After Black Mask’s gang has been rounded up, Batman has to deal with the aftermath.

Batman #486

Written by Doug Moench
Art & Letters by Jim Aparo
Colors by Adrienne Roy
Edited by Scott Peterson and Denny O’Neil

We open on the dawn after the fight with Black Mask. His gang has been rounded up while he escaped. Batman still has to take him down, though his nose infuriatingly won’t stop bleeding.

Meanwhile, at a dockside pub, a guy wearing what appears to be a ski mask with a spiked flail coming out of the top goes asking about black Mask. When mocked for his really stupid costume, he wrecks shop until he’s pointed to Sharkey’s.

In the Batcave, Bruce puts off sleep, eating, and having his nose fixed.

That day, Tim picks up his dad from his physical therapy appointment from Dr. Shonda Kinsolving. Things are going well, though Kinsolving is also recommending acupuncture on top of her existing services, and Jack hates needles.

That night, Spike-head goes to Sharkey’s and trashes the place next.

In the Batcave, Robin comes in as Harold is debugging a computer animation program that produces results that look a lot like Batman: The Animated Series (which is currently airing as this issue was coming out), while Harold eats Bruce’s intended dinner. Tim & Alfred walk through the Batcave and talk about why Batman can’t ease back.

Oh, and a quick note, since I skipped the issue that introduced Harold – Harold is a non-verbal Autistic man who is a gifted engineer. He had been making toys for some of the neighborhood kids in the part of Gotham where he lived, when neighborhood parents decided that he must be a pedophile, and decided to form a lynch mob so they could kill him. Batman was able to save Harold and fend them off, but not before they destroyed his home.

Batman took him in, and since then he’s been designing some of the Bat gadgets (including a remote microphone that was used in the last arc to get eavesdrop on a conversation from the other side of a window.)

Speaking of Batman, currently he’s arrived at Sharkey’s and learns from the injured patrons the name of the guy – Metalhead – and he’s looking for Black Mask, and was directed to the Simonis family crypt.

Batman reaches the crypt, and learns Metalhead wanted to join Black Mask’s gang, which means they has fight. Batman triumphs, but is even further in bad shape as Alfred & Robin pull up and get him back to the Batcave.

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