- There's law -- and there's justice. What have you gained by all this? You've put yourself in your own prison. And I'll always be around to make sure you stay there. That's the promise I made -- and that's the promise I'll keep. For the rest of our lives.
- — Batman
Detective Comics Annual #2 is an issue of the series Detective Comics Annual (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1989.
Synopsis for "Blood Secrets"
Batman speaks to a stranger about an incident that took place when he was only a teenager. Bruce Wayne had found an aging detective named Harvey Harris, and begged him to take Bruce under his wing and teach him how to be a detective. Harvey let Bruce tag along with him, and together they began investigating a string of grisly murders in a town called Huntsville.
Harvey and Bruce discovered that the murders were related to a group of white supremacists that terrorized a nearby shantytown "a quarter of a century back". The mastermind behind these deaths was the crippled physician Dr. Malcolm Falk. Dr. Falk was the son of the supremacist movement's founder and town elder Richard Hunt. His mother was a black servant named Maybelle. Richard Hunt murdered his mistress to cover up his infidelity and also crippled his own son. To get revenge upon the surviving members of the supremacist group, Dr. Falk hired a maniac named Ben Carr to systematically slaughter them one by one.
Bruce and Harvey cracked the case and Carr was exposed. In an ensuing firefight with police, a bullet struck Harvey Harris and he died soon after but not before Harvey told Bruce with his dying words that he knew who Bruce really was behind the Frank Dixon persona and said that Bruce shouldn't let his anger get the best of him but rather control it. It was some time later that Bruce made the connection between Ben Carr and Dr. Falk. He confronted Dr. Falk and told him that he had learned the truth. However, there was no evidence to implicate him in the murder conspiracy. Now, many years later, the Batman confronts the aging Dr. Falk at Harvey Harris' tombstone. Batman visits Dr. Falk once every year to torment his conscious and remind him of the pain and death that his actions had caused.
Appearing in "Blood Secrets"
Featured Characters:
- Batman (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Harvey Harris (Single appearance; dies)
Antagonists:
- Ben Carr (Single appearance; dies)
- Malcolm Falk (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Thomas Wayne (Dies in flashback)
- Martha Wayne (Dies in flashback)
- Joe Chill (Flashback only)
- Amos (Single appearance)
- Charlotte (Single appearance)
- Chu Chin Li (Flashback only)
- Cloris Hunt-Pratt (Single appearance)
- Deke Burnley (Single appearance)
- Dewey (Single appearance)
- Jake (Single appearance)
- Lamar Nelson (Single appearance)
- Maybelle (Dies in flashback)
- Morrison (Single appearance)
- Mrs. Sykes (Single appearance)
- Nolan (Single appearance)
- Ralph J. Hopkins (Single appearance)
- Richard Hunt (Flashback only)
- Sheriff Roy (Single appearance)
- Wallace Sykes (Deceased)
- Wright (Deceased)
Locations:
- Birmingham
- Huntsville
- Nolan's
- Nolan's
- Huntsville
Synopsis for "Who's Who Entries"
A list of updated Who's Who profiles of the most famous villains of the Batman mythos.
Continuity Updates/Mistakes
- Joker: History updated to include origin and events from Batman: The Killing Joke and Batman: A Death in the Family.
- Catwoman: History updated to include origin and events from Batman: Year One and Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper.
- Penguin: First Penguin's origin story. Miranda Cobblepot is listed as Oswald's aunt, following the original Golden Age continuity. Modern updates have updated this and since, she has become his mother.
- Riddler: First reveal of the "Eddie Nashton" name. Includes origin story from Detective Comics #140. Profile also indicates that Riddler has partially retired from crime.
- Scarecrow: Profile includes origin story from World's Finest #3 and also indicates that Crane has no fighting skills. Modern updates include Crane's special fighting abilities.
- Poison Ivy: Includes origin story from Secret Origins (Volume 2) #36.
- Clayfaces I-IV: History of the characters remains unchanged from the Pre-Crisis continuity, which indicates they were not rebooted from the previous continuity into the new one.
- Ra's al Ghul: Listed as former leader of the League of Assassins as the organization has seceded. Organization is back in modern stories. Alter ego or real name is uknown. Profile includes events from Detective Comics #411, which introduced Talia and Ebenezer Darrk. Darrk's name is misspelled as "Ebeneezer". Also mentions events from Batman #232. History of the character remains unchanged from the Pre-Crisis continuity, which implies that he was not rebooted from the previous continuity into the new one.
- Two-Face: Grace Dent is included as Harve's ex-wife. Modern stories have removed her from continuity and restored Gilda Dent as his only partner. Grace was subsequently used in other continuities such as Batman: The Animated Series, under the name of Grace Lamont. Profile also includes first appearances of Paul Sloane and George Blake, both who were copycats of Two-Face in the Pre-Crisis continuity. History of the character remains unchanged from the Pre-Crisis continuity, which implies that he was not rebooted from the previous continuity into the new one.
Appearing in "Who's Who Entries"
Featured Characters:
- Joker
- Catwoman
- Penguin (Origin)
- Riddler
- Scarecrow
- Poison Ivy
- Clayface I
- Clayface II
- Clayface III
- Lady Clayface
- Ra's al Ghul
- Talia al Ghul
- Two-Face
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Notes
- This story is reprinted in Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 4.
- The Who's Who entries were reprinted in Who's Who Omnibus Vol. 1.
- The story opens "Forty years ago" from the "now" sections of the story. It does not state that Batman returns to visit Falk every year since the case, only that the Dark Knight "keeps coming back after all these years".
- In 2019, DC released another Detective Comics Annual #2 for Detective Comics (Volume 1). On the DC Database, that comic is known as Detective Comics Annual #2019.
Trivia
- The alias of "Frank Dixon" adopted by Bruce Wayne in this story, is a nod to the different authors who wrote The Hardy Boys under the alias of Franklin W. Dixon. This fact was corroborated in the letter collumn of Detective Comics #611.