Batman #398 – “About Faces” – Doug Moench/Tom Mandrake
This one continues from last issue, with Catwoman pissed off that Batman won’t trust her with the details of his plan for Two-Face and how Circe fits into it. She not really jealous of Circe, just mad that Batman won’t give her 100% of himself. They argue for a while about who has the bigger trust issues, and Batman admits he loves before revealing that he wants to try and change Two-Face back to the good person he was before his face was scarred. Batman thought that plan was too sappy and sentimental, so he was reluctant to tell Catwoman … which is kinda her point. They decide to put the argument aside and concentrate on Two-Face for the moment. They
head for the police station, where Commissioner Gordon tells them the museum is cooperating and everything’s ready for Batman’s plan. Circe has convinced Two-Face to steal an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus with a hidden inner mask covered in jewels. She and Two-Face get the sarcophagus, while Batman, Catwoman, and the cops trail them to Two-Face’s hideout. Batman’s plan is to have Circe (who’s told Two-Face she has magical powers, as does the mask) to get Two-Face to wear the mask so it can bring out all the goodness that’s inside him. As Batman and Catwoman watch through the window, Two-
Face puts on the mask and Circe urges him to embrace he part of him that’s Harvey Dent, almost hypnotizing him to become good. It seems to work and Two-Face goes into another room and starts flipping his scarred coin, with the good side coming up many times. Circe (and Batman and Catwoman) is shocked when Two-Face emerges with both sides of his face looking normal. For a moment, they believe their plan worked but Two-Face reveals he knew the mask was a fake all along. He doesn’t really want to be good, so he just kept flipping his coin until he got the result he wanted.
Batman and Catwoman bust in and start pounding Two-Face and his thugs, but Catwoman gets bowled over when Robin bursts through the door. Two-Face gets the drop on Batman with a shotgun and Batman tries to reach whatever’s left of Harvey Dent. It doesn’t work, but the three of them combine forces and take Two-Face down. Circe has fled and Catwoman says she still hasn’t made up her mind about her relationship with Batman (but seems to think Robin busting in right at that moment is prophetic).
Detective #565 – “The Love Killing” – Doug Moench/Gene Colan/Bob Smith
This one starts with some crazy bastard killing a woman in her apartment (sounding like a jealous ex) and taking a souvenir … her head. Batman arrives on the scene an hour later (just in time to see Catwoman leaving) and gets the lowdown from Bullock. Two flight attendants share the apartment (Nancy and Mona), but they’re not certain which one was killed yet because the head is missing from the body. Nancy’s boyfriend is there and is distraught that she might be dead. Catwoman goes to the airport and finds out that Nancy took Mona’s place at the last minute, so she brings Nancy back to see her very relieved boyfriend. Batman and Catwoman go to inform Mona’s boyfriend about her death and he mentions a really jealous ex named Roy who works at a chemical
company. Catwoman’s still keeping Batman at a distance and takes off, leaving Batman alone since Jason is on another date with Rena. The next day, Batman goes to the chemical company to find Roy, but Catwoman has beaten him to it. Roy’s not cooperative (and not at all bothered by Mona’s death), so they agree to follow him home from work. They discuss their relationship again and why it’s become so strained lately. Catwoman suggests the initial thrill may have worn off, or maybe they’re both just too independent. Inside the apartment, Roy calls some thug named Tony and offers him money to pound Batman, then takes Mona’s head (and her uniform, in which he wrapped the head) to the 
furnace room. He burns the uniform, but has other plans for the head, putting it in a bucket full of chemicals. Batman tells Catwoman he plans to watch Roy’s place until he gets some evidence he killed Mona, so Catwoman agrees to take over Batman’s nightly patrols. Batman is jumped by Tony later, but pounds him easily. Tony won’t say who hired him, but Batman knows it was Roy. Batman tosses Roy’s place while he’s at work, finding no evidence except a bunch of photos of Mona … all head shots. A month goes by with no break in the case, but Batman’s not ready to give up yet. We see the results of Roy’s chemical treatment … Mona’s head has shrunk down to doll size. And we learn that Catwoman has a new pet, a panther she plans to train as a sidekick.
Green Arrow – “Death by Misadventure” – Joey Cavalieri/Stan Woch
This one continues right from last issue, with Green Arrow almost getting blown up by a booby trap. Turns out his old “friend” Rick (Hi-Tek) O’Conner set it; he’s been helping Professor Cuthbertson tutor Bruce (the
mayor’s son, who Green Arrow wants to get to safety) and noticed people following him, so he set up some booby traps. Outside, Steelclaw (who’s really Mayor Bolt, pretending to be a criminal to clean up Star City) has knocked Black Canary out, but a couple of gangsters have him cornered. They end up shooting him, but before they can finish Black Canary, Green Arrow takes them out. Bruce thanks Green Arrow for his help, but asks who Steelclaw is; talk about an awkward question. In downtown Star City, Tommy tries to get Onyx to open up about why she’s been hiding in the back of his store, but she’s reluctant to talk, saying only that getting involved with her could get Tommy killed.
