Batman #389 – “Red Skies” – Doug Moench/Tom Mandrake
This one starts in Commissioner Gordon’s office, with Gordon showing Batman a cat statuette that someone left on his desk. The statuette has a parachute attached, so Batman knows it’s a message from Catwoman thanking him for saving her life (in Detective 548) … and letting him know she’s back in town. Batman assures Gordon that Catwoman is a good guy now, but Gordon worries that another vigilante in Gotham might make the cops look bad, especially since the acting mayor is already looking for an excuse to get rid of Gordon. We see Catwoman prowling the streets and finding a dead False Face goon, whose mask has been nailed to the wall. A few days later, Julia Pennyworth
and Vicki Vale are at Picture News discussing the recent murders of False Face members. Julia tells Vicki the acting mayor is blaming the cops for not arresting the False Faces and hinting that Catwoman might be involved. We see Vicki is still a workout fiend, and that she’s still pissed off at Bruce Wayne. In a diner, Gordon and Harvey Bullock discuss the acting mayor, who Gordon figures isn’t really crooked like Mayor Hill was … he’s just politically naive and kinda pissed off that Gordon won’t support him wholeheartedly. At the old Gotham Observatory, some punks have claimed the disused building as a hang-out and are philosophizing about why the skies have turned red. (It’s because of the Crisis, but of course they don’t know that.) Nocturna shows up and tells 
them to get out of her sanctuary, beating the shit out of one punk to get her point across. We find out Jason Todd has been missing his mom (or just missing a motherly figure in his life), so he calls Amanda Grosz, the social worker who helped reunite him with Bruce. Speaking of Bruce, he goes to see Vicki at her gym (where she’s looking pretty ripped) and she gets mad because she thinks he’s trying to get her back, but he’s really trying to end things for good; I guess the result is the same either way. That night, Batman finds Catwoman with the body of a fourth ex-False Face, mask nailed to the wall as usual. He knows Catwoman isn’t killing them and tells her there’s something he needs to show her. At the observatory, Nocturna uses her chemicals to enthrall the night watchman. Batman takes a blindfolded Catwoman to the Batcave to
show her a stalagmite that’s vaguely cat-shaped. He seems to think it’s a metaphor about the two of them, pointing out that the stalagmite will eventually grow and fuse with the stalactite above … but he has no way of knowing how long that’ll take. He takes Catwoman back to Gotham, where she tells him she isn’t trying to emulate him as a vigilante; her main reason for finding the False Face killer is to clear her own name. Meanwhile, we see another False Face getting wasted and find out it’s Night Slayer who’s killing them because he’s looking for Nocturna and assumes they’re lying about not knowing her. At school the next day, Jason overhears some kids talking about the punks that Nocturna rousted from the observatory and realizes who they’re 
talking about. Meanwhile, Bullock gets a call from the night watchman’s wife, who tells him her husband has been mesmerized by a “pale woman” and Bullock recognizes the description too. That night, Robin and Bullock both turn up at the observatory looking for Nocturna, Jason because he needs a mother figure and Bullock to arrest her. Robin finds Nocturna but doesn’t let Bullock know. He and Nocturna talk out on the ledge, where she tells him she’s worried about the red skies (which have no scientific basis) … and he calls her “mom”.
Detective #556 – “The Bleeding Night” – Doug Moench/Gene Colan/Bob Smith
This one starts with Night Slayer wasting another False Face before jumping back to the observatory. Nocturna doesn’t react to Robin calling her mom because she’s more worried about the weird red skies. Bullock finally shows up to arrest Nocturna and robin begs him to let her go. Nocturna walks away, saying Bullock can shoot her in the back if he chooses. Later, we see Bullock on the police firing range, pissed off that he let Nocturna walk away. Bullock goes to see Commissioner Gordon, who tells him Nocturna seems to have reformed, so maybe bringing her in isn’t top priority. Meanwhile, Nocturna has found the few remaining False Faces (who are about ready to throw away their masks
because of all the killings) and tells them she’s their new leader and will direct all their thieving activities from now on. Back at police headquarters, Bullock tells Gordon his theory that Robin isn’t the same robin that’s been hanging around with Batman for the last few years. Bullock figures this new Robin must be Nocturna’s son, since he argued so vehemently for Bullock to let her go. Gordon tells Bullock he’s known about the “new” Robin for months but hasn’t mentioned it since Batman has never brought it up. Gordon thinks having a young partner is a humanizing influence on Batman, so he doesn’t care if Robin is Nocturna’s son as long as he’s on their side. That night, Night 
Slayer finds one of the False Faces, who tells him Nocturna told them what to steal but he has no idea where to find her. Night Slayer doesn’t believe him, but before he can kill him Batman shows up. He and Night Slayer fight, but Night Slayer gets away when Batman is forced to save the False Face punk (who he then takes to the cops). Batman goes to see Nocturna, giving her shot for going back to her thieving ways. She says she wants to reopen the observatory before the world ends and needs money fast. She goes on about the night and the red skies and she and Batman end up making out.
