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Batman interrogates Killer Croc, asking him about Elizabeth Lupo who had gone missing two weeks prior and was later found dead in the landfill, partially eaten. Croc denies any involvement, claiming that Batman has no evidence, and even if he's arrested he'll walk free next day. Batman notices Croc

Broken City is a six-part Batman storyline written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso in the style of noir. It's published on the Batman series following Jeph Loeb's epic Hush and followed by Judd Winick's As the Crow Flies. This creative team would collaborate on Batman next in the Knight of Vengeance miniseries published as part of Flashpoint.

Synopsis

Batman interrogates Killer Croc, asking him about Elizabeth Lupo who had gone missing two weeks prior and was later found dead in the landfill, partially eaten. Croc denies any involvement, claiming that Batman has no evidence, and even if he's arrested he'll walk free next day. Batman notices Croc has new teeth implants, which he knocks out, but Croc replies that he'll simply buy himself a new set. Batman leaves without obtaining a confession but based on presumed cost of Croc's dental implants he concludes that he was hired and paid by someone to kill Elizabeth. He goes to the apartment of Angel Lupo, Elizabeth's brother and a known small-time criminal, where he finds Margo Farr, Angel's girlfriend, who claims she doesn't know where Angel is. Batman bluffs that he knows Angel is in Havana and she seemingly confirms it. Batman leaves, waits for Margo to leave the apartment and follows her, hoping she'll lead him to Angel, having known all along he's not really in Havana. When Margo arrives at Angel's hideout she is assaulted by a thug who attempts to rape her. Having no choice, Batman intervenes and fights the thug, which gives Margo enough time to run up the stairs and shout a warning to Angel, who jumps out of the window and disappears into the city.

After dawn, when Batman comes back home he learns of a double homicide which eerily resembles the circumstances of his own parents' death - a couple murdered in front of their child who survived but was left in a catatonic state. Batman phones Crispin Allen, detective in charge of the murder investigation and one of few GCPD officers who are willing to cooperate with a vigilante, and asks about the case. Allen, however, has nothing substantial to share, as the child is still unresponsive and hasn't said a single word. Batman tells Allen to find Angel Lupo, but refuses to explain how Lupo is connected to Allen's murder investigation. Batman decides not to sleep, wanting to avoid nightmares that always torment him, and instead spends entire day working out. When he calls Allen for the second time in the evening, Allen says he interrogated Margo but she wouldn't disclose where Angel is. He also says Lupo likely hasn't left town because no train or plane tickets were bought under his name and none of the cars in his multiple car lots is missing. Batman tracks down Killer Croc in a strip club and interrogates him again, asking about Angel Lupo. Croc mentions Jonny Billy, an accomplice of Lupo's living in Little Tokyo. Batman finds Jonny in his car shop and interrogates him. Jonny reveals Lupo came to him recently asking for a car but Jonny told him to leave him alone. Suddenly they are both ambushed by an unseen and extremely fast assailant, who quickly defeats Batman. As he is passing out, Batman can hear Jonny pleading for his life and assuring the attacker that he didn't tell Batman anything.

When Batman regains consciousness, he finds Jonny brutally beaten to death. He drags himself to one of his many safehouses, and after treating his wounds he goes to the hospital check on the catatonic child whose parents were murdered, and vows to find and bring the perpetrator to justice. He then visits Penguin at the Iceberg Lounge and interrogates him, but Penguin denies any knowledge about Lupo. Batman mentions that Angel had his own sister killed, which Penguin didn't seem to know. Batman then tries to leave through the front door, instead of through the skylight, where he smashed his way in, but Penguin begs him not to, fearing he would lose his customer's trust if they saw Batman leaving his office. Penguin finally reveals that Lupo made a deal with some newly arrived criminals Fat Man and Little Boy. Batman grabs Penguin and leaves with him through the office's front door into the Iceberg Lounge's crowded hall where all the patrons see them together. Batman asks Penguin who would be willing to pay to know that Angel had his sister killed, and Penguin says Scarface. Batman notices Margo Farr heading for the exit and catches up to her. They ride the elevator together and she assures him that this time she sincerely doesn't know where Angel is. Outside, they are ambushed by armed thugs in a car, whom Batman recognizes as Scarface's goons, who unsuccessfully attack them in a drive-by shooting, before driving off. Batman tracks down Scarface in his hideout, but Scarface assures him that the drive-by attack was a misunderstanding and that he never really wanted to kill him. Batman asks him who he's trying to kill, but Scarface says that it's nobody important. When Batman mentions Angel Lupo's name, Arnold Wesker unexpectedly lashes out in anger, shooting at Batman, seemingly out of Scarface's control and against his will – something he shouldn't really be capable of due to his mental condition. Batman disarms Wesker, grabs Scarface, puts his face to a boiling-hot nozzle of a cappuccino machine and declares that he won't rest until he finds Lupo.

