Batman #317

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE 1,001 CLUE CAPER OR WHY DID THE RIDDLER CROSS THE ROAD? While Batman and Robin are visiting Commissioner Gordon at the GCPD Headquarters, they are handed a book by Sgt. Harvey Hainer. The book is a volume of 1,001 riddles signed by the Riddler, who is presently hijacking a poultry truck.   Noting that the book came from the Gotham State Penitentiary Library, Robin goes to investigate and learns from the warden that convict Jake Hammer was wounded while trying to escape with the Riddler. Though Hammer is semi-conscious, Robin gets him to mutter the riddle-clue. At about the same time, the Riddler takes a garbage truck, loads it with the stolen chickens, looses the birds at the dock workers of a magazine distributor's warehouse, and loads the truck with a skid of magazines.  Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne pays a visit to Selina Kyle and apologizes for having her investigated. Although the lady was still hurt at first, she forgives Bruce and they resume their relationship. Later that night, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman again and after learning what Robin had uncovered, they go after the Riddler.   Robin tells Batman that the magazines the Riddler stole were intended for foreign distribution. The police, drawn by gunfire to the warehouse, found that it was a front for gun-runners. Batman and Robin notice that Jake Hammer was convicted of gun-running, figured out the Riddler's latest scheme. The two heroes go to Gotham Harbor, where the Riddler is loading guns concealed in the magazines aboard a ship to receive payment from a foreign agent. The Dynamic Duo stop the operation and capture the Riddler and the gun-runners.   Early the next morning, Lucius Fox keeps a date to meet with Bruce Wayne's financial rival, the gluttonous Gregorian Falstaff.