You see, this place is special, Dick. It is a city of nightmares. And I'm yours. I'm the face you see in the glass. A man with no conscience. No empathy. 
Detective Comics #881 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 2011.
Synopsis for "The Face in the Glass"
Barbara Gordon’s wheelchair is found outside the Kord Needle, covered in Barbara’s blood. James Jr. shows Barbara he stabbed her with a knife in each leg, each in her femoral arteries, so if she pulls either out, she’ll bleed to death.
James Jr. tells Barbara that when Commissioner Gordon put him in Arkham Asylum to scare him straight, he was a few cells down from the Joker, but Barbara doubts James Jr. planted the idea to shoot her. He admits he didn't. Barbara says she never thought he’d monologue like all the other villains in Gotham, and in retaliation, James Jr. pulls out one of the knives. James Jr. says this isn’t about her, it’s about him.
James Jr. contacts Batman, calling him “Dick.” He tells Batman the Diaxamyne did work, but the clinical trial convinced him that as a psychopath he was a more evolved human; however, he couldn’t go on as he had hurting people forever before he got caught. Then he recognized Dick Grayson as Batman. He returned to Gotham, convincing the teen boys to free the birds from the aviary and buying the old Joker Venom from the Dealer. He saved Batman at Mirror House, dragging him to the alley where he was found by Red Robin. He bribed an Arkham guard to deliver the venom to the Joker while he framed the villain for the attack on his mother. He plans to kill Barbara, then Commissioner Gordon, because he believes Dick’s compassion makes him so weak he will give up if they’re killed, and no one will know whether he tainted the baby formula for another twenty years.
As he spoke, Barbara escaped and hid, and when James Jr. finds her, she punches him. He is momentarily stunned before giving chase. He has her cornered, but Batman comes up from behind and knocks him away. He tells Barbara he planted a tracker on James Jr. when they met for lunch. He might be soft, but he isn’t stupid. Gordon shoots James Jr. in the leg as he tries to escape, causing him to fall off a bridge, but Gordon catches him and refuses to let go.
Wayne Enterprises dismantles the crime lab because the GCPD refused to use it. Dick tells Gordon they tested the baby formula vats, but the results were inconclusive; if James Jr. did taint the formula, he did it long ago, but Dick thinks that if he had, there would still be trace amounts in the vats. Below them, a baby passing by in their stroller stares blankly ahead.
Appearing in "The Face in the Glass"
Featured Characters:
- Batman (Dick Grayson) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- James Gordon Jr. (Flashback and main story)
Other Characters:
- The Dealer (Flashback only)
- Sarah Essen (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Gotham City
- Texas (Flashback only)
Items:
- Bat-Signal
- Diaxamene
- Joker Toxin
Vehicles:
Notes
- This is the final issue of Detective Comics prior to the New 52 reboot.
- The series resumed its original numbering system with Detective Comics #934 in 2016.