Issue Batman and the Monster Men 1 Subtitle -- Date January 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Batman swooped down on Sal Maroni's thugs who were torturing a captive. Maroni was in with Carmine Falcone. The vigilante got what he needed: they were in the heroine trade. Later that night, Bruce Wayne attended a charity ball with his girlfriend, Julie Madison. Her father, Norman, was enraged that Sal Maroni showed up also. Professor Hugo Strange pitched his new genetic research, but there were no buyers. Outside, he ran into Maroni. The gangster agreed to loan him another $200,000. Bruce took Julie back to the manor; she later woke up with him gone. Alfred explained he'd been called out on business. Professor Strange abducted a couple who'd taunted him at the ball.

Issue Batman and the Monster Men 2 Subtitle -- Date February 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Gordon called Batman to the scene of a grisly murder - parts of a woman's body had been pulled out of the sewer. She appeared to have been killed by a wild animal. Batman took some hair from under her nails and left. Professor Strange was visited by two of Maroni's goons who reminded him of his debt. After they left, he had his body guard trail them. Soon after telling Julie goodnight, Batman was on the scene of a car chase: the police were after armed robbery suspects. He took them down almost effortlessly and left them for the police. Strange purchased an inmate from Arkham Asylum. Gordon was given a report. The police had Batman's heavily modified car. Norman Madison made a deal for $3 from Maroni, to be paid back at 30% interest. Strange loosed his bodyguard and one of his monsters on the gambling hall nearby.

Issue Batman and the Monster Men 3 Subtitle -- Date March 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Batman went in to shake down some of Maroni's goons, but he was beaten to the punch. Everyone was had been massacred by what appeared to be the same beast that had killed the girl in the sewer. Batman found more hair (the last turned out to be human). Professor Strange paid Maroni back with the money he'd looted from the gamblers his beast had killed. Falcone told him to get out of town for a while. Batman visited Maroni that night and caught a slip-up: "Strange." Bruce again cut short his date with Julie. He got into costume and visited Strange's lab. Sanjay, Strange's bodyguard, hit him with a doped dart, chained him up, and threw him in the dungeon with his boss's monsters.

Issue Batman and the Monster Men 4 Subtitle -- Date April 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Batman took down one monster while Strange watched via close-circuit TV. The other two monsters ripped off his cape and belt. The Professor was completely engrossed by the Batman, who escaped by chaining one of the monsters to a drain and leaping in. Strange wanted his DNA for a new monster. Julie went out with friends. Her father was already drunk with worry for her - Moroni's goons threatened her if he didn't pay his debt. She later stopped in to visit Bruce. She found him in bed and completely banged up. He blamed it on a polo accident, saying his team practiced at night. Strange got some of Batman's DNA from blood found on his belt. Maroni's goons came in and blasted one of his tanks.

Issue Batman and the Monster Men 5 Subtitle -- Date May 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Captain Gordon was called into Commissioner Grogan's office. He pleaded ignorance when asked how he contacted the Batman. Walking out, he made sure the signal device was still in his pocket. From the rooftop, he called Batman and they discussed the massacre. Batman told him they were genetic mutations, and who was responsible. He'd just watched Hugo Strange's building go up in flames. Madison came clean to his daughter and told her to leave town for the time being. He went to Maroni with his first "payment." Julie went to Bruce. He drugged her and put her in bed while he went out in his new car. Strange unleashed his "monster men" near Maroni's home.

Issue Batman and the Monster Men 6 Subtitle -- Date June 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Maroni pulled a gun on Madison when all hell broke loose outside. He believed the man had brought or signaled the trouble. Batman arrived as one of the beasts breached the main entrance. He netted one on his way in and the gangsters killed it. Sanjay was also killed. Batman tied the other two together and went for Maroni. He told Madison to scram as he headed to the helipad on the roof. As he was leaving, Madison ran into Strange, who was coming in. Strange kicked him and ran. On the roof, Batman encountered a forth monster. He tranquilized him and the beast fell into the helicopter. He fell with it to the ground, three stories below. He told Maroni he was sparing his life, but that Norman Madison no longer owed him a debt. The next morning, Bruce woke Julie up. He told her he'd worked something out with her father so that the loan was no longer a problem. While walking her home, an electronics store's TV display showed an interview with Hugo Strange about his new obsession: the Batman.

