DETECTIVE COMICS #516

"PART TWO: 'ACADEMY OF CRIME': FINAL EXAMS!"
Writers Gerry Conway & Paul Kupperberg
Artists: Don Newton & Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: At the Adacemy of Crime, the Headmaster's class practice gunning down Batman. After class is dismissed, "Matches" Malone heads into downtown Hollywood with two of his fellow students. When he spots a fight on a rooftop across the street, Matches ditches the men and changes into Batman. He intervenes in the fight, but when the victim of the attack departs while Batman is distracted, the Caped Crusader leaves since there is no one to press charges against the attacker.

The next morning on a Hollywood backlot, the Headmaster asks Matches to assume the identity of Batman for the day's lesson. Suddenly realizing that the previous night's action was staged and the Headmaster is on to him, Matches enters the designated changing trailer and slips out just before the Academy class opens fire and destroys the trailer. Finding the trailer empty, the Headmaster sends his pupils out into the backlot to find Batman. But the Dark Knight takes the criminals out one-by-one until only the Headmaster and one student, Miles, are left. Batman dispatches Miles and the Headmaster grabs his defeated student's flamethrower. But he fails to kill Batman, and the Caped Crusader captures him.

Continuity Notes: While Batman is in California, a lot transpires back in Gotham City! First up, Rupert Thorne meets with Picture News editor Morton Monroe and demands Vicki Vale's Batman photos. Monroe returns to his office and requests same from Vicki, who blows him off and goes to visit Alfred, giving him two weeks (down from the prior issue's three weeks) to concretely refute her theory.

DETECTIVE COMICS #515

Yes, we skipped DETECTIVE #514. It was a fill-in and is not reprinted in DC's TALES OF THE BATMAN: GERRY CONWAY volumes. However, as it was written by Len Wein, it does appear in TALES OF THE BATMAN: LEN WEIN -- so someday, I might take a look at it.

"THE ACADEMY OF CRIME PART 1: COLLEGE FOR KILLERS"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Don Newton & Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: A trio of criminals robs a bank, but are jumped by Batman as they attempt escape. One of the men fires up his flamethrower and burns Batman, which prompts the ire of the men's instructor, the Headmaster. The entire scuffle was a training exercise at the Headmaster's Academy of Crime, and the Headmaster is none too pleased with his pupils' overzealousness.

A week later in Gotham City, Batman stops two muggers on the waterfront. When one of them mentions the Academy of Crime, Batman questions him and learns the school's location in Hollywood. Batman returns to Wayne Manor and changes into "Matches" Malone, then departs for California. Some time later, Matches enters the Academy's waiting room, but spies two Gotham criminals with whom he had an altercation in the past as they leave the buidling. Matches changes to Batman and tries to follow the men to get rid of them, but they depart while he is changing into costume. Batman changes back to Matches and enters the Headmaster's office.

Continuity Notes: The Headmaster states that Mirage, defeated in DETECTIVE COMICS #511, is one of his protégés. Later, as Batman fights the two men on the waterfront, he says this is "the second time [I've] heard mention of "the Academy"," though no footnote is provided. I'm trying to figure out if this a reference by Conway to something said "behind the scenes", or if Mirage mentioned the Academy and I forgot about it.

BATMAN #346

"HALF A HERO..."
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Don Newton & Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: Two-Face stages an escape from Arkham Asylum with the use of a hypnotic coin. Batman and Commissioner Gordon investigate the scene, then return to Gotham City. The next night, Bruce Wayne is out on a date with Vicki Vale when he realizes that Two-Face had applied for early parole at a halfway house. Bruce changes to Batman and investigates the house, where he makes his way through an army of goons and a few deathtraps, eventually coming face-to-faces with Two-Face. But when Batman tries to arrest the villain, he unmasks himself as a woman named Margo; Two-Face's girlfriend. Two-Face seals the duo behind glass and floods the room with nerve gas. Margo is unharmed thanks to special filters, but Batman passes out.

