Detective Comics #455

Issue Details

Synopsis

HEART OF A VAMPIRE Alfred and Bruce are miles outside of town when their car mysteriously overheats. They go to a nearby boarded-up house to find some water for the radiator. Inside they discover a coffin and a very old sunlamp which Bruce accidentally breaks. They split up to search when vampire Gustav Decobra exits the coffin and attacks Bruce who, quickly changes to Batman.  Batman puts a wooden beam through Gustav's chest but finds that his heart is not where it should be. Batman and Alfred hide in the attic while Batman tells Alfred about Gustav, a former doctor who believed that hearts could be transplanted. Batman realizes that he may have surgically moved his heart elsewhere in his body. To find it, Batman decides he will fight Gustav vigorously and listen for his rapid heartbeat.   Meanwhile, Gustav summons bats to attack Batman and Alfred in the attic while he bursts through the door. He heads for Alfred but Batman attacks him. The two fight vigorously but Batman cannot feel a heartbeat. However, Batmam notices that the nearby grandfather clock gets louder as the fight progresses. Batman grabs a wooden bow and arrow and shoots the clock where Gustav had placed his heart to prevent being killed traditionally. Gustav dies as his corpse turns to a skull at the break of dawn. It is then that Batman and Alfred leave the haunted place and return to the city. BATTLE OF THE BACKFIRING WEAPONS Hawkman and Hawkgirl discuss their recent encounters with Chester McCann who seems to have the superpower of triggering fantastic escapes. Hawkman develops a plan while Chester, too, has realized his powers and decides just to begin robbing. The next day he goes to an art museum and, in front of the armed guards, smashes a display of jewelry. The guards pull their guns but Chester's powers cause the guns to explode. Hawkman and Hawkgirl arrive, take the two brass shields, now polished, and reflect the sunlight into Chester's eyes keeping him blinded. Chester enlarges his ears so he can move by sound when Hawkman uses his bullroarer which overloads Chester's now sensitive hearing. They take Chester to their lab, have him ingest some unnamed potion and discover that Chester is possessed by the mind of his 47th century ancestor who used his science to give Chester his powers so his presence would not alter his own history. He leaves Chester and returns to his own time where he learns that Chester's resulting prison sentence led him to a life of scientific study creating the future M'Kan now lives in.