Batman: Gotham Knights #30 is an issue of the series Batman: Gotham Knights (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 2002. It was published on June 19, 2002.
Synopsis for "Turnabout, Part 1 of 2"
Dick Grayson has finished his day at the Bludhaven Police Department and he is walking along with Amy Rohrbach when he listens the radio call about a masked man creating trouble in a nearby market. Dick says good-bye to Amy and he goes to the place as Nightwing. He finds some officers on the street and he tells them to stay back as he is going in to deal with the man. Upon entering the place, Nightwing finds several people badly injured and following the trail of damaged bodies, he finds the perpetrator: Azrael wearing the armored Batsuit he used during his time as Batman. Nightwing tries to understand what happened as he tries to save a man barely alive when Az-Bats attacks him from behind and gets outside to steal the Wingcycle and the Police is unable to stop him. Nightwing recovers and takes one of the police cars to chase down Azrael, who is much faster in the Wingcycle. Nightwing contacts Oracle and tells her what's happening, but she already knows it all. Azrael was diagnosed by Dr. Leslie Thompkins with a rare blood disease and the fact that his chances of survive are really low seem to have affected him too much. Jean-Paul went back to the Batcave, retrieved his old costume and attacked Alfred in the process. The news enrage Nightwing, who decides to take a short-cut to trap Az-Bats, but Nightwing is outsmarted and he finds the Wingcycle standing in the middle of the street with no pilot and the rest of the police cars fell directly into the trap. One of them crashes directly against the cycle and in an attempt to stop the car, the car flips in the air and comes crashing down. Nightwing uses the radio to report the accident and calls an ambulance and the fire department.
Barbara contacts Batman and tells him about Az-Bats. Without a dull moment, Batman heads to the Batcave. Fearing the worse, Oracle calls Robin and asks him to check something for her, since he is the only one available at the moment.
Meanwhile, Azrael has an hallucination of St. Dumas telling him the truth about what he needs to do. Azrael goes to the Batcave to claim back the mantle of the bat, since the man wearing it has commited murder and is no longer worthy of the costume. Batman is waiting for Azrael in the cave and tells him to go home and stop being foolish. Azrael doesn't like it and he attacks Batman. They start a fight in the cave and after a few rounds, Azrael manages to land a great kick on Batman's chest and tells him how disappointed to know Batman is a murderer and a hypocrite. Batman recovers and takes off the cowl from Jean-Paul and soon, he starts strangling the man, when someone screams his name from behind.
Appearing in "Turnabout, Part 1 of 2"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Bludhaven Police Department
- Saint Dumas (In a vision)
- Alfred Pennyworth (Mentioned only)
- Leslie Thompkins (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Punchline"
A cat burglar has stolen from the Gotham Bank, but as soon as he is outside, he notices the Bat-Signal behind him. As the burglar runs away from it, he comes across a sign pointing in opposite directions, one leading to the police and other with the word "Run". He looks at where the police sign was pointing and he actually finds a police car. The bat-signal is approaching the burglar and he decides to follow the run sign, but as soon as he starts running, he is punched in the belly with a big boxing glove with an extensor and knocks the thief down. Harley then turns off the flashlight modeled after the Batsignal she used to lure the thief and she retrieves the money. However, she notices a batsignal in the wall despite her flashlight being turned off. She turns the light on again and discovers that Batman is standing right next to her.
Appearing in "Punchline"
Featured Characters:
- Thief
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Gotham City
- Gotham Bank
Items:
Notes
- "Turnabout, Part 1 of 2" is reprinted in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive.
- This is the 14th part of the storyline titled Bruce Wayne: Fugitive. The previous chapter is Batgirl #29 and the story continues in Azrael: Agent of the Bat #91.
- "Punchline" is reprinted in Batman: Black & White, Vol. 3 and Batman: Harley Quinn.
- This story has no dialogue (hence, no letterer credit).
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
  This comic issue is a part of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive story that went through every Batman Family title in 2002. Bruce Wayne was framed for the murder of his love interest Vesper Fairchild and forced to go on the run from the law so he could prove his innocence. This adventure almost completely compromised his identity from the inside. Bruce Wayne: Murderer?
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive
Batman #600 • Birds of Prey #41 • Gotham Knights #27 • Batman #601 • Detective Comics #769 • Batgirl #27 • Nightwing #68 • Gotham Knights #28 • Detective Comics #770 • Nightwing #69 • Birds of Prey #43 • Batman #603 • Detective Comics #771 • Batgirl #29 • Gotham Knights #30 • Azrael #91 • Detective Comics #772 • Gotham Knights #31 • Batman #605 |