

- Com. Gordon is chillin’ with his friend Bruce Wayne. Gordon mentions a fellow called the "Bat-Man" is puzzling him. Gordon gets call that chemical manufacturer Lambert has been killed. Gordon invites BW to crime scene w/ him, and BW says he has nothing better to do.
- Lambert’s sons says he’s innocent, saw a figure escaping out the window. His father's last word was "contract." Gives names of father’s associates - Alfred Stryker, Paul Rogers, and Steve Crane. Lambert got a death threat yesterday and now Steve Crane gets a death threat, asks for police protection. BW goes home.
- Steven Crane is killed by a gunman, who steals a paper from Crane and climbs onto the roof, were Bats fights him and takes the paper. GCPD try and fail to arrest the Bat-Man.
- Paul Rogers visits Alfred Stryker’s lab, after hearing about the death. Stryker's assistant Jennings hits Rogers then puts him in a gas chamber (for animals) to die. Bats arrives, disables the chamber. Jennings tries to shoot Bats, but the Bats punches him in the face really hard. Alfred Stryker enters and tries to finish off Rogers. Bats stops Stryker.
- The Bat-Man explains to Rogers that they were all partners in the Apex Chemical Corporation. Stryker had made secret contracts with all of them to pay them a sum of money each year until he owned the business. He grew tired of waiting and decided to kill them so he wouldn't have to pay. Stryker breaks out of the Bats’ grip and pulls a gun on him, Bats punches him so hard he falls over a railing into a tank of acid. Bats leaves.
- Later at his house, Commissioner Gordon relates this story to BW, who says its a fairy tale. Gordon thinks BW is boring. Bruce returns home to Wayne Manor, where it's revealed that he is Bat-Man.


The Case of the Criminal Syndicate!

#27 - The Case of the Criminal Syndicate!



#### Batman: The Man Who Falls

- Young Bruce Wayne fell down bat hole and got scared. Dad scolded his recklessness but mom was nice.
- - Mom refers to the future Batcave as just “Some old cave”. Bruce Wayne wonders if it was hell.
- At 14 Bruce Wayne leaves Gotham to train. He realizes that to achieve justice the way he sees fit, he cannot work within "the system."
- Trains with lots of people including Henri Ducard, bounty hunter. Bruce Wayne isn’t into how he kills tho so he ends that.
- Bats returns to Gotham and resume Year One plot - shitty out of costume, gets bat costume inspo after bat crashes into window at Wayne Manor.
- Batman finally jumps off the ledge and he reckons how metaphorically, he is always falling.

#### Superman: The Haunting

- TBD

#### Green Lantern: The Secret Origin of Green Lantern

- TBD

#### Martian Manhunter

- TBD

#### The Flash: Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt

- TBD

#### Justice League of America: All Together Now

- TBD


Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes



- James Gordon relocates from Chicago to Gotham. Starts working a GCPD under Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb.
- BW returns to the US after 12 years abroad, about to become Batman.
- Gordon realized Gotham police force is full of corruption, including the brutish Lt. Arnold Flass.
- Flass grows concerned and tells Commissioner Loeb that Gordon may not be a "team player" (not corrupt). Loeb gives Flass permission to teach Gordon a lesson, that night some officers beat up Jim in a parking lot. Gordon recognizes Flass voice and vows to strike back.
- Jim follows Flass to a bar. Waits outside then beats him up, leaves him naked, bound with his own handcuffs on the side of the road. Jim is confident that the incident will go unreported.
- BW (in vagrant disguise) patrols Gotham for the first time. He gets into an altercation w/ a pimp, and Selena Kyle gets involved too to defend Holly, an underage prostitue. Overall its a failure, he gets hurt, the police try to arrest him, people aren't intimidated and he's not in control of the situation.
- Back at the manor Bruce think's he's failed. Suddenly, a bat crashes through the open window. Bruce takes it as a sign and promises to avenge his parents' deaths by taking on the form of a bat.


