| Storyline |
Into the Den of the
Death-Dealers
Batman met with a small time crook willing to give him Dr. Darrk for
protection from him. Darrk and one of his League of Assassin associates
came up behind the man and stabbed him. Batman chased the assassins off
and went back to the informant. He died telling Batman where he could find
Darrk. Batman caught up with Darrk on a train in the Orient. A number of
his assassins were able to subdue him. Darrk was traveling with a woman
named Talia, who was at Batman’s side when he awakened unmasked. She
explained to him that her father and Darrk, ex-associates, were at odds.
Darrk’s men came for the two and took them into an arena. Talia was tied
to a stake and a bull was loosed. Batman was able to turn the bull on
Darrk’s men and capture the ringleader. He and Talia left with him as
their captive. Awaiting the train, Darrk caught Batman by surprise,
blinding him. As he rushed him with a knife, Talia shot him. Darrk fell
onto the tracks and was killed by the oncoming train. Batman embraced the
shaken Talia.
Daughter of the Demon
Robin,
sneaking back into his dorm room, was captured. A few days later, Bruce
received a photograph of his ward bound. He went into the cave, where
Ra’s Al Ghul and his guard, Ubu, approached him. Bruce was astonished
they were there, but Ra’s explained how he’d realized who the Batman
was (but not how they’d gotten into the cave). Ra’s daughter, Talia,
had also been kidnapped; he’d received a photograph much like Bruce had.
After analysis of the photos, Bruce found a chemical he knew was used by
the Brotherhood of the Demon – a group located in Calcutta. The three
flew there in Ra’s jet. Soon after landing, they received a tip on where
the Brotherhood might be. At the location, a trained leopard attacked
Batman; the only thing they found inside was a map of the Himalayas. Mt.
Nanda Devi was their next stop. A sniper attacked, and it appeared Ra’s
and Ubu were hit. Batman took down the sniper and continued on. He walked
into their stronghold, knowing they wouldn’t kill him. He explained to
them he’d known the whole time that Ra’s was behind it all. He untied
Robin and they unloaded on the guards. Ra’s walked out and surprised him
with the reason for the elaborate game: his daughter, Talia, was in love
with him. He wanted to make sure Batman was worthy of her.
Swamp Sinister
After receiving a crate with a dead body in it, Bruce found Ra’s al Ghul
in Wayne Manor. Ra’s explained that treachery within his own ranks may
be inadvertently releasing a plague. Batman set out to find Talia and
Striss, the man who’d attacked her father and taken the chemical.
Following a lead, Batman joined Ra’s al Ghul on his jet to the swamps of
Louisiana. He found Talia – she had Striss at gunpoint. During the
struggle, he fell onto a container of the chemical and died. Ra’s
arrived with the antidote for his daughter and the Detective.
Vengeance For a Dead
Man
Commissioner
Gordon showed Batman the dead body of Mason Sterling. The brain was
missing. Batman checked out a lead on some imported cigarettes found in
Sterling’s pocket. Talia bailed him out when he was temporarily blinded
and attacked by some miscreants. Talia led Batman to the killer, but
“accidentally” injected him with amnesia instead of a truth serum. Not
completely believing her, he dropped Talia off at her father’s ship and
summoned Alfred in a helicopter. They followed what Batman suspected was a
submarine hidden beneath the ship. When it stopped, Batman dove into the
water and located Ra’s al Ghul’s base. Inside, he and his daughter
were with a scientist and the brain of Sterling. The scientist had devised
a way to communicate with it. Ra’s blocked off Batman’s path and
escaped.
Bruce Wayne – Rest in
Peace
Bruce
Wayne was reported dead in a plane crash. Batman visited Commissioner
Gordon to inform him he’d be out of the country for a while. Batman
shook down “Matches” Malone; the gangster was killed while attempting
to shoot the Batman. Acting as Malone (with an animatronic Batman), Batman
caught up with Dr. Harris Blaine. An acolyte of Ra’s Al Ghul attacked
them. Batman chased the attacker, Lo Ling, onto a rooftop. Ling fell;
Batman saved him. Ling’s culture prescribed that he grant Batman a life
debt, but he was torn due to already having one with Ra’s al Ghul.
