Batman and Robin #23.4

Issue Details

Synopsis

BLOOD IN THE WATER Twenty-six years ago, young Waylon Jones had refused to let his Auntie Flowers scrub the scales from his flesh. She warned that in their rough neighborhood of Crown Point, the way he looked would make him a target, and he had better do the scrubbing himself, if he wouldn't let her do it.   These days, corrupt cops Detectives Boone, Greer, and Sanchez of the GCPD SWAT team, are trudging through the sewers looking for Jones, who is now the Killer Croc. Waylon feels that, like him, Gotham City is going through a period of atavism - reverting to its a more primitive state. And that chaos means murdering the detectives is fair game.   Seventeen years ago, Waylon had joined a travelling circus outfit with Ed Geisel, appearing at music festivals and fighting a real crocodile as a shock-act for punks and grunge enthusiasts. That was where he earned his title as Killer Croc. Unfortunately, once he got out on the road, the $100 per show that he was promised became $40, and Ed was willing and eager to take advantage of Waylon's seemingly gentle demeanor, despite his appearance. This was a mistake on Ed's part, because Waylon was more than willing to bite the hand that fed him.   Three years ago, Waylon had his first encounter with Batman and Robin. He had been thwarted in a jewelry store robbery, and he was demoralized when Robin suggested that he was too dumb to pull off a job like that on his own, and should stick to being muscle instead.   Now, Boone and Greer - the only members of their team to survive Croc's attack, struggle to escape the maze of tunnels beneath the city. They are surprised when they encounter a group of street-people living down there, and beg for help. Unfortunately, the people are loyal to Croc, because he took them in and showed them how to live down there, and they break Greer's leg. Hurrying away, Boone is forced to leave Greer behind while he gets help. Unfortunately, the first door he opens contains the body of Hoolihan - a clean cop that he had killed just weeks before for threatening to rat he and his partners out to the brass, and dumped into the bay.   The day before, Boone, Greer, and Sanchez had received a note threatening that evidence against them had been found in the form of a key, and they would need to go to the sewer to get it - and bring money. Now, Jack Boone manages to find the key on Hoolihan's body, and gleefully announces his success to Greer, only to see her torn to pieces by the Killer Croc. Rather than attack Boone, Waylon plays on Boone's fear, and simply follows him through the tunnels as he runs for his life. Before long, Boone falls from a sudden ledge, and is impaled on some junk-metal below. As he lays dying, Boone realizes that it was Croc who sent them the note, and wonders why he had sent it. Rather than answer him, Waylon just crushes his skull.   Twenty-six years ago, Waylon had been bullied by the other kids in his neighborhood, and he was depressed because he felt that maybe they wouldn't have if he could have brought himself to do as his aunt warned him to, and scrub off his skin. He had an unexpected friend in Officer Hoolihan, who had brought him ice-cream and explained that whatever Waylon looked like, he would be something - a king maybe.   With his old friend avenged, Waylon returns Hoolihan's body to his followers, and explains that while they had been told for all of their lives what they could not have and could not be, the people who had told them that were wrong. While the people above fight over territory in Gotham City, he would begin an empire underground - the largest territory in all of Gotham. His followers will be his eyes above ground, and he will be the deadly jaws beneath.   As the people cheer him, Waylon realizes that he was made to be a king.