Batman Legends of the Dark Knight # 15 (Prey Part 5)

 By Mark Rodriguez

Batman finally comes face to face with Hugo Strange after he was framed for kidnapping the Mayor's daughter. Batman was drugged and beaten by Strange and during this, Hugo overheard the Dark Knight call out for his parents. This led to him discovering his secret identity after looking up all police reports on husband and wife murders going back 20 years. When a broken and beaten Batman returns home, he finds Alfred knocked out and mannequins that look like his parents with recordings blaming him for their deaths. Batman loses all control and falls down the stairs to the Bat Cave, letting the darkness consume him. How will this end?

"The Kill" opens with Bruce in the Bat Cave, losing himself to his own despair. He laments that maybe he's as crazy as Strange says he is. Everyone is against him from the media to the police. He blames himself for his parents deaths. He also thinks he should end the dream of being Batman since now Hugo Strange knows and can strike at any time, not only against him but against his loved ones. 

Elsewhere the Night Scourge is on a bloody rampage, killing criminals left and right, with the news media blaming Batman for inspiring him as well for the still missing Mayor's daughter. 

Alfred tries to tend to Bruce, but he wants him to go away. He tells Alfred to just report the break in and the mannequins as some sick joke and tell them that he was out of town at the time. Bruce tells Alfred that the cave is the only place he can heal now, and Alfred leaves but tells him to at least eat this time. 

Now deep in thought, Bruce determines that everything, from Night Scourge to the missing Mayor's daughter were Strange's fault. He recognized Strange's voice posing as his 'father' in the recordings and vaguely remembers the voice impersonating his 'mother'. He says the cave must heal him, for the dream can't die. Batman looks at the Bat Cave imagining the amazing place it is yet to become and determines he has to continue going forward.

Gordon is now on his last day of the Mayor's deadline, he has to either find his daughter or he'll be off the force. He ponders how Cort and Strange are working together and both know he's been covering for Batman. Gordon also notes how Cort has been acting tired lately and he finds a knife in his drawer. Just then Batman calls Gordon up and asks if he will help him one last time. Gordon is listening.

Elsewhere, Catherine is still tied to the bedpost as Strange dresses up as Batman. He tells her that she was superficial, rejecting him over Batman. He tells her they are one in the same and now she won't have either of them.

Gordon hears Batman out and agrees. He thinks to himself if he betrays Batman, he can catch him like the Mayor wanted and keep his job. However, the mayor might never see his daughter again.

Alfred says he's happy to see that Bruce is eating again but three days have passed. Bruce apologizes for hitting him earlier, and Alfred knows. Bruce says he's healed and ready again and Alfred drops his dishes in shock to see the new Batmobile. Batman says he's off. Alfred wishes him luck since he'll be facing off against the devil tonight. 

Hugo Strange is pouring himself some liquor as he continues to boast in front of Catherine, when Batman arrives. Hugo asks if Batman has come to surrender, Batman asks "how he did it". Strange says someone like Batman is easy to imitate and frame. Batman asks if the Mayor's daughter is still alive. Hugo says she slightly bruised but intact. Batman says he had help and Hugo says he can't accept that he was defeated by just one man. Hugo asks Batman if he's had any good dreams lately. After a moment of silence Batman, with a slight smile says he never dreams.

Hugo tells Batman not to deny it, since the sight of his dead parents should have affected him. Batman says his parents live in Paraguay. Hugo says he must be lying and the mannequins should have affected him. Batman says he doesn't know what he's talking about. Hugo threatens to call the police but just then Gordon and an officer come in, having heard the whole thing. The cop handcuffs Strange as Batman hands Gordon a recorded confession. 

The officer calls out to Gordon, having found the Mayor's daughter tied up in the bedroom. Batman tells Gordon that Hugo was mad all along, he was just the trigger that set him off, but he still had help. Batman feels Gordon knows who that is, which is why he agreed to help. Strange managed to get away from the officer, and Batman gives chase. 

As Strange escapes, still dressed as Batman, the police outside see him and think he's the real deal. Since they have orders from Cort to shoot to kill, they open fire on Hugo Strange. The madman falls into the nearby river. Gordon and Batman witness this from a distance. 

Batman tells Gordon this isn't over yet, they still have to stop the Night Scourge. Gordon pulls out the knife that he found earlier and tells him to try Max Cort. Gordon and Batman head off towards a chop shop where Cort is most likely to strike next. Batman follows Max and sees how he stops his car in the tunnel so he can dress as the Night Scourge, proving that Gordon was right. As Batman tries to get the drop on him, Cort actually finds him first.

Batman barely dodges a few deadly sword strikes and then back flips to get some distance. Scourge says he's better than Batman since Hugo Strange said so. Batman pulls out two Batarangs and tells him to prove it. As they fight, Batman uses the Batarangs to counter and block the sword strikes. 