The Lazarus Pit
Robin posed as Matches Malone while Batman and Lo Ling duel. After Batman
defeated him, Ling accepted his life debt to the Batman. After Ling
departed, Robin got out of the Matches Malone outfit so that Batman could
get into it. Malone (Batman), Dr. Harris Blaine, and Lo Ling set off to
find Ra’s al Ghul in Switzerland. Upon landing, Malone separated from
the others. Batman soon encountered Talia and Ubu. They escaped him after
he was separated from them by skiing champion Molly Post. She joined their
crusade – her fiancé had been victimized by the Demon’s Head. The
four got into Ra’s al Ghul’s lair. Batman defeated Ubu. Talia showed
them her father was dead; it was confirmed by the doctor. As she escorted
them out, Ra’s body lowered into a vat of chemicals. Minutes later, he
rose from the dead.
The Demon Lives Again
Ra’s
al Ghul rushed at the group leaving his base. With one punch, he
immobilized Lo Ling. Batman was no match for him, either. He and his
daughter departed in a hovercraft. Molly Post disabled the vehicle by
throwing a ski pole into its rotor. As it crashed, the pole broke and shot
back at her. Batman got her medical attention and began tracking the
Demon’s Head. He caught up with them in a desert, where Ra’s
challenged him to a sword duel. They appeared to be evenly matched until
the sting of a scorpion felled Batman. As her father walked way
victorious, Talia administered antidote through a kiss to her beloved.
After a quick recovery, Batman caught Ra’s by surprise and took him
down.
I Now Pronounce you
Batman and Wife
Batman
learned of a planned bank robbery. He returned to the cave. It had been
sabotaged by Ra’s al Ghul; Batman he succumbed to knockout gas. When he
awakened on a ship, he learned that he had a new wife – Talia. Ra’s
left the newlyweds alone. Batman knocked Talia out and escaped the ship on
helicopter. The ‘copter was damaged in a shootout; Batman had to land in
the ocean. Gotham City experienced a blackout. Ra’s caused it and also
drugged the city so that his people could loot the city of its diamonds
– one of his scientists had been working on extracting energy from the
precious gems. Batman arrived and tried to stop them, but Ra’s and his
men escaped after Batman was shot.
The Vengeance Vow
Batman
investigated the League of assassins, who were moving in on a circus owned
by Kathy Kane (the former Batwoman). A costumed man calling himself the
Bronze Tiger took Batman down and killed Kane. As Batman knelt down beside
her body, Ra’s al Ghul appeared. He fingered the League’s Sensei
(hoping Batman would take the rival group down). Batman infiltrated their
headquarters. The Sensei put him up against Bronze Tiger. During their
battle, Batman was hit with a poisoned dart. Knowing the shooter was an
undercover man sent by Ra’s al Ghul, the Sensei killed him instantly.
Bronze Tiger refused to let the League merely dispose of Batman’s body,
which was the last straw – Sensei set all the remaining assassins
against him. By the time Batman could recover, Bronze Tiger was gone –
the only remains were his mask and a trail of blood.
Where Strike the
Assassins
Batman
helped fend off two assassins sent to kill Bronze Tiger while he recovered
in Gotham Central Hospital. Using a clue from a bingo incident, Batman
saved a geologist from the League of Assassins at a circus.
Requiem for a Martyr
Batman
moved in on the League of Assassins, who was unloading some explosives.
Ra’s al Ghul’s bodyguard, Lurk, attacked him. While they fought, the
League escaped (Lurk was sent to stop them as well). A group of religious
leaders arrived in Gotham City. One refused the guards Commissioner Gordon
had assigned to them citing his unwillingness to be near violence. Batman
spoke with the geologist he’d rescued from the League earlier and
learned of a possible plan to set the explosives off on a fault line,
causing an earthquake. By the time Batman got to the site, the explosives
were planted and buried. On his way to warn the dignitaries (the target
for the earthquake), his whirlybat was shot down by the GCPD. He survived
the crash and got a warning to Gordon and the religious leaders. One of
the men refused to leave and was shot by the Sensei masquerading as
another of them. Batman went into the house after the Sensei, but Talia
shot him with a tranquilizer. When Batman awakened in her care, he learned
that her father went in after the Sensei and neither had been seen since. |