Continuity Notes: That's not all! The summary above is quite thin, because this issue is crawling with soap opera:

Batman gives Commissioner Gordon a ride back to Gotham, and during their drive, the commissioner comments that he may well accede to newly-elected Mayor Hill's demand for his resignation. After he gets home, Gordon finds his concerned daughter, Barbara, visiting and fixing dinner. In the issue's final scene, the following night, Gordon turns in his badge and gun to Hill -- and after he leaves, Rupert Thorne shows himself and introduces Hill to his new police commissioner, Mister Pauling.

DETECTIVE COMICS #511

"THE 'I' OF THE BEHOLDER"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Don Newton & Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: Batman, Robin, and Alfred watch a news broadcast of newly-elected mayor Hamilton Hill's victory party. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, a masked man named Mirage uses an illusion-casting gem to rob the Raytona Raceway's box office. Vicki Vale, present to photograph the race, gets some pictures of Mirage's illusions before he escapes. But the next morning, she finds that the pictures show nothing but the raceway.

That night, Batman responds to the bat-signal, and Commissioner Gordon tells him about Mirage's recent crime spree. Word comes in that Mirage has been spotted on Long Island, and Batman leaves to find him. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson is already there as a spectator at a fashion event/jewelry show, and when Mirage appears, Dick changes to Robin -- but is quickly waylaid by Mirage's illusions. Batman arrives a moment later as is quickly defeated as well, allowing Mirage and his henchmen to escape.

Back in the Batcave, Batman devises an earpiece to counteract Mirage's illusions, then he and Robin canvas the city for the villain. Robin eventually returns to the Batcave empty-handed, but Batman finds Mirage robbing an armored car. He attacks and his earpiece works, until one of Mirage's men slugs him and breaks it. But Batman still overcomes Mirage's illusions and easily defeats him.

Continuity Notes: The above summary only accounts for about half this issue's content. There are also sub-plots galore! But before we get to them, there are a few footnotes: first, Batman recalls Arthuer Reeves' campaign was undone by the sham photos he tried to use to unmask Batman in BATMAN #344. That same issue is invoked a few pages later when Bruce recalls Vicki Vale showing up at the Wayne Buidling "day before last." Later, Dick recalls dropping out of Hudson University in DETECTIVE COMICS #495, and then notes that he spent six months with the Hill circus, with a note pointing to BATMAN issues 337 - 341 (specifically the backup stories). Again, still no mention made of the Teen Titans, which just feels really weird. A couple pages later, Bruce talks to Lucius Fox about "the mess Poison Ivy made of [the Wayne Foundation's] books," with yet another note pointing to BATMAN 344.

BATMAN #342

"REQUIEM FOR A HERO"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin
Letterer: Shelly Leferman | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: In the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor, Doctor Thirteen finds Man-Bat attacking Batman. Thirteen tries to help, allowing Batman to get free and zap Man-Bat with Thirteen's sonar gun. Man-Bat escapes, and Batman emerges onto the Wayne grounds with an injured Thirteen. At the hospital, Batman and Commissioner Gordon are told that Thirteen will survive.

The next day, Bruce Wayne visits the apartment of Kirk and Francine Langstrom and their daughter, Rebecca, in Gotham's Crime Alley neighborhood. Francine explains that Kirk has been consumed by his Man-Bat persona thanks to his hatred of Batman. That night, Batman goes out in search of Man-Bat. He enters the extended network of caverns beneath the Wayne grounds, and eventually finds his quarry. Batman and Man-Bat fight, and Batman slips an antidote into Man-Bat's mouth -- but it fails to change him back to Kirk Langstrom. Instead, Man-Bat kicks Batman away and flies off, leaving the Caped Crusader behind, vowing to find a new cure for his one-time friend.

Continuity Notes: Commissioner Gordon loses his temper with Batman at the hospital, then reveals why: he received a threatning note in the morning's mail.

