| Slot: |
Detective Comics 647 |
| Item: |
Detective Comics 647 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4522462005
|
Owner Comments
August, 1992
"Inquiring Minds"
Chuck Dixon - Writer
Tom Lyle - Penciler
Matt Wagner - Cover Artist
Scott (more...)August, 1992
"Inquiring Minds"
Chuck Dixon - Writer
Tom Lyle - Penciler
Matt Wagner - Cover Artist
Scott Hanna - Inker
Adrienne Roy - Colorist
John Costanza - Letterer
Dennis O'Neil - Editor
Dick Giordano - Executive Editor
Synopsis:
Arthur Brown, once the costumed criminal known as the Cluemaster, is declared cured of his criminal psychosis and paroled from Blackgate Penitentiary. In truth, however, Brown has merely been cured of his compulsion to send clues to the authorities; his criminal instincts remain strong as ever, and he quickly dons his old costume and seeks out a new gang to commit robberies through. Brown's intelligence leads to a string of successful heists, and true to his word, none of them are foreshadowed with his trademark clues.
Meanwhile, former District Attorney Armand Krol launches his mayoral campaign, based mainly around condemning Commissioner Gordon and the police department for relying on costumed vigilantes. Ironically, one of Krol's speeches inspires a blonde teenage girl to begin a vigilante career of her own, beginning with foiling Brown's future heists by sending clues of her own to the police.
The constant stream of clues eventually attracts attention from Batman and Robin, who confront Brown but fail to find any evidence of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, this confrontation causes Brown's new gang to become suspicious, forcing Brown to kill their former leader in order to maintain control. Now the undisputed leader of the gang, Brown vows to kill not only Batman and Robin, but also the "impostor" Cluemaster who threatens to ruin everything.
As Brown rants, a mysterious figure in a purple hooded cloak watches silently.
Notes:
- Signed by: Matt Wagner on 11/10/2024
- In the scene where Stephanie Brown is interrupted by her mother while in the act of producing clues for the police, Stephanie is conspicuously wearing white gloves. The final panel of the scene shows a closeup of her hand upon which the artists forget to draw a glove. The colorist attempts to correct the error by coloring her hand white.
Quotes:
"You see, I would use my puzzlements as a way of compensating for a lack of self-esteem. I wanted to show my intellectual superiority. But thanks to the wonders of modern psychiatry, all I want now is to be rich." — Cluemaster (less...)
|
| Slot: |
Detective Comics 648 |
| Item: |
Detective Comics 648 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4522462004
|
Owner Comments
August, 1992
"Let the Puzzlement Fit the Crime"
Chuck Dixon - Writer
Tom Lyle - Penciler
Matt Wagner (more...)August, 1992
"Let the Puzzlement Fit the Crime"
Chuck Dixon - Writer
Tom Lyle - Penciler
Matt Wagner - Cover Artist
Scott Hanna - Inker
Adrienne Roy - Colorist
John Costanza - Letterer
Dennis O'Neil - Editor
Dick Giordano - Executive Editor
Synopsis:
From the recent string of clues, Batman and the police become certain that Arthur Brown has in fact returned to the mantle of the Cluemaster. Batman, wanting to reduce some of the political pressure on Commissioner Gordon, stays on the sidelines while the police raid Brown's apartment by themselves. Unfortunately, Brown has already vacated the apartment, leaving nothing but a bomb - attached to Cutter's corpse - inside.
While the police deal with the bomb, Robin sees a stranger in a hooded cloak fleeing the scene, and gives chase. He eventually catches up to and unmasks the stranger, only to find a teenage girl. Robin is stunned by this, allowing the girl to strike him in the face with a brick and escape. Ultimately, the apartment bomb fails to kill anyone, but Cluemaster still judges it a success, as the authorities will now believe him dead. His ultimate heist, set for the Labor Day weekend, remains on-schedule.
Some time later, Commissioner Gordon is forced to meet with Armand Krol, who is all-but guaranteed to become Gotham's next mayor. Despite his campaign rhetoric, Krol promises to keep Gordon as police commissioner - but only as a liaison to Batman. Meanwhile, Robin investigates the young woman who'd struck him, and eventually determines that she is none other than Stephanie Brown, Cluemaster's daughter. Upon meeting Stephanie, however, Robin learns that she despises her father, and seeks to ruin him by any means necessary.
Impressed, Robin brings Stephanie to meet Batman. Stephanie, now calling her costumed identity "the Spoiler", tells Batman what she'd managed to eavesdrop from her father: a heist is to take place at the Castleland Park mall, around eleven o' clock, with millions in charity money as the prize.
Notes:
- Signed by: Matt Wagner on 11/10/2024
- Stephanie's mother's name is given in this issue as "Agnes Bellinger", contrasting later appearances where it is "Crystal Brown".
Quotes:
"Why would I want to save him? I hate his guts. I have to have a world-class psycho for a dad. I'd like to see him rot in jail." — The Spoiler (less...)
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