Detective Comics #41

Issue Details

Synopsis

REUNION PART 1 Jim Gordon is surprised as anyone else to be the new Batman. But with the original presumed dead, the criminal element came even further out of the woodwork, causing the powers that be to determine that a replacement was necessary - one sanctioned by the police. Rather than put the life of one of his own officers on the line, Jim opted to bear the burden himself. As an explosion caused by Jim's battle with an evasive criminal rocks the city, Harvey Bullock's romantic encounter with his friend and coworker Nancy Yip is rudely interrupted - they'll be clocking in early tonight.   Three week's earlier, Commissioner Maggie Sawyer had refused to let Harvey continue work on his search for the original Batman, who he was sure had survived the collapse that seemed to have claimed his life. She had only let him start the project to keep him busy while he healed from his injuries incurred on his last case. He was left with no choice but to go back into rotation on normal cases, or to take the special assignment that he was offered weeks ago, leading the new task force that investigates the Batman's cases. Despite the offer to let him pick his own team, Harvey simply asked when Jim Gordon was taking his post back. Maggie responded that she wasn't sure if he ever would, and with a sneer, Harvey told her to put him back in rotation.   A week later, Maggie and Jim discussed security for an upcoming performance at Le Cirque de Volant, where many of Gotham's elite would be at the opening. She wondered if he had decided to take the position as Batman or not, but he still wasn't sure he even wanted it. Jokingly, Maggie suggested that Harvey could do the job, admitting that he had resisted her offer to join the task force. She warned Jim not to talk to Harvey about his decision, as it would be a risk that the higher-ups didn't want to take, given the investigation surrounding Harvey's partner Nancy's recent shooting of a young boy.   Nancy was suspended, and Harvey felt it was a boon to her, given the upheaval at the GCPD. She had to take a job working security - coincidentally, for the Cirque de Volant performance. While at a bar together, commiserating, Harvey suddenly decided to aggravate a group of bikers who had taken up a table at what he deemed a cops-only bar. As a brawl ensued, Harvey and Nancy simply sat back and watched, until he reminded her that one of the cops caught in the fight was on the review board, and it might do her some good to help him out. Though he intended to just keep watching, he was nearly slugged in the back of the head by a biker, but was saved at the last moment by Renee Montoya, whose competitive nature pushed him to join in.   Afterwards, Harvey, Nancy, and Renee grabbed tacos from a food truck. Renee explained that Harvey had been her training officer, five years ago, before she was reassigned to Blüdhaven. She had been assigned back to Gotham recently - onto the Batman task force that Harvey had turned down. Thinking it time to go home, Nancy flagged a cab while Montoya took a moment to speak to Harvey alone. She tried to explain that the task force could be their chance to make a difference on a larger scale than ever. Seeing him unconvinced, she offered to tell him who would be under the mask - and to help get Yip reinstated. Renee explained that she could get Jim Gordon himself to bring Yip back onto the force. Begrudgingly, Harvey promised he would join the task force on the condition that Renee help him find the real Batman.   Now, Harvey and the task force arrive on the scene of the explosion, but Batman is nowhere to be found. Suddenly, Jim crashes down onto the street from above, pinning his quarry to the pavement as two accomplices look on from the roof of a nearby building. Taking initiative, Harvey rushes up to confront them, arriving just in time to see them knock Jim off the roof with an RPG missile.   A week ago, while Harvey and Renee were talking, Nancy received a call from her real employer, commanding her to kill all of her targets, who would be seated at the Cirque de Volant.