Batman #375

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE GLACIER UNDER GOTHAM! Underneath Gotham City, Mister Freeze has created a glacier as his new base of operations and gathered a small gang of thugs, one of which is an artist and poet, who provides Freeze with inspiration for his crimes and his ultimate goal of freezing Gotham. In order to achieve his goal, Freeze has created a large ice cannon inspired in his own Ice Gun and the "test of fire" will be the freezing of a bank.  When the criminals strike, they freeze the ground of the bank and cause the building to collapse, including the vaults with all the money. After Freeze and his thugs have taken the loot, they seal the hole with ice and move back to their glacier retreat. When the crime is reported to the authorities, Batman and Robin are summoned to the crime scene, where they meet with Commissioner Gordon. Meanwhile in another part of the city, photographer and editor Vicki Vale has learned of the event and she goes to the place along with Julia Remarque Pennyworth, as both of them were working late at the magazine's offices.   Batman and the police investigate the scene and they have their own theories. While Gordon and the GCPD assume everything was caused by a natural phenomenon, Batman deduces that this is Mister Freeze's handiwork. When Vicki and Julia arrive at the scene, they convince Harvey Bullock to let them approach the place and they fall through the thin ice created by the crooks to cover their tracks. Instead of waiting for help, the two women walk inside the caverns, straight to the criminal's hideout.   At that moment, Alfred has to deal with a social service agent, who has come to Wayne Manor to verify the living conditions of Jason Todd. When Alfred can't provide an answer of the whereabouts of Jason at eleven in the night, the woman leaves after warning Alfred that the Child Welfare Bureau will come back to take Jason away.   Meanwhile, Batman and Robin descend through the hole where Vicki and Julia fell and they start walking towards the light until they encounter Freeze, his thugs and the large ice cannon. Batman's presence causes disruption among the ranks of Freeze's gang and some of the thugs leave while others are frozen by the criminal mastermind. In an ironic twist of fate, the criminal who inspired Freeze with his art and poetry, gets his hand frozen and is never again able to use it. As Robin deals with most of the petty thugs, Batman chases down Mister Freeze to the main chamber of the glacier, where Freeze has trapped the women in a frozen stalactite. While the criminal is distracted, Julia and Vicki work together to break the stalactite and drop it on top of Mister Freeze giving Batman enough time to stop Freeze and rescue them. As the criminals are taken in by the police, Batman and Robin take the girls out of anger and in the process, Julia dares to kiss Batman, much to Vicki's satisfaction, as it means Julia is not interested in Bruce Wayne. If only Vicki knew...   Back at the Batcave, Bruce and Jason joke about Bruce's current situation with the women, but their joy turns sour when Alfred informs them about the event with the social worker and the possibility that Jason is taken away from them.