Batman Family #19

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE TOMB OF THE WHITE BAT! Bruce Wayne travels across the snowy mountains with an Ambassador and his team. Their travel comes to an end when a bridge they just crossed is blown to pieces and as they come out of the vehicle, they are attacked by unknown snipers. Bruce quickly changes into Batman and follows the source of the attack, which turns out to be natives of the mountains. An elder woman of their tribe explains to Batman that they were not aiming to attack their group, but instead, they looked to eliminate the threat of an ancient white bat, which is said to prey on the living.  Batman then returns to the vehicle and he saves the Ambassador and his assistant from a certain death from a grenade that somebody tossed at them. After noticing the pattern of the attacks and learning that most of the Ambassador's crew has left the vehicle, Batman deduces that someone from the same crew is out to kill the Ambassador.   Batman is finally confronted by the driver of the vehicle, who is the man behind the murder attempts on the Ambassador. He explains how he killed the other members of the crew using a special device that gave them marks in their necks, making it look as if they were murdered by a vampire bat. The man tries to kill the Ambassador, but Batman prevents another murder. The criminal then tries to escape on a helicopter, but some unknown force causes him to crash the vehicle to the ground. As Batman examines the crash site, he feels the presence of a white bat, flying above him. THE SINO-SUPERMEN Batgirl helps defeat Red Chinese spies who have been given powers similar to those of Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Supergirl, but on a lesser degree. Although the criminal mastermind, Wong Fo managed to escape, Batgirl destroyed all of the super-humaniods and her efforts are rewarded by a member of the NSB. In the aftermath of the case, she learns that her brother Tony Gordon may still be alive. THE CRIME RATE IS EARTH-SHAKING! At Hudson University, every student on campus has already learned that Lori Elton broke up with Dick Grayson, which makes things too complicated for him.   Furthermore to his personal issues, Dick is concerned for a gang of crooks that escaped from him the previous night. After learning a little more about the criminals, Robin follows their trail to a factory, where heavy machinery is built. He takes on them, but they use a "stress-tester" against him. Robin manages to outmatch the crooks, but they are aided by a flying costumed villain called the Raven. Robin manages to defeat the Raven, but the rest of the crooks have already escaped.   As soon as he returns to his apartment, Dick finds that his roommate is nowhere to be found and at that moment, he gets a desperate call of help from Barbara Gordon down in Washington, D.C.. THE ONE AND FUTURE MAN-BAT When Kirk Langstrom wakes up in the middle of the night and when notices that Francine is not at their apartment, he deduces that she has transformed into She-Bat and he goes looking for her.   True to Kirk's deduction, She-Bat is confronting the villain called Snafu. Man-Bat arrives just in time to assist and save Francine from the vicious attacks of Snafu. Kirk takes Francine back home, where he explains that she has been subconsciously transforming into the She-Bat.   With Snafu still on the loose, Man-Bat goes out again to capture the criminal and this time he succeeds, despite the crook's obvious advantage thanks to his special suit. After a long struggle that caused several damage done to private and public property, Man-Bat takes Snafu to the 12th Precinct, where Captain Daniels arrests the thug. Man-Bat wants to claim the reward for capturing the criminal, but Daniels would have none of it and Man-Bat starts thinking that maybe it is time to contact an old friend: Jason Bard. GOTHAM TOWN IS BURNING DOWN! Huntress continues her investigations to learn who is responsible for the burnings on the south of Gotham, but despite her best efforts, she is unable to find the criminal.   While on her role as Helena Wayne, head of Cranston, Grayson and Wayne, she becomes aware that Councilman Gresham is somehow connected to the attacks. After a gymnastic session in her own apartment, Helena goes to investigate as the Huntress and learns that Gresham is in fact working together with Roger Demarest, one of the members of her law firm. Gresham and Demarest have caused the fires to force the government to spend money on reconstruction efforts, which is part of Gresham's public campaign.   In order to learn more about Gresham, Huntress breaks into the Councilman's home, but before she could find any important information, she is attacked by Gresham and his brutish henchman Jason, who knocks her unconscious.