Green Arrow – “Zen and the Art of Dying” – Joey Cavalieri/Jerome K. Moore/Bruce Patterson
This story finally puts Green Arrow together with the young woman who’s
been looking for him for the past few issues. Her name is Onyx and she trained at the monastery where Green Arrow spent some time. She tells him another student named Lars is trying to take over the monastery, recruiting other students and shooting the Exalted Master with an arrow that almost killed him. Green Arrow remembers Lars from his time there as an asshole who thought power and violence were the best ways to deal with problems. Green Arrow and Onyx head to the monastery, but as soon as they get inside, they’re surrounded by armed monks.
Batman & the Outsiders #27 – “War Stars” – Mike W. Barr/Alan Davis
This one starts with a bunch of nuclear missiles being launched at the Strategic Defense Initiative satellite in orbit. The satellite was taken over by Kobra last issue, after using mind control on the General in charge of the project. The satellite shoots down all the missiles (which is what it was designed for) and Kobra reiterates his demands that the Americans turn over the entire contents of Fort Knox or he’ll give the SDI codes to the USSR. Down at Kobra’s former base (the hippie commune called Eden) Batman tries to get a shuttle so he and the outsiders can go after Kobra. But Batman doesn’t have the same clout he did when he
was with the JLA (his official status is listed as “politically incorrect”), so he has to come up with another idea. General Harrison asks Batman to find his son David and the other hippies tell him that Kobra took David and Halo with him when he left. That worries Katana, who says they have to get Halo back. In Gotham, we see Emily Briggs (the bank teller who lost out on a promotion last issue because she wasn’t hot enough) and her husband Greg. Greg has bought her a new dress (which looks kinda like a cross between a French maid’s outfit and lingerie), and mentions that her therapist wants her wear stuff like that. I’m not sure what kind of therapist she’s seeing … a sex therapist 
maybe? It seems to have something to do with her terrible self-image, but Greg is pretty supportive, telling her she’s beautiful (and I think he’s being sincere, not just saying what she wants to hear). Meanwhile, Kobra has made overtures to the Soviets about the SDI program. Gorbachev pretends to be interested, but knows Kobra is a dangerous nut so he immediately offers his support to the Americans in taking Kobra down. In New York, a businessman named Cromwell (who looks kinda like Howard Hughes) shows up with his nurse and bodyguard at Ajan Enterprises, accusing them of trying to steal his company. Ajan’s president (Rashid) assures him they’re not stealing
anything, but they’re interrupted by a call about a special delivery. Rashid goes to sort it out and we see that Cromwell and his friends are actually Batman, Katana, and Geo-Force. Rashid comes back while they’re rifling through his files, but they take him and his men out easily. The delivery downstairs was really Black Lightning and Metamorpho, who also take out their opponents. Batman realizes there are two concealed floors on top of the building and they head up to check it out. They find a bunch of cultists holding Halo and David in stasis fields. After pounding the Kobra cultists, Batman sends David back to the commune while the Outsiders use the Ark (a space shuttle) to head up 
to the SDI satellite. Kobra sees them coming, but refuses to destroy his own Ark, so the Outsiders board the satellite. The Outsiders fight the cultists and Kobra takes on Batman personally. Eve sends cultists to commandeer the Ark and sets a self-destruct for the satellite. Kobra actually beats Batman (!) and releases gas into the satellite before escaping in the Ark with the remains of the cult. Batman wakes up and drags the unconscious Outsiders to an escape pod, launching it right before the satellite explodes. Somehow, they manage to land the escape pod at the commune and Halo and David end up smooching. David and his father (General Harrison) are trying to work things out, so
David and Halo part but it sounds like they might be seeing each other again sometime soon. Katana’s happy because Halo has decided to rejoin the Outsiders and come back to live with her. We get an epilogue about Emily Briggs, still feeling like crap about her looks, and we see some weirdo with glowing eyes outside her apartment building.
