Detective Comics #1024

Issue Details

Synopsis

PRELUDE TO JOKER WAR - FEARFUL SYMMETRY The Joker just revitalized all the Talons the Court of Owls stored inside the Tomb of the Unworthy, where undisciplined Talons rest. Their leader is Lincoln March, and right now the Dark Knight is dueling with him. Two-Face and his followers, the members of the Church of the Two, are there as well and, sick of what the Joker is doing, they decide to ally themselves with Batman, and the rumble begins. Joker is watching the fight from an optical comm link inside Lincoln himself, also telling Batman that he mixed some Joker Venom with the serum to revitalize Lincoln, just to give him a little more spark. Batman manages to put Lincoln down thanks to one of his freezing grenades, while Dent and his disciples take care of the rest of the Talons.   As Two-Face blows up the armory to kill the last assassins, the bullet inside his brain shifts, making the evil side once again take control. But Batman thought this could happen, so he already paralyzed Harvey to perform a surgery, removing both the implants Strange put in his mind and the bullet and giving back the control to Harvey Dent. All of this for the fun of the clown prince of crime, who enjoys every single moment of the show.  Back being Harvey once again, Dent helps other prisoners with their cases, finding out if they were mishandled by an incompetent lawyer or if they were wrongly accused of a crime. While doing this, an inmate goes to him and questions him about his former life as Two-Face, trying to trigger a reaction. In the end, the inmate leaves him a gift, a cranked bullet. The inmate's name is Matches Malone. He then leaves, telling Dent the gift comes "from an old friend". As Batman confirmed that his surgery was successful, he strips down both the mask and the outfit he wore to become Matches, getting back to his business in town against the Joker.