- With gods like the Idiot... who needs devils?
- — Batman
Detective Comics #639 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1991.
Synopsis for "The Queen of Hearts"
Batman and the Queen of Hearts find themselves in a bizarre dimension known as the Idiot Zone, where the Idiot holds absolute power. After effortlessly fending off their attacks, the Idiot explains that he can "eat" minds in the Idiot Zone by overloading them with nonsensical thoughts, and demonstrates on the Queen. Batman, who had only tasted a trace of Crosby's drug, quickly slips back into reality, but the Queen is left a catatonic husk like Rio's "dead boys". Batman then sees Crosby and Zeno fleeing on a truck, together with Crosby's "angels" - children that he had taken from the slums. Though Batman fails to stop the truck, he manages to capture Zeno, whom he interrogates and eventually guilts into helping him.
From Crosby's remaining notes and Zeno, Batman learns that Crosby had created the Idiot by electronically linking the minds of four mental patients and feeding them the idiot root, a psychoactive plant used by natives in the Amazon rainforest. Upon meeting his creator, the Idiot had convinced Crosby that he was a god, with the potential to deliver all mankind to Heaven. Crosby thus became obsessed with empowering the Idiot, and began smuggling batches of distilled idiot root into Rio as the latest street drug, giving the Idiot a steady stream of minds to feed on. With each mind, the Idiot gains a stronger foothold in reality.
Batman and Zeno fly to the rainforest, where Crosby has already entered the final stage of his plan - instead of luring drug addicts, he can feed his angels the root directly, as the Idiot only needs a few more minds to gain a permanent body. En route, the Idiot attacks and crashes the plane, but Batman escapes in time and rescues Zeno from the burning wreckage. Eventually, they find the ruined temple where Crosby has taken refuge, and are attacked by Crosby's angels, who have also been seduced by the Idiot's promise of Heaven.
Frightened by the odds, Zeno flees and leaves Batman to be overpowered by the children and knocked unconscious. When Batman awakens, he finds himself tied to the ground, Crosby preparing to inject him with a vial of idiot root extract.
Appearing in "The Queen of Hearts"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Zeno
Antagonists:
- Queen of Hearts (Final appearance)
- The Idiot
- Dr. Crosby
- Crosby's angels
Other Characters:
- Slim
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This story continues from Batman #472 and is continued in Batman #473.
- Includes a sixteen-page Sonic the Hedgehog comic strip advertisement for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game for Sega Genesis.
- This story is reprinted in Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 5.
See Also
Links and References
The Idiot Root | |||
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Batman #472 | Detective Comics #639 | Batman #473 | Detective Comics #640 |