling Silversmith, their boss. Another fight breaks out but this time Batman gets knocked unconscious. He wakes up just as Silversmith is getting ready to kill him.

Detective Comics 445

Detective Comics 445

Mar 1975

Break-In at the Big House

by Len Wein, Jim Aparo, Julius Schwartz

Commissioner Gordon asks Bruce Wayne to help him convince Batman to turn himself in. Bruce instead gets dressed up as Batman and breaks in to Gotham City's prison. He wants to have a talk with Ra’s Al Ghul. The mastermind criminal confounds Batman by shooting himself in the chest. The guards assume that Batman shot Ra's. The guards try to apprehend Batman but the Dark Knight Detective escapes through a tunnel created by the Spook. 

Detective Comics 444

Detective Comics 444

Jan 1975

Bat-Murderer!

by Len Wein, Jim Aparo, Julius Schwartz

Commissioner Gordon recounts to one of his men of how he sent Batman on a mission that resulted in the Dark Knight murdering Talia Al-Ghul. Commissioner Gordon tried to have Batman arrested but Batman insisted he was innocent. Batman fled into the night, determined to find the evidence that would clear his name. 

Thoughts

This is the first chapter of a five-part story. This installment is just 12 pages long. I am reading it in Tales of the Batman: Len Wein via Hoopla. The individual issues would probably cost me at least $15 to $25 a piece in fine condition.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 30

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 30

May 1992

Faces: Part 3

by Matt Wagner, Willie Schubert, Steve Oliff

Two-Face tells Batman his plan including how he expects Batman to die. Wren is still alive. Manon is revealed to be a bearded lady. Batman escapes. Wren is locked up with d’Urberville who shows him his deformity. 

Batman locates Wren and d’Urberville and is about to rescue them when Two-Face shows up. The freaks overwhelm Batman and knock him out. Batman wakes up. Two-Face is standing over him and tells him some more of his plans before departing with Wren and the freaks in the dirigible. 

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 29

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 29

Apr 1992

Faces: Part 2

by Matt Wagner, Willie Schubert, Steve Oliff

Batman continues to try to find Two-Face and figure out why he’s killing plastic surgeons.

Two-Face kills another plastic surgeon, right under Batman’s nose, without getting caught. Batman thought he had every eventuality covered only to discover that Two-Face was one step ahead of him. 

Bruce confronts Paul d’Urberville and finds out that d’Urberville is being blackmailed.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 28

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 28

Mar 1992

Faces: Part 1

by Matt Wagner, Willie Schubert, Steve Oliff

Two-Face escapes from Arkham Asylum and disappears from sight for two years. Bruce Wayne attends a costume ball, two years to the day after Two-Face escaped, where he engages in plans to buy a private island from Paul d’Urberville with some help from real estate agent Nelson Wren.

Plastic Surgeon Donald Tremaine dies at the party from a slow acting poison that was in the adhesive that attached his mask to his face. Batman suspects that Two-Face is responsible for the death of the plastic surgeon. Batman searches for answers.

Detective Comics Annual 2

Detective Comics Annual 2

1989

Blood Secrets

by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, Val Semeiks, Michael Bair, Todd Klein, Adrienne Roy, Dan Raspler, Dennis O’Neil

Bruce Wayne, before he began his career as Batman, traveled to Huntsville to learn about detective work from Harvey Harris. Bruce, under the assumed name of Frank Dixon, helped Harvey find the thread that connected several murders: all the victims were former members of a terrorist organization known as the Paladins of the Cross. 

Batman Annual 11 (2)

Batman Annual 11

1987

Villains in Love! (2nd Story)

Love Bird

by Max Allan Collins, Norm Breyfogle, Albert DeGuzman, Adrienne Roy, Denny O’Neil

Batman unsuccessfully tries to stop the Penguin from getting out of prison on parole. The Penguin is in love with Dovina Partridge, a woman with whom he has been corresponding. He promises to renounce his life of crime. He tries but ultimately he is sent back to prison for violating the terms of his parole, namely for associating with other parolees, while he was trying to get an umbrella business up and running. Batman pleads with the parole board to make an exception for the Penguin but Batman’s pleas fall on deaf ears.

Batman Annual 11 (1)

Batman Annual 11

1987

Villains in Love! (1st Story)

Mortal Clay

by Alan Moore, George Freeman, John Costanza, Lovern Kindzierski, Len Wein

Clayface (Preston Payne) lost Helena, the love of his life, but then finds her again. They have three blissful months together until something leads him to believe that she is cheating on him. He kills a security guard, thinking that he’s the one Helena has been seeing. The death of the security guard brings Batman on to the case.

Batman: Dark Allegiances

Batman: Dark Allegiances

1996

Dark Allegiances

by Howard Chaykin, Ken Bruzenak 

Batman, in the late 1930s, fights the Klan. Bruce Wayne romances actress Kitty Grimalkin unaware that she has been blackmailed into finding some dirt with which he can be blackmailed. They travel cross country by train. Wayne picks up a custom made car in Detroit. 

Adolf Hitler travels to the United States to meet with Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Wayne and Grimalkin happen to be at the same party and also meet Hitler. Kitty turns out to also have a costumed identity, as Catwoman. Batman and Catwoman team up and disrupt the plans of some homegrown fascists.

Batman: Holy Terror

Batman: Holy Terror

1991

Holy Terror

by Alan Brennert, Norm Breyfogle, Lovern Kindzierski, Bill Oakley

Bruce Wayne grows up in Gotham Towne in the American Commonwealth. He is getting ready to enter the priesthood when Inquisitor James Gordon tells him that the murder of his parents (decades before) was not a random act of violence. Bruce goes ahead with his plan to enter the priesthood after learning more about it from Doctor Charles McNider. 

Bruce uses his connections to infiltrate one of the Church’s most secret buildings in the hopes of learning more. Dressed as the Batman, Bruce finds much more than he expected. 

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

1989

Gotham by Gaslight

by Brian Augustyn, Michael Mignola, P. Craig Russell, David Hornung, John Workman, Mark Waid

Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham in 1889 after traveling abroad for five years. Jack the Ripper moves from London to Gotham and starts murdering women in Gotham just as Bruce is getting settled back in at Wayne Manor. Gotham Police Commissioner Tolliver at first suspects that the Bat-Man must be the murderer. The investigation ends after a bloody knife is found at Wayne Manor.

Bruce Wayne is arrested. He is put on trial, found guilty, and sentenced to be hung. He attempts to solve the crime from his jail cell in Arkham Asylum, without success. Bruce escapes from Arkham, with some help from Alfred, and solves the mystery dressed as the Bat-Man. 

Batman: Son of the Demon

Batman: Son of the Demon

1987

by Mike W. Barr, Jerry Bingham, John Costanza 

Batman works with Ra’s Al Ghul and Talia, his daughter, to stop Qayin, a terrorist whose parents once worked for Ra’s. Qayin blames Ra’s for his parents death but Quyin himself is responsible for the death of Melisande, Ra’s wife and Talia’s mother. 

Batman moves in to Ra’s secret headquarters, he and Talia are married, and not longer after that get pregnant. Qayin moves forward with his plan to wreck havoc by taking over a US satellite that can control the weather.