DETECTIVE COMICS #494, #495, & #496

Way back in January of 2014, before this blog was even a year old, I read the 1970s WRATH OF THE SPECTRE series by Michael Fleischer and Jim Aparo. (Part 1 | Part 2). When I was done with those issues, I realized I had a few DETECTIVE COMICS Batman stories by Fleischer handy as well, in the pages of TALES OF THE BATMAN: DON NEWTON -- so I read and wrote about them as well, as sort of a bonus.

Well, as it happens, those issues were published in late 1980, overlapping with the BATMAN issues we'll be reading over the next couple weeks. So, for your pleasure, here's a post from the earliest days of NOT A HOAX!:

BATMAN BY MICHAEL FLEISHER: DETECTIVE COMICS #494, 495, 496

And with that, our two weeks of "reprint" posts come to an end. Next week, in the first pair of our final eight issues in this retrospective, Marv Wolfman comes aboard BATMAN to wrap up Len Wein's dangling plots, as the Caped Crusader goes up against Two-Face.

IRON FIST #9

Mott Street, just off Chatham Square -- near the center of that part of New York City known as Chinatown… the tourists have long since left, the shops and restaurants are shuttered for the night, the streets are silent and empty…

…Save for the harshly-drawn breaths and pounding feet of one young man… who is running for his life.

It’s a deadly race, Iron Fist… and right now, you’re losing it!

”THE DRAGON DIES AT DAWN!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Frank Chiarmonte
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Bonnie Wilford | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: A weakened Iron Fist wanders New York, defending himself against the Golden Tigers. As he moves, he flashes back to the Meachum boardroom, where Danny Rand managed to escape the Tigers and change into Iron Fist, then returned to confront them. But the Tigers’ leader, Chaka, defeated Iron Fist.

After more action in the present, Iron Fist recalls awakening as Chaka’s prisoner. Chaka poisoned him and let him free, telling him to fight his way through all the Golden Tigers and back to Chaka, who would have the antidote. Chaka then went into an adjoining room and hypnotized his brother, Bill.

In England, Danny Rand’s friend Alan Cavenaugh joins the crew of a tramp steamer bound for the United States. And back in New York, Iron Fist catches up with Chaka and duels him. Realizing Chaka’s promise of antidote was a lie, Iron Fist subdues his enemy and uses his power to heal himself. Then, when Chaka regains his strength and attempts to kill Iron Fist, the hero knocks him away. Unbeknownst to Iron Fist, Chaka is struck by an unseen opponent just as he slams into a wall, leaving him near death. The police arrive to Find Iron Fist kneeling over Chaka’s body.

IRON FIST #7

”In the name of the immortal Master Khan--“

”IRON FIST MUST DIE!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Frank Chiarmonte
Letterer: Joe Rosen | Colorist: Bonnie Wilford | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Colleen saves Iron Fist from execution, then engages Angar and Master Khan’s men while Iron Fist chases after the fleeing Khan. Meanwhile, not far from Khan’s palace, Misty engages in target practice and chats with Jeryn Hogarth.

In the palace, Iron Fist confronts Khan, who attempts to save himself by opening a portal to K’un L’un and offering Iron Fist a chance to return there. When Iron Fist refuses, Khan tries to sweeten the deal by exposing the treachery of Yu-Ti, who stands at the other side of the portal. But still Iron Fist refuses, instead destroying the mystical crystal Khan used to open his portal. Khan is sucked into the ensuing maelstrom despite Iron Fist’s attempt to save him.

Later, Iron Fist and Colleen reunite and head for Jeryn’s plane.

Continuity Notes: A footnote tells us that the events of last issue happened “only minutes ago”. That's a relief. I was afraid Khan had been prepping Iron Fist for execution for a full month or more.

IRON FIST #6

”DEATH MATCH!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Frank Chiarmonte
Letterer & Colorist: Karen Mantlo | Editor: Marv Wolfman

The Plot: Iron Fist invades Master Khan’s citadel in Halwan and flashes back to how he wound up there: his father’s attorney, Jeryn Hogarth, got a lead on Khan and flew Iron Fist to his headquarters. Iron Fist bailed out of Hogarth’s plane to mount his assault.

