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"Step Into the Light": There is a new assassin in Gotham City that kills his victims by slitting their throats with sharp blades attached to tap-dance shoes.

Quote1 Let me tell you why you want to go away. There's someone inside me who wants nothing more--nothing in the world more--than to tear you apart and spit on the pieces. Quote2
Jean-Paul Valley

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #54 is an issue of the series Azrael: Agent of the Bat (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1999.

Synopsis for "Step Into the Light"

There is a new assassin in Gotham City that kills his victims by slitting their throats with sharp blades attached to tap-dance shoes.

Azrael kept looking for Scratch, the Joker and Calibax but there was no sign of them. He found an old man lying on the street and took him over the ruins of a building where a man and his daughter were sheltering. The old man was the man's father and the girl's grandfather but he was taken out because the food supplies were not enough to feed the three of them. Azrael gave them his last rations and promised them that he would return with fresh food and he set out to Oracle's place but on his way there, he found a young boy drowning in the Gotham river and saved his live. Azrael was leading the boy to the man and his daughter's place when they were attacked by a street gang. Azrael took all of them out and then he was betrayed by the young boy. Azrael was leaving him but the boy apologized and offered him some food supplies. They were carrying the food to the man's place when they found the old man again on the street but this time he was dead because the Death Dancer killed him in the same macabre way. The boy told Azrael that it was the third victim that was killed in the same way. Azrael went to the man's place furious because he let his own father die, but upon reaching the place, he witnessed that the little girl was felling sick and his wrath calmed down. Saddened by the events, Azrael told the boy to share his food with the man and his daughter while he moved out of there again towards Oracle.

The Death Dancer struck again and killed a sick woman under her own son's request. The killer believed that he was doing people a favor by killing them instead of prolonging what he perceived as suffering and misery.

Azrael arrived at Oracle's place and entered using the information Batman provided him. Oracle was shocked to see that an intruder managed to break into her tower without triggering the alarms but soon she deduced that the man must be Azrael. After they introduced each other formally, Azrael asked Oracle for food and she provided him with the best meal he has had in three days: canned beans. Later, both of them decided to go outside to the streets and talk a little bit to know each other better. Azrael asked Oracle if she knew the Joker, Scratch or Calibax's whereabouts and she told him that there was no word from Scratch or Calibax and that the Joker didn't posed a threat at the time. Before Azrael could ask again about "business", Oracle asked him if he hadn't noticed that in most of their past conversations she had been flirting with him. Azrael was shocked to learn that truth and told Oracle that he had no idea and that he imagined that she was just being sisterly to him. Oracle was worried that he might think she wanted something serious with him but Azrael told her that he didn't mind if she was with someone else. They agreed that from that point on they would be like brother and sister to each other. Oracle was overwhelmed with a feeling of happiness unfelt since the beginning of No Man's Land and she dropped a couple of tears of joy. The Death Dancer was nearby and witnessed the scene and he decided that a young woman, crippled in a wheelchair and crying, must be put out of her misery.

Appearing in "Step Into the Light"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Alvin Kothers a.k.a The Death Dancer (First appearance)
  • Ninety-Eight Street Gang (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Lukey (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:



Notes

Trivia

  • There is a bridge in Gotham that is named after 50's comic book artist Dick Sprang.


See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

Batman No Man's Land 1
No Man's Land Crossover
DC Rebirth Logo

This issue is a part of the Batman: No Man's Land crossover that swept through all Batman Family Titles during 1999. Gotham City was declared by the President to be no longer a part of the United States after the combined disasters of Contagion, Legacy and Cataclysm.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "No Man's Land" crossover category.

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