- I thought I taught you that you have to eliminate all possibilities in a homicide investigation. The only wrong guesses are the one you overlook.
Detective Comics #681 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1995.
Synopsis for "Knight Without Armor"
Batman and Robin investigate a homicide case. A witness told them what he saw and described the assassin as a big figure with wings, claws, helmet and all clad in metal. From the description Dick thinks it was Azrael; but Tim thought differently. They decided to follow their own hunches to find the killer. Dick went in search of Azrael and Tim headed back to the batcave to do some research. He analyzed the current victims and deduced one possible target.
Dick searched for Jean-Paul and found that the guy was living at some missionary residence for the homeless. When he faced Valley, he freaked out and asked Batman to leave him alone. Dick then realized that Jean-Paul was in no shape to be a serial killer. Robin on the other hand reached the location of the next victim just as it was about to be ambushed. He managed to defeat a pair of thugs but then the killer arrived, killed his target and pointed out that as a witness Robin must die.
Dick returned to the batcave, expecting to hear Tim saying "told you" for making a mistake with Jean-Paul; but instead he finds Bruce waiting for him.
Appearing in "Knight Without Armor"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Bruce Wayne
- Harold Allnut
- Harvey Bullock
- Jean-Paul Valley
- Mackenzie Bock (First appearance)
- Renée Montoya
- Robin
- Sarah Essen-Gordon
- Stan Kitch
Antagonists:
- Big Danny Fresco (Single appearance; dies)
- Chubby Moran (Single appearance; dies)
- Handy Andy Baron (Single appearance; dies)
- Little Danny Fresco (Single appearance; dies)
- Lucky Silver (Single appearance; dies)
- Morry "The Mallet" DeVane (Single appearance; dies)
- Nick "The Grip" Teller (Single appearance; dies)
- Steeljacket (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Hendricks
- Vince (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in the Batman: Prodigal, Batman: Prodigal New Edition and Batman: Knightfall Volume Three - KnightsEnd trade paperbacks.
- Bruce Wayne appeared last in Batman #512. He appears next in Robin (Volume 2) #13.
- Jean-Paul Valley appeared last in Showcase '94 #10. He appears next in Azrael #1.
- First appearance of Steeljacket. He appears next in Robin (Volume 2) #13.
- The events of this issue takes place between Shadow of the Bat #34 and Robin #13.
Trivia
- The cover features a newspaper that reads "Nolan Did Cover". This is a reference to the cover artist Graham Nolan, who did the actual cover.
- There is a mention to Jean-Paul's favorite Disney movie as part of the info gathering on the man.