The Batman Chronicles #17

NO MAN'S LAND PART 27

LITTLE BOY LOST

Francine Langstrom uses her son Aaron Langstrom to find food as he can smell meat and other products from great distances and he can also see in the dark, all because of the mutant genes inherited from his father. Langstrom is keeping some of the food found by her son to feed him and her daughter Becky; and some others she rationed among the people in her neighborhood.  A couple of thugs spots the Langstroms and decides to gain some profit out of them. A man named Graff attacks Francine and kidnaps her son in order to sell the kid over to Penguin. Francine goes to see the Penguin but the man refuses to help her in any way. Batman notices the presence of Francine and forces the Penguin to tell him why was she there. After Batman is gone, Penguin ordered his henchmen to find and kill Graff.  Batman learns about Francine's son and he goes to her home and offers his help but he discovers that she has already injected herself with the Man-Bat Serum. While she is transforming into the woman-bat creature, Batman asks where is her daughter, and Francine tells him that she is safe. Later, after the transformation is complete, Francine moves out to find her son and Batman follows. They go to the subway station were Graff is holding Aaron prisoner. Francine attacks Graff and the man runs away in fear. Graff comes across the Penguin henchmen and they kill him as their boss told them to.  In the end, Francine and her son are reunited and are planning to leave the city and live free as Bat-people. Batman asks her what would happen to Becky and at that moment, Becky arrives also transformed into a woman-bat. Once together they leave Gotham.

TURN ON, TUNE IN, FREAK OUT

A man named Jenkin Yates is a TV show host that was trapped in Gotham after the earthquake and he decided to continue broadcasting his TV show with hope that someone would watch him. Batman and Oracle are aware of the man's program and they decide that the man could help save Gotham.  Yates could broadcast the events and the lives of the people of No Man's Land as part of his TV show and it would be watched on national TV. The citizens of the United States of America watches the stories of the people inside No Man's Land and most are touched by what they watched. However, the TV Studio is being attacked by a street gang and Yates knows that his time might be over soon. Batman along with Oracle's help, goes to the studio and clears the street gang. Yates is shocked to see that the gang is gone and then he informs the national viewers that he will continue his broadcastings in the regular schedule.  Oracle wonders if Yates' efforts will be useful sometime and Batman tells her that if just one man is touched by what they see, there might be hope for Gotham. At that moment a man in Washington, D.C. starts to make some phone calls after having watched the TV Show.

IDENTITY CRISIS

Batman is fighting Killer Croc when both of them fall to the ground from a tall building. Once on the floor, Batman is distracted by some noise behind him and Croc seizes the chance to grab the cowl and take it off. Batman knocks Croc before he can recognize him but the noise Batman heard earlier is caused by a man standing in the shadows nearby. The old man is named Patrick Kryder and he recognizes Batman as Bruce Wayne.  Kryder met Bruce in a prom where they exchanged some ideas. Kryder was a former psychiatrist and he was assigned to treat Two-Face back in Arkham Asylum. Kryder was aware of Two-Face's obsession with Batman and after knowing the man's true identity, he thinks that speaking to Harvey about it would grant him some privileges in No Man's Land.  Kryder goes to see Two-Face in order to give him the news and to gain something in exchange, but when he arrives, Two-Face has nothing but contempt for the man. Kryder tries to convince Harvey and tells him that he knows Batman's identity but Two-Face is not interested in knowing that, and after tossing his coin he kills Kryder and tells his henchmen to get rid of the body in the nearby dump. While they were doing that, Batman stops them and knocks them out. He recognizes Kryder from their past meeting and feels sorry for the man.