Chapter One: Who I Am - How I Come to Be

#404 - Chapter One: Who I Am - How I Come to Be



- An escaped mental patient Albert Blume has taken a hostage. Commissioner Loeb sends SWAT commander Branden to the scene of the apartment to take care of the situation, but Lt. Gordon stops him to prevent disastrous results. He goes into the building alone, single-handedly defeating Blume w/o causing him undue harm.
- BW goes out as Batman. He intercepts and attacks a group of teams who stole electronics. He succeeds, but its more difficult that he expected to fight w/o deathly force or risking others lives. He promises to improve his technique.
- Rumors start about the bat.
- Lt. Gordon holds a meeting w/ the other cops about the Batman situation. Flass is not a fan.
- Four nights later, the Batman breaks into the Mayor's mansion. The mayor is hosting a party with several key city patrons including Commissioner Loeb and criminal entrepreneur Carmine Falcone. Batman throws a smoke grenade through the window and warns them that from this point forward none of them are safe.
- Loeb appoints Gordon the lead investigator in bringing down the Batman.
- Gordon begins investigating a chain of suspects. He interviews assistant D.A. Harvey Dent and even begins to suspect him of being the Batman. In truth, Dent is keenly aware of the Batman's presence and has been secretly aiding him.
- Gordon and detective Sarah Essen are nearly killed by a runaway truck. Batman saves them and a bystander. SWAT officers arrive and shoot at Batman, but Gordon begins to suspect that Batman isn't evil.
- Batman goes into derelict building for shelter. Commissioner Loeb authorizes use of deadly force. A helicopter to firebombs the building.


Chapter Two: War is Declared

#405 - Chapter Two: War is Declared



- Batman hides in an electrical utility hatch to survive the bombing ana avoid debris.
- SWAT team the building to find him. Batman lures them into a lower section of the building and traps them.
- Before preparing his escape, Batman uses a device to remotely signal a flock of bats from the Batcave. While the swarm descends on the scene, Batman escapes. Dozens of bystanders (including Selina Kyle) are forced to get rabies vaccinations.
- Later, Jim Gordon consults with Sarah Essen over the Batman issue. Sarah suspects Bruce Wayne is the Bat, but he has an alibi, citing that he was skiing in Switzerland.
- Gordon walks Essen home and the two share a romantic embrace. Jim instantly feels guilty knowing that his pregnant wife is home waiting for him.
- In Gotham's East End, Selina Kyle decides to go into a different line of work. She punches out her pimp Stan and takes Holly with her. She becomes Catwoman.


Chapter Three: Black Dawn

#406 - Chapter Three: Black Dawn



- James Gordon and Sarah Essen have dinner together. Jim feels guilty, but doesn't have the will to call it off. Finally, Sarah makes the decision to break it off. She puts in a transfer to New York City.
- A few days later, Gordon arrests a drug dealer, Jefferson Skeevers. Skeevers is a key figure linking Detective Flass to organized crime, but he's not talking. Assistant DA Harvey Dent allows the court to grant him bail.
- Batman sneaks into Skeevers' hotel room and to sppok him. That same night, Skeevers approaches reveals everything he to the police. Then Gordon goes straight to Internal Affair, bypassesing Commissioner Loeb.
- Loeb does't appreciate Gordon going over his head. Loeb threatens to expose Gordon's tryst with Sarah if he continues pursuing Flass.
- Later, Gordon and his wife Barbara visit Wayne Manor. Jim interviews Bruce concerning his suspicious actions, but Bruce dismisses all notions that he could possibly be Batman. As the two leave, Jim confesses to his wife about his affair.
- A few nights later, Gordon and a few loyal officers interrogate Flass. Eventually, he talks and reveals dirt on Commissioner Loeb.
- Barbara Gordon gives birth to her son – James Gordon, Jr.
- A few nights later, the Catwoman raids the home of Carmine Falcone. But the Batman arrives and attacks Falcone's men. The Catwoman escapes capture, after raking her claws across Falcone's face. The media reports Catwoman and Batman are working together.
- Commissioner Loeb makes calls Falcone, telling his to take measures against Gordon. Falcone sends his men to Gordon's apartment where they abduct his wife and infant son. Jim manages to shoot a few of the kidnappers, but Johnny Viti takes off in his car with the baby.
- Fortunately for Gordon, Bruce Wayne is present incognito. They follow Viti, and while Gordon deals with Johnny, Bruce rescues the baby.
- Days later, Loeb announces resignation. Gordon promoted to Captain and he is working to save his marraige.
- A maniac calling himself the Joker has threatened to poison the Gotham Water Reservoir, but Gordon has already contacted Batman, marking the beginning of their longtime collaboration.


