DETECTIVE COMICS #523

"INFERNO"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Gene Colan & Tony Dezuniga
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: In Gotham City, a fist punches its way out of a manhole. Three days later, Batman joins the police to investigate a department store robbery where the place has been utterly demolished. Batman leaves with a severed mannequin head, swinging past an asphalt plant. Inside, the men who committed the robbery watch Batman go. With them is the hulking Solomon Grundy, who has broken a mannequin he took from the store and wants "more toys."

In the Batcave, Batman has found mold on the mannequin head which he believes to be Grundy's genetic material. Then the Batcomputer alerts him to a robbery in progress at a toy store, and Batman heads into Gotham to find Solomon Grundy playing with dolls, and the men he was with lying dead at his hands. Grundy slaps Batman aside and leaves, but Batman follows the brute to a rug factory. Batman lures Grundy into an oven, where the creature burns to ash.

Continuity Notes: Batman indicates he learned of Solmon Grundy from Superman, who battled the creature in SUPERMAN #319.

The gangsters with Grundy are led by one "Doc" Heller, who, before his demise, chats with a mystery man in a trenchcoat named "Croc". Croc had interest in joining Heller's gang until Heller linked up with Grundy. Here, Croc tells Heller he's changed his mind, and leaves the gang.

Dick Grayson visits a circus outside of Gotham, where he finds his old friends Waldo and Melanie. Dick tells them he almost didn't have time to visit this year, with a footnote telling us to see current issues of TEEN TITANS for more on that. Waldo and Melanie eagerly lead Dick to a tent to show him something, with a note saying that we'll find out what it is in BATMAN #357.

(I find it fascinating that for the first couple years of his run, Gerry Conway never so much as acknowledged the Titans' existence, yet now they've been mentioned seemingly once per issue over the past few installments. I wonder if there were letters asking about it, or perhaps if it's simply a case of Len Wein, editor of TEEN TITANS, taking over the Bat-titles as well and calling for tighter continuity.)

My Thoughts: So... Solomon Grundy isn't alive. Conway, via Batman, tells us that multiple times. He's basically a zombie. Which I assume is Conway's rationale for Batman straight-up murdering Grundy on the issue's final page. Yet I really have a problem with this. I think we're supposed to read it as nothing more than Batman killing a plant or something, but Grundy can walk, he can talk, and simple though it is, he appears to have a sentient brain. The idea that Batman would premeditatedly kill him feels totally wrong and, frankly, disturbing.

Beyond that, I really don't have much to say here. I don't know if Gerry Conway knew his run was very close to its conclusion at this point, but it feels that way. True, he's still planting seeds via the sub-plots here: Croc will be the final big storyline of Conway's tenure, and the "surprise" Waldo and Melanie have for Dick will factor into those stories as well, but ultimately we see Conway putting all his toys back in the box at this point. Commissioner Gordon is back leading the police force (acknowledged here as Batman formally welcomes him back), all the Rupert Thorne and Hugo Strange stuff is resolved, and it really feels like we're returning to the status quo. I suppose the only major thing left to "resolve" is Bruce's relationship with Vicki, though there's really no reason Conway couldn't keep that in place for the next writer to run with.

But we shouldn't write the run off yet! There are six more issues to go, so we've got a few more weeks yet before we're done!

One final thought: Batman receives an alert that a toy store has been broken into, gets in the Batmobile, drives from Wayne Manor to Gotham proper, arrives at the toy store, and fights Solomon Grundy, and somehow in all that time the police never show up! Is the toy store's alarm wired directly to the Batcave?!