When we last left Detective Comics, The General’s War Dogs have decided to enact the plan of Cyrus from The Warriors – with the next step being cribbed from Assault on Precinct 13.
Detective Comics #656
Written by Chuck Dixon
Pencilled by Tom Mandrake
Inked by Scott Hanna
Colors by Adrienne Roy
Lettering by John Costanza
Edited by Scott Peterson and Denny O’Neil
The General is laying siege to the 43rd Precinct – starting with cutting the phones and power, and taking out the radio tower with a rocket launcher. The order is given to go in – and take no prisoners.
The police try to hod out, as Batman comes roaring in through the War Dogs perimeter. However, it’s a two-fold diversion, as Batman is operating the Batmobile from a rooftop by remote control. First, it is an attempt to divert some of the General’s troops to pursue the Batmobile. Second, it’s being done to confirm the General’s identity. The former is a failure, but the latter is a success, as Batman sees The General giving orders, and is taken aback by him being a kid.
someone said this, I could buy LexCorp”
The General and his men manage to get into the building and burst into the impound room to seize drugs and money to fund their war efforts, along with grabbing additional guns. This distracts them, allowing Batman to strike. The General tries to get his men to stand and fight, repeating that Batman is “Only one man!” – a cry that works exactly as well as it has for numerous bosses before.
The General’s men route, and the General himself is forced to flee – with what is either actual or feigned helplessness – probably a combination of the two. He makes it to a rooftop across the street where he starts planning his return to power before being quickly captured and trussed up by Batman, who leaves him for the police – who are informed by the members of the War Dogs that they were being led by a child under the age of 18.
And watching all of this – is Bird. He returns to Bane to report, and they decide that Black Maks and The General were an… inadequate demonstration of Batman’s skills. To push Batman harder, they will need to put him against more ambitious enemies.
There’s a brief interstitial page after this, where we briefly meet The General’s family, and we get what is meant to be a darkly comic sitcom interlude, but it just doesn’t work given the circumstances and the number of dead that The General was responsible for.
That morning, Alfred comes to bring Bruce breakfast and finds him collapsed, exhausted, wearing the Batsuit in the chair next to the bed.
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