Batman #221

Issue Details

Synopsis

A BAT-DEATH FOR BATMAN! Bruce Wayne is on a business travel in Germany, regarding the Wayne Foundation and he is informed that a certain kind of chemical is polluting the area near the castle of Baron Willi Von Ritter, Bruce's contact. The health inspector request of Bruce to investigate the source of the pollutant that is causing mild and tame animals to become wild and feral.  Bruce soon arrives at the castle, which is shaped in the figure of a bat and is named accordingly. He is welcomed by the Baron, his wife, Ilga and his laboratory assistant, Professor Otto Kramm. After the introductions are done, Bruce informs them that he needs to rest after such a long trip, but this is just an excuse for him to change into Batman and investigate the source of the pollutant.   In the shadows of the night, Batman prowls every corner of the castle until he finds a secret laboratory with various instruments and compounds. Investigating closer, Batman becomes aware of another room inside the laboratory, where a man is experimenting with animals. Batman breaks inside and witness how a mild lamb has become feral and is attacking a lion, thanks to the experiments by the mad scientist. When Batman confronts this man, he chooses to fall back and leaves Batman locked in the room as he releases a large group of frenzied bats.   Believing that he has managed to eliminate Batman, Otto Kramm goes to his laboratory, where Ilga is waiting for him with a human test subject for their wild serum. As they are about to inject the serum in the frail old man, Batman appears in the room after escaping the bat death trap and he confronts the schemers. Ilga becomes desperate and she injects Kramm with the serum, turning him wild. Without a conscience anymore, Kramm attacks everyone in his path and he delivers a fatal blow to Ilga before Batman could push him to the testing room with the wild lamb. Kramm and the lamb kill each other and with her dying breath, Ilga regrets having challenged Batman. HOT TIME IN GOTHAM TIME TONIGHT! The Gotham City Fire Department have been dealing with fake alarms in the past days and some of the members are very angry at the pranksters. When one of these prank alarms gets in the way of a real fire, the GCFD get on the scene too late and they are unable to save some of the people who are still inside the burning building. However, from inside comes Batman, carrying a small kid with him and taking him to safety.   When the GCFD have managed to get the situation under control, they enter the runied building, where they find a man beholding an ancient Vietnamese idol, the same that caused the fire in the building. Unable to break the spell of the statue, the GCFD are forced to remain still while the fire keeps burning the building. Once again, Batman appears and he is the only man capable of resisting the spell of the idol, he takes it to a nearby window, where he drops the idol and breaks the spell for good.