Detective Comics #14

Issue Details

Synopsis

UNNATURAL SELECTION Having been hired by The Penguin to kill Bruce Wayne, a Ghost Dragon assassin attacks outright in the the Neville Community Centre, where Penguin has just forced the proprietor to rename the Martha Wayne Wing in honor of his mother Esther. Penguin, however, had told his man Ogilvy to cancel the hit on Bruce Wayne's head, so this attack is an inconvenience. Ogilvy suggests, though, that this may be an opportunity for Mr. Cobblepot.   As Wayne struggles to fight off his attacker without making it obvious that he knows what he's doing, he is surprised when the assassin suddenly drops dead. The opportunity Ogilvy mentioned was apparently the chance for Penguin to save Bruce Wayne's life publicly, by stabbing his assassin in the back. By the next morning, the media has picked up the story, and Bruce has to decide how to handle it, given that the man who saved his life also dishonored the memory of his mother. Even so, he will not take down Cobblepot just yet. That will require patience and forethought.   In the meantime, while Bruce Wayne was under attack, the Bergen Street Foundry was levelled, putting two night watchmen in the hospital. Some hours later, a second attack occurred against the Lansford Paper Mill. The method and the target choice suggests a pattern of Eco-terrorism that indicates Poison Ivy, despite her recent alliance with the Birds of Prey - which admittedly ended with betrayal and extortion. Meanwhile, the two targets were owned by Oswald Cobblepot as part of his consortium of legitimate businesses. One other such high-polluting plants in Gotham is the Shandy Pharmaceutical plant, and Batman is sure that it will be Ivy's next target.   After driving to the plant, Batman calls out to Ivy, demanding to talk. Within a short time, she has kissed him, trying to gain control over him via her toxins. She can't control him, however, because he has come up with a new method for withstanding her power. Rather than using an antidote, he has rigged his visor to show him certain set of visual stimuli that will effectively erase his short-term memory, thereby erasing any commands she has given him as well. Aware of his resistance, she tries to appeal to his sense of morality, and hopes he will join her - or at least let her continue her work. Naturally, his morality precludes that as well.   In fighting with Ivy, Batman realizes too late that someone else anticipated her attack. The grates of the metal walkway have been electrified in certain areas, and a nearby pair of gas canisters has been rigged to a timer. Urgently, he tries to convince Ivy to let the fight go, and escape the trap, but she succumbs to the electrified grates before long. While Batman's suit protects him from the charge, he is not immune to the gas. With both unconscious, Ogilvy appears and drags Ivy back to the Penguin. He leaves Batman alive, to die another day.   Batman wakes to see that the plant has been set ablaze. In addition, a very angry Clayface appears, and demands to know where his wife - Ivy - is. SEEDS & DIRT Poison Ivy breaks into Arkham Asylum hoping to find someone strong, stupid, obedient, and malleable to act as her backup since the Birds of Prey are no longer interested in helping with her agenda. As such, she has chosen Clayface. In order to convince him, she uses her toxins to influence him into marrying her.