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Detective Comics #854 Elegy, Part 1 - Agitato; Pipeline - Chapter 1, Part 1
Cover Date: August, 2009
"Elegy" part 1 of 4! A new era in the history of DETECTIVE COMICS begins as Batwoman is unleashed on Gotham City! Marked by the blood-red bat, Kate Kane is a soldier fighting her own private war – one that began years ago and haunts her every waking mo ...
Issue Description
"Elegy" part 1 of 4! A new era in the history of DETECTIVE COMICS begins as Batwoman is unleashed on Gotham City! Marked by the blood-red bat, Kate Kane is a soldier fighting her own private war – one that began years ago and haunts her every waking moment. With a script by Greg Rucka and breath-taking art by JH Williams III, you've never seen anything like this!
Featuring the debut of a new co-feature starring The Question written by Rucka! Odds against you? Alone and nowhere to turn? Willing to fight, but you don't know how? When you're searching everywhere for an answer, sometimes all you need to do is ask the right Question. Renee Montoya again dons the faceless mask to help those in need, all the while searching for her own answers in this new adventure with art by Cully Hamner (BLUE BEETLE).
Detailed Plot SummaryBatwoman takes over Detective Comics in the first issue of a four part story arc.
This issue starts off with a guy running away from Batwoman, who is sporting an all black costume with long red hair and red Bat, Belt, Gloves, Boots, and inner cape. She wants information from the guy she was chasing, he talks about a woman who will be coming soon and saying how they'll kill him for talking to her. She tells him she won't let that happen and urges him to whisper it in her ear. As this is happening apparently Batman has been watching and signals her to meet him on the roof of a building. They talk about covens of crime and about the Religion of Crime getting a new leader, how she's coming to Gotham. Batman tells her the case is hers and to do something about her hair because if someone pulls it the fight would be over. He tells her he'll be watching. As they both leave she heads to her bunker where we see that Her long hair is an attachment to her mask, concealing her civilian identity.
Kate Kane meets a woman who tells her that she's late to which Kate says she overslept. However, that doesn't fool the woman, who can tell that she hasn't even slept. She accuses Kate of cheating and eventually breaks up with her saying she doesn't want to be a rebound but that she really liked her and she asks her to call her when she grows up. We cut scene to Kate sleeping in her bed hearing her father going over the tapes from the previous night. He inquires about the conversation she had with Batman as Kate bench presses. Her father warns her about pushing herself over her limits, they have a slight fight about her taking it easy after apparently being stabbed through the heart. There is a glimpse of a woman being tied up but there is nothing further as Her father tells her "We soldier on." As they head to the bunker, her father gives her what looks like a gun telling her it's not yet field tested from apparently the army. He tries to get her to go out with him and her stepmother, but she refuses making it clear she's her stepmother and that she has other duties to take care of. We learn that this Religion of Crime has abducted Kate in the past and tried to cut out her heart. She learns of where and when they are coming but she doesn't know who. She tries to get the information by taking down some crooks but she gets nothing until the leader shows up, dressed in all white, powder white body, blond hair and red lipstick. We learn her name, Alice to which Batwoman pulls out her gun and aims it at her, telling her that she's been looking forward to meeting her as she shoots a bullet.
In the Second feature we see the adventures of The Question, Renee Montoya doing work in another country. She goes through looking for someone and eventually finds her way to a place that has nothing she was looking for, however there are some men approaching her, apparently about to fight.
Detective Comics (1937)
- Publisher
- DC Comics
Volume Description
Detective Comics is a DC Comics monthly American Comic Book published since 1937, focusing on detective stories. One of DC's signature titles; the title featured early talents such as Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Robinson and Bill Finger. Detective characters, such as Slam Bradley and the Crimson Avenger, were featured monthly in its early days. As of issue # 27, the title became best known for the introduction of the Superhero Detective, The Batman, who eventually became the main feature. The title has also featured the debuts of Dick Grayson, James Gordon and many of Batman's villains and supporting cast, as well as other DC characters.
For Post Flashpoint volume 2, refer to Detective Comics.OriginDetective Comics was the brainchild of National Allied Publication's owner, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. His first two titles were called New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 and New Comics #1. New Fun, often referred as New Fun Comics #1, was published in February 1935. It became the first comic to contain all-original material, instead of combining newspaper comic strips and the comic-strip style material. New Comics #1, also published in 1935, was retitled twice to become Adventure Comics. Adventure Comics was revived in 2009, by Geof Johns, using Conner Kent's Superboy incarnation as the main story, and the Legion of Superheroes as the back story.
