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Batman: Strange Apparitions Vol 1 1

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"By Death's Eerie Light!"

Batman Strange Apparitions TP.jpg

"The Master Plan of Doctor Phosphorus!"

"The Dead Yet Live"

"I Am the Batman!"

"The Malay Penguin"

"The Deadshot Ricochet"

"The Laughing Fish"

"Sign of the Joker!"

"The House That Haunted Batman!"

"The Coming Of... Clayface III!"



Image:Quote1.png My spirit couldn't rest until we settled our score, Rupert Thorne! Now, we shall both rest in peace! Image:Quote2.png
-- The Ghost of Hugo Strange


Appearing in "By Death's Eerie Light!"

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  • Doctor Bell (First appearance)

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Synopsis for "By Death's Eerie Light!"

Gotham City's water supply is poisoned, and Batman tracks down the cause of the problem, a villain named Dr. Phosphorus with an “X-ray skeleton” appearance, but fails to capture him.

Appearing in "The Master Plan of Doctor Phosphorus!"

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Synopsis for "The Master Plan of Doctor Phosphorus!"

Batman continues his search for Dr. Phosphorus as the radioactive villain terrorizes Gotham.

Appearing in "The Dead Yet Live"

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Synopsis for "The Dead Yet Live"

Bruce Wayne goes to the “sanitarium” of a Dr. Todhunter to seek treatment from his radiation burns. Soon, the Batman discovers that Dr. Todhunter is his old foe Dr. Hugo Strange, who manages to unmask him and learn his secret identity.

Appearing in "I Am the Batman!"

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Synopsis for "I Am the Batman!"

Robin manages to rescue Alfred and Bruce Wayne from Hugo Strange’s clutches. But Strange himself is captured by Rupert Thorne’s men after he attempts to auction off the secret of Batman’s identity, and when he refuses to divulge it, is apparently beaten to death.

Appearing in "The Malay Penguin"

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Synopsis for "The Malay Penguin"

Batman and Robin are outlawed by the city council, but continue to operate to foil a grand theft by the Penguin.

Appearing in "The Deadshot Ricochet"

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Synopsis for "The Deadshot Ricochet"

After apprehending the The Penguin, the Batman and Robin return to the Batcave for some well-deserved rest. They begin some light-hearted sparring with one another, but the fun ends when Robin receives a distress call from Wonder Girl. He doesn't want to leave Bruce, but Batman urges him to attend his teammates in the Teen Titans.

Meanwhile at Gotham Prison, the warden ushers the Penguin into a cell next to Floyd Lawton, aka, Deadshot. The Penguin brags about his special laser monocole which he intends on using to escape from prison, but Deadshot snatches it from him and uses it to affect his own escape.

That evening, Batman goes to the Tobacconists' Club for an impromptu visit with city councilman Rupert Thorne. He criticises him for the recent cease and desist against him and warns Thorne that from now on, they will play things "Batman's way". After Batman leaves his office, Rupert Thorne receives a haunting visitation by the ghost of Hugo Strange.

The following day, Bruce Wayne meets Silver St. Cloud at the Gotham Convention Center. Silver's company is hosting the event and while there, they run into Commissioner Gordon. Gordon tells Bruce Wayne about the recent escape of Deadshot. His mind harkens back to the first time that he fought against Deadshot.

He then takes Silver to the Fox Gardens restaurant for lunch. Silver asks him a lot of questions and Bruce fears that she may suspect that he is Batman.

That night, Bruce goes on patrol as Batman, but he doesn't have far to go before he runs afoul of Deadshot. The two fight atop the Ellsworth Building and eventually make their way back to the convention center where they trade shots while leaping across a Giant Typewriter. Batman traps Deadshot behind the over-sized carriage return. Deadshot knows he is beaten and surrenders. As Batman looks up, he sees Silver St. Cloud staring back at him. She recognizes Batman as Bruce Wayne.

Elsewhere, the Joker plans his next nefarious scheme.

Appearing in "The Laughing Fish"

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  • G. Carl Francis (Only appearance; dies)
  • Marko
  • Sergeant Stark

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Synopsis for "The Laughing Fish"

It is night time in Gotham City. Batman swings across the rooftops until he comes to the apartment window of Silver St. Cloud. After being invited in, Batman inquires whether or not Miss Cloud had anything to speak to him about. The look she had given him the previous evening expressed something akin to recognition. Silver stares back at him and immediately recognizes the Batman as Bruce Wayne. Batman, in turn, suspects that Silver may know the truth. An uncomfortable moment passes between the two and Batman excuses himself. Moments later, he telephones Silver as Bruce Wayne, asking her to postpone their next date. Silver cancels the date altogether.

Batman continues patrolling the city and eventually swoops down towards the Gotham docks. A stevedore approaches him and shows him barrels of freshly caught fish. Ordinarily, this mundane incident would not rouse the Batman's attention but for the fact that all of the fish bear faces similar to that of the Joker. The fisherman asks Batman why someone would want to create fish with Joker faces, but Batman discourages the inquiry, saying "The Joker's mind is clouded in madness! His motives make sense to him alone!"

The following morning, the Joker and his henchmen barge into the office of the city Copyright Commission. The Joker introduces himself to a clerk named G. Carl Francis, indicating that he wishes to trademark his designer Joker Fish. The man is clearly terrified by the Joker's presence, but tells him that nobody can register a copyright on a natural resource – even one as mutated as the macabre Joker Fish. The Joker scoffs at Francis and tells him that he has until midnight to make his desires a reality or else he will be "dead as a mackerel".

