Alfred Pennyworth...attacked at Wayne mansion! Who's hunting those closest to Batman? The monstrous shadow plaguing Gotham City gains the upper hand when two of the Dark Knight's most ardent allies fall prey to a violent vendetta! Commissioner Gordon calls in the Dark Knight Detective when there's a murder at the Gotham City Aquarium-staged to look exactly like Thomas and Martha Wayne's crime scene, right down to the playbill and pearls. How does this bizarre homicide tie into the shadowy monster that attacks Dr. Leslie Thompkins? This creature looks to wage a war on Batman-and it's using Joker Gas to do it! Collects Detective Comics #994-999

Alfred Pennyworth...attacked at Wayne manor! Who’s hunting those closest to Batman? Commissioner Gordon calls in the Dark Knight Detective when there’s a murder at the Gotham City Aquarium-staged to look exactly like Thomas and Martha Wayne’s crime scene, right down to the playbill and pearls. How does this bizarre homicide tie into the shadowy monster that attacks Dr. Leslie Thompkins? This creature looks to wage a war on Batman-and it’s using Joker gas to do it! Collects Detective Comics #994-999.

"Originally pubilshed in single magazine form in Detective Comics 994-999"--Copyright page.

BatmanÕs strangest case begins as the new creative team of writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Doug Mahnke take over DETECTIVE COMICS! Commissioner Gordon calls in the Dark Knight Detective when thereÕs a murder at the Gotham City AquariumÑstaged to look exactly like Thomas and Martha WayneÕs crime scene, right down to the Playbill and pearls. How does this bizarre homicide tie into the shadowy monster that attacks Dr. Leslie Thompkins? This creature looks to wage a war on BatmanÑand itÕs using Joker Gas to do it!

Batman must confront the evil that he is responsible for creating and personal demons that have haunted him since that fateful night in Crime Alley. Plus, the Dark Knight Detective usually works alone, but the threat of mass murder in the financial district forces him to team up with a bizarre private eye. Then, movies of death are being filmed in Gotham-and Batman may be the next star. This and more iconic stories from the late 1980s! Collecting Detective Comics #592-600.

Detective Comics featured DC's first masked adventurer and went on to give the company its name (from Detective Comics Inc.) and the only character to dominate American popular culture three separate times, each a generation apart: Batman. Join us in a celebration of Detective Comics' amazing eight-decade run and Batman's 80 years, with reflections on Detective Comics by Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Glen David Gold, Senator Patrick Leahy, Denny O'Neil, Anthony Tollin, police chief Shelley Zimmerman and Paul Levitz. This special collector's edition also features the very first Batman story; the debuts of classic sidekicks and allies like Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman and even Bat-Mite; and the first stories of archvillains Two-Face, the Riddler and Man-Bat. With a new cover by DC publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee, a never-before-published sketchbook of Lew Sayre Schwartz, a never-before-published scene from Bruce Wayne's childhood by Paul Levitz and Denys Cowan and much, much more, this is sure to be the celebration of the year!

The truth behind the gauntlet Batman has been forced to runÑa violent odyssey that endangered the lives of everyone who made him who he isÑis revealed at last...and the mastermind working to unmake the Batman must be seen to be believed! Is there a goal here beyond destruction? Will Batman emerge stronger...or with a mortal wound at the exact moment that his most dangerous challenge yet is on the horizon in next monthÕs DETECTIVE COMICS #1000?