Batman #356

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE DOUBLE LIFE OF HUGO STRANGE After months of careful planning, Hugo Strange is ready to set his plan in motion.   A certain night in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale are out on a date and their relationship seems to be going good, despite the recent threat of Catwoman. As Vicki is summoned at her work, Bruce returns home, but he reaches home without taking notice. Bruce finds the situation strange, but to make matters worse, once inside he is seemingly attacked by his trusted butler, but after he takes out the threat, Bruce realizes that he has imagined the whole event.  In the meantime, Alfred and Dick Grayson receive a visit by Vicki, who had just freed herself from work. Unfortunately, Bruce is currently not at Wayne Manor and Vicki assumes that he has gone out with another woman. After Vicki has left, Alfred and Dick realize that something has gone wrong and they try to contact Bruce, without success.   Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is at the phony Wayne Manor, where once again, he is attacked by Dick Grayson, only to find out that the whole situation never happened. In truth, Hugo Strange has lured Bruce into his well designed trap, where he controls the rooms and situations that take place in the Manor. When Bruce is once again attacked by "Dick", he tosses the young man down the staircase and breaks his neck, revealing a robot inside. Bruce finally understands the situation and he starts descending towards the "Batcave".   Meanwhile, Robin is ready to go out looking for Batman and he uses the tracking device on Bruce's clothes to find the secret location of Hugo Strange. Inside the phony Batcave, Bruce confronts Strange, who has shaved his beard and is wearing a Batsuit, claiming to be the Batman. Strange explains how he faked his death at the hands of Thorne's men and after the truth is revealed, he gives Bruce a spare Batsuit so that they can settle the score once and for all. The two Bat-men fight each other and Strange's ruthlessness gives him the upper hand in the fight. At that moment, Robin appears in the Batcave and is confused at the sight of two Batmen. When Strange commands Robin to kill the "fake" Batman, Robin realizes the truth and turns against Strange, who is finally outnumbered and defeated. As a last resort, Strange activates a detonator that blows up the place, which he installed as part of his plan to eliminate any traces of Hugo Strange once he took over the role of Batman and the identity of Bruce Wayne. The fake Wayne Manor and Batcave are blown in a giant explosion, with Strange inside.   At the real Wayne Manor, Alfred answers the door and is almost killed by Bruce Wayne, when Batman and Robin arrive and save their friend from one of Strange's robots. The Dynamic Duo tell Alfred that they were long gone by the time Hugo Strange activated the detonator and they start telling their butler the whole story.