Chapter Four: Friend in Need

#407 - Chapter Four: Friend in Need



- Before he was Batman, Bruce trained with tracker/bounty hunter Willy Doggett.
- In the mountains of Alaska, they were on a manhunt for an assassin named Tom Woodley. Woodley appears and kills Doggett. Bruce and Woodley fight, Woodley slips and falls to his death.
- Bruce wanders, injured and freezing in the mountains until he collapses. An Alaskan Shaman and his daughter find and heal him.
- The Shaman told Bruce an ancient Native American folktale about a bat to heal him. He made Bruce promise to never tell the story to anyone.
- Bruce returns to Gotham, makes his his first attempt at crime fighting, which goes badly. Cue the scene of a bat crashes through the manor window. Bruce decides to adopt the costumed identity of Batman in order to strike terror into the hearts of criminals.
- Batman investigates a break-in at Leslie Thompkins' free clinic. After beating up the thugs, a scare patient screams the word "Chubala" and then stabs herself in the heart.


Shaman - Book One

#1 - Shaman - Book One



- Six months later, two GCPD officers stumble upon the Chubala Cult in the middle of a human sacrifice. One is killed and the other barely escapes. Gordon and Batman check out the scene.
- Bruce tries to find the connection between the cult and the woman who stabbed herself. He attends an Alaskan Exhibition, he meets Dr. Madison Spurlock, an anthropologist. Bruce had told Madison the Native American folk tale that he learned while recovering in Alaska and this knowledge allowed Spurlock to gain notoriety, although he has been spreading the lie that he learned the tale from natives. At the exhibit, Bruce also meets Spurlock's assistant, Bennet Young.
- That night, Batman stops some cultists from finishing off the surviving officer. In the cultists pocket he find a strange substance that was seemingly drugs. He sets up a lab and examines it at Wayne Manor. Realizing Batman needs a base of operation, he explores the caverns below the manor the next morning.
- He receives a phone call from Spurlock's assistant, Bennet Young. Bruce goes to the exhibit to meet with him, but when he arrives, he finds Bennet Young with a spear sticking out of his chest. His dying words are "Baat... Man..."


Shaman - Book Two

#2 - Shaman - Book Two



- Bruce starts looking around the crime scene and discovers that some of the tribal artifacts in the exhibition had been taken. Suddenly, Bruce is attacked with an arrow that he manages to catch before it reaches him but he is unable to find the shooter.
- Batman does some more investigating, ends up fighting more cultists but no more answers. Bruce decides that he should talk to Spurlock about his investigations on the Alaskan tribes.
- The next day, Bruce visits Spurlock at the Gotham University. Spurlock does his best to explain the cult of Chubala, but suddenly Spurlock is killed with an arrow in the back. Bruce dodges a second arrow and he finally sees the murderer, a man dressed in native Alaskan clothes and wearing a tribal bat mask.
- That night, Bruce has self-doubts caused by his inability to catch the killer. He thinks about dropping the Batman business, but Alfred talks him out of it. Alfred suggests Bruce to follow his instincts and Bruce realizes that there must be a connection between the killer and the tribes in Otter Ridge, Alaska.
- Bruce decides to go back, but the whole place has changed. It is now is a big city full of tourists. The shaman that saved is now old drunk man who performs sacred dances for tourists spare change.
- The Shaman’s granddaughter is extremely mad at Bruce as she blames him for all the damage done by Spurlock and his supposed "investigations". She tells Bruce how Spurlock stole the sacred artifacts from the shaman and forced him to reveal the secret stories of their tribes. Bruce is upset about the situation and wants to repair the damage done but it is too late.
- While they are driving to the lodge, a car appears out of nowhere and forces their car off the roadside cliff and into a freezing lake.


Shaman - Book Three

#3 - Shaman - Book Three



- Bruce saves the shaman and the girl from the sunk car, but the girl’s body temperature is dangerously low. Bruce tells the shaman to save the girl by telling her the tale of the bat but the shaman refuses and instead he tells Bruce to do it. Bruce is unsure about it, but the shaman tells him that he has the mark in his eyes and that all he needed was to put on the Batman cowl. Bruce obeys and puts on the cowl, tells the story and the girl quickly recovers.
- The next day, Bruce talks to the girl if there was any other survivor the night they saved him. The girl reveals that they saved another man as well. Bruce realizes that the man they saved was in fact Tom Woodley, the assassin he fought in the mountains.
- Bruce goes back to Gotham, but before leaving Alaska, Bruce gives the old shaman some money and also a generous donation to the hospital were the girl was. The shaman tells Bruce to "become the mask", and Bruce is left pondering about the meaning of that.
- That night, Batman breaks and enters the suspect’s (Fisk’s) place and discovers the hidden Chubala shaman disguise, and evidence showing that Fisk because inspired by Spurlocks who to learn the Chubala rituals and begin his cult leadership. Batman comes up with a plan that would allow him to examine the place more carefully. He (with great effort) get the attention of the building guards, knowing that they would call an inspector to examine the crime scene. The next day, Bruce, disguised as an inspector, places some acid in the shaman’s outfits bulletproof vest, replaces the bullets in his gun with blanks and sets some traps in the shaman disguise.
- At the manor, Woodley, who is wearing a tribal bat mask, holds Alfred captive. Woodley reveals to Alfred that he killed Spurlock for stealing the tribal bat mask and now he will kill the only man that has bested him: Bruce Wayne.


