Batman: Detective

{{DC Database:Storyline Template
 * Title                  = Detective
 * Image                  = Batman Detective.jpg
 * OfficialName           = Detective
 * Aliases                =


 * Universe               = New Earth
 * Locations              = Gotham City


 * Heroes                 = Batman, Robin
 * Villains               = Doctor Phosphorus, Façade, Harley Quinn, Harvest, Joker, Little Italy, Mister ZZZ, Poison Ivy, Roxy Rocket, Rupert Thorne
 * Others                 = Alfred, James Gordon, Penguin, Riddler, Zatanna


 * Titles                 = Detective Comics
 * Collected              = Batman: Detective
 * Creators               = Paul Dini; Royal McGraw; J.H. Williams III; Don Kramer; Joe Benitez; Marcos Marz
 * First                  = Detective Comics #821
 * Last                   = Detective Comics #826


 * Quotation              = I always take murder personally in Gotham.
 * Speaker                = Batman
 * QuoteSource            = Detective Comics Vol 1 822


 * HistoryText            = Detective is a Batman storyline written by Paul Dini and illustrated by Don Kramer. This is published directly following James Robinson's crossover Face the Face, and alongside Grant Morrison's Batman run beginning in Batman and Son. It's the beginning of Dini's lengthy run on Detective Comics, leading into his second arc Death and the City.

Synopsis
Batman and Robin begin investigating a series of robberies on Gotham's wealthiest citizens, committed by criminals who pass themselves off as high society. This leads them to a mastermind named Façade who leads his gang while working as a busboy at the elite Peregrinator's Club.

Returning home after a fight with Roxy Rocket, Bruce Wayne finds the Riddler in Wayne Manor leading a murder investigation as a private detective. The Riddler has reformed and they briefly work together on the same case, although Riddler is upset when Batman solves the crime and he doesn't get his fee.

Poison Ivy is attacked by plant-life in Arkham Asylum and they take her to the Batcave for observation. Batman learns that her attacker is a shape-shifting regenerative vegetation named Harvest that has taken the personas of all her victims fed to plants. They defeat this monster but Ivy is left fearing that any contact with plant-life might be her last.

The Penguin goes straight and begins running the Iceberg Lounge as a legitimate nightclub, reasoning that he can make more money this way. Batman is doubtful, but assists Penguin when two small-time crooks Little Italy and Mister ZZZ pull off a grift to rob his casino. They share an agreement that Batman will leave Penguin alone as long as he sticks to bad T-shirts and overpriced drinks.

Doctor Phosphorus is revealed to be still alive and under observation at Cadmus Labs where his body is shown to have turned into living fire. He escapes from his confinement to take revenge on those who turned him into a monster, and kills two of the men responsible. Batman stops him from killing Rupert Thorne by covering him in bicarbonate of soda and having him imprisoned in Arkham Asylum.

Late at night during the Christmas season, Robin is being chased by thugs down a blind alley and leaps into a beckoning stranger's car to escape. This is revealed to be the Joker, who drugs him and ties him up for a joyride around Gotham. Joker forces Robin to watch as he slaughters pedestrians, but Robin escapes by tricking him into an argument about the and untying himself. They fight and Joker is thrown out onto the highway, where he's hit by a truck and goes flying off an overpass although his body isn't found when Batman checks.


 * Issues                 =
 * -- The Beautiful People
 * -- E. Nigma, Consulting Detective
 * -- Stalked
 * -- Night of the Penguin
 * -- The Return of Doctor Phosphorus
 * -- Slayride

}}
 * Notes                  =
 * Trivia                 =
 * RecommendedReading     =
 * Links                  =