Batman #417 – “Ten Nights of the Beast” – Jim Starlin/Jim Aparo/Mike DeCarlo
This famous storyline begins with a bunch of DEA agents waiting on a deserted beach to catch some smugglers. Instead they run into a pair of mysterious (and completely silent) guys, one of whom is a powerhouse who kills every agent without even dropping the huge box he’s carrying. Later in Gotham, a top Soviet official named Andrei Yevtushenko tells an assembly of CIA and FBI gents (plus Commissioner Gordon) about a secret Soviet program called Hammer. It was disbanded and the leader killed himself, but he set one last plan into motion: Operation Skywalker. It involves a highly-trained (and cybernetically modified) agent called the Beast (or the KGBeast, as the CIA knows him) coming to Gotham to kill
members of America’s SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) program. Agent Bundy of the CIA lets them know about the dead agents on the beach, suggesting that KGBeast has already arrived in Gotham. Agent Parker of the FBI reveals that two people connected to the SDI program have already been killed. Parker doesn’t want Batman involved in the case, since he’s an unsanctioned vigilante, but nobody knows Batman is actually listening to everything through a concealed microphone. He tells Robin to keep an eye on the meeting 
while he goes to see Jason Greene, security head for the local SDI team. Batman figures Greene can give him a list of KGBeast’s possible targets, but it turns out Greene is number one on that list. Batman gets there just as KGBeast is tossing Greene off the roof. Batman uses some acrobatic tricks to catch Greene and get him to the ground in one piece, but he’s already dead from a broken neck. Batman gets a list of possible targets from Greene’s files at home and meets Gordon, Robin, and Agent Bundy. (Apparently the CIA has no problem working with unorthodox people.) Batman shows them the list, which apparently has one name that’s very intriguing; the President, who’s arriving in Gotham on Friday, which gives them a deadline for
stopping KGBeast. Bundy tells them KGBeast’s assistant is an Iranian terrorist named Salari and we see him killing one of the targets. When Batman and the others find the body an hour later, they know KGBeast is still ahead of them, but they’ve managed to get most of the other potential targets into protective custody, except a woman named Silvia Burrows, who’s off somewhere with her boyfriend. Batman tells Robin they’ll have to make KGBeast come to them and hope they live through it.
Detective #584 – “Fever Break” – John Wagner, Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle/Steve Mitchell
This one starts with Ventriloquist’s (or Scarface’s) chubby henchman down in Mexico at the place where the designer drug Fever is manufactured. He’s supposed to bring back twenty kilos of Fever to Gotham, but doesn’t know that he’s the container. He figures it out when one of the Mexican thugs throttles him. Back in Gotham, Batman shows up at the Ventriloquist Club to intimidate Ventriloquist (completely ignoring Scarface, which enrages the dummy). Batman really pisses Scarface off when he knocks his wooden head off and tosses it into the soup, but it turns
out he actually planted a bug on Scarface’s head so he can listen in on his plans. When the Fatman’s body arrives in Gotham stuffed with drugs, Batman hears Ventriloquist and Scarface making plans to visit the funeral parlor. He tracks them through the bug, arriving just as they’re slicing into the corpse to retrieve the Fever. (Apparently, Ventriloquist isn’t quite as tough as his puppet, since all the blood makes him puke.) Batman starts pounding Scarface’s men and the funeral parlor turns into chaos as the corpse is dumped out and Scarface starts shooting, gunning down some of 
his own men to get Batman. He hits the packages of Fever, sending it into the air where Batman gets a lungfull. Things get weird, but Batman has the presence of mind to put a knife through Scarface’s chest (and Ventriloquist’s hand) and beat the shit out of him. He stops himself before killing Ventriloquist, fighting off the effects of the Fever and taking off, letting the cops know what happened. Later, Ventriloquist and Scarface are in jail and Ventriloquist is ready to talk, so Scarface starts beating the shit out of him … which is basically just Ventriloquist pounding himself.
Green Arrow #2 – “Hunter’s Moon” – Mike Grell/Ed Hannigan/Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin
This one continues right from last issue, with Green Arrow wondering how he could’ve hit his target dead-centre, but ended up with nothing but a bent arrow. Green Arrow and Black Canary are helping Annie Green (a therapist who’s been counselling Canary on her own trauma) because she was abducted by a scumbag named Muncie when she was a kid and now he’s out of prison. Muncie is suspected of killing a bunch of girls, but Annie’s the only one who lived to testify and now that he has a retrial, she’s worried he might try to kill her … and someone has been trying to intimidate her,
sending “souvenirs” that Muncie took from her as a kid and now someone tried to get into her house. Green Arrow and the cops head to Muncie’s place (which is surrounded by police surveillance) and search it top-to-bottom, but can’t find any evidence that Muncie’s broken his house arrest, or any evidence of “souvenirs” he took from the other girls. They also don’t find an armoured vest, which Green Arrow suspects is how his arrow got bent. Muncie taunts them by claiming innocence again, telling Lieutenant Cameron his obsession is making him neglect his family, and bragging about how his 
father was a bootlegger who operated successfully for years and never got caught. He even shows them a special faucet in the kitchen that dispenses beer instead of water, one of his father’s little jokes. Since they can’t find anything they head back to Annie’s place to look around and find a bootprint. It’s too big to be Muncie’s and when Green Arrow suggests he could’ve worn oversized shoes, Cameron points out the impression is too deep to be Muncie’s. Inside, Annie talks to Black Canary about her PTSD and we learn that Muncie didn’t rape her, but he hurt her so much that she still can’t bear to be touched by a man, even one she’s attracted to. Cameron warns Green Arrow about firing
arrows at people indiscriminately, saying he wouldn’t have cared if Muncie was killed, but if it was some junkie looking for drugs, Cameron would bring Arrow in for murder. Cameron tells them they couldn’t find anything on Muncie and suggests they’ll have to wait until he tries again and Annie agrees, saying Muncie has a compulsion to prove himself smarter than everyone else. Green Arrow says he’s figured out how Muncie did everything and when they go back to Muncie’s house, he’s gone. Green Arrow points out that a suit of armour in the hall is missing the chainmail, which would account for the extra weight and 
the bent arrow. He also points out that if Muncie’s father was a bootlegger, he must’ve had a place to stash the illegal booze under the house (hence the beer faucet). They find a trap door and Green Arrow says he’ll follow Muncie’s trail through the tunnels while Cameron warns Annie. Arrow finds the rest of Muncie’s “souvenirs” and a bunch of huge beer vats in a warehouse area. He opens the taps on the vats to empty the beer and fill the tunnels. Cameron realizes Muncie’s target is his own daughter and he’s to late to stop Muncie, but Annie knows where Muncie takes his victims. When they arrive, Muncie has a gun on Cameron’s daughter, but Green Arrow puts an arrow through his hand, knowing the chainmail will protect him from a hit anywhere else. Annie
tries to shoot Muncie, but she’s either a terrible shot or her heart isn’t in it and Muncie takes off, chased by Green Arrow. Muncie returns to his house, hoping to use the tunnels to escape, but he finds them flooded with beer and the chainmail weighs him down so much he can’t keep his head above the surface. Green Arrow leaves him to his fate and later, Oliver and Dinah talk with Annie, who seems to be making progress in trusting people again.