Oh. You caught me. You're just doing your jobs. You probably don't get paid much. You don't want to spend the rest of your lives on crutches. 
- — Batman
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #4 is an issue of the series Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1990.
Synopsis for "Shaman - Book Four"
As the car falls to the river, Bruce manages to escape a certain death and grabs a tree branch to stop his fall. He watches as the car goes all the way into the river and knowing that the shaman and the girl are still inside, Bruce dives in and gets them both out, barely alive. Bruce grabs the traveling suitcase and takes a lighter from the Utility Belt to start a fire and save the lives of the shaman and the girl, whose vital signs were dropping. Bruce tells the shaman to save the girl by telling her the tale of the bat and the eagle but the shaman refuses and instead he tells Bruce to do it. Bruce is unsure about it, but the shaman tells him that he has the mark in his eyes and that all he needed was to put on the Batman cowl. Bruce obeys and puts on the cowl, tells the story and almost at once, the girl recovers.
The next day, the three of them are saved by a passing car and are taken to a hospital in the town. Bruce talks to the girl and asks her about the time when her tribe saved him from death. Bruce wants to know if there was any other survivor and the girl reveals that they saved another man as well. Bruce realizes that the man they saved was in fact Tom Woodley, the assassin he fought in the mountains. With all the evidence he needed, Bruce plans his return to Gotham City and calls Alfred, warning him to be careful, not knowing that the warning might be a bit late. Before leaving Alaska, Bruce gives the old shaman some money and also a generous donation to the hospital were the girl was. The shaman tells Bruce to "become the mask", and Bruce is left pondering about the meaning of that. On his trip back, Bruce realizes that there is an odd couple traveling to Gotham as well and he knows that they were involved in the accident in the road that caused their car to fall to the river.
Upon arriving in Gotham, Bruce calls Alfred but nobody answers at Wayne Manor. Bruce leaves a message telling him that he is staying at downtown to check something up. That night, Batman breaks and enters Woodley's place and discovers the shaman disguise hidden in a secret door behind a bookshelf. Batman comes up with an elaborate plan that would allow him to examine the place more carefully. He calls the attention of the building's guards and scares them, knowing that they would call an inspector to examine the crime scene later. After that, Batman delivers a dead bat to the odd couple from Alaska with a note telling them to surrender themselves to the police.
The next day, the guards call a private inspector and they let him work alone in the room of the crime. Bruce, disguised as an inspector, places some acid in the bulletproof vest, replaces the bullets in the gun with blanks and sets some traps in the shaman disguise. When he is done, the inspector leaves the building goes into his car, where he takes off his disguise.
Bruce decides that it is time to go home and he calls Alfred to tell him that he is on his way, but nobody answers. Bruce wonders what could Alfred be doing, as he drives all his way to Wayne Manor.
At the manor, Woodley holds Alfred captive and tells him that if Bruce doesn't arrive in one more hour, he will kill him. Woodley is disguised as the shaman and in his fanatism to Chubala, he believes he works for the deity. Woodley reveals to Alfred that he killed Spurlock for stealing Chubala's symbols and now he will kill the only man that has bested him: Bruce Wayne.
Appearing in "Shaman - Book Four"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Carl Fisk
- Cult of Chubala (Behind the scenes)
- Thomas Woodley
Other Characters:
- Bernie (Single appearance)
- Peaches (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in the Batman: Shaman trade paperback.
- The issue includes a memoriam page printed in honor of Sol Harrison, former President of DC Comics, who started his career in the first comic ever published by the company.
Trivia
- There is a reference to Harvey Harris; a detective that taught Bruce many things about investigation.
- There is also mention to an Anti-Giant Bat Spray. This is a reference to the 60's TV Series: Batman, where he once used a Shark Repellant Bat-Spray.
- There are references to Winnie-the-Pooh and the christmas carol God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Batman Recommended Reading
- Batman (Volume 1)
- Batman (Volume 2)
- Batman (Volume 3)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 1)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 2)
- Batman and Robin (Volume 3)
- Batman Confidential (Volume 1)
- Batman: Gotham Knights (Volume 1)
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (Volume 1)
- Batman: Shadow of the Bat (Volume 1)
- Batman: Streets of Gotham (Volume 1)
- Batman Incorporated (Volume 1)
- Batman Incorporated (Volume 2)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 1)
- Batman/Superman (Volume 2)
- Batman/Superman: World's Finest (Volume 1)
- Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 1)
- Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 2)
- The Brave and the Bold (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 1)
- Detective Comics (Volume 2)
- Superman/Batman (Volume 1)
- World's Finest (Volume 1)