Batman #410 – “Two of a Kind” – Max Allan Collins/Dave Cockrum/Mike DeCarlo
This one starts with a montage of Bruce (Batman) Wayne training his new Robin, Jason Todd. It’s said to be six months since Bruce met Jason (last issue), but I’m not sure if that means we’re back in the present or not; I assume so, but six months seems too short if all the new Robin’s adventures are still Canon. Batman’s been educating Jason on his Rogues Gallery, with one notable exception—Two-Face. Batman claims it’s an oversight, but he really doesn’t want Jason to find out that Jason’s father worked for Two-Face, who probably had him killed.
Alfred is wary of risking the life of another kid as Batman’s partner, but Batman reminds him that growing up on the streets has made Jason mature for his age. Alfred points out that Batman’s constant references to the original Robin might bother Jason, so Batman gives Jason a Robin costume, slightly modified from the original. They answer the Bat-Signal and Batman introduces the new Robin to Commissioner Gordon, who’s also leery of letting a kid share Batman’s dangerous life. Gordon has received a message from Two-Face, who’s broken a couple of twin criminals out of prison: the Dopple brothers (as in Doppelganger) and the Rorrim twins (which is “mirror” spelled backwards). Two-Face plans to steal the nightly take from a casino 
across the river by heisting it from the casino floor (thinking the guards wouldn’t dare start a gunfight with all their customers around) and taking off in an armoured car, the twin of the real one that’s there to collect the money. The plan starts well, but Two-Face gets a surprise when he finds Batman and Robin have taken over his armoured car and are waiting to kick his ass. Two-Face grabs a hostage, but Robin talks him into taking him instead. Robin manages to get away, but Two-Face takes off before Batman shows up. Batman gives Robin shit for taking such a risk before admitting that his predecessor would’ve done the same thing. Later, Jason is reviewing Two-Face’s file when he stumbles on the truth about his father.
Detective #577 – “Deadly Allies” – Mike W. Barr/Todd McFarlane/Alfredo Alcala
This is the third chapter of the Year Two storyline, set back in the second year of Batman’s career. A nutcase called the Reaper (who killed criminals twenty years earlier) has returned to resume his grisly mission again. Batman has pretended to ally with the criminals (which has pissed off Commissioner Gordon), but has found out he’ll have to work alongside Joe Chill, the man who murdered his parents. Leslie Thompkins asks him how he can even think of working with Chill, but Batman points out that Reaper is much worse, killing cops and
innocent civilians as well as criminals. Batman meets Chill and they go to see a shady hippie named Sunshine to set up a drug deal as a way of drawing Reaper out. They have to get past Sunshine’s guards and Chill is eager to kill, but Batman stops him from actually wasting anyone. Chill recognizes the gun Batman’s carrying as the same kind he used to carry (not knowing it IS the gun he used to kill the Waynes all those years ago). Chill meets with a mob boss named Morritz and tells him they’ve set up a drug deal to flush out the Reaper. Morritz tells Chill to kill the Reaper … then take Batman out too. Gordon 
gets wind of the drug deal and prepares to move. Bruce has been seeing Rachel Caspian (whose father is the Reaper, but nobody knows that), a woman who was preparing to become a nun before she met Bruce. Bruce meets her father and assures him he loves Rachel and would never hurt her. Caspian seems fine with that and they both take off, not knowing they’ll soon be fighting in their alternate identities. Batman and Chill head to the building where the drug deal is going down and find Gordon has a cop disguised as a wino on lookout. Reaper kills the cop and heads inside to start wasting the dealers as Batman and Chill come after him. The cops move in as well, leading to a
three-way fight. Batman saves Gordon’s life, but Gordon tries to arrest him because he thinks Batman’s really working with the criminals. Reaper wastes some cops and Chill shoots a barrel of ether, causing a huge explosion. Chill ends up clinging to the edge of the roof and Batman considers letting him fall, but pulls him up in the end. Batman drops Chill off, vowing that once the Reaper is caught, he’ll kill Chill himself … and let him know exactly why.
Outsiders #22 – “Showdown With the Strike Force” – Mike W. Barr/Jim Aparo
Last issue, Kobra and his new team of super-villains took over a Stagg Enterprises plant in California, trapping Metamorpho in a cryo-chamber. The Outsiders are on the way, but aren’t sure what kind of resistance they’ll face. Back at Outsiders headquarters, Dr. Jace tries to keep Lady Clayface sedated, but she changes into an elephant and busts out. Inside the plant, Kobra prepares an experiment on a guy named Parker, who was spying for Kobra because he needs money for his daughter. Java reveals that he’s been working for Kobra too, since Kobra promised to
make him good-looking so he can woo Sapphire (not getting that she’s just not into him at all). Looker shows up pretending to be Lady Clayface to distract Kobra long enough for the others to get inside the plant. Batman releases gas into the vents, but Looker’s cover is blown and most of the Outsiders bust in to help her. Katana goes after Kobra but ends up fighting his concubine. Geo-Force and Halo head into orbit to attack Kobra’s Ark and Kobra grabs Sapphire to use as a hostage, forcing the Outsiders to stop their attack. Java gets worked up about Sapphire being threatened and runs out of the control room to free 
Metamorpho. He protects Sapphire and her father, giving the Outsiders another chance to attack. Lady Clayface shows up and Looker goes after her, eager to pound her for stealing Looker’s identity last issue. The controls get smashed in the fight and what’s left of Parker (Spectrumonster) emerges from the test chamber. Kobra says the monster was supposed to harness all forms of light and be loyal to him, but it seems to have a mind of its own. Batman figures it’s looking for Parker’s daughter, so the Outsiders follow, giving Kobra and his minions time to escape to the Ark. Halo gets Parker’s daughter out of harm’s way, but Spectrumonster follows. Meanwhile, Looker and Lady Clayface are still
fighting and when Looker gets the upper hand, she sees Clayface’s true face and learns that she’s working for Kobra because her powers can give her any face she wants, rather than the ravaged one she already had. With help from Stagg (and Java), Batman sets up a black-light projector which dissolves Spectrumonster. His daughter is now an orphan, so Metamorpho and Sapphire decide to adopt her. Looker tells Batman that Lady Clayface escaped, but it’s pretty obvious Looker let her go because she felt sorry for her (having started out as a plain-Jane herself). There are three short back-up stories done in the style of old EC comics, with art that really captures the look of the originals. First up, “Is Zombody Out There?” (art by Howard Simpson/Bob 
Smith) with Katana hiding from zombies in a deserted house where she finds Looker. The twist is that Katana’s actually a werewolf and Looker is a vampire (which is interesting considering what happens to Looker’s character later on). The second story is a Weird Science homage called “No Longer Alone” (art by Jonathan Peterson/Bob Orzechowski) about two survivors of a plague that wiped out the entire planet. Their names? Adam and Eve. The last story is “You Butcher Life” (art by Bill Wray) about a butcher who kills the meat inspector, but ends up getting eaten by a pack of dogs that acquired the taste for human flesh from the scraps the butcher’s assistant gave them.