Batman and Robin #13

ECLIPSED

With the Joker on the loose, Damian Wayne has been reading up on him, to prepare. He has since fallen asleep amid the piles of dossier and photos, and is startled when his father wakes him, worried that the Joker has done something. Bruce assures him that nothing is happening yet, but they have a duty to do, all the same.  They suit up and together, they launch up into the Earth's atmosphere in the Batplane, despite the fact that it is still daylight out. Batman explains that it will not be daylight for long, as there is a solar eclipse today. Though Damian has seen the phenomenon before, he has never seen it from quite this perspective.  However, the view is secondary to their work. The cloaked communication satellite they're approaching is directly linked to the Batcave, and during a solar eclipse, the satellite could be sent spinning out of orbit by temporary gravity anomalies. Given that the Joker is somewhere out there, they cannot afford to lose the eyes and ears the satellite affords them. Batman teaches his son how to manually attach safeguards to protect the satellite from eclipses and solar flares - just in case something happens to him.  Watching the eclipse, Damian asks whether Bruce ever loved his mother, Talia al Ghul. Bruce admits that for a moment, he did. Damian is angry with his mother, as she has put a 500 million dollar bounty on his head, but he cannot deny some feelings for her still. As they descend, Damian thanks his father for the experience.  Despite the eclipse's imminent passing, someone criminals have taken advantage of the temporary darkness, and the Bat-Signal is lit. Batman decides to send Damian home in the plane while he checks with Commissioner Gordon.  Somewhere, a cult known as the Saturn Club has taken the eclipse as a sign that it is time for them to feed.  Batman meets with Jim Gordon at the Mount Hope Cemetery, where the night watchman and groundskeeper have been attacked by what they claimed was a zombie attack. Evidence certainly shows that these men were chewed on. The groundskeeper was killed, but his spade caught some body tissue from one of his attackers. Several graves have been opened, with indication that the dirt was thrust upward, as if the coffin's inhabitants pushed their way outward. Even so, Batman is sure that this is the work of humans - which, Jim reminds, is the last thing they need with the Joker on the loose.  After returning to the cave, Damian decides to go out on his own. For some time, he has been visiting the Gotham sewers with devices, running tests, looking for something. Suddenly, he is attacked by a monstrous frog-man - a bounty hunter seeking Talia's reward. Struggling for his life, Damian thrusts a metal pipe into the creature's flesh and then tasers him until he falls unconscious.  On his way out, he receives a call from Batman, wondering where he is. Regardless of Robin's answer, Batman urges him to go home. The opened graves, paired with several abductions from Gotham's streets are going to be trouble, and he would prefer Damian was home, so long as the bounty remains in effect.  Robin disregards the order, and is surprised, when he gets out onto the street, to see a crowd of frightened citizens running toward him, screaming about creatures coming for them. Confused, Damian turns to see a second crowd of ravenous, bloody-mouthed people chasing the first crowd.  Unsure of what to do, Robin sends his Batcycle careening into a dust control truck, spraying the oncoming horde with water. The effect doesn't last, and these people, chanting "eat to live" over and over, soon get the better of the boy.