Batman #336

Issue Details

Synopsis

WHILE THE BAT'S AWAY... During a long period of Batman's absence from Gotham City, there is an unprecedented crime wave in Gotham and the Gotham City Police Department are at a loss. Most of the crimes are seemingly perpetrated by long-forgotten crooks, who Batman once captured.   When Alfred returns to Gotham after his short tenure in Europe, he finds Batman deep in thought in the Batcave II. Alfred's presence shakes Batman from his slumber and he realizes that Gotham needs him and he goes into action.   Meanwhile, the responsible party behind the crime wave is none other than the Monarch of Menace, who claims he has captured the Batman, and charges Gotham's crooks 10% of their heists to "keep him imprisoned". Some of the crooks are unsure about the whole deal, but most of them play along just to be safe.  Batman goes to the GCPD Headquarters, where Commissioner Gordon is trying to figure out the clue left by the Cluemaster, but Batman beats him to the answer. Arriving at the crime scene, Batman takes down Cluemaster and the whole group of clueless thugs. As Batman keeps cleaning the city, he learns that the Monarch of Menace is behind everything.   Tired of sitting around waiting for things to happen, Commissioner Gordon goes out on patrol and finds the Spellbinder committing a crime and he tries to stop him along with a couple of rookie officers. Spellbinder uses his optic illusions to distract them, but Batman arrives in time to stop the crook and help the police.   Moments later, the Monarch of Menace has learned that Batman has returned and he pretends that this is all part of his plan. Most of the criminals gathered at his place are convinced, except for Spellbinder, who challenges the Monarch. Angry at the defiance, the Monarch gets ready to fight and Spellbinder removes his mask and reveals himself as Batman. Many of the crooks decide to flee the place, but a few of them choose to stay and fight. Bouncer is one of them, but he is easily defeated as are all of the other crooks. Once they are taken care of, Batman goes after the Monarch and during the confrontation, Batman uses the Monarch's own gadgets to put an end to his criminal racket.   As the night comes to an end, Batman talks to Commissioner Gordon, who is more than pleased with the amount of criminals Batman has captured. The Dark Knight apologizes for his sudden disappearance and then he goes away to get a well-deserved sleep.