Wheeler-Nicholson, published a third and final title, named Detective Comics. It was scheduled and advertised to be published on December 1936, however, it premiered on March 1937. During that year, he became indebted to Harry Donenfeld, who was a printing-plant and magazine publisher. This forced Wheeler-Nicholson to take Donenfeld on as a partner so that he could publish Detective Comics #1, through a new publishing company, called Detective Comics, Inc. The first owners of Detective Comics, Inc. were Wheeler-Nicholson and Harry Donenfeld's accountant, Larry Liebowitz. Liebowitz and Donenfeld would later force Wheeler-Nicholson out a year later.
Detective Comics #1 featured stories using the hard-boiled detective genre, which was popular around that time. Some of the better known characters in this publication were Slam Bradley, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster before they created the Superman character, Ching Lung, an asian character who was a villain; and Speed Saunders along with other characters. The debut cover was created by Vin Sullivan, who was the publication's first editor.
Issue #27 of Detective Comics is historically famous because this was the first appearance of Batman, then known as "The Bat-Man", as a comic book character. This issue was published in May 1939. Batman (created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger), will later become the star of the publication. His sidekick, Robin (created by Jerry Robinson), was introduced in issue #38, published in 1940. The publication also had several back stories, including "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdell", featured in issue #225, which introduced Martian Manhunter as a character.
In the 1970s and the early part of the 1980s, the publication showed an expanded format which featured solo adventures of some members of the Batman Family like "Robin: The Teen Wonder" and "Batgirl". It also featured "Tales of Gotham City", which told stories of the ordinary citizens of the famous fictional city. Due to the declining sales of Detective Comics in this period, DC was heavily considering canceling its namesake franchise in place of the much more popular Batman Family in a wave of cancellations called the DC Implosion. However, over the protestations of the comic creators, this series was saved and the other was merged into this one, which resulted in a format change for the series from issue #481 onwards.
In Bruce Wayne's absence, Batwoman was featured in Detective comics between issues #854-863. Currently, the book stars Dick Grayson as Batman, as well as Commissioner James Gordon.
Collected EditionsClassic Batman and ArchivedBatman: A Celebration of 75 Years (#27, 83, 211, 216, 327, 359, 395, 442, 474, 574, 633, 711, 757 and 821)Issues #27-50 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 1.Issues #51-70 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 2.The Joker: A Celebration of 75 Years (#64, 168, 180, 475, 476, 726, 741, 826)Batman Arkham: Two-Face (#66, 68, 80 & 513)Issues #71-86 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 3.Boy Commandos by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Volume Two (#74-83 & 85)Issues #87-102 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 4.Issues #103-119 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 5.Issues #120-135 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 6.Issues #136-154 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 7.Batman: The TV Stories (#140, 230, 341, 346, 359)Batman: Arkham - The Riddler (#140, 142, 377, 822 & 837)Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives, Vol. 1 (#327-333)Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives, Vol. 2 (#334-339)see also The Batman Chronicles.
Modern BatmanTales of the Batman: Len Wein (#408, #444-448, #466, #478-479, #500 and #514)Strange Apparitions (#469-476, 478-479)Year Two: Fear the Reaper (#575-578)Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Volume 1 (#579, 582-594 and 601-607)Blind Justice (#598-600)Knightfall, Vol. 1 (#659-666)Knightfall, Vol. 2 (#667-675)Knightfall, Vol. 3 (#676-677)Batman: Road To No Man's Land (#722-726)Evolution (#743-750)Batman: Bruce Wayne - Murderer? (#766-770)Batman: Bruce Wayne - Fugitive (#771-775)Batman: War Games Book One (New Edition) (#790-797)City of Crime (#800-808, #811-814)Detective (#821-826)Tales of the Batman: J.H. Williams III (#821)Death and the City (#827-834)Private Casebook (#840-845)Heart of Hush (#846-850)Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (#853)Batman Unwrapped by Andy Kubert (#853)Impostors (#867-870)The Black Mirror (#871-881)BatwomanElegy (#854-860)Showcase PresentsBatmanBatgirlRobin, The Boy WonderMartian ManhunterElongated ManOtherManhunter: The Special Edition (#437-443)The Question: Pipeline (#854-865)Please first Sign In before leaving a review.
