Batman #452 – “Dark Knight, Dark City” – Peter Milligan/Kieron Dwyer/Dennis Janke
This one starts with a journal entry by a guy named Jacob Stockman, who writes about a satanic ritual he performed in 1764 with some other men (including a pre-Revolutionary Thomas Jefferson) on his farm outside Gotham. Stockman and the others were attempting to control a “daemon” (Barbathos) by sacrificing a drugged-up girl. In the present, Batman is summoned by Commissioner Gordon because Riddler sent a message to police headquarters. A drugged (or hypnotized) woman shows up spouting more riddles before she jumps off the roof.
Batman tries to save her but can’t, so he heads to the university Library, which is the solution to Riddler’s clue. We see Riddler holding some guards hostage and he seems a lot more homicidal than usual, blowing one guard away without a second thought. In the journal, Stockman recounts how Jefferson stopped the sacrifice, claiming he thought it was only meant to be symbolic. But they’d already summoned the daemon, so stopping the sacrifice gave it time to attack, scattering everyone. In the present, Batman gets to the library in time to (barely) save the other guard, but Riddler gets away. When Batman takes the guard to the hospital, he hears that Riddler has kidnapped 
four babies, leaving Batman another riddled message. Batman tracks him to the blood bank, where Riddler tosses a baby from a wall. Batman saves the “baby”, which turns out to be a blood-filled bomb. Covered in blood, Batman chases Riddler in the Batmobile, but is forced to stop short to avoid running over one of the missing babies in the road. The baby has another riddle taped to it and Batman realizes Riddler is leading him on a merry chase, but can’t figure out why. Alfred helps him solve the riddle and he heads to the Military Cemetery, where he’s attacked by a zombie rising from a grave.
Batman #453 – “Dark Knight, Dark City Part II” – Peter Milligan/Kieron Dwyer/Dennis Janke
More zombies rise to attack and Batman fights back, quickly realizing that most of them are robots. Only one “zombie” is an actual human being, but before Batman can interrogate him, Riddler kills him remotely. From the conversation between Riddler and his goons, we hear that he’s been acting weird ever since he found an “old book” … which I’m assuming is Stockman’s diary. Batman comes after them and Riddler actually stops his thug from running over Batman with the van during their escape. Batman finds a second stolen baby in the cemetery, along with another
riddle (referencing “the 25th who was shot”). We go back to Stockman’s journal and learn that he and the others abandoned the girl and sealed up the chamber with the daemon in it before going their separate ways. Stockman sold the farm and the site was built over, eventually becoming Gotham City, with the sealed chamber under the most crime-infested neighbourhood. Batman has trouble with the latest riddle until he has a nightmare about his parents being killed and remembers they passed by McKinley Street that night (McKinley being the 25th President who was shot in 1901). Batman can’t help wondering if Riddler’s reference means he knows something about 
Batman’s origin, which would mean he knows his true identity. Batman heads to a bar on McKinley Street and Riddler’s men back a truck through the window and release savage dogs into the bar. An off-duty cop helps Batman fight the dogs and the bartender gives him a silver knife to kill one of the dogs before taking off. The van turns out to be remote-controlled and Riddler leads Batman straight to his location in the sewers. Batman finds a third baby choking on a ping-pong ball and realizes he’ll have to do an emergency tracheotomy with the knife.
Detective #619 – “Beyond Belief” – Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle/Steve Mitchell
Last issue, Tim Drake’s parents were kidnapped by obeah cultists in Haiti, although they left evidence of a plane crash. The leader (the Obeah Man) wants Drake’s company to pay for his release, so he kills the Drakes’ assistant Jeremy and videotapes it so he can let the company know he’s serious. In Gotham, Batman tells Tim not to lose hope and Tim tries to be brave. In Haiti, we see Pierre, the curious young man from last issue, having a nightmare about a monster called a Baka. He thinks the Baka is locked in his father’s cupboard, but when he
mentions it his father tells him to mind his own business (and later has to chase Pierre and his friend away from the cupboard). In Gotham, the cops show Batman the ransom tape (with a group called the Caribbean Economic Front taking responsibility) and he identifies a faint trace of jimsonweed on it. Drake himself has standing orders to his company to never pay a ransom demand, for fear of opening the floodgates to similar kidnappings. Batman takes the tape to the Batcave for analysis, but doesn’t tell Tim his parents are hostages yet. Batman notices a giant centipede in a jar in the 
background of the tape and pinpoints its habitat as Haiti. Tim comes into the Batcave and sees the tape, realizing his parents are alive and in trouble. He freaks out a bit, but calms down quickly … a little too quickly if you ask me. Batman explains that the Caribbean Economic Front is probably bullshit, a smokescreen for an obeah cult (since Obeah Men use giant centipedes as symbols of their power). Batman hears from Gordon about the ransom, but won’t tell Tim what’s going on. Batman leaves and Tim wonders if every Robin has to have his parents die before he’s ready for the role.