Batman dodges and flips to avoid the attacks and tells Cort to drop the blades. Cort only acknowledges himself as the Night Scourge and he won't stop after Batman mocked him in front of his men. He manages to swing at Batman and cut him across the shoulder. Batman grabs onto Scourge's arm but gets kicked in the ribs. 

Batman thinks he needs to find a way to get rid of his swords and throws bat-themed ninja stars at Scourge's hands. The swords are knocked out of his hands and now Scourge pulls out knives. These are easier for Batman to deal with. Batman is able to take him down a lot easier, kicking him to the ground. However, Scourge lands near his swords. 

Just then a whip latches onto the sword and takes it right out of Scourge's hands. Catwoman claims the sword as her own and tells Batman they're even now and he can give him hell on his own. 

As Batman prepares to finish off Scourge, he's already driven off in his car. Cort is driving like a madman, running people over, saying he just needs to get to the high ground and get his gun. Suddenly Cort sees the new Batmobile that drives right into him, flipping the car over. Cort crawls out of his car and is on the run with the Batmobile hot on his heels.

Cort runs into the police station, desperate to get himself a gun. His fellow officers see him and Cort takes off his mask. Batman is already inside and tells everyone that Max Cort was the Night Scourge and had kidnapped the Mayor's daughter. Cort yells at the cops to kill him. The radio confirms that they shot Batman and the body fell off the tri-sector bridge. The Mayor asks Batman if he was just shot. Gordon arrives with his men and tells them that it was Hugo Strange dressed up as Batman trying to frame him. 

Cort takes a gun from one of his men and aims to shoot Gordon for being a traitor. The rest of the officers open fire and gun Cort down. 

Gordon explains to the Mayor that Batman was instrumental in getting his daughter back when he led them to Strange. The Mayor decides to disband the Vigilante Task Force for now so they can focus on the real criminals. He says if he keeps it up, he can make it to Commissioner someday.

Later on Gordon tells Batman that they dragged the river and couldn't find a body, so Strange might be dead and washed out to sea. Batman says he might have survived and have gone into hiding, only time will tell. Gordon appreciates Batman coming to terms with the police but he knows there will always be police that will hate him, and politicians are due to bring up the vigilante issue every season. Gordon says if he plays his cards right, they might make things more open and permanent and paint a bat on the beacon. 

Batman tells Gordon to play his cards right and never become a politician. Batman needs him. Gordon thinks to himself that this city needs Batman.

My Opinions-

This was a hell of a story and I had to go back to read the whole thing to capture the whole feel of it. There's just something interesting of a less than perfect Batman, a Batman that just started his career and already had the entire city turned against him. I mean he was minutes away from Hugo revealing his identity to the world and have the police storm Wayne Manor and gun him down.

There's just so many angles to consider this story. We saw the inner psychology of Batman, what continues to drive him despite the fact that he was so mentally broken, and the fact that he was even considering hanging up the cape. 

Then we also have the rise and fall of both Hugo Strange and Max Cort. Hugo Strange started out as a renown and respected psychiatrist, able to appear on TV spots and sell books. At a time that people didn't know what to think of Batman, people were looking to him for answers and he could benefit from that. However, Hugo's own insanity and darkness came out during this, growing obsessed and even envious of Batman. Dressing as Batman, talking to his mannequin as if she were real (which btw, while mannequin was spelled correctly before, this comic continued to spell it mannekin for some reason) and going so far as kidnapping the Mayor's daughter because she rejected him. 

In the end. Hugo is caught by police and forced to flee, while still dressed as Batman and gets caught under Cort's 'shoot to kill Batman' orders. I liked the irony of that.

Max Cort went from being a regular cop, maybe too eager to catch Batman, but he also went crazy. However, Strange did hypnotize him to act like the Night Scourge (as well as dress up as Batman when he kidnapped Catherine) so it's hard to say how much of his madness is coming from him and how much was coming from Strange. Regardless his fate was getting gunned down by his own men.

Catwoman was kind of a random addition, and was more of a cameo. I guess she was mostly there to remind us that she was around in Gotham during that time. I completely forgot about her until her sudden save, keeping Cort away from his swords. 

Overall an amazing and epic tale. It showcased a lot about both Batman and Bruce Wayne, it showcased how Gordon was still uneasy about his alliance with Batman, and it even introduced the Batmobile. The only two things I'm left thinking about regarding this story is how Catherine was in the house the whole time that Batman had his first encounter with Hugo (in which he was drugged and beaten) and he never knew. The other thing is just the thought that somehow Batman had to resort to walking home back in the day. He's lucky the paparazzi must have been busy elsewhere or else they would have caught sight of Batman randomly wandering around the Wayne Manor grounds. Just imagine how that would have gone down. 

Never knew Batman's parents lived in Paraguay, lmao.