Batman #240

Issue Details

Synopsis

VENGEANCE FOR A DEAD MAN! Batman is summoned to the Gotham Morgue, where Commissioner Gordon shows him the corpse of a man whose brain was removed. Gordon and his team are baffled at the mystery and he asks Batman to investigate the case. For this reason, Batman pays a visit to an old criminal that he knows might have information about this odd crime. Unfortunately, Batman is attacked by the man and his criminal peers as he is trying to interrogate them. The thugs manage to get the upper hand in the fight and Batman is saved by the timely arrival of Talia, who shoots the criminals to prevent them from hurting Batman.  After a brief introduction, Batman and Talia realize that they are both trying to solve the same case and thus, they decide to work together. Talia informs Batman that the man who was murdered was a former business partner of her father and that she needs to find his killer. Following the few clues they have, Batman and Talia arrive to a private building and they break inside. When they reach the main room, they witness a man confessing the crime to another man and Batman jumps at them before he starts interrogating the criminal. When the man refuses to answer, Talia acts and she informs Batman that she has carried a vial of truth serum with her, which would make him confess. However, as soon as Talia injects the serum, the man falls unconscious and Talia realizes that she had injected an amnesic serum. With his memory gone, the criminal is no longer useful to them and Talia apologizes for her mistake.   Afterwards, Talia asks Batman to drop her on her father's Yatch at the Gotham River and after Batman takes Talia to the place, they part ways. As Talia walks into the yatch, she is greeted by Dr. Moon, who informs her that her father has summoned her and they descend to a submarine underneath the yatch. In the meantime, Batman, who had placed a tracker on Talia, contacts Alfred and tells him to bring the Bat-Copter to his location. When Alfred arrives, Batman notices that the signal has started to move away from the yatch into the ocean and he deduces that a subway was attached to the yatch underwater and that Talia has moved away. Alfred notices that Batman has become suspicious of Talia and the Caped Crusader replies that he can't believe that such a cunning woman as her could make a big mistake as mixing serums.   Following the signal on the Bat-Copter, Batman and Alfred are taken to open waters and when the signal finally stops moving, Batman descends to the water to find the submarine. Batman swims underwater and finds a massive hideout inside a rock. On his way to the secret place, Batman is attacked by one of the guards of the place, but he makes short work of the man. Batman finally finds a secret door with the symbol of the Demon engraved on it and as he enters the place, he realizes that the whole facility is heavily guarded.  Meanwhile, Ra's al Ghul is working with Dr. Moon and Talia on his private laboratory and they are trying to get classified information from someone. Batman interrupts their interrogation and he is horrified to learn that Ra's and his men are responsible for taking the brain of the murdered man and placing it on a machine that allows the brain to communicate. Ra's tries to convince Batman that he is only trying to extend life beyond mortal bounds, but Batman doesn't buy the tale and he finally realizes that Ra's al Ghul is a dangerous criminal. Dr. Moon tries to warn Ra's men about Batman, but he is knocked down easily. Batman turns his wrath against Ra's and he asks Talia to surrender, as he admits that he wouldn't like to hurt her. Talia is glad to know that Batman might love her and the moment of hesitation is seized by Ra's, who activates an sliding panel made of some strong plastic that divides the room in half, separating Batman from them. As Ra's makes his escape, the brain tries to help Batman and he tells him to press the red button on the main board to remove the panel. However, when Batman activates the button, the machine in which the brain is held starts burning. The brain explains that it couldn't bear an existence like that and he chose to destroy his existence forever.   After witnessing the death of a man, or what little remained of him, Batman becomes determined with vengeance against Ra's al Ghul. THEATER OF THE MIND! Robin starts working to reunite Rick Asher with his father, despite his uncle attempts to keep them separated. All the information that Robin knew about the Ashers was provided to him in a vision created by Terri Bergstrom, who somehow has a mental connection to the Teen Wonder. After the family matters are solved, Terri mentally summons Robin to her, realizing he is a link to her cousin. BATMAN'S GREAT FACE-SAVING FEAT! As the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City gather for another meeting, the member Hugh Rankin arrives with what he says is proof of Batman's real identity, to the shock of everybody. Unmasking a dummy of Batman that he made, it is revealed to be a bald man who does not resemble Bruce Wayne. When Batman unmasks before them the face under the mask matches that of the statue.   Later back home in his civilian guise of Bruce Wayne, he tells Robin the events that led up to this supposed "discovery", recounting back to the case where they were trying to stop the Trapeze Ten Gang and Robin had broken his ankle one night and had to sit out. Batman suddenly was constantly aided by fellow Mystery Analyst Hugh Rankin who seemed to bungle up each attempt Batman made to capture the crooks. Batman eventually caught the crooks. However, early on he deduced that Rankin was attempting to figure out Batman's true identity when in one instance where Rankin "accidentally" touched Batman's face, he left behind some sculpting wax. Batman then went on the rest of his missions with a fake face on underneath his mask.   After Batman finishes his story he and Robin laugh about how they managed to fool the Mystery Analysts once again.