Shaman - Book Four

#4 - Shaman - Book Four



- Bruce arrives at Wayne Manor. Woodley attacks, they fight but Woodley escapes.
- Batman tracks the Shaman him with the tracker he placed in the Shaman robes.
- Batman finds the Shaman in the midst of a sacrifice, and belittles and shames the fake Shaman in front of his men by using all the props and traps he prepared earlier, and so the cultists lose faith in the fake shaman, who turns out to be banker Carl Fisk. Batman ties up and leaves the Shaman for the police.
- Back in Wayne Manor, Batman looks for any sign of Woodley and after looking for a while, he finds the man agonizing in the middle of the snowy forest, having stabbed himself. Batman tries to save him but its too late. Before dying, the man surrenders the mask of the bat-shaman to Batman and Bruce decides to deliver it back to where it belongs.
- Bruce travels to Alaska and finds out that the shaman that cured him is already dead. The granddaughter teaches Bruce a very important lesson and he finally realizes that he must become the mask, for that is his destiny. Bruce returns to Gotham, places the bat-mask in the Batcave and goes out to patrol his city at night.


Shaman - Book Five

#5 - Shaman - Book Five



- In a warehouse, two men torture a third, interrogating him about a missing shipment of drugs. As they are dousing their captive with lighter fluid, they hear music.
- One of the torturers goes to check out the music but never returns. The other torturer follows, but it suddenly killed by another man, who then sets the captive ablaze.
- There are more strange killings. A mobster named Jack Kane phones another criminal, Ottavio, that Mr. Whisper has returned and is killing members of the mob. He is then killed.
- Members of the mob gather and decide they need help against Mr. Whisper. They DIY an upside-down Bat-Signal, calling Batman.


A Romance, Volume One: Man Without a Shadow

#6 - A Romance, Volume One: Man Without a Shadow



- Batman answers the inverted Bat-Signal and meets with the mob members.
- They tell him how twenty years ago they killed Mr. Whisper, the man with no shadow, and how he has returned to kill them one by one. They ask Batman to help find Mr. Whisper, they will cease criminal activity until he is found. Batman tells them no deal and leaves.
- At that moment, a young woman claiming to be the Bride of Christ is kicked out of the Gotham Cathedral, where Mister Whisper is hiding.
- The next morning, Bruce Wayne tells Alfred about the recurrent nightmare that he’s been having. He also reveals a painful memory from his childhood - as a kid, Bruce went to a private boarding school with vicious bullies and an even crueler headmaster, Mr. Winchester. Bruce recalls that this man had no shadow.
- That night, Mr. Whisper appears in Ottavio's penthouse, ready to kill him. Batman crashes in through the window and chases Whisper.
- When Batman calls Whisper by the name of "Winchester", the evil man realizes he knows the man behind the mask and decides to let himself fall from the edge of the building to the street below.


A Romance, Volume Two: The Death Ship

#7 - A Romance, Volume Two: The Death Ship



- Bruce Wayne goes back to his old childhood school and find a recording of Winchester's poetry tapes.
- Back in the Batcave, Batman analyzes the recording and learns it was created somewhere in Austria. However, the tape switches that of Thomas Wayne and Bruce Wayne, many years ago. The voice of Thomas talks about Lake Dess and Batman deduces that this fortunate mix-up has given him the location to learn the secret of Mr. Whisper.
- At that moment, the mob boss Morgenstern starts to take over the Gotham Organized Crime and he is glad to see Batman leaving Gotham in the Batgyro (helicopter).
- Batman arrives to Austria and goes to an old monastery near Lake Dess in order to ask for directions. The Abbot helps Batman, and tells him the story of an ancient monk called Manfred, who fell into temptation and led an entire monastery into a sinful path. Legend has it, Manfred struck a deal with the devil and surrendered his soul in exchange for 300 years of life. Finally, the Abbot gives Batman directions to reach the drowned monastery in Lake Dess and Batman goes to investigate.
- The locals believe that the place is haunted by the soul of the last nun, who was burned at the stake and will not rest in peace until Manfred is gone.
- Inside the partially submerged building, Batman notices a strange light on a hallway and when he approaches, he is shocked to see the burning spirit of the nun. However, this was all a trick of his own mind, as he was simply staring into a mirror.
- Batman continues the investigation and finds a secret safe, which is locked with a rose combination. Batman recalls his nightmare and the words "unlock the rose". After opening the safe, Batman finds an old blueprint of a building resembling the Gotham Cathedral.