Meanwhile, in K’un L’un, Yu-Ti watches Iron Fist through a mystical crystal. Lei Kung admonishes him for misusing the device, then obliquely accuses Yu-Ti of having his brother, Iron Fist’s father, killed.

Back in Halwan, Iron Fist finds the brainwashed Colleen Wing and duels her as Angar the Screamer uses his “mindstorm” power to confuse the Living Weapon. But Iron Fist is a match for Colleen and uses his power to mind-meld with her and knock her out. Master Kahn and his men enter the room and the weakened Iron Fist is grabbed. Khan orders his men to execute the hero.

IRON FIST #5

”WHEN SLAYS THE SCIMITAR!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Frank Chiarmonte
Letterer: Joe Rosen | Colorist: Phil Rache | Editor: Marv Wolfman

Begin it on a roof-top in Central London -- in late Winter, in the night, in the cold.

Begin it in a side-street halfway between Paddington and Maida Vale, a street named Golladay Mews (made notorious by a string of unresolved vampire murders barely two years gone).

A run-down street, this -- a slum -- left to wither and die amid the hustle and bustle that is London!

Begin it on this street, and begin it with this man: Iron Fist, the Living Weapon. You.

Your quest has led you here -- all you have to do now is survive.

The Plot: Following a note from Hassan, the supposed traitor in the camp of Colleen Wing’s kidnappers, Iron Fist finds himself near the London rail yards. Changing to Danny Rand to avoid drawing attention to himself, he spots a young man being roughed up by a group of hoods. Danny helps fight them off, and their victim introduces himself as Alan Cavenaugh, formerly of the Irish Republican Army.

The duo enters the building where Iron Fist was to meet Hassan and finds him dead. His apparent murderers attack, and under cover of steam from the rail yard, Danny changes back to Iron Fist just in time to be assaulted by a mercenary named Scimitar. Iron Fist and Scimitar duel, and Alan is injured during the fight. Ultimately Iron Fist wins and escorts Alan to the hospital.

Meanwhile, in Halwan, Master Khan and Angar the Screamer have completed Colleen’s brainwashing. To test its success, Khan has Colleen kill a robotic Iron Fist dummy.

IRON FIST #4

”HOLOCAUST!”
A tale of triumph and tragedy presented by:
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Janice Cohen | Editor: Marv Wolfman

The place: An upper maintenance level of London’s General Post Office Tower…

The people: On one hand, Iron Fist, the Living Weapon -- a man who has done his best this night, only to discover that a man’s best is sometimes not enough… and facing him, Radion, the Atomic Man, once called the Ravager. A man gone mad.

The time: One minute into one man’s private armageddon!

The Plot: Radion fights Iron Fist while Ward and Joy Meachum, along with a mystery guest, watch the BBC broadcast. In London, Iron Fist awakens after an explosion to find Radion gone. He recharges himself with his power then sees a video recorded by Radion prior to his transformation.

At the hospital, Misty attempts to depart and aid Iron Fist, but suffers a seizure. Meanwhile, Radion is atop the Post Office Tower, firing on the city below, when Iron Fist confronts him. They fight again, and Iron Fist lures the villain to a chamber he learned about in the video. Activating the chamber, Iron Fist transforms Radion back into his benevolent mortal self, Dr. Henri Sorel. Penitent over his crimes, Sorel dies in Iron Fist’s arms.

Continuity Notes: On page 2, Radion recaps the previous issue’s climax and also describes himself as a walking hydrogen bomb, which the Ravager armor kept in check.

IRON FIST #3

”THE CITY’S NOT FOR BURNING!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: Dave Hunt | Colorist: Don Warfield | Editor: Marv Wolfman

You are Iron Fist -- and you have come to London to save the life of a friend.

You may also have come here to die!

