Batman #441 – “Parallel Lines” – Marv Wolfman/Jim Aparo/Mike DeCarlo
This is part three of the “Lonely Place of Dying” storyline, which takes place after New Titans #60 even though they came out in the same month. Last issue, Batman realized Two-Face was behind the strange crimes he’d been dealing with. This issue gives us a look at how closely matched Batman and Two-Face are (almost like opposite sides of the same coin, if that’s not stretching things too much) and how their thought processes work almost in tandem. Two-Face wants to come up with a “dualistic” themed crime, but it has to
be something Batman wouldn’t be able to guess. Batman’s deductions are pretty close to Two-Face’s as they both consider and reject numerous capers. Two-Face finally picks a crime he thinks will fool Batman, but at the same time, Batman thinks he’s figured out exactly where Two-Face will strike next. At Wayne Manor, Dick Grayson brings thirteen-year-old Tim Drake by to meet Alfred. Tim found Dick at the Haly Circus (as seen in New Titans 60) and knew that he was Robin and Bruce Wayne was Batman. Alfred tries to play dumb, but it’s obvious Tim has figured everything out. Dick asks for his 
story and Tim shows him a photo taken years before at the Haly Circus, with Tim’s parents and Dick and his parents (the Flying Graysons) in their circus costumes. Turns out that was the same night Dick’s parents were killed by Anthony Zucco. Elsewhere, Two-Face has kidnapped two kids (the Wright twins) for ransom, but he hears a news bulletin about a $22 million prize at the Gemini Club that tempts him to change plans in mid-crime. The Gemini Club is a trap set by Batman, but when he hears about the Wright twins being kidnapped, he realizes he guessed wrong about Two-Face’s target. At Wayne Manor, Tim tells Dick how horrified he was to see Dick’s parents die,
and how exhilarated to see Batman swoop down and take charge of the suddenly-orphaned Dick Grayson. Elsewhere, Batman and Two-Face are both second-guessing themselves; Batman wants to go looking for the kidnapped twins, while Two-Face is ready to abandon the kids (who he’s tied up on top of a bridge) and go after the jackpot at the Gemini Club. Tim continues his story, telling Dick how he figured out he was Robin (from his acrobatic moves) and how he knew Jason Todd replaced him. Tim says Batman and 
Robin have been an inspiration to him and he’s been following their careers very closely. He’s noticed that Batman has gotten more violent and unhinged since Jason died and suggests that Batman needs Dick to come back and be Robin again to be a stabilizing influence. Meanwhile, Batman can’t stay away from the kidnapping case and figures out the clue Two-Face left. He finds the kids on the bridge and knows Two-Face has gone to the Gemini Club to follow the bait he left. But Batman has to get rid of a grenade tied to one of the kids (who he accidentally calls “Jason”), so Two-Face gets a free chance to pull off the heist at the Gemini Club. He gets to the money, but his
pathology won’t allow him to just take it without flipping his coin. At Wayne Manor, Dick agrees that Batman needs help and takes Tim to the Batcave. Dick says he’s too old to be Robin now, but hints that Tim could be a good replacement. We end with more parallels, with Batman chastising himself for trying to do everything alone, and Two-Face mad at himself for losing out on the loot because of a coin flip.
Detective #608 – “Letters to the Editor” – Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle/Steve Mitchell
This is the first part of the storyline introducing Anarky, a new Batman villain that actually has some staying power. This one starts with Batman showing up at a heavy metal club where a guy named Johnny Vomit is performing. There are drug dealers outside and Batman takes them down, then observes backstage as Vomit hands over some dope he smuggled through customs in his guitar. Batman busts in to pound the drug buyers, but they turn out to be tougher than he expected, allowing Vomit to take off with the money and the dope. But he doesn’t get far, as he’s met in the alley by a weirdo in a gold mask
and red outfit, who electrocutes him with a cane, dumping the drugs on the ground and spray-painting an anarchy symbol on the wall. When Batman and the cops find Vomit, he’s still alive (barely) and there’s a newspaper clipping beside his body. The clipping is from a letter to the paper by someone named Stang, complaining about the metal club and the trashy element it attracts. Anarky goes to a chemical factory to follow up on another letter to the paper complaining about pollution. He knocks out the guard and heads for the main office. Batman finds Mr. Stang, who turns out to be an old lady who was afraid to sign her real name to her complaint letter for fear of retribution. At the factory, Anarky knocks out the head of the company and pours toxic 
waste all over his desk, leaving another anarchy symbol painted on the wall. When Batman hears about that the next day, he realizes Anarky is choosing his victims from the Op-Ed page. Meanwhile, we get a look at a typical suburban family (the Machins), including the father (Mike) and son Lonnie. Mike wakes up late and is acting weird, so I guess we’re supposed to think he’s Anarky, but thanks to reading the DC Encyclopedia diligently, I know it’s actually Lonnie (who’s only twelve years old). Anarky sends out a video of him “punishing” the chemical factory guy, claiming he’s doing all this for the public good. Batman disagrees with his extreme methods and peruses the newspaper to see where he might strike next.
Legends of the Dark Knight #1 – “Shaman Book One” – Dennis O’Neill/Edward Hannigan/John Beatty
This is a new Batman title that came out at the height of Batman’s popularity following the blockbuster movie. This title has no real continuity, being written in discrete chunks of four or five chapters, by various creators, and (most importantly) set at different times during Batman’s career. This particular story takes place just before Bruce Wayne became Batman, while he was finishing up his training. It starts with Bruce in Alaska with a bounty hunter named Willy Doggett. They’re tracking a killer
named Woodley through a blizzard and up a mountain. But Woodley ambushes them, shooting Doggett and forcing Bruce to take cover in a cave. He lures Woodley in by using his parka and pack as bait, but when he jumps Woodley and they start fighting, Woodley accidentally goes off the cliff, taking the parka and stuff with him. Bruce stumbles through the storm, freezing to death and hallucinating about his parents being murdered. He has a fever dream about a talking bat and wakes up with some Inuit. An Inuit girl tells him her grandfather used shamanistic ritual to cure Bruce, which his scientific mind 
has trouble accepting. He does remember the bat dream, which she says is sacred story and must never be told to anyone else. Bruce heads back to Gotham, where Alfred gives him shit for training himself to be a vigilante, but ultimately supports him. Bruce heads out to pound some criminals but gets pounded instead. He’s sitting in his study when a bat crashes through the window and he gets the inspiration to become Batman, to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. (Which we already saw in Batman 404.) Bruce recalls the bat mask from his fever dream in Alaska and decides to use the motif. He has Alfred make him a costume and heads out to Leslie Tomkins clinic, which has been
robbed several times lately. He finds some punks there abducting a pregnant girl, who they want to give to someone called Chubala. This time, Batman is way more confident and makes no mistakes, and the costume gives him the psychological edge he expected. He pounds all the punks, warning them that the streets now belong to Batman, but when he tries to talk to the pregnant girl, she freaks out. She screams about “Chubala” and stabs herself to death right in front of Batman and Leslie.