Outsiders #1 – “Beginning With a Bang” – Mike W. Barr/Jim Aparo
This is the new Outsiders book, the so-called Baxter series; like the other Baxter books (New Teen Titans and Legion) it was printed on better quality paper and was only available in comics shops. And like the Titans series, this one takes a time-jump forward, so events in this book occur after the last twelve issues of Batman & the Outsiders (#27-38) which hadn’t been published yet when these issues came out. So the next year of Batman & the Outsiders will slowly bring us to the new status quo reflected here and show us how Batman left, looker joined, and the team moved to California and got a new
headquarters. (If you’re wondering where the usual Firestorm review is, I’ll be reviewing the last couple issues of 1985 in the Green Lantern/Wonder Woman/Warlord bloc.) Anyway, this one starts with a Professor named Shanner (who’s looking pretty ravaged) telling another Prof (Wye) about the effects of nuclear war. Shanner doesn’t hold back on the details and he’s pretty emotional about it; he introduces Wye to his “Nuclear Family”, who look like some kind of Stepford family from an idealized version of the 1950s. Wye says she’ll be in touch about the next stage of their plans. We see the Outsiders in their new headquarters (an old oil drilling platform off the Santa Monica coast) 
and learn that Katana is now the leader since Batman left. We also meet the newest member (looker), a statuesque babe with glowing eyes and some kind of telekinetic power. Looker gives Halo (who now has short hair) some champagne even after Katana forbids it and Katana worries that Halo and Looker are becoming closer, leaving Katana feeling alone again. Later at home, Halo realizes something’s bothering Katana when she sees her looking at a photo of her dead family, but Halo doesn’t seem to get that Katana’s afraid of losing her too. Jefferson (Black Lightning) Pierce is having breakfast with Rex (Metamorpho) Mason and his new bride Sapphire. Jefferson mentions he used to be married and one of the reasons he was happy to come to L.A. is that his ex-wife lives here and he’s hoping to rekindle the flame. Brion
(Geo-Force) Markov is dealing with business at the Markovian Embassy and we see Lia (Looker) Briggs getting a new job as a model (with a little help from her powers, which apparently include some kind of mental persuasion). A couple days later, a new nuclear plant is opening and the Outsiders are there because there have been terrorist threats. Geo-Force goes in as Prince Markov to officially open the plant, while Halo and Black Lightning blend in with the protesters. The others sneak around the back, looking for trouble. We see Professor Wye, who’s apparently studying the effects of fear in humans and has decided to see how people will react to the fear of a nuclear catastrophe. Wye sends 
some masked soldiers to infiltrate the plant but Katana, Metamorpho, and Looker take them out easily. Katana figures their work is done, but we see the Nuclear Family breaking into the core of the plant. Alarms send everyone running outside, except Prince Brion, who changes to Geo-Force and alerts his teammates. The Outsiders find the Nuclear Family breaching the core and getting a hefty dose of radiation, which doesn’t seem to bother them at all. The Nuclear Family have radioactive powers and the two groups start fighting. They’re pretty evenly matched until Halo takes out the Family with her stasis aura and Black Lightning realizes their opponents aren’t actually human. Back at headquarters, Dr. Jace confirms that the Nuclear Family are sophisticated
robots. The Outsiders wonder if they can track the robots back to their creator and Looker gets an idea. The Nuclear Family wakes up on a hill and decides to head home, but we see that the Mom is actually still back at Outsiders HQ, so she’s obviously been replaced. The Nuclear Family return to their hideout, where Shanner and Wye are waiting. Wye is surprised when the Family shows up and she’s shocked when she realizes they’re recreations of Shanner’s own family, who died of radiation poisoning … just as Shanner is dying now. Shanner tells Wye he wants to blow up Los Angeles to show people how dangerous nuclear power is, which bothers Wye since she only wanted to create the fear of a nuclear blast to study the effects, not actually hurt anyone. Shanner’s plan shocks Looker too and her reaction tells Shanner that one of his robots has been replaced. Before Looker can fight back, she’s knocked out and Shanner prepares to put his devastating plan into motion.
Vigilante #23 – “Many Unhappy Returns” – Paul Kupperberg/Tod Smith/Steve Mitchell
This one starts with Adrian Chase arriving at the courthouse and running into a slimeball lawyer named McDade, who’s representing some drug lord in court. McDade is so arrogant that Adrian’s ready to deck him, but his friend Alan points out that McDade would love that and could use it to get his client off by establishing that the judge (i.e. Chase) was biased against him. Alan mentions Marcia, Adrian’s girlfriend, and we get a flashback to the aftermath of Adrian telling Marcia that he used to be the Vigilante. Marcia … didn’t take it well, even when Adrian explained that the current Vigilante running around killing
criminals isn’t him. But Adrian wants to hunt down this new Vigilante and stop him, which made Marcia think he hasn’t really changed all that much; Adrian is still willing to go outside the law to get results and Marcia couldn’t live with that, so she dumped him (although she did promise not to tell anyone his secret). Adrian meets his new bailiff (Dave Winston) and heads into court. Marcia has gone to see her psychiatrist and tells him about Adrian being Vigilante (I guess she’s counting on confidentiality to keep him from talking) and how she’s so conflicted because she hates what he’s doing but still loves him. Her psychiatrist tells her she should stop worrying about Adrian’s 
feelings and concentrate on her own. In Central Park, a couple of scumbags try to rape a woman, but Electrocutioner shows up and fries them. In court, McDade uses technicalities about the search warrant and the Miranda rights to get his client (Santiago)’s case dismissed. Adrian is pissed off but as a judge, he has no choice but to operate within the system, flawed as it may be. That night, Adrian goes out looking for the fake Vigilante, but he’s already chosen his next target … McDade. The new Vigilante kills McDade (and his companion, a young woman named Mona) in retribution for McDade twisting the justice system to free guilty people. Adrian is in an all-night diner when he hears about
Electrocutioner killing the scumbags in the park. He considers going after Electrocutioner, but overhears the police call about Vigilante killing McDade and Mona and realizes Vigilante is slipping over the edge. Adrian can understand the (admittedly twisted) logic killing McDade, since he was helping criminals escape justice, but Mona was completely innocent, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.