 A Romance, Volume Three: The Burning Nun

#8 -  A Romance, Volume Three: The Burning Nun



- Batman returns to the Batcave and studies the blueprint before he decides to follow the last clue, given to him by Morgenstern, and goes to the industrial district. Inside a warehouse, Batman finds several bodies hanging from the ceiling. Whisper surprises Batman, attacking and managing to capture him.
- With Batman trapped, Whisper tells the story of how the deal with the devil prevented him from dying, but gave him enough time to come up with a plan to cheat the devil. Whisper managed to trap his soul inside a cord, which removed his shadow. Then, developed a deadly plague and a way to trap it in glass. He hid his soul cord in the foundations of Gotham Cathedral and used the plague glass to decorate the place. When the church-bell shatters the glass on May Day, it will kill most of the people in Gotham. Whisper intends to offer the Devil all the victims' souls in exchange for his, allowing him to live forever.
- Before leaving, Whisper then lights a candle and tells Batman that when the candle goes out a chain reaction will crush his skull, killing him.


A Romance, Volume Four: The Hangman's Tale

#9 - A Romance, Volume Four: The Hangman's Tale



- Batman frees himself from the deathtrap and makes his way to the Gotham Cathedral. At that moment, Mr. Whisper is awaiting for midnight to strike so that his plan can be finished.
- Batman appears and chases down Whisper, with only minutes to spare. Whisper tries to use a vial of plague on Batman, but his plan fails as Batman uses a rebreather. The fight continues into the subway underneath the cathedral. Batman sprays Whisper with Mace and Whisper grabs Batman, forcing him to stand on the tracks in front of an oncoming train. Batman flips Whisper into the train and dodges the train himself.
- While Whisper is taken to the next train station, Batman climbs to the belltower, where deactivates the bell.
- Whisper returns to his low rent apartment, where the devil has come to claim his soul.
- The next morning, Bruce Wayne receives a package with Whisper’s heart. He decides to take it to its rightful place, Lake Dress, hoping to bring peace to Mr. Whisper’s victims.


A Romance, Volume Five: Walpurgisnacht

#10 - A Romance, Volume Five: Walpurgisnacht



- Pamela Isley is a plant biologist. She’s hot and hot for the bats. She has dramatic mood swings.
- She’s into composting. She was victim of experiments by Dr. Woodrue that turned her into poison ivy. She doesn’t trust men.
- Her body manufactures toxins and her blood is poison.
- She holds a Wayne Enterprises gala hostage. She poison kisses Bruce Wayne and threatens to release poison spores all over Gotham.
- Bruce switches into Batman and goes after Ivy. Ivy gives Batman a poison kiss. Turns out antidote to her poison was a second kiss. Batman stops her and puts her in Arkham.


Year One: Poison Ivy

Annual #3 - Year One: Poison Ivy



- Edward Nigma. Sends riddles to the police foreshadowing his future crimes.
- He thought bats was an urban legend.
- He has two loyal henchwomen, Query and Echo.
- He did a big heist and evaded Batman. Then he did an even bigger one, stealing violins. Bats caught him.
- Psycho


Questions Multiply the Mystery

Annual #8 - Questions Multiply the Mystery



- Former psychology professor Jonathan Crane.
- Sleepy Hollow fanboy.
- Killed some people from Gotham University, Batman investigates, triggers fear toxic trap where he relives the deaths of his parents.
- Batman fights him and overcomes his fear toxin.


Scarecrow - Masters of Fear

Annual #19 - Scarecrow - Masters of Fear



- Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a zoologist who specializes in bats. He is deaf and uses a hearing aid.
- Engaged to Francine Lee. She's loyal af.
- Doesn’t think Batman is real
- Develops an extract intended to give humans a bat's acute senses and tests it on himself. It works but transforms him into a monstrous human/bat hybrid creature.
- Batman gets himself a sick glider (batwings).
- Stuck in bat form Kirk flies into the bat cave because, well, he’s a bat. Batman is jealous this bat is scarier than him so he tranqs him and brings him back to Francine, who has been working on a cure. It works, at least for now.