Adventures of the Outsiders #36 – “Agents of Change” – Mike W. Barr/Alan Davis/Paul Neary
This one starts with King Gregor of Markovia honouring the Outsiders for saving him and his throne from Baron Bedlam last issue. He asks if they’d like to become unofficial agents of Markovia and Black Lightning says they’ll think about it. Meanwhile, Windfall goes to the dungeons to visit her ex-teammates, the Masters of Disaster. Most of them are cool with her, but New Wave (Windfall’s asshole sister) considers her a traitor and wants her dead. Halo tells Windfall not to worry, as she’s part of the Outsiders now. After Gregor and Ilona’s wedding, the Outsiders discuss his offer and most of them agree to become Markovian
agents, as long as they have he right to refuse any assignment they aren’t comfortable with. Looker declines, saying she needs to return to her husband. Halo goes to tell Windfall the good news (having secured a place for her on the team), but Windfall has left and Halo is devastated. The Outsiders go back to Gotham to prepare for the move to their new headquarters (in Los Angeles) and Halo is thrilled to find Katana has arranged a going-away party with all her friends. Metamorpho tells his new wife (Sapphire) about the move and she’s happy about it, much to his relief. Geo-Force is ready to break 
things off with Denise, but she tells him she loves him and they end up banging. Looker finds her husband has bought tickets to Switzerland, but her notions of a romantic getaway are shattered when he says he wants her to go back to Abyssia and have them change her back to plain old Emily Briggs, the woman he married. After failing to distract him with sex (and slapping him for suggesting she might be getting some elsewhere), Looker refuses to change back, even for him. Looker joins the rest of the Outsiders as they set off for L.A. (on a cruise ship for some reason), telling them she and Gregg have decided to spend some time apart.
Outsiders #10 – “The People’s Heroes” – Mike W. Barr/Jim Aparo
This one starts with the Outsiders planning a rescue mission to Mozambia, where the tyrant Edward Bentama has taken Lynn Collins, Black lightning’s ex-wife. Bentama had been posing as a do-gooder, raising money for starving children in Africa, but when the truth came out he kidnapped Lynn. The Outsiders realize subtlety will work better than brute force, so they devise a plan. In Mozambia, Bentama give Lynn a fake apology for kidnapping her, but tells her he has the hots for her. Naturally, she’s not interested, but can’t do much while being held at Bentama’s mansion. Bentama gets a call from Mikhail Gorbachev, who’s
apparently the recipient of all the money Bentama has raised, using it to shore up the shaky Soviet economy. Gorbachev has a grudge against the Outsiders (from issue 4), so when he hears about their interference, he offers to send Bentama some “help”. The outsiders parachute into the country and camp out in the wilderness (where looker tries unsuccessfully to seduce Geo-Force) before heading for the capital (ironically named Freedom City). Meanwhile, Bad Samaritan arrives from the Soviet Union with the help Gorbachev promised. The Outsiders invade Bentama’s estate, but run into a bunch of super-powered Soviets, the People’s Heroes. Geo-Force and Katana fight Hammer and Sickle (a strongman and a blade fighter); Halo and Metamorpho go up against Molotov, a guy who can cause explosions; Black Lightning is 
jumped by Bolshoi, who seems to be double-jointed and quite the fighter; and Looker finds herself up against Pravda, a fellow telepath whose power is strong enough to break through Looker’s psychic defenses. That not only allows Pravda to eavesdrop on the Outsiders’ telepathic link, but lets her pull an image of the “real” Looker (plain Jane Emily Briggs) from Looker’s subconscious, which takes her out of the fight. The other Outsiders are taken down one by one (Katana surrendering to spare Halo’s life), until only Black Lightning remains free. But he’s injured and ends up passing out in an alley. Bad Samaritan suggests they post a huge reward for Black lightning, letting the citizens of Mozambia find him.
Noticeable Things:
- With a name like Mozambia, you’d expect this fictional country to be in the south-eastern part of Africa (like, between Mozambique and Zambia), but according to the map the Outsiders consult, it’s farther north, around where Kenya, Somalia, or Ethiopia would be in the real world. (Although that map is pretty screwed up … the entire Horn of Africa seems to be missing.)