Story: "Personal Effects" (22 Pages)

Credits:

Devin Grayson (plot, script)
Paul Ryan (pencils) John Floyd (inks)
Bill Oakley (letters)
Jean Segarra (colors)
Wildstorm FX (color seperations)
Dennis O'Neil (edits)

Feature Character:

Batman
Oracle (also in flashback)

Supporting Characters:

Alfred Pennyworth
James Gordon (also in flashback)
Harvey Bullock
Renée Montoya
Roger and Thelma Gordon (both in flashback)

Villains:

Councilman Sherwin Waldemar
Bentley Stuart (first appearance of both)
Penguin
Rudy
Gantz
Rolo (some of Penguin's men)

Synopsis:

Through his social contacts as Bruce Wayne, Batman learns of the terrible actions of a Gotham City councilman who diverted a shipment of 'Contagion' antidote for his own financial gain. The documents that prove this were buried in the cataclysmic earthquake. Batman finds the vault and discovers Waldemar's box empty, along with a box belonging to Barbara Gordon, who is anxious that its contents don't fall into the hands of the police. So Batman investigates alone, finding that the trail leads first to the Penguin and then to Bentley Stuart, another of Wayne's acquaintances, who was working for the Penguin, but decided to blackmail Councilman Waldemar alone. He is able to save Bentley from the Penguin's hired guns, and hand him and most of his findings over to the police. However, he takes an envelope addressed to Jim Gordon back to Barbara. Although he hasn't read it, she tells him what it contains - a letter from her mother to Jim (Barbara's father's brother) which suggests that he might actually be Barbara's natural father. She isn't going to tell him about this, as it reflects to badly on the past of all her family.

Second Story: "The Riddle" (8 Pages)

Credits:

Walter Simonson (plot, script)
John Paul Leon (pencils, inks)
John Workman (letters)
Mark Chiarello (edits)

Feature Character:

Batman

Villain: Riddler

Other Characters: Sir Richard Pettifogger (deceased billionaire, behind the scenes)
Machlan (a police officer)

Comment: This story takes place at an unