The Joker hasn’t made their presence known in Knightfall yet. Time to fix that.

Batman #494

Written by Doug Moench
Pencils by Jim Aparo
Inks by Tom Mandrake
Colors by Adrienne Roy
Lettering by Richard Starkings
Edited by Jordan B. Gorfinkel & Denny O’Neil

Robin manages to escape by the skin of his teeth.

Elsewhere, Joker pays Cornelius Stirk a social call.

At the Mayor’s mansion, Krol tells Gordon that in 24 hours either Gordon will have the escapees under control, or Krol will have the governor deploy the national guard, and he will destroy Gordon’s career.

In the Batcave, Robin brings Batman up to speed, as Bane does the same with his team at their safe-house, while Trogg repairs the injector controls. That night, Batman goes on the hunt for Stirk.

Meanwhile, Scarecrow heads to a bar and interrogates a good for The Joker’s aims and location – apparently he’s planning to go after Commissioner Gordon.

Batman finds Stirk’s lair and his diary just as the Bat-Signal goes up. At GCPD, Stirk uses his hypnosis power to pose as Batman and tries to kill Gordon. The real Batman arrives just in the nick of time.

On a nearby rooftop, The Joker fumes – Stirk screwed up the plan, as they wanted Gordon alive. However, as he leaves, the Scarecrow ups with a better suggestion – how about they go after the Mayor instead.

On the roof of GCPD, Sarah Gordon berates Batman as she takes the commissioner downstairs.

And at the Mayor’s mansion, Scarecrow & The Joker have Mayor Krol, plenty of fear gas, and a phone.

The letters column this issue is entirely about John Ostrander’s Batman: Shadow of The Gun.

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