Batman #339

Issue Details

Synopsis

A SWEET KISS OF POISON... Batman has been working extremely hard and as a result, his performance has been affected. During a meeting on Wayne Enterprises, Bruce is barely able to keep his concentration on the discussion and he dismisses the meeting until the next day. Worried for his boss, both Alfred and Lucius tell Bruce to give himself a break, but the overworked millionaire doesn't heed their advice.   At noon, Bruce Wayne goes on a meeting with Hammilton Hill, who is looking to have Wayne's support for his candidature for Mayor of Gotham, but Bruce refuses as he doesn't want to be involved in politics. At that moment, a woman approaches Bruce and gives him a kiss in the lips, only to be terribly ashamed after she realizes that Bruce is not the man she thought. Bruce doesn't give much though to the situation, but when the woman leaves the building, she goes into a taxi and removes her disguise to reveal herself as Poison Ivy. She is satisfied after having kissed Wayne and following her plan, she goes looking for the next victims.  That night, Batman goes on patrol at the Waterfront and he spots a couple of thugs, when suddenly he is compulsed to leave the place and go to a very specific building in the middle of Gotham. Batman walks through the city without any concern about his surroundings, like a hypnotized person. When Batman arrives at the designated place, he finds that all the members of the Wayne Enterprises board have gathered at the same place and overcoming the need to join them, he first changes his outfit. After a few minutes, Bruce Wayne becomes part of the group and learns that all the others have also had the sudden urge to meet in the same place and once they are all gathered, they are forced to go inside the ambassador theater, which was closed at the time.   Inside, the men are guided to the main stage of the theater by a female voice and when they arrive at the place, Poison Ivy reveals herself. She informs them that she had "accidentally" kissed all of them with her special lipstick that was dosed with poison, that same that affects their minds and turns them into her slaves. Ivy has gathered all the members of the board of Wayne Enterprises with the intention of forcing them to sign a legal document that will give Ivy total control of the company. After all the members have signed, she commands them to leave and only Bruce's signature is missing. Giving Bruce another "dose" of the poison, Ivy makes sure that he won't resist and after the document is signed by everyone, she commands them to never speak of the whole situation or the consequences would be disastrous.   As Ivy gets ready to leave, Bruce makes a quick change and he confronts the evil lady as Batman. During the confrontation, Ivy gets the upper hand after Batman injures his ankle. Using special vines against the Dark Knight, Ivy leaves Batman to die, but the Caped Crusader uses some defoliant from his Utility Belt to save himself. Unfortunately, by the time he recovers, Ivy has already escaped.   Batman hurries to the Batcave II, where he calls Commissioner Gordon to inform him about Ivy's nefarious plan, but as Ivy commanded, he is unable to reveal the truth as the words won't come out of his mouth. At that moment, Batman starts to worry that he won't be able to stop Ivy from taking control of everything. YESTERDAY'S HEROES While performing his aerialist's routine at Hill's Circus, Dick Grayson reminiscences about his parents, their death, and how he became Robin. All of this, while he performs stunning athletic feats for the audience of Hill's Circus. After his act is done, Dick Grayson is thankful for all the mentors of his past and he is glad that he had become something much more than what they had ever imagined.