Detective #620 – “Make Me a Hero” – Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle/Steve Mitchell
This one continues from the above issue and starts with a police stakeout. The cops are waiting to grab whoever picks up the ransom for the Drakes, but the obeah cultists aren’t stupid; they hire a local biker gang to collect the money. The cops bag most of them but one gets away with the cash, followed by Batman. An obeah cultist collects the ransom (and rewards the last biker by killing him) before heading to the airport. Batman knows he’s going to Haiti and prepares to follow. In Haiti, the Obeah Man is conducting a ritual and the Drakes are
getting worried about what’s going to happen to them, whether the ransom is paid or not. At Wayne Manor, Tim meditates to try to find some inner peace and not dwell on his missing parents so much. He decides to distract himself by tracking down the Moneyspider, the hacker who’s been stealing money electronically from various companies (including WayneTech). Bruce Wayne arrives in Haiti and bribes his way in, keeping a close eye on his quarry. Elsewhere on the island, Pierre’s father assures his son that they’ll 
soon be rich thanks to the Obeah Man and the Baka he keeps in the cupboard. Pierre is still curious about the Baka and wonders if he should open the cupboard. When he asks for an omen to guide him, a bat flies into the house. In Gotham, Tim tracks the missing money and finds out the thief has a conscience, using the stolen funds to micro-finance peasants in Cambodia and other Third World countries. Tim traces the hacker through various proxies and fake IP addresses until he pinpoints the source … Juvenile Hall. Tim goes to confront the hacker—who turns out to be Lonnie (Anarky) Mackin from issue 609—and he eagerly admits that he did steal
the money, but only to redress the balance since the West has been stealing from poorer countries for centuries. When Lonnie tries to run, Tim catches him and takes him down. Tim’s proud that he found and defeated the thief all on his own and can’t wait to tell Bruce, but when he gets back to the Batcave he finds Bruce all beat to shit and bearing some bad news. We’ll have to wait until next issue to hear what that is, though.
Legends of the Dark Knight #10 – “Walpurgisnacht” – Grant Morrison/Klaus Janson
Last issue, Batman uncovered Mr. Whisper’s big secret: he made a deal with the devil centuries ago to extend his life and now that his time is running out, he’s trying to gain immortality by trading the souls of thousands of people using Gotham’s cathedral to release bubonic plague into the city … or something like that. Whisper captured Batman and put him into an elaborate, Rube Goldberg-style deathtrap. Batman gets out in time (apparently just by working one hand free of the ropes) and goes to look for Whisper. Whisper
is in the cathedral, explaining his plan to the strange young nun who’s been hanging around (who’s basically a reincarnation of the “burning nun”, one of Whisper’s first victims 300 years ago), telling her he’s going to make her the carrier for the plague virus. His villain speech is interrupted when Batman shows up and chases Whisper down into the vault where the plague virus is stored. Whisper attacks and they smash through the wall into the subway system, where Whisper gets hit by a train. But his deal with the evil hasn’t expired yet, so he recovers from the impact and starts pounding Batman. Whisper tries to hold Batman in front of another subway train, but Batman tosses him right through the train’s 
front windshield. Batman gets to the bell tower in time to remove the clapper from the bell, preventing the resonance from bursting the plague vial. Later, we see Whisper returning to his hotel where the young nun awaits him. She’s much more articulate than usual because the devil has taken over her body to let Whisper know his time has run out. The devil drags Whisper’s soul to hell and Batman later receives Whisper’s heart in the mail. He takes it to Austria and throws it into the lake with the drowned cathedral, hoping it’ll give the burning nun’s soul some peace at last.