PREVIOUSLY:
Driven to his mental and physical breaking point after a breakout at
Arkham Asylum (Batman 491), Bruce takes on the man behind it all: Bane.
Easily defeated by Bane, Bruce's back is broken and he is tossed over
the side of a building (Batman 497).
Near death he hands over his mantle to newcomer Jean Paul Valley
(Azrael) and goes under the care of Dr. Kinsolving, whom he falls in
love with.Unfortunately Kinsolving is soon kidnapped along with Jack
Drake (Tim's father). Bruce, armed with a specially equipped wheelchair
designed by Harold, leaves Gotham to trail the kidnappers. But what he
discovers will send his life spiraling into another dramatic and tragic
chapter.
SUMMARY:
Bruce's search leads him and Alfred to Santa Prisca where they discover
Shondra Kinsolving and Jack Drake are being held hostage. Bruce enlists
Gypsy and Bronze Tiger to try to break them out. The kidnappers however
are alerted to their presence and flee Santa Prisca. Not wanting to
leave the side of her patient, Kinsolving refuses to be rescued and
jumps onto the helicopter with Drake as it is taking off.
Following the kidnappers to England, Bruce learns that Kinsolving has
been kidnapped by her brother Benedict Asp. With the help of the Hood,
Bruce is able to infiltrate Asp's gathering under the guise of "Sir
Hemingford Gray". Here he learns that Asp plans to use Kingsolving's
unique psychic abilities to murder people from any location on Earth.
Bruce begins to plan to get himself kidnapped by Asp so that he could
get closer to rescuing Kinsolving. Angered by Bruce's relentless
obsession and refusal to rest, Alfred resigns from his post. Bruce goes
ahead without Alfred and gets himself kidnapped as planned.
During the final battle, Bruce is caught between a psychic tug-of-war
between Asp and Kinsolving. The resulting psychic blast of energy fixes
Bruce's spine but reverts Kinsolving to the mental age of a child. Asp
is presumed dead.
After reluctantly institutionalizing his love, Bruce returns to
Gotham with Jack Drake. When he arrives he is aghast to find that Jean
Paul Valley has become reckless vigilante as the Batman. Bruce tries to
reason with Jean Paul but Jean Paul won't listen. Bruce decides that he
must take back the cape and cowl by force, but first he needs to get
back into top physical shape. He decides that the only person capable of
training him is the dangerous assassin Lady Shiva... |
Home
