BATMAN #339

"A SWEET KISS OF POISON..."
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Irv Novick & Steve Mitchell
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: An exhausted Batman returns from a night of crime-fighting, with only a few hours to sleep before attending a Wayne Foundation board meeting as Bruce Wayne. After that meeting, Lucius Fox encourages Bruce to take a vacation, but the philanthropist refuses. Later, Bruce meets with mayoral candidate Hamilton Hill for lunch, in the middle of which a mystery woman kisses him, mistaking him for someone else. The woman leaves in a taxi, revealing herself to be Poison Ivy. She crosses Bruce's name off a list and prepares for her next target.

That night, Batman is about to thwart some smugglers at the waterfront when a sudden urge seizes him and he leaves, making his way to the Ambassador Hotel. There, he spots all the other members of the Wayne Foundation board waiting at the hotel entrance. Batman changes back to Bruce Wayne and joins his fellow board members in entering the hotel. Inside, Poison Ivy appears and explains that she drugged each of them with her kiss, and they will now obey her every command. Ivy orders the men to sign over the full assets of the Wayne Foundation to her, and one by one, they do so. She then orders them never to divulge what has happened. Most of the board members leave, but Bruce sneaks into the shadows and becomes Batman once more. However Poison Ivy is ready, and traps him with a choking vine, then escapes.

Batman returns to the Batcave to call Commissioner Gordon, but finds himself choking as he struggles to spit out the story of Poison Ivy.

DETECTIVE COMICS #507

"DRESSED TO DIE!"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Don Newton & Dan Adkins
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Ben Oda | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: Manikin prepares to kill Hoston, but Batman emerges from the flames to stop her. Manikin begins choking on the smoke from Hoston's burning office and retreats while Batman gets Hoston to safety. Manikin is picked up by her brother, Victor, who drives her to their mansion outside Gotham. The next day, Bruce Wayne visits the Gotham Gazette to speak with the managing editor, Bud Raleigh, about a name he heard Hoston mumble the night before -- Miranda. Somehow, Raleigh knows this must be a model from West Germany who had a celebrated career in Gotham for about a year before being disfigured in a horrific car accident just as she was about to move to Hollywood to pursue her fortune in the movies.

That night, Batman prepares a device to help him against Manikin, then leaves for the hospital, where Hoston is recovering. Manikin arrives to finish her mission of killing the designer, but Batman intervenes. Their fight carries them out of the building and then back inside to Hoston's room, where Hoston confesses to planting a bomb in Miranda's car. Batman uses his device to seal Manikin's costume entirely, cutting off her air supply. Manikin passes out just as Victor appears and removes her mask, revealing her hideously scarred face. Hoston then reveals that he tried to kill Miranda because she had abandoned him for the movies.

Continuity Notes: We get a footnote to last issue as Hoston recalls seeing Batman "overcome by the smoke" in his office.

Gerry Conway comes up with one of the goofier prior issue recaps you're likely to run across, as a police officer asks Batman a very simple question: what started the fire? And Batman proceeds, unprompted, to run down the events of his entire evening for the poor gentleman.

DETECTIVE COMICS #506

"WHO DIES FOR THE MANIKIN?"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Don Newton & Steve Mitchell
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: Ten months ago, Batman arrives at the scene of an auto wreck. He pulls the car's lone occupant free, but she is horrifically burnt and rushed to the Gotham Burn Center. In the present day, Bruce Wayne watches the news and then prepares for a night out. He and his date, Crystal, arrive at the trendy Studio 52 nightclub, where a woman strides in and murders fashion designer Kevin Clane in front of the club patrons. Bruce follows her out the back door and changes into Batman, then confronts her in an alleyway. But the woman disrobes to reveal herself as a golden "Manikin" and easly subdues Batman with super-strength. A mystery accomplice then helps Manikin escape.

Batman takes Manikin's discarded dress to Selina Kyle for identification. Selina tells him that the dress is the handiwork of one of Gotham's greatest designers, Mister Hoston. Batman heads to Hoston's office and as they speak, the place is firebombed. Batman gets Hoston out into his showroom, where he is attacked again by Manikin. As flames spread out of the office and into the showroom, Manikin again subdues Batman and then goes after Hoston.

Continuity Notes: As Bruce watches the news, he tells Alfred that he wants to catch up on what's been going on in Gotham while he was in Alaska last issue. He sees a debate between mayoral candidates Arthur Reeves and Hamilton Hill, with the former accusing Batman of unchecked vigilantism and promising to bring him to justice, while Hill is more interested in a recent spike in police shootings, for which he plans to demand Commissioner Gordon's resignation if elected. (And again, in today's climate, it feels kind of weird that the story wants us to root against Hill over this!)

DETECTIVE COMICS #505

"WEREWOLF MOON"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Don Newton & Dan Adkins
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Dick Giordano

The Plot: Inside a hospital room, a woman pleads for Batman's help to save the life of her daughter, who is dying of leukemia and who needs bone marrow transplant from her brother. Out in the hospital corridor, Batman and Commissioner Gordon discuss the identity of the girl's brother -- he is Anthony Lupus, a werewolf apparently killed years earlier. But Gordon reveals to Batman that Lupus may yet live, in Alaska. The Darknight Detective heads north and, as Bruce Wayne, recruits a guide from the local EPA office to help him find Lupus. They locate a wooden shack in the wilderness, but find it empty. Then, as they wait, the werewolf bursts in and attacks. Bruce drives it out the door, and the next morning his guide leaves.

Bruce changes to Batman and hunts Lupus, eventually finding and fighting him under the full moon. The Caped Crusader wins and Lupus turns back to normal. Batman holds him captive in a silver net for one more night of the full moon before the pair returns to Gotham City.

Continuity Notes: Per Batman's exposition and a footnote, Anthony Lupus first appeared in BATMAN #255, by Len Wein and Neal Adams, where he was a star athlete mutated by the fiendish Professor Milo. Batman believed Lupus was killed by a lightning bolt, but apparently Gordon has known for a couple of months that he may be alive and has elected not to mention it to Batman.