Detective Comics #512

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE FATAL PRESCRIPTION OF DOCTOR DEATH! Batman and Robin are handcuffed together dangling underneath Gotham River Bridge by Doctor Death. Batman demands that Doctor Death explain his actions. Death reveals that he has infected the entire city with a pollen that kills in 48 hours. He will force the city to pay one billion dollars for his antidote. Doctor Death leaves Relief Island with his servant Togo. Batman is unable to free himself without letting Robin fall to his death. He waits three hours until he can't stand it anymore, then tries a desperate gambit. He lets Robin fall and then leaps after him, barely saving the teen wonder from drowning.  In her darkroom, Vicki Vale compares pictures of Batman and Bruce Wayne. She is convinced that they are the same person, based on their shared jawline. She also looks at a picture she took of Dick Grayson and Dick's girlfriend Dala at a recent party. The rest of the picture developed fine, but Dala is blurry and out of focus for some reason.   Commissioner Gordon calls Mayor Hamilton Hill to City Hall in the middle of the night. Doctor Death refuses to speak to anyone but the Mayor. Hill refuses to negotiate with a madman, and tells Death that they will not pay for the antidote. Doctor Death decides that he will let Gotham City serve as an example to others.   Batman drops Robin off at the hospital and finds Commissioner Gordon. The police are working overtime to deal with the poison outbreak. Batman is part of the population that has a natural immunity to the poison. They send a SWAT team to Death's hideout on Relief Island, but he has moved on. Batman realizes that the Doctor was distracting them, and is home at his mansion. Batman breaks in to confront Doctor Death, but Death gives him a concentrated dose of the poison that weakens him. Doctor Death and Togo try to flee in their helicopter, but Batman chases them. He blows up the gas canisters with a batarang, which sends the helicopter crashing down. Doctor Death is forced to reveal the antidote or die of his own poison. The police are able to spread this antidote over the city the same way the poison was spread. Robin has a full recovery. There are no casualties, and only one minor complication. Doctor Death is allergic to his own antidote, which gives him an outbreak of hives. RIDERS IN THE NIGHT! Barbara Gordon goes out on patrol one night and comes across the bike-riding street gang, Demon-Riders as they attack a taxi driver and trash his vehicle. Batgirl stops them and the hoods scatter, forcing Batgirl to follow their leader. Unfortunately, Batgirl has to give up the chase when the hood endangers innocent lives with his motorcycle.   The next day, Barbara Gordon condemns the violence created by these gangs on public television during an interview. The Demon-Riders become aware of Barbara's thoughts about them and they locate her apartment to "teach her a lesson". The Demon-Riders invade Barbara's place while she is away and they destroy the apartment entirely. When Barbara returns, she finds her place in ruins and she is then confronted by the entire gang of hoods.