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"Batman: "Crackdown on the Crime Exchange"": Batman responds to a police radio transmission and accompanies two officers into the Tower Building. Guards reported strange hammering sounds on the 25th floor. As an auction of valuable coins will soon occur on the 30th fl

Detective Comics #452 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1975.

Synopsis for Batman: "Crackdown on the Crime Exchange"

Batman responds to a police radio transmission and accompanies two officers into the Tower Building. Guards reported strange hammering sounds on the 25th floor. As an auction of valuable coins will soon occur on the 30th floor, Batman investigates the roof and finds a torn access door. Inside he confronts two men, including former circus strongman, Yak, and they fight. Batman is knocked out the window which buys the criminals time to heft a safe to the roof where a helicopter hauls it away. The villains climb down the exterior wall on previously installed mountain climbing equipment. Batman follows and the helicopter returns. Just then the villains fly out of a window on the 23rd floor and catch the passing helicopter's line and escape. A circus cannon is discovered that had been shipped in and installed over a period of weeks.

Over the next few weeks the criminal organization, the Crime Exchange, continues to have successes and thwart the police and Batman. Batman, disguised as Yak, arrives at the Crime Exchange. He finds a place to change and confronts the criminals allowing himself to be captured in hopes of encountering the leader.

Unfortunately the leader appears fully cloaked and on a giant screen. Batman pretends to be an undercover journalist but the cloaked President tests his bluff. They place a handgun with one bullet in it on a table and tell Batman to pick it up and fire the bullet into the floor. The real Batman, everyone knows, has sworn an oath to never use a gun even to save his own life. The other criminals aim their guns at Batman. If he does not fire the gun before the President counts down from five, they are to shoot him.

Appearing in Batman: "Crackdown on the Crime Exchange"

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  • Crime Exchange (First appearance)
    • President (First appearance)
    • Veep (First appearance)
    • Yak (Single appearance)

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Synopsis for Hawkman: "The Curse of the Ancient Weapons"

Carter Hall is at the airport picking up some artifacts for his museum when a wizard and his raven appear. Carter changes to Hawkman and attacks with a flail but the wizard casts a spell causing the flail to swing towards Hawkman instead. Hawkman tries talking to the raven but is ignored. Hawkman attacks again, this time with a crossbow, but another spell causes the crossbow to fire Hawkman backwards. The raven, meanwhile, grabs a tablet of incantations and flies away as the man disappears.

At home Carter and Shayera discuss the events and Shayera mentions that illusionist Konrad Kaslak has escaped. Carter forms a plan and flies to Hawk Valley where he finds a large hawk, named Big Red, and injects him with a serum that allows him to talk. Hawkman teaches him a few phrases. Later, at the the museum, the wizard and raven appear. Hawkman predicted this as the tablet they stole previously only contained half the incantations. As the raven goes for the tablet, Big Red appears claiming to see through the wizard's illusion and that he is Hawkman. The hawk attacks the raven. Suddenly the wizard (an illusion all along) disappears and the raven turns back into Kaslak in order to fight the bird. The real Hawkman appears and attacks with a sling.

Kaslak uses the spell to cause the weapon to backfire but Hawkman was counting on that and positioned himself so he would be slung forward and into Kaslak who he knocks out in the process.

Appearing in Hawkman: "The Curse of the Ancient Weapons"

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Notes

  • This issue's cover doesn't feature the Comics Code Authority stamp. This is probably because of the contents of the stories.



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