Detective Comics #814

Issue Details

Synopsis

CITY OF CRIME PART 12 - THE BIG SHOW The infectious fear has spread beyond the walls of Gotham Mercy Hospital and the people of Gotham have fallen to their deepest fears. Meanwhile, inside the hospital, there's only four people alive. James Gordon, who is trying to kill The Joker and Robin, who is running away from a possessed Scarface Puppet. Both of them don't know that they're chasing each other. The third person is Frank Ivers, who wanders the hallways of the hospital, filled with death and emptiness until he reaches the room where the fourth living person in the building is; the cause of the madness and fear: Crazy Jefferey.  The Bat-Signal has been turned on at the GCPD Headquarters for two hours with no results. However, Batman appears from the shadows and using a flare, he reveals the enemy hiding in the shadows of the buildings nearby. Batman approaches them and then leads them away from the GCPD.   At that moment, Mayor Greeves is needed at a ceremony, but he is afraid that a super-criminal might attack him. Back at the hospital, Gordon has finally reached Robin and prepares to strangle his enemy while Robin prepares a sharp Batarang to kill the demonic puppet that has got a hold of him.   Batman fights The Body across the city and uses the armory from the Batmobile to attack some of the countless enemies and every few minutes he keeps moving, leading them further away from the city.   Frank Ivers has armed himself with a shot gun and is ready to eliminate the source of the fear and the evil that plagues Gotham. Taking a last look at the madmad at the hospital room, Ivers shoots him and the fear that was affecting the city disappears, leaving hundreds of casualties. Gordon and Robin soon realize that they have been fighting each other and they stop at once. Everyone is back to normal and the fear has gone away. However, Frank Ivers has seen too much and he knows that this won't be the end of the nightmare. Frank takes the shotgun and opens his mouth ready to free himself from the horrors to come. As Gordon and Robin recover after their fight, they listen the loud noise of the shotgun that Frank Ivers used to kill himself.  Batman finally reaches the Gotham Waterfront Project, the construction site designed as a base of operations for The Body and has led the army of dirt creatures to that location. After fighting them for a short time, Batman knows that he can't keep fighting their countless numbers and soon, the Batplane comes to Batman's location. Using his Batrope, Batman grabs the Batplane and he is pulled away from the place; the same that is destroyed in a colossal explosion, destroying the Waterfront Project and the secret underground lair where the dirt creatures where created.   Mayor Greeves and his supporters are shocked when they see the explosion through the window and Greeves' assistant, Norman Steiner knows that he has to kill the monster that has replaced his wife. Norman attacks the creature and kills it, leaving only dirt on the floor, but he is going to be prosecuted for murder anyway, as nobody seem to care that the thing he just killed, wasn't human.   Batman goes to the GCPD HQ and talks to Commissioner Akins about The Body and Batman also tells him to make sure that there is no impostor on the GCPD. Batman also tells Akins to leave the Bat-Signal on in order to send a message. Robin and Gordon are fine and will have no lasting effects of their experience at the hospital.   A couple of weeks later, Batman decides that it is time to finish the last piece of unfinished business. He goes to Marlene Welles' home and finally deduces that she killed her daughter Cassie Welles, just like Frank Ivers suspected. She confesses the whole truth and Batman understands the woman, just like he understands the city, with it's dark secrets and the mad men and women that walk on her streets.