The whole city's become a threat to their lives--danger and death bound in every brick of every bulding. 
Batman #559 is an issue of the series Batman (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1998.
Synopsis for "Dead City"
Vesper Fairchild is broadcasting her radio show as most of the population of Gotham City has started to leave the city by any means they can.
Commissioner Gordon is trying to find all the available police officers to help an entire city but most of them are leaving as well. Batman and Robin show up and offer their help to the Commissioner who tells them about a siege in progress at Mercy Hospital and also that there are only two officers there at the moment: Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock. The dynamic duo set out to the hospital without any delay.
At Mercy Hospital, the street gang called "The Bones" want to break into the hospital and loot all the drug supplies stored. Montoya and Bullock try to keep them at bay, but after noticing that there are only two cops, the gang is encouraged to attack the hospital. Bullock and Montoya retreat inside the hospital and help the doctors and nurses move the patients away from the danger zone as the gang start shooting and throwing rocks at them. Batman and Robin arrive in time to stop some of the thugs from entering the hospital through the back door but they miss a couple of thugs who climb the side of the hospital, reach the roof and manage to enter the hospital without being noticed.
Batman and Robin spot that the gang is gathering at the front entrance of the hospital and they are all entering a big truck. Batman assumes that they are going to drive the truck through the main doors and he guessed right. Meanwhile inside the hospital, Harvey Bullock and a nurse he has befriended stop the couple of thugs who entered the building by the roof and once they knock out the thugs, they head back to the main entrance. The rest of the gang drives the truck and crash it against the main entrance. Once inside, the gang demands the doctors hand over the drugs but they refuse. Before the thugs attack the doctors, Batman and Robin arrive and disarm the thugs and they start to fight against all of them. Renee Montoya helps them and in just a few minutes, all the members of the gang are knocked out and Batman and Robin leave the building.
Vesper Fairchild advises the people who are leaving Gotham to be careful and to have good luck wherever they end up at. At that moment, several people are crossing the Gotham Bridge and due to the structural damage the bridge has endured after the quake, plus the weight of all the walking people, the bridge collapses, killing thousands of people.
Batman, Robin and James Gordon watch as their once mighty city collapses piece by piece with a helpless feeling of despair.
Appearing in "Dead City"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Bones Gang (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Nurse Brass (Single appearance)
- Gina (Voice only) (Single appearance)
- Gina's husband (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Gotham City
- KGC Radio Station
- GCPD Headquarters
- Mercy Hospital
- Gotham Bridge (Collapses)
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in Batman: Road to No Man's Land Vol. 1.
Trivia
- As with most stories involving Harvey Bullock, there are references to some movies in this issue. The movies are: Night of the Living Dead; The Godfather; Assault on Precint 13 and Rio Bravo.
- This is the second time that Harvey Bullock starts a relation with a nurse. The first time happened in Batman #520.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Batman Recommended Reading
- Batman (Volume 1)
- Batman (Volume 2)
- Batman (Volume 3)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 1)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 2)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 3)
- Batman Confidential (Volume 1)
- Batman: Gotham Knights (Volume 1)
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (Volume 1)
- Batman: Shadow of the Bat (Volume 1)
- Batman: Streets of Gotham (Volume 1)
- Batman Incorporated (Volume 1)
- Batman Incorporated (Volume 2)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 1)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 2)
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 1)
- Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 2)
- The Brave and the Bold (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 2)
- Superman/Batman (Volume 1)
- World's Finest (Volume 1)
Links and References
  This issue is a part of the Cataclysm crossover that swept through all Batman Family Titles during 1998. Gotham City was almost completely destroyed by a massive earthquake. This story led into the events that would eventually create No Man's Land. Cataclysm
Detective Comics #719 • Shadow of the Bat #73 • Nightwing #19 • Batman #553 • Azrael #40 • Detective Comics #720 • Catwoman #56 • Robin #52 • Blackgate: Isle of Men #1 • Shadow of the Bat #74 • Batman Chronicles #12 • Nightwing #20 • Batman #554 • Huntress/Spoiler #1 • Detective Comics #721 • Catwoman #57 • Arkham Asylum: Tales of Madness #1 • Robin #53 Aftershock
Shadow of the Bat #75 • Batman #555 • Detective Comics #722 • Shadow of the Bat #76 • Robin #54 • Batman #556 • Shadow of the Bat #77 • Batman #557 • Detective Comics #724 • Shadow of the Bat #78 • Shadow of the Bat #79 • Batman Chronicles #14 • Batman #558 • Batman #559 • Detective Comics #725 • Detective Comics #726 |