Detective Comics #20

Issue Details

Synopsis

KING FOR A DAY By the time Ignatius Ogilvy had begun to rob the First Federal Bank, he had abandoned all efforts to conceal his identity, going so far as to look directly into a security camera and challenge the Batman himself to come and get him. Naturally, Batman is eager to oblige, and drives directly to Oswald Cobblepot's mansion, which Ogilvy has usurped along with everything else that once belonged to the Penguin. Unfortunately, he is unprepared for the so-called Emperor Penguin's transformation.   Earlier that day, the Kane County court threw out the trespassing and weapons charges that had been set up against him on the grounds that his donations to the Gotham Zoo made the trespassing charges excessive, as the weapons could not be proven to be his. Since getting out of the courtroom, Cobblepot had been on the phone trying to find a way to get at the man who stole his legacy away from him. Batman, well aware that Cobblepot would probably be released that day, was looking for the same information from Mister Mosaic. Under interrogation, Mosaic revealed that Ogilvy had unleashed a Man-Bat plague on the 900 block of Gotham City as a test.   As it turns out, the test had been the preamble to Emperor Penguin's injecting himself with Man-Bat Serum, and he believes that once he destroys the Batman, Gotham will be his. While he attempts to evade Ogilvy's attacks of enhanced speed and strength, Batman realizes that Ogilvy has used more than just the Man-Bat serum; it is a combination of things. In fact, he realizes that the chemicals he had stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs was actually Venom. With his superior strength, Ogilvy wraps a length of chain around Batman's neck, and hangs him from a tree, as the lightning from the ongoing storm threatens to strike.   Ogilvy returns to the indoors and makes a call to the Mayor's office, intending to negotiate a peaceful transition of power. Outside, though, the chain around Batman's neck snaps suddenly, and he is surprised to find that it was the Penguin who freed him. Annoyed, the small man explains that in order to get his life back, he needed to save the Batman's.   Armed with the foreknowledge of Ogilvy's transformation and the element of surprise, Batman manages to fight the monster into submission. All the same, though, Ogilvy begins to laugh, exclaiming that despite the imminent fall of his empire, he will always be a part of Gotham's history. He took away the Penguin's empire. He deposed the Batman. Nobody can take those wins away from him. He is surprised though, when the Penguin appears behind him, and blasts him in the head with a firebomb umbrella. He assures Batman that his enemy is still alive, regrettable as it seems to him, and orders the vigilante to get Ogilvy and himself, out of his house.   Afterwards, Batman makes a point of watching Cobblepot's moves, expecting him to slip up again. However, he is surprised to see that Cobblepot has devoted his resources to revamping the children's center he snapped up from under Bruce Wayne's nose to rename it as the Martha Wayne Children's Centre, as originally intended. When Bruce questions him on the move, Cobblepot explains that when he tried to make Gothamites see all of the things he has done for Gotham and its citizens, they had made him a target. So, instead, he has relinquished the children's center, and intends to go underground for a while. In the meantime, Bruce Wayne can have all the adoration - he will take everything else.   Nearby, a female assassin watches Wayne from above, and plans her next move. EMPIRE OF THE SON Years ago, Ignatius Ogilvy's parents had been murdered outside the Monarch Theater in much the same way as the Wayne's had.   Now, Ogilvy is an inmate at Blackgate Penitentiary, when a guard drags him away to see the "boss". As it turns out, the boss is not the prison warden, but another prisoner who has the appearance of a bull. He sends the guard away, and demands to know why he chose to become Emperor Penguin. Ogilvy explains that his father Ed Ogilvy had been a small-time crook some time ago. He had been loyal to his employers, but was murdered in the process of a business negotiation.   After his father's death, Ignatius worked his way to becoming one of the Penguin's top lieutenants, and eventually, his right hand man. While his father had never rocked the boat, Ignatius had seen how that worked out for him, and decided to own the boat. His host points out that rocking the boat didn't get him much further than his father got, seeing as he's in a maximum security prison.   The Boss explains that there is a power structure in Blackgate; a hierarchy. In order to fit into that hierarchy, he will have to be okay with working under him. Ogilvy declines his offer, having developed plans of his own. He springs forth, and squeezes the life from the Boss' throat, before asking to be returned to his cell. As he walks past the other cells, Ogilvy declares himself Emperor Blackgate.