Batman #443 – “The Coming of Crimesmith” – Marv Wolfman/Jim Aparo/MikeDeCarlo
This one starts with a family going out for a jog at night and running into some muggers. Batman shows up and pounds them, using their fear of him to dictate their responses. Tim Drake and Alfred are in Bruce Wayne’s car nearby, so Tim can see how Batman operates. Tim is eager to put on the Robin costume and become Batman’s partner for real, but Batman says he has a long way to go before he’s ready for that. Tim is determined, so he agrees to whatever training Bruce wants. Later, Bruce calls Lucius Fox to ask about a guy named Jeffrey Fraser, who’s offered his expertise in helping WayneTech sort out some of their current
problems. Lucius reminds Bruce that Fraser worked as a consultant for them a few years ago and did a good job, so hiring him would probably be a good idea. That night, Commissioner Gordon is at a crime scene where a body was found burnt from the inside out. Batman eavesdrops and notices a flash of light at a nearby warehouse. It turns out to be some crooks breaking into a fur warehouse. They seem to be very well-equipped for common thieves, but Batman pounds them easily. One gets away, and Batman can’t get the rest to talk about who they’re working for. The next morning, Bruce and 
Lucius meet with Fraser and his assistant (Raya) and Bruce offers to hire Fraser to work at WayneTech. After they leave, Fraser tells Raya to dig up everything she can on Bruce Wayne. Batman visits Gordon to ask about any robberies that have been pulled off with high-tech stuff lately. Gordon confirms there have been a few and Batman goes to prison to see one of the thieves he caught at the warehouse. Elsewhere, the thief who got away (Marr) goes to see Crimesmith (who only talks to him through microphones and monitors) to ask for another chance. Crimesmith agrees to set up a foolproof scheme in exchange for 60% of the take, firing some kind of needle into Marr’s neck
as insurance that he won’t tell anyone about Crimesmith. Later, Marr takes a gang of punks to rob a warehouse full of luxury cars, but Batman has been following him and starts taking the thugs out one at a time. He corners Marr, who starts to tell him about Crimesmith but can’t say much because the needle in his neck explodes, burning his entire body to a pile of ash.
Detective #610 – “Ode to a Penguin” – Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle/Steve Mitchell
This one starts with the Penguin being buried in front of a large crowd of onlookers. Apparently, he died of a heart attack in the prison gym, but Batman is suspicious and opens the coffin to be certain. Penguin’s last wish was to have everyone give a loud squawk over his grave, but nobody seems inclined to fulfill that particular request. After the burial, Batman tails a guy he didn’t recognize back home and finds out he’s an ornithologist. But when Batman leaves, the ornithologist slips into a secret room full of guns and trick umbrellas. That
night, a couple of Penguin’s goons dig up his body and speak a phrase that’s supposed to resurrect him. It doesn’t work, so they bury the coffin again and take the body with them. Batman stops a couple of kids vandalizing a phone booth and goes to the Ritz Hotel, where Penguin’s will stipulated there be an old-fashioned wake for him. (A sign advertises a diamond show at the hotel tomorrow. Coincidence? Somehow, I doubt it.) In prison, Ventriloquist and Scarface are playing cards when a chopper shows up outside. They wonder if it was sent by a mobster named Santini to bust them out, but it’s 
actually Kadaver the chopper is there for. At the Ritz, a guy reads a speech and activates a machine that spreads ice and snow through the banquet room. In the chopper, we learn that Penguin was hypnotized into a deathlike state by Kadaver, but the trigger phrase he gave the men to wake Penguin was the wrong one. Kadaver is crazy enough to welcome death, so threatening him does no good. But when one of the thugs hands over his gun, Kadaver does finally waken Penguin from his deathlike state. At the Ritz, a penguin waddles into the snow-filled room with a card in its beak asking for donations to the
Penguin Fund. Santini (who’s anticipating a big payoff from Ventriloquist and Scarface) gives $5,000 and most of the other mobsters there contribute as well, since they’re glad Penguin is dead. Batman isn’t surprised Penguin would leave his money to a bunch of birds, but he thinks there’s something else going on and starts trying to put it all together.
Legends of the Dark Knight #3 – “Shaman Book Three” – Dennis O’Neill/Edward Hannigan/John Beatty
Last issue, Bruce Wayne went to see Bennett Young at the museum but arrived just in time to find him dying from the lance sticking out of his chest. Bruce searches the museum and notices some of the Inuit artifacts are missing: the spear that killed Young, the bat mask used by the shaman, and a bow and arrows. Someone shoots an arrow at Bruce (which he catches … I didn’t know he studied with Xena), but before he can chase the shooter, the cops show up. Bruce gives a statement and tells Alfred he’s going to have to go back to Alaska, since all the evidence points that way.
Bruce runs into a banker named Fisk, but can’t stay to chat. As Batman, he tracks the dope dealers who tried to kill Officer Fong last issue. He pounds them, but the guy who stole the bat mask helps the drug dealers by knocking Batman down with a sack of cement. The drug dealers kick the shit out of Batman, who absorbs the punishment while he recovers his strength. He pounds the punks again, but this time he gets an arrow in the shoulder blade from the guy wearing the bat mask. Batman has to slide down a steel cable to avoid another arrow and the masked attacker gets away. Batman is now convinced there’s 
a connection between the Inuit artifacts and the ritual killings, even though Alfred points out the killings started long before Professor Spurlock’s expedition to Alaska. The next day, Bruce Wayne goes to see Spurlock and asks about Chubala. Spurlock tells him Chubala is a vulture god who demands blood sacrifices from his followers. Apparently, Chubala’s afterlife is no picnic, but if his worshippers shed enough blood in his name they’ll be spared the torments of Chubala’s particular brand of hell. Bruce asks if Chubala is connected to the Inuit and Spurlock starts to say that’s ridiculous, but he’s cut off by an arrow in the back. The masked killer gets away again and Bruce starts doubting his
own abilities, since he can’t seem to stop this guy. (Spurlock told Bruce that the priest of Chubala actually becomes Chubala temporarily, so maybe Bruce is a bit freaked out by that.) Bruce decides that if he can crack this case he’ll continue as Batman, otherwise he’ll quit. He heads up to Alaska and the first thing he sees after getting off the plane is the shaman who helped him a few years ago. But instead of the wise, dignified elder he used to be, the shaman is now a pitiful drunk, dancing in the street for spare change. Bruce sees the shaman’s granddaughter, who greets him with a slap in the face. She and Bruce get the shaman into her car and she tells Bruce how Spurlock corrupted their 
tribe, urging them to give up the old ways and try to modernize. But Spurlock also introduced them to booze and drugs, using them to gain the tribe’s secrets (which explains why the shaman is so fucked up now). After destroying the tribe’s traditions, Spurlock stole the bat mask and other artifacts. Bruce feels guilty since he funded Spurlock’s research trip, but when he mentions that someone wearing the bat mask killed Spurlock and Young, the girl says she can explain that. But before she gets a chance, their car is run off the road into a frozen lake.