BATMAN #359

"HUNT"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Dan Jurgens & Dick Giordano
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Batman invades the Gotham Tobbacconists' club and questions its head, Filbert Hughes III, regarding Killer Croc. Meanwhile, Croc has summoned all of Gotham's gang bosses to his hideout at the zoo, where he announces his intention to take control of the mobs. But the men are unimpressed, telling Croc that they still follow orders from the incarcerated Tony Falco. Batman drops off Hughes and his bodyguards with Commissioner Gordon, while Croc sneaks into Gotham Jail and murders Falco. Guards spot Croc and try to stop him, and the alarm is raised. Batman responds and battles Croc, but is again defeated by him.

The following night, at the Sloan Circus, Trina and Joe Todd spot Croc's associate, Slick, pocketing extorted protection money. When Slick leaves, the Todds follow -- but Slick realizes they are after him. Meanwhile, Batman meets with Commissioner Gordon, who fills him in on Croc's history. Elsewhere, Dick Grayson arrives at the circus, but is informed by Jason Todd and Waldo the Clown that Jason's parents left in pursuit of Slick. Panicked, Dick leaves. At that moment, the Todds follow Slick into the zoo and to the reptile house, where they find Croc and a roomful of mobsters waiting for them. Croc declares that he will show them what fate he has in store for Batman.

Continuity Notes: I still think Curt Swan accidentally looked at reference Rupert Thorne when drawing Filbert Hughes, because the resemblance is uncanny. And now Dan Jurgens is following Swan's model, so the Thorne Clone lives on!

DETECTIVE COMICS #525

"CONFRONTATION"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Dan Jurgens & Dick Giordano
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Batman emerges from the river where Killer Croc vanished, and informs Robin and Commissioner Gordon that there is no sign of the villain. But as Batman climbs out of the water, he is secretly observed from the shadows by Croc himself. Later, following a date with Vicki Vale, Bruce Wayne wanders Gotham's waterfront and suddenly realizes that he noticed Croc but didn't register it at the time. He changes back to Batman and hads for the river, then tracks Croc into the sewer. But Croc gets the drop on the Masked Manhunter, nearly drowning him and then vanishing again. Batman searches for Croc and is ambushed again, then Croc disappears once more. Then, when Croc attacks from hiding a third time, Batman forces them both toward a large storm drain, which gives way and allows Batman to escape into the river. Batman emerges from the water in a riverside park, and vows that next time they meet, he will take Croc down.

Continuity Notes: The issue opens with some footnotes, as we're first given a brief summary of DETECTIVE COMICS #524 and BATMAN #358 when Batman describes to Robin how Croc killed the Squid and how Batman tracked him to his home. A page later, Batman tells Robin and Gordon about Croc letting him escape from the Squid's mob, again in DETECTIVE 524.

Bruce meets Vicki for a date and when she observes that he seems distracted, he tells her that he's thinking about Selina Kyle's obsession with him. He tells Vicki that Selina "needed" him to much, and he doesn't want to be needed by anyone -- which is what he likes about his casual relationship with Vicki. This naturally leads Vicki to bawl him out and then storm off.

ACTION COMICS #594 & BOOSTER GOLD #23

“ALL THAT GLISTERS”
Story & Pencils: John Byrne | Inks: John Byrne & Keith Williams
Coloring: Tom Ziuko | Lettering: John Costanza | Editing: Michael Carlin

“BLIND OBSESSION”
Story & Pencils: Dan Jurgens | Inks: Roy Richardson
Letters: Steve Haynie | Colors: Gene D’Angelo | Editor: Barbara Randall

The Plot: (ACTION 594) On “Superman Day” in Metropolis, local hero Booster Gold goes on an anti-Superman crusade, demolishing a statue in the Man of Steel’s honor, speaking out against him at a press conference, and even kidnapping the mayor’s daughter to draw Superman out. When Superman finds Booster, they have a brief skirmish which sees the latter triumph over an unusually weak Superman. Then a second Booster Gold arrives, declaring the first to be an imposter.

(BOOSTER 23) Booster fights the imposter, eventually realizing it’s an android, and destroys it to find a small chunk of Kryptonite inside. Superman realizes Lex Luthor must be behind the charade, and a moment later Luthor dispatches an operative called Attack Dog One against Superman and Booster. Attack Dog One retrieves the Kryptonite with a small flying pod which leaves the scene of the fight. But with the Kryptonite gone, Superman finds himself back to full power. He easily defeats Attack Dog One and makes uneasy peace with Booster.

ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #1, SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1, & ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1

“SKEETER!”
Written by: John Byrne | Penciled by: Art Adams | Inked by: Dick Giordano
Lettered by: Albert de Guzman | Colored by: Petra Scotese
Edited by: Michael Carlin

The Plot: Batman arrives in the small town of Fayerville, Louisiana, following the trail of a serial killer from Gotham City. But he quickly finds himself in over his head as he realizes he’s up against a vampire. The Caped Crusader calls the Daily Planet and asks Clark Kent to summon Superman for him. Soon after, the Man of Steel arrives in Fayerville and begins investigating the vampire as well, while Batman deduces the creature’s true identity as that of an apparently teenaged girl named Skeeter. When Skeeter attacks and nearly kills Superman, Batman finishes her off with a stake through the heart.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Batman uses the codeword “Magpie”, a reference to his and Superman’s first encounter in THE MAN OF STEEL, to authenticate himself to Clark.

When he fights Skeeter, Superman realizes her powers are magical in nature and therefore she is able to harm him. (He also mentions his “electro-chemical aura” not protecting his costume when she scratches his chest, reminding readers that Byrne is still one hundred percent behind that idea.)

THE NEW TEEN TITANS (VOLUME 2) #6

"TITANSMANIA"
Writer-Editor-Co-Plot: Marv Wolfman | Co-Plot: George Pérez | Layouts: Daniel Jurgens
Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal | Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Adrienne Roy

The Plot: New York honors the Titans with a parade and a presentation of the Key to the City. Wally West and his family, with Frances Kane, watch the parade on TV while elsewhere, the winged alien pines for Lilith and Jericho recovers in the hospital after the Titans' encounter with Trigon. Later, the Titans assess damage to their tower and then attempt to adjust to life as celebrities, while Arella heads out to search for Raven. Eventually, when he realizes that something is troubling Donna, Terry suggests a Titans' holiday in the Grand Canyon. There, the group discusses their experiences with their dark sides and eventually reaffirms their status as a team.

My Thoughts: I just had to give it one more issue, didn't I? Based on the cover and then the splash page, I figured this would be a feel good "quiet" issue in the aftermath of the Trigon saga. Well, it's definitely the latter, but in no way is it the former. It seems the Titans' fame has made them all suddenly realize how laughably careless they've been with their secret identities since the series began, as they suddenly can't get a moment's peace with the press and fans hounding them. Besides that, they're all disturbed by the visions Trigon showed them, in which their dark sides did terrible things to their loved ones, which led to the Titans giving in to the darkness and killing those evil versions of themselves.

So, to cope with this trauma, the group spends the final nine pages of the issue moping about their feelings to each other. The entire Grand Canyon scene is a slog, as the Titans pour out all their emotions in a way that just doesn't feel real to me. I like my super heroes to keep their angst bottled up, to soliloquize about their feelings through thought balloons, and to express their emotions by screaming and punching teammates who say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Seeing this group sit around and yak about what's eating them rubs me the wrong way.