| Storyline |
Daughter
of the Demon (Bat 232 +cover)
Robin, returning to his dorm room at Hudson University,
was abducted. Bruce received a note a few days later
from the kidnappers. He headed to the cave to begin
the investigation. There, he was met by Ra's al Ghul
and his bodyguard, Ubu. His daughter had also been abducted.
After Talia's first meeting with Batman, Ra's had discovered
the man's true identity.
On the photographs, Batman found a substance that led
them to Calcutta. Soon after their arrival, Batman got
a lead on the Brotherhood of the Demon. Batman was attacked
by a trained leopard and defeated it. Inside the place,
they found a map of the Himalayas. The trio headed that
way.
In the mountains, Batman was separated from Ra's and
Ubu when a sniper struck. Batman made it to the Brotherhood
of the Demon's stronghold alone. He walked straight
to Robin and laughed and the charade placed before him
by Ra's and Ubu. The reason for the game was the only
question, one answered by Ra's - his daughter, Talia,
was in love with the Batman. He'd chosen the man to
be his successor.
Cover:
Detective 412
Cover: Detective 413
Half an Evil (Batman 234 +cover)
During a Gotham City parade, a Janus hot dog balloon
was stolen at gunpoint and flown away in a helicopter.
While Batman talked it over with Gordon, a report came
in on an in-progress heist at a museum. Inside, Batman
found clowns. After taking one down, he learned Two-Face
was behind things. His next theft was a book on Captain
Bye (bi). From that, Bruce realized his next hit - Bye's
ship was in the harbor. As Batman fought Two-Face's
goons, the ship exploded and sank. With the help of
the stolen balloon, it raised again upstream. Batman
boarded. Two-Face caught him from behind and knocked
him out. Batman awakened tied to the mast - Two-Face
was making off with Bye's treasure which had been hidden
in the ship for ages. Dent punctured the balloon and
rowed away from the twice-sinking ship.
Batman pointed out there was an innocent aboard, and
Two-Face's coin forced him to save the man. While he
was working on that, Batman got out of his restraints
and captured the villain.
Cover:
Detective 414
Cover: Batman 235
Cover: Detective 415
Cover: Detective 416
Cover: Batman 236
Cover: Detective 417
Night of the Reaper (Bat 237 +cover)
Dick and some of his college buddies caught a parade.
One of the floats featured people dressed as superheroes.
Up ahead, he noticed some guys beating up the Robin
and went to his aide. The thugs escaped. Dick wandered
away from the group and got into costume. Nearby, he
found the Batman character from the float dead. A man
in a hooded cape caught him off guard, and the Teen
Wonder fell over an embankment.
Batman got to his partner in time and got him medical
attention. He was out after a Nazi who'd stolen some
gold in Germany before escaping to the US. While Robin
recovered, Batman continued his quest. Outside the costume
party, Batman found one of Dick's friends who said he'd
seen a skeleton in a cloak kill someone. Batman found
the body and rushed back to the masquerade when he noticed
a light flashing in Morse Code. He found some Nazi's
inside and learned they'd bombed their former leader's
car. An explosion rang out.
Near the crime scene, Batman went off on Robin and went
after the "Reaper." Batman caught up with
him - the doctor who had worked on Robin - he'd given
up the Nazi thief's whereabouts and was dealing out
his own vigilante justice on them. Batman gave chase,
but the man realized what he'd become and committed
suicide.
Cover:
Detective 418
Cover: TB&tB 99
Cover: Batman 238
Cover: Detective 419
Cover: Batman 239
Cover: Detective 420
Cover: Batman 240
Cover: Detective 421
Cover: Detective 422
Cover: Batman 241
Cover: WFC 211
The Lazarus Pit (Bat 243 +cover)
Batman and Lo Ling squared off against each other Ling
was torn between his life debts to both Batman and Ra's
al Ghul. Ling was easily defeated and pledged to help
Batman. After he was gone, Malone (actually Robin) deflated
and unmasked. Batman got into the Matches Malone persona.
Dick headed back to school; Bruce went to meet with
Dr. Blaine and Lo Ling.
Their plane landed in Switzerland. Ling almost immediately
spotted Talia and was taken down by Ubu. Batman then
stood in the bodyguard's way. A bystander whacked Batman
when she saw him grab Talia. Ra's al Ghul's daughter
and Ubu escaped. Batman's attacker was an Olympic skier
who'd also had run-ins with the Demon's Head. She offered
her services to Batman's team.
They made it into Ra's headquarters and were greeted
by Talia. She took them to her father's body. As they
left the room, Talia activated one of her father's Lazarus
Pits and he was revived.
The
Demon Lives Again (Bat 244 +cover)
With their captive, Talia, Batman's team began their
journey back to civilization. Ra's al Ghul, who they
thought was dead, attacked them. He took down both Lo
Ling and Batman and escaped with his daughter. Batman
and the skier pursued their hovercraft, but the skier
was injured and had to get medical attention.
Batman tracked Ra's to the desert, where they locked
horns in a sword duel. Their fight was a draw, but Batman
was stung by a scorpion. Secure in the fact that Batman
would die, Ra's left him. Talia slipped him antidote
in a kiss. Batman rose and defeated his enemy. He left
Talia and took her father.
