Batman Adventures Annual #1

Issue Details

Synopsis

GOING STRAIGHT Hollywood stuntwoman Roxanne Sutton turns to crime as the thief Roxy Rocket, only to be apprehended by Batman after a wild chase through Gotham's skies. Less than two years later, Batman and Alfred witness Roxy being paroled early for good behavior, and wonder if she will truly be able to reform, an act that seems impossible for most of Gotham's criminals.   PUPPET SHOW Physically and mentally separated from Scarface, a paroled Arnold Wesker joins the children's series Magic Mitzi's Fantasy Forest as operator for a frog puppet named Croaky. Soon after, the show is slated for cancellation, causing its star Mitzi Martin to develop a psychotic vendetta against its director Radford. Upon learning of Arnold's criminal background, Mitzi forcibly "reunites" Arnold with Scarface, causing the Ventriloquist to resurface. In return, Mitzi demands that Scarface help her kill Radford.   Impressed with Mitzi's ruthlessness, Scarface agrees to carry out the murder, but is quickly thwarted by Batman. As they flee the scene, Scarface discovers a bizarre and unpleasant twist: during his time on Magic Mitzi, Arnold developed a third personality, embodied by Croaky the frog. It was this personality that contacted the police, and brought Batman to the scene.   An enraged Scarface attacks Croaky, causing Arnold to lose control of both his hands and the getaway car. The car soon crashes and ignites, and despite Arnold's best efforts, Croaky is burnt to a crisp. Batman then takes Arnold back into custody, grimly noting that Scarface no longer has any competition for control of Arnold's mind. 24 HOURS  Harley Quinn is paroled from Arkham Asylum, only to be reunited with the Joker, re-enticed into crime, apprehended by Batman, and returned to Arkham in the space of twenty-four hours. STUDY HALL After his latest escape from Arkham, the Scarecrow finds that he has lost his taste for crime and flees to an upstate university, masquerading as an English teacher named Irving Diedrich. He finds the student body predictably disappointing, save for one: a coed named Molly Randall, remarkable not only for her intelligence but her passion for learning all that "Professor Diedrich" has to teach.   One night, Molly is victimized by classmate and fraternity member Bromley, whom the Scarecrow quickly kidnaps and tortures with a variety of his old fear-toxins. Before the Scarecrow can kill Bromley, Batman intervenes, revealing that he had known about the Scarecrow's location for weeks but remained unsure of what, if any, crime was being planned.   Batman easily subdues the Scarecrow and turns him over to the police, but not without a measure of sympathy for Crane's motivations. GOING STRAIGHT PART 2 After reviewing the files, Batman receives news from Commissioner Gordon that Roxy Rocket has returned to crime. Batman analyzes the footage of Roxy's latest burglary, only to deduce that the burglar isn't Roxy, but Catwoman, who had disguised herself as Roxy to throw off the police.   Batman - along with the real Roxy - confront Catwoman at Gotham International Airport, but the wily cat burglar evades both of them. Eventually, she falls off a roof to her apparent death, though Batman notes the lack of a corpse and concludes she almost certainly survived. The exonerated Roxy then tries to flirt with Batman, who ignores her advances and advises her to stay reformed before leaving. LAUGHTER AFTER MIDNIGHT Believed dead after his latest battle with Batman, the Joker wanders the streets of late-night Gotham, terrorizing and murdering several civilians along the way.