Is this some kind of -- joke? 
Batman #511 is an issue of the series Batman (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1994.
Synopsis for "The Night Before Zero"
In Gotham City, while running away from Batman, the Joker is surprised to be apprehended by... Batgirl, who he had crippled and left in a wheel chair several years earlier. When Batman and Robin catch up to them, the Joker escapes while they are distracted by seeing Batgirl.
Batgirl's timeline
Apparently in an alternate timeline, Batgirl explains to them that instead of crippling her, the Joker had killed her father, Commissioner Gordon. In this timeline, the Police, rather than working friendly with the Batman Family, view them as dangerous vigilantes and are ordered to shoot on sight. The new police commissioner is... Harvey Dent. Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon are apparently also involved in a romantic relationship.
Confused about reality, Batman retreats to the Batcave to search for answers. He consults Oracle, who exists simultaneously as Batgirl, paradoxically. He decides to visit Harvey Dent to try and talk some sense into him.
At Gotham City Police Headquarters, the Joker knocks out the entire Police Department and kidnaps Dent, bringing the corpse of Jim Gordon with him. When Batman bursts in to stop the Joker, after incapacitating him he finds that Harvey Dent has reverted to becoming Two-Face again. And the corpse of Commissioner Gordon is now just the regular and very confused Commissioner Gordon.
Batman leaves, and briefly visits Oracle to talk about the Crisis, and her other self, who continues to act as Batgirl even in their timeline. Batman determines he needs to find help, and he goes to meet with Superman on the outskirts of Metropolis.
Appearing in "The Night Before Zero"
Featured Characters:
- Batgirl/Barbara Gordon (Alternate Universe) (First appearance)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Supporting Characters:
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Alternate Universe) (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- Jim Gordon (Alternate Universe) (Single appearance) (Dies in flashback) (Cameo)
- Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
- Robin (Tim Drake)
Antagonists:
- Gotham City Police Department (Alternate Universe) (First appearance)
- Commissioner Harvey Dent (First appearance)
- The Joker
- The Joker (Alternate Universe) (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- Two-Face (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Gargoyles (Only as statues) (Cameo)
- Gotham City Police Department
- Robin (Dick Grayson) (Cameo)
- Superman (Cameo)
- Sal Maroni (Mentioned only)
- Sal Maroni (Alternate Universe) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Sarah Essen (Alternate Universe) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Hypertime (Unnamed) (Behind the scenes)
- Splinterverse (First appearance; unnamed) (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Gotham City (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- Barbara Gordon's Apartment (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- Gotham Cemetery (First appearance)
- Gotham City (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Splinterverse (First appearance; unnamed) (Flashback only)
- New Earth
- United States of America
- Gotham City
- Metropolis (Mentioned only)
- United States of America
Items:
Vehicles:
Events:
- The Killing Joke (Flashback only)
Concepts:
Notes
- This issue is a part of the Zero Hour crossover event.
- This issue occurs simultaneously with Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #4.
- The events of Zero Hour: 30th Anniversary Special #1 will reveal that Batgirl's timeline, which Waverider renames as Splinterverse, was actually created by Parallax/Hal Jordan's power.
- This alternate Batgirl will be erased from reality in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #0.
- Harvey Dent was supposed to have become the criminal Two-Face when he was splashed with acid by crime boss Salvatore Maroni during a trial. In this timeline, the Joker killed Maroni.
- This issue is reprinted in:
Trivia
- The Joker crippled Barbara Gordon, not knowing she was secretly Batgirl in Batman: The Killing Joke. Rather than continuing her street vigilantism, she adopted the new persona of Oracle in Suicide Squad #23.
- The Joker references Batman as having had an impostor. He is talking about Azrael inheriting the mantle during Knightfall, which Batman only just took back in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #63.
- Oracle mentions that all communications to Metropolis are down. Metropolis was recently destroyed in both Fall of Metropolis and Worlds Collide.
- This issue makes several references to Bell's theorem, a theory which basically posits that the predictions of quantum mechanics are counter-intuitive, and has ramifications toward the possibility of alternate timelines.
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