The
Bruce Wayne Murder Case (Bat 245 +cover)
Batman returned to Gotham City to find it in the midst
of a mayoral election. One of the candidates, Bilker,
was accusing the other, Harvey, of having Bruce Wayne
killed. He had a handwritten note on Wayne stationery
saying the man feared Harvey would kill him. Bilker
swore Wayne gave it to him shortly before he departed
for South America.
Batman visited a man who he'd read about in a scientific
journal. The man had created a computer which could
perfectly duplicate handwriting. He confessed to being
threatened by Bilker, but he destroyed his machine,
creating an electric shock which took down Batman. Batman
later found the man at gunpoint - he'd gone to Bilker
for help. After getting the police in on it, Batman
vanished. Later, Bruce Wayne was "found" alive
in South America.
Cover:
Batman 246
The Joker's Five-Way Revenge (Bat 251 +cover)
Batman met Gordon at a crime scene. The victim had a
huge grin on his face and a playing card was found nearby
- the Joker. Batman went after one of Joker's old thugs
(the first victim was another). Before he could get
him safely into custody, the man took a drink of water,
began laughing, and fell over dead.
Joker personally took down another of his old gang with
an exploding cigar - he was trying to find out which
of them had betrayed him during their last caper. Batman
got to the forth member in time, but he was double-crossed
and knocked out. Still groggy, Batman made it back to
the guy's house and found him dead. Joker whacked Batman
with a left, then dropped him with a kick. Joker decided
to wait and kill him later.
Batman awakened and headed out to find the fifth and
final member of Joker's gang. At a retirement home,
the caretaker - a nun - told him the man was no longer
there. Batman remembered a tanker that had crashed recently,
and the Joker had left sandy / oily residue at their
last meeting. Joker was waiting for him at a closed
aquarium near the beach, his fifth former associate
about to become shark food. Batman agreed to switch
with the man.
After he was chained up and dumped into the tank, Joker
threw his other victim in. Batman used his shackles
to kill the shark, and the man's wheel chair to break
the glass. He made sure the old man was ok then went
after the Joker.
Batman caught him when the clown slipped on an oil slick
on the way to his getaway car.
Cover:
Detective 439
Moon of the Wolf (Bat 255 +cover)
Batman followed a werewolf into a woman's apartment.
The beast flung his prey out the window when Batman
got the upper hand. He was forced to jump and save her;
the creature escaped. Batman visited Gordon, who told
him some wolves had been stolen from the zoo. Batman
wondered if the man he'd fought might not be a man at
all.
Elsewhere, as the sun rose, the wolf man changed back
into human form. He'd gone to a less than credible doctor
in attempt to cure his frequent headaches - the man
had turned him into a beast. The doctor told him he
suffered from lycanthropy. The serum he'd taken was
Alaskan wolf blood, which completed the phase. Dr. Milo
wanted the man to kill the Batman.
Tony Lupus - the wolfman - began to put the word on
the street: he wanted to meet Batman and would donate
$250,000 to the charity of his choice. Soon, Batman
paid the man a visit. He was taken off guard and knocked
out. Tony delivered him to Dr. Milo, who insisted to
see the werewolf's full rage destroy the Batman. Tony
phased, and the werewolf attacked Dr. Milo.
Batman awakened across the street - he'd been chained
up at a construction site. Before he could get himself
loose, the creature appeared. After a savage battle,
the werewolf was struck by lightning while removing
a steel rod from himself that Batman had flung at him.
Batman searched the grounds, but could find no trace
of him.
Pinup:
Limited Collector's Edition C-25
Stacked Cards (Power Records PR-27)
A rock flew through Commissioner Gordon's window with
a note attached: the Joker had escaped Arkham Asylum
and promised revenge. Batman and Robin headed to the
museum where Picasso's "The Clown" was on
exhibit. One guard had already been killed - they found
him with Joker's death grin. They realized the painting
had already been stolen - a cheap knockoff had been
put in it's place. When the police arrived, Batman and
Robin headed to one of the Joker's known hideouts.
Inside, they found another body. Shots were fired and
Batman chased the Joker outside. Robin stayed in to
handle the fire which had been set. With help from the
Joker's own arrogance, Batman quickly captured him.
He recovered the painting from the fire, and everything
was put back in place.
Robin
Meets Man-Bat (Power Records PR-30)
Batman and Robin were waiting inside a bank vault for
some would-be criminals. One used a sonic disrupter
on the Dynamic Duo, allowing his group to escape. The
high-pitched sounds lured Man-Bat. He attacked the men,
who dropped the device. Batman and Robin ran to rejoin
the fight, but Man-Bat had already taken the crooks
down. When he flew away, Batman told Robin his history.
When the story was over, Man-Bat grabbed Batman and
flew off. Robin tossed sneezing powder at it, and Batman
got free. A second Man-Bat arrived, and they realized
it was both Kirk and Francine Langstrom. Batman roped
them and brought them down. One was carrying two needles;
Batman dosed each.
When they'd regained human form, the Langstroms told
the Dynamic Duo that Francine had accidentally taken
the Man-Bat serum. Kirk took it in attempt to get her
back.
House
Ad: Power Records (1976)
Cover: WFC 244
Cover: WFC 245
Cover: WFC 246
Cover: Limited Collector's Edition C-51
Cover: Limited Collector's Edition C-59
Cover: WFC 258
Cover: Heroes Against Hunger
Pinup: Detective 600
Cover: Saga of Ra's al Ghul 4
Cover: Batman Annual 14
Pinup: Robin 1
Pinup: Batman Black & White 4
Neal Adams Sketchbook
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