Batman: Digital Justice is a one-shot with a cover date of April, 1990.
Synopsis for "Digital Justice"
In the 21st Century, a computer virus from long ago has become the first Digital Dictator, calling itself the Joker. The virus has access to several weaponized computers and vehicles and uses them to create chaos and havoc in the modern Gotham City. James Gordon II, the grandson of the legendary Commissioner Gordon, is a member of the GCPD, but despite his best efforts to crack the cybernetic system in order to stop the virus, is unable to prevent the murder of his partner, Lena Schwartz.
Beaten, Gordon recalls the tales told by his grandfather about the Dark Knight and searching through his old personal belongings, Gordon finds a note from Bruce Wayne attached to a box containing the Batsuit. Gordon learns that Bruce Wayne was the mythological Batman of old and decides to use the suit that was given to his grandfather in order to work outside of the system and stop some of the violence started by the Joker's takeover.
The authorities of the city are concerned about the rumors about the return of Batman, and in their organized corruption, they assist the Joker in gaining total control of the city's digital system. Meanwhile, superstar performer Gata is furious about the Batman taking all the attention from the public and doing some background research on the legend of the Bat and his enemies, she adopts the identity of Catwoman.
Certain night, Gordon tries to break into the building of Madam X, the Mayor of Gotham, but he was attacked by a servo-drone, a cybernetic vehicle programmed by the GCPD to strike criminals. However, this drone was controlled by Joker and Madam X and when Batman is defeated, the drone can learn his identity before leaving him unconscious.
Upon returning home, Gordon learns that Neo-Surfer Bobby Chang has deduced that he is Batman and wants to join him as Robin. Gordon has no choice but to accept, but his actions have caused the Batcomputer inside the original Batcave to reactivate. When several servo-drones attempt to stop Gordon and Chang, they are rescued by a Bat-craft, which takes them to the original Batcave. Inside, they are greeted by Alfred, the droid, and Batcomp, the Batman program that Bruce Wayne developed in his retirement years. Batcomp explains that it was programmed to reactivate once the Batsuit was used by another man and now that it is in complete functionality, Batcomp explains that the Joker virus was created by the original Joker, many decades ago. Batcomp explains that in order to stop the virus, "he" needs access to the system's mainframe and in order to do so, Batman needs to distract the authorities of the city who are protecting the Joker. For this mission, Batcomp provides Gordon and Chang new equipment, including Batsuits and weapons developed by Bruce Wayne and so the new and modern Batman and Robin go out on the streets to stop Madam X and her followers.
With the distraction in place, Batcomp confronts the Joker virus in the digital realm, while Batman and Robin eliminate Madam X's thugs one by one. Although Catwoman tries to stop them, she eventually joins their efforts. When most of the thugs are defeated, Madam X manages to stop the vigilantes and captures them, taking them to a digitalizing chamber, where they would be transported to the digital realm. With Batman inside, the Joker virus gains access to Batcomp's memory database and erases the prime memory that makes Batman work. At that moment, the Alfred droid inserts a memory disk into the database, restoring Batman's memory and overloading the system, causing Batcomp and the Joker virus to be destroyed. Madame X dies in the ensuing explosion and she reveals that Catwoman is a clone of hers right before she dies. The vigilantes remain and Batman decides that it's time to rebuild the balance between the digital and the real world, in order to prevent further takeovers from evil minds and programs. And so, the Batman must remain alive.
Appearing in "Digital Justice"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Robin/Robert Chang
- Gotham City Police Department
- Sergeant Lena Schwartz (Single appearance; dies)
- Captain Howard Grover
- Farrell (Dies)
- Sal (Dies)
- Gata/Catwoman
- Bruce Wayne (Flashback only)
- Commissioner James Gordon (Flashback only)
- Batcom
- Alfred
- Paul Fahmy aka Know Man
Antagonists:
- Joker (Flashback only)
- Joker Virus
- Madam X
- Luke Crater aka Law Man
- Hiroshi Basho aka Mob Lord
- Jackie Becker aka Media Man
- John B. Badd (Dies)
- Mr. Jones
- Neo-Neo-Nazis
- Ricardo Kelly
- Neo-Surfers
Other Characters:
- Thomas Wayne (In a vision)
- Martha Wayne (In a vision)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Bat-craft
Trivia
- The story makes a reference to Sgt. Rock and the Easy Company.