The Joker leaves the office to confer with his underlings. As he is wont to do, he arbitrarily pushes one of them out into oncoming traffic where they are struck and killed by a truck.

The Joker claims another victim!

At the Tobacconists' Club, Rupert Thorne grows extremely nervous. His aide Marko comes to greet him, but his presence only serves to agitate Thorne even further. He goes to the restroom to wash his face when suddenly he is accosted by the Joker. The Joker knows that Thorne was involved with the mysterious death of Hugo Strange and wonders if Strange may have told him the true identity of the Batman. So far as the Joker is concerned, his greatest adversary has no identity other than being the Batman. However, he is satisfied that Thorne knows nothing and leaves him be. Frightened, Rupert scrambles out of the building, hops into his sedan and drives off.

That evening, G. Carl Francis goes to Commissioner Gordon to tell him about the threat made against his life. Gordon and Batman bring Francis back to his home where Batman inspects it for traps or hidden weapons. The Joker broadcasts a message across television waves, declaring that he will kill Francis at 12:00 am. The three men maintain their vigil well into the evening, but at the stroke of midnight, Francis' study begins to fill with noxious gas. Batman quickly slides a re-breather into Francis' mouth, but it does no good. As the smoke clears, G. Carl Francis is dead, a grotesque smile etched across his face – the calling card of the Joker. Batman deduces that the gas that filled the room was one part of a binary compound, otherwise harmless unless mixed with another agent. He determines that the Joker must have sprayed Francis with the secondary agent when he visited his office earlier that day.

Later, Rupert Thorne continues driving across the state in the dark, rainy weather when he picks up a hitchhiker – Silver St. Cloud.

Appearing in "Sign of the Joker!"

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  • Ernest the cat (Single appearance)
  • Thomas Jackson (Only appearance; dies)

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Synopsis for "Sign of the Joker!"

Batman|Batman and Commissioner Gordon know that the Joker will target another city bureaucrat in his mad effort to copyright his chemically-altered Joker Fish. As per another televised threat, his next target is a man named Thomas Jackson. As before, Batman, Gordon and a squad of police officers hole up inside of Jackson's mansion. Batman has Jackson don one of his costumes while he disguises himself to take Jackson's place. That way, if the Joker chooses to attack him, he will actually be attacking the Batman.

As luck would have it, Jackson's cat, Ernest, lopes into the study carrying a poisoned Joker Fish inside of his mouth. The venom has now infected the cat and her bears the striking rictus grin that most associate with the Joker. Batman dives after the animal, but the cat launches itself at Jackson (still wearing the Batman costume) and bites him across the face. The venom spreads into Jackson's bloodstream and he dies moments later. The television comes on and the Joker takes credit for ending the life of Thomas Jackson.

Batman leaves to track down the transmitting station that the Joker is broadcasting from. As he bounds through the nearby forests he spies a spectral image – seemingly, the ghost of his old foe, Hugo Strange. The image disappears, but Batman discovers a vapor analysis meter in the underbrush.

At his Ha-Hacienda, the Joker delights in his latest kill. He ponders to himself the fun to be had by mass-marketing his Joker Fish. He even considers using his special chemicals to infect cattle. "Joker-Burgers!" he cries. "Outrageous!"

Meanwhile, Rupert Thorne picks up a hitchhiking Silver St. Cloud. He barely remembers her from a previous exchange and pays little attention to her now. His mind is on Hugo Strange. Turning on the radio, Rupert and Silver learn about the most recent debacle involving the Joker as well as Batman's approach to the crimes. Rupert has no interest in hearing about Batman and angrily shuts the radio off. Silver expresses her support for the Caped Crusader and Thorne kicks her out of the car. Moments later, the ghost of Hugo Strange attacks him anew.

Silver St. Cloud

Two hours later, Batman and Commissioner Gordon meet back at police headquarters. They discuss strategies, but quickly discover that the Joker is impersonating one of the guards. The Joker tries spraying Batman with acid from a false police officer's badge. Batman dodges the attack and the Joker escapes through the window. Batman follows him up the fire escape. The two adversaries chase one another up the side of the building as rain and lightning begin to pour down on top of them. The Joker leaps from the fire escape to a nearby construction scaffold and the Batman follows suit. Unwilling to be taken alive, the Joker squirts acid on the rope holding a suspended girder aloft and plunges seemingly to his doom. Batman does not trust that this is the last he has seen of the Joker.

Silver St. Cloud has since returned to Gotham and has witnessed Batman's battle against the Joker. Confronting him, she realizes that she cannot involve herself with someone who lives such a dangerous lifestyle. Silver breaks up with him. As Silver leaves, Commissioner Gordon approaches Batman. He tells him that local cops picked up Rupert Thorne who is now confessing to all of his various crimes. Batman pays little attention to Gordon however. His mind is only on the woman who just walked away from him.

Appearing in "The House That Haunted Batman!"

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Synopsis for "The House That Haunted Batman!"

Batman checks up on Rupert Thorne, who now occupies a padded cell at the local asylum.

Appearing in "The Coming Of... Clayface III!"

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Synopsis for "The Coming Of... Clayface III!"

The Batman faces a new Clayface, Preston Payne, who sought to overcome his ugliness by taking an extract from Clayface II’s (Matt Hagen’s) blood, only to learn it made his flesh run like clay and compelled him to touch others at times and turn them into melting blobs of clay.

Notes


  • $12.95 cover price


Trivia

  • No trivia.



See Also


Recommended Reading


Links and References
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