Issue Batman and the Mad Monk 1 Subtitle -- Date October 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Batman encountered the Catwoman and wondered if he'd inspired her. She scratched him with drugged claws and escaped. Bruce broke yet another date with Julie. Gordon was jumped by three cops on the rooftop while waiting for Batman. He held his own until Batman arrived and cleaned them up. Gordon took him down to the morgue: two bloodless corpses from separate incidents. Julie found her father in bad shape again. He'd been babbling and sketching bats. A young woman, new to Gotham City, bumped into a predator in a night club. The strange woman drugged her and led her into a hearse.

Issue Batman and the Mad Monk 2 Subtitle -- Date November 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline The girl awakened tied to an alter. She was about to be sacrificed by some sort of cult. The woman who'd abducted her brought out their leader, a man in red robes and a hood. He bit her neck and let her blood drain. The congregation came forth and drank it. Madison went to Maroni about the debt, but the mobster told him he owed him nothing. Batman met with his new partner, DA Harvey Dent, about Maroni and Falcone. He later met up with Gordon at the newest bloodless body. He found tracks nearby which appeared to be from a hearse. He got some samples and headed back to the cave. Julie spent the entire night staking out the estate.

Issue Batman and the Mad Monk 3 Subtitle -- Date December 2006 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Somehow, Batman tracked the hearse and nabbed its drivers. He aggressively questioned one of them about the "Monk" who'd been mentioned. The man was much more afraid of what the Monk would do to him than of the Batman. Julie told her friends about her father's situation and was overheard by Dala, the woman who'd abducted the last victim. She introduced herself and told them that her boyfriend was a counselor for the rich. Julie seemed intrigued. Falcone met with Maroni. Madison had come to him to pay back what he owed Maroni. Julie visited with Dala and her "boyfriend," Niccolai. He spoke with Dala about siphoning her father's wealth after she left. Bruce noticed bite marks on her neck that night.

Issue Batman and the Mad Monk 4 Subtitle -- Date January 2007 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Niccolai, the Monk, sacrificed one of his own "Brotherhood" because he'd spoken to the police (the hearse driver Batman caught). Since his blood was no good, he was fed to wolves. Bruce, fearing the supernatural, forged some silver batarangs in case vampires were at work. He later saw Julie wake up to a phone call and leave. Niccolai had called her to him. Her father, already scared to death because Batman knew his name, saw the vigilante swing away from his home. Batman entered the Rallstone castle after watching Julie go in. He killed the two timber wolves which attacked him, but took a nasty bite to the thigh. He fell into a deathtrap: a room with no windows or doors with the spiked walls closing in. Julie was bitten again and told to get her father's passwords and account numbers.

Issue Batman and the Mad Monk 5 Subtitle -- Date February 2007 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Using explosives and his grapple gun, Batman escaped his would be doom. After seeing Julie's car no longer near, he left. Gordon called him. When he arrived, he smashed the signal beacon Batman had given him. He told them if they were to continue to work together, it had to be more above the boards. Madison saw Batman again as he checked on Julie. The next day, she got the information and headed back to the castle. Once it was handed over to Niccolai, the Brotherhood was called. They had their next sacrifice. Batman, still horribly wounded by the deathtrap and wolves, headed out to save Julie.

Issue Batman and the Mad Monk 6 Subtitle -- Date March 2007 Writer(s) Matt Wagner Artist(s) Matt Wagner storyline Batman crashed his new car into the castle and disrupted the ritual. After disbursing the crowd, he went after the Monk. Julie was freed. Batman chased the Monk onto the rooftop, where he was struck by lightning. His smoking body fell. Batman saved Julie, who'd managed to escape from Dala. He removed his mask to give her CPR and comfort. Norman Madison, hoping to sever any ties between himself and organized crime, shot at Maroni. He missed and was in turn killed by his thugs. Julie wrote Bruce from Africa. She's joined the Peace Corps and partially blamed Batman for her father's death - though not directly. Batman headed to a nearby warehouse where a police scanner told him bodies had been found with "rictus-like grins."