Batman #495 Newsstand Edition

KNIGHTFALL PART 7 - STRANGE DEADFELLOWS

Batman allows Firefly to escape in order to save both their lives, wrapping his Batrope around the villain's leg, and letting Firefly's glider pull him out of the fire. Firefly realizes that he's towing his enemy, and cuts the wire, sending Batman hurtling toward the ground. Batman survives by gripping onto a fire escape as he falls.  At the same time, Jean-Paul Valley decides to go out on the streets in costume, hoping to have a trial-by-fire after training for weeks since he was humiliated by his encounter with Killer Croc. He doesn't tell Batman or Robin.  Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred reminds Bruce Wayne that he ought to attend a Wayne Foundation dinner, lest people realize that he is Batman. Bruce agrees, knowing that the dinner will likely be a target for mayhem, and he will need to be there in one mask or another.  That night, Poison Ivy prepares her plan to disrupt the dinner while Bane and his men stakeout the dinner's location, hoping to see what happens with Ivy's plan. Meanwhile, Joker and Scarecrow force Mayor Krol to send the Gotham City Police Department on a wild goose-chase.  At the dinner, Bruce realizes that the police guards are nowhere to be found, and grows suspicious. Bane, watching from above, realizes that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one and the same, after witnessing him in public. Suddenly, Bruce senses that some kind of plant toxin is being pumped into the room, and he struggles to get a nose-filter in to protect himself.  Poison Ivy appears, and instructs all the men in the room to leave for Neo Eden. Bruce pretends to be in her thrall, in order not to give himself away, and files into the back of a truck. Bane instructs his man Bird to follow it.  Once the truck arrives at its destination, Ivy instructs the men to form a line so she can relieve them of their valuables and money. Bruce takes the opportunity to sneak off and get into his costume. As Ivy prepares to kiss (and thereby infect) her victims, Batman tosses a Batarang into her face. In response, she summons some previously infected goons to attack him. Batman becomes increasingly exhausted with each foe that he takes down, much to Bane's pleasure. Even so, he manages to subdue Poison Ivy, and call ambulances for her victims.  Meanwhile, much of the Gotham Police Department is at an amusement park, believing that Mayor Krol is being held captive by the Joker and Scarecrow there (though he is actually being held captive in his own home). The Mayor's voice leads them to a bomb, which goes off moments later, killing many officers.  Back at his hideout, Bane hopes that Batman can withstand the threat of the Joker, in order that he can face Bane, finally.

Continues in DETECTIVE COMICS #662