Batman #348

Issue Details

Synopsis

SHADOW PLAY Order has been restored. After an extensive moving session, Wayne Manor has been reopened and life has returned to the place. Meanwhile in the caverns below, the Man-Bat rests in the ceiling while Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and Alfred Pennyworth move the last of the trophies back to the original Batcave and although the Giant Penny is hard to move around, they manage to get it inside the cave one way or another.  Their joy for being back home is cut short, when their alarm indicates that someone is at the front door of Wayne Manor. Alfred goes to see who could it be and he is shocked to find a very agitated Francine Langstrom, looking to talk with Bruce Wayne. When Bruce appears, Francine demands an answer to the promise he made to return her husband safe and sound, but the effort is too much for the exhausted woman and she faints. Her daughter, Rebecca beholds the scene unmoved and all she tells them is that she wants her father back.   Moments later, Alfred has taken Francine to bed in the master bedroom where she is laid to rest, while Dick takes Rebecca down to the Batcave blindfolded. Batman is already waiting for her and his plan is to go looking for Man-Bat in the caverns that are connected to the Batcave, where the monster was last seen. Batman takes Rebecca with him, hoping that her presence would help Man-Bat realize that, contrary to what he believes, his daughter is still alive. As Batman and Rebecca descend down to the darkness of the caves, Man-Bat awakes in the Batcave and follows them.   In the meantime, Barbara Gordon is very concerned about her father, because after he was removed from the GCPD, he has fallen into a serious depression and the first person she thinks that could help is her friend, Jason Bard. At that same moment, Vicki Vale tells her editor that she has photo evidence of the Batman's secret identity, but the man decides to be cautious about it and tells Vicki to give him time to think. When Vicki leaves the room, the crooked editor calls his boss, Rupert Thorne and informs him of this new development. Knowing that he used fake evidence about Batman's identity to ruin Arthur Reeves's career, Thorne finds delightful the idea that he could get the real evidence.   Back in the caves, Batman is unable to find Man-Bat and he stops for a rest, when he is attacked by the monster. Man-Bat is crazed and continues to believe that Batman is reponsible for his daughter's death. Man-Bat gets the upper hand in the fight for a moment and he takes Rebecca to a high ledge, still unable to recognize her. When Batman recovers, he uses his infra-red lenses to follow Man-Bat's trail and he eventually locates the monster. A new confrontation starts between the two of them, which awakes the Bats in the caves and Rebecca falls to the abysm, afraid of the creatures. Her cry for help helps Man-Bat recover his human conscience and he dives to rescue his daughter. With the kid safe, Man-Bat realizes his mistake and Batman takes the chance to use a new and more potent version of the antidote, which would revert Langstrom's transformation or it would kill him.   Hours later, a recovered Robert Langstrom is reunited with his wife and daughter in Wayne Manor and Bruce Wayne explains that Batman stopped Man-Bat, saving Langstrom in the process. As the Langstrom family has a touching reunion, Bruce Wayne takes the chance to welcome them and everone back home. THE MAN, THE BULLET, THE CAT PART 1 Selina Kyle takes a job as bodyguard for a union presidential candidate after the man assisted her saving a kid in danger. Selina agrees after she learns that the man's life has been threatened, but unfortunately she is delayed in guarding him when she has to fight a gang of bikers. When she arrives at the public ceremony, she realizes it might be too late when she hears that the candidate has been shot.