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| Publisher |
DC |
| Published | September 1981 |
WHO DIES FOR THE MANIKIN? Ten months ago, Batman rescued a woman from a car that caught on fire. Nowadays, the event is long forgotten and Gotham City continues developing as the current Mayoral Election takes place with Arthur Reeves and Hamilton Hill as the main candidates. While Reeves' campaing is focused on destroying Batman's resputation, Hill is determined to get Commissioner Gordon to resign. Having enough grim news, Bruce gets ready for a date he has that night with a young woman called Crystal. Bruce and Crystal go to one of Gotham's nicest clubs, but upon entering , they witness a woman strangling the fashion designer Kelvin Cline. Bruce tries to stop her, but the woman tosses him without any effort. After killing the man, the woman leaves the building and Bruce follows her, changing into the Batman. Once on the streets, Batman confronts the woman and is shocked when she removes her clothes and mask to reveal the body of a manikin. Baffled at his opponent, Batman is unable to stop the manikin as he is easily overpowered and the killer escapes. Batman takes the clothes of the Manikin as evidence and after consulting with Selina Kyle, he learns that they were created by another famous designer. Batman goes to warn the man about the danger, but they are both attacked by Manikin, leading to a second confrontation with Batman. The designer watches in fear as Batman tries to fight the terrible Manikin, but when the Dark Knight ultimately fails, the designer finds himself helpless against the wrath of the Manikin. FAREWELL, MY LOVELY When the Hunchback killer recovers, he finds Batgirl unconscious and believes that he has killed another victim. The man returns home where he removes the hunchback disguise and continues the composition of his musical masterpiece. When Batgirl recovers, she deduces the truth and returns to her apartment as the sun rises. She is soon invited by her boyfriend Jim to a classical music concert, where Barbara can't stop looking at the hands of the people playing the cello as she believes she has found a clue. Ditching Jim before dinner, Batgirl goes into action and interrogates one of the orchestra players about the creases on their fingers and after learning the instruments that could cause such marks, Batgirl goes looking for the Hunchback killer again. Batgirl eventually makes a connection between the killer and a local mandolin player. She arrives to the man's apartment in time to witness his transformation into the Hunchback and learns about his need to murder victims to find inspiration to complete his music. Batgirl tries to stop the villain, but she fails and the man ties her to a chair. To buy her some time, Batgirl asks the man to play some of his music for her and he gladly complies. The music is beatiful and Batgirl is charmed by the man's composition. In the passion of the moment, the musician ends his imcomplete master piece and once finished he turns his attention to Batgirl. During the moments the man had been playing, Batgirl had freed herself and she is ready for the man's attack, but she is utterly shocked when the killer commits suicide instead. Unable to express her feelings, Batgirl's sense of loss is mostly reflected in the silent apartment, which minutes ago filled not only the place but her soul.