The Plot: An airliner carrying Danny Rand and Misty Knight is shot down as it descends over Heathrow Airport. Dany changes to Iron Fist and challenges the plane’s attacker, an armored man named the Ravager. But Ravager proves too powerful for Iron Fist and escapes.

Later, as Misty recovers at the hospital, Danny is spurred to put his quest for Colleen Wing on the back burner and search for the Ravager instead. He tracks the villain to London’s General Post Office Tower, where their rematch begins. But this time Iron Fist unleashes his full power, which destroys the Ravager’s armor and blows up the tower, apparently killing both of them.

Continuity Notes: Misty demonstrates super-strength twice during the airport crisis, and soon after it’s revealed that she has a bionic arm. The limb is damaged beyond repair, sidelining Misty for the rest of Iron Fist’s adventure.

Iron Fist uses tracking skills taught him by Lei Kung the Thunderer to find the Ravager. Later, as he scales the Post Office Tower, narration notes that he chooses the stairs over the elevator due to his experience in Harold Meachum’s office tower in MARVEL PREMIERE #17.

IRON FIST #2

”VALLEY OF THE DAMNED!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Frank Chiarmonte
Letterer: Joe Rosen | Colorist: Michele Wolfman | Editor: Marv Wolfman

You are Iron Fist -- and you have failed.

Not a pleasant word, is it? But then, the truth is rarely pleasant.

And the truth here is that because of you, this man -- Lee Wing -- lies broken in body and spirit, his mind blasted by the full force of Angar’s minstorm! He is a shadow man now, a man who has no soul!

Because of you, his daughter, Colleen, is the prisoner -- the slave -- of some unknown foe who wants you dead.

Two friends, Iron Fist -- people who cared for you, believed in you, trusted you… and, in the end, needed you.

Two people you have failed.

The Plot: Iron Fist keeps vigil over Professor Wing, hospitalized since his encounter with Angar the Screamer. As he sits, Iron Fist flashes back to K’un L’un, when he learned that his friend, Conal, had taught a girl named Miranda the martial arts despite K’un L’un’s rules to the contrary. Conal and Miranda were arrested for this crime.

In the present, Colleen’s kidnappers deliver her to Master Khan in Halwan, who prepares plans to bait a trap for Iron Fist, using one of his own minions.

Iron Fist’s flashback continues as Conal and Miranda, sentenced to permanent mindwipes for their crime, flee K’un L’un. Iron Fist pursues. The group eventually finds themselves prisoners of a race of plant people called the H’ylthri. Iron Fist fights back against these creatures, but is unable to keep them from putting Conal and Miranda to sleep forever in their pods. The H’ylthri let Iron Fist live, however, and returns to K’un L’un.

Once more in the present, Iron Fist reveals that he's used his power to cure the psychological damage Angar inflicted on Professor Wing. Misty tells him that a lead on Colleen’s whereabouts has directed her to London, and Iron Fist agrees to come along.

BATMAN BY MICHAEL FLEISHER: DETECTIVE COMICS #494, 495, 496

Art by Jim Aparo

I recently acquired, via an Amazon sale, TALES OF THE BATMAN: DON NEWTON, showcasing Newton's earliest work drawing the Caped Crusader. As it happens, among those stories are three issues of DETECTIVE COMICS written by none other than Michael Fleisher. So since I just spent two weeks covering all of Fleisher's work on the Spectre, and since -- as I've opined previously -- there's nothing like some Batman on a cold winter's night, I figured that, given this chance, I might as well continue on to Fleisher's brief dalliance with the Darknight Detective.

These are not all of Fleisher's Bat-stories, however. Some very cursory research tells me that he also penned two issues of BATMAN roughly six years apart (1975 and 1981), and two issues of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, separated by a year (1980 and 1981 -- and the second of those B&B issues features art by Jim Aparo and a team up between the Batman and...the Spectre! I really want to track that down eventually...). But since these are the only Fleisher Batman stories I have ready access to, these are the ones I'll cover -- for now.