Some time later, Batman is in Little Tokyo, chasing an unnamed criminal, who leads him to a warehouse building. Inside, Batman is again attacked by the same lightning-fast assailant as in Jonny Billy's car shop. This time the attacker stops after knocking Batman to the floor and reveals herself to be a young asian woman. Following her, a huge man of similar asian ethnicity appears, and Batman identifies them as Fat Man and Little Boy, the mysterious new players in Gotham underworld, which they confirm. They have a brief conversation, during which they admit they are also looking for Angel Lupo, having been ripped off by him. However, they claim that Lupo didn't kill his sister – according to them he was incapable of murder and was very protective of Elizabeth. They tell Batman they will find Lupo first, and they leave. After this encounter Batman roams the city, beating and intimidating every crook and criminal he finds, asking about Lupo and spreading the word that he'll make it impossible to conduct any “business” in Gotham until he finds Lupo. In the morning Batman pays a visit to detective Allen while he's inspecting a crime scene. Allen says he found nothing linking Lupo to the double homicide and concludes that the real reason Batman is looking for him must be his sister's murder. He shows Batman a newspaper with a headline saying that Elizabeth Lupo was pregnant at the time of death, and states that the mayor made finding Lupo GCPD's top priority.

That night, Batman again suffers a nightmare, in which his deceased parents, Joe Chill and dead Elizabeth ask him questions which make him doubt whether Angel is really responsible for his sister's death. After waking up, Batman tracks down Killer Croc, who is waiting for someone in the rain on the street. Croc declares his willingness to give Lupo to Batman if he finds him, which leads Batman to a conclusion that Lupo hadn't in fact hired Croc, or else Croc wouldn't be so eager to give him up, knowing he'd be incriminated in Lupo's testimony. This in turn makes Batman realize that Lupo is in fact not guilty of his sister's murder – when he ran after being warned by Margo, it was because he thought he was being targeted by the same people who had Elizabeth killed. Batman becomes painfully aware of the scope of his mistake – he made an innocent man a target for both the cops and the criminals, and now would have to save him. Batman also notices that Croc is visibly hungry, and therefore probably intending to eat whoever he's waiting for – likely his actual employer and the only person linking him to Elizabeth's death – thereby tying up all loose ends. He provokes Croc and they fight. Croc's employer finally arrives and is revealed to be Margo Farr. She opens fire on them, but Batman tackles and disarms her. He asks her why she did it, but she angrily rebuffs him. Batman tells her that Lupo is going to take the fall for his sister's death, which finally prompts her to confess. She explains that Elizabeth had been having an affair with someone wealthy and dangerous, and he'd gotten her pregnant. Despite Margo's insistence, Elizabeth decided to keep the baby, intending to use it to obtain financial support from the father. Margo knew that Angel – being obsessively protective of his sister and still perceiving her as an innocent child – would go after the man who got her pregnant, not caring about his own life, and almost certainly get himself killed in the process. Therefore, not wanting to lose the man she loved, she hired Croc to kill Elizabeth to prevent that from happening. Batman asks who the wealthy father was, already knowing the answer but having trouble believing it. She confirms the man's identity, but it is not revealed to the readers.

Batman realizes that Angel, having found out from the newspapers about his sister's pregnancy, will come out of hiding and attempt to track down the people responsible for her death, not knowing that the entire city is out to get him. Batman tracks down Penguin, who says that due to Batman's apparent determination to find Lupo, he is now considered a major player in the criminal underworld, and that he used his new-found reputation to set up a meeting with Fat Man and Little Boy. Penguin gives Batman the location of the meeting. Batman also tracks down Killer Croc and overhears his conversation with a small-time crook named Slappy, who claims that Angel bought a gun from him. Batman goes to the place of the meeting and finds Fat Man there. He tells him that Angel intends to ambush and kill them, thinking they are the ones who killed his sister, in retaliation for him stealing from them. Fat Man says that if they wanted him dead they would have done it themselves, instead of hiring Croc. Batman replies that he knows it, but Angel doesn't. At this moment, Little Boy attacks Batman by surprise and Fat Man grabs him from behind and holds him, allowing her to deliver a beating. At the brink of passing out, Batman manages to grab a dangling piece of Little Boy's clothing and headbutt her, incapacitating her. He then tackles Fat Man, throws him to the ground and beats him brutally. Angel Lupo finally arrives at the scene and witnesses the bloodstained scenery. Scared, be points his gun at Batman, but finds himself unable to pull the trigger. He runs into the street, where he is gunned down by Arnold Wesker, who is revealed to be the father of Elizabeth's child, convinced by Batman's earlier actions that she was murdered by her own brother and wanting to avenge her. Scarface mocks Wesker for allowing his heart to dictate his actions and Wesker angrily rips off Scarface's head. He confesses to Batman that he truly loved Elizabeth and was devastated by her death, but now that Angel is dead, he's at peace. Batman decides not to tell him that Angel was not the murderer.

The police arrive at the scene, and Wesker, Fat Man and Little Boy are all arrested. While he's watching from above, Batman is approached by detective Allen, who tels him that Batman's “friend” at Arkham is demanding to speak to him, already having made three other inmates pull out their own intestines and promising to do it again if Batman doesn't come see him. When they meet, Joker mocks Batman for his mistakes of the past few days, and claims that despite usually being able to predict Batman's moves, he was surprised by his recent actions, and that he “loves surprises almost as much as he loves Batman”. He says he wants to help Batman find “the killer”. Batman replies that Angel Lupo is dead, but Joker says he didn't mean him, implying that he knows who's responsible for the double homicide from the beginning of the story. To Batman's anger, Joker doesn't elaborate further.

Batman goes to the scene of the double homicide and enters the sewers, looking for the murder weapon, while having a flashback from the evening before the day of his parents' death. His father had earlier promised him to go to the movies, but due to business obligations had to call it off. Young Bruce, like Angel Lupo right before his death, desperately tries to control the situation and get his way, and when he realizes he can't, he storms off angrily to his room, yelling “three words” at his parents. He decides to punish them with silence, and next day he never says a single word to them, not even when they surprise him with a trip to the movies which they had originally promised him. During the movie he feels guilty, but is too proud to openly apologize and forgive them. Later, while walking back home from the cinema, they are attacked by Joe Chill and his parents are murdered, leaving Bruce with those “three words” as the last thing he said to them. Back in the present, Batman finds the pistol that was used in the double homicide and takes it to the hospital to the boy who survived. He places the gun, without ammunition, in the boy's lap. The boy picks it up, aims at Batman and repeatedly pulls the trigger of an empty pistol, still in his catatonic stupor, indicating a possible beginning of a cathartic recovery. Outside, the rain finally lets up, and Batman finds a broken gutter, sits beneath it and cries, allowing the water washing over him to hide his tears. When the dawn comes, he smiles, believing that one day he will finally win his one-man war – there will be no more pain, no more loss and no more crime. The last scene shows Batman ambushing Killer Croc while he's dumping a dead body into a garbage container.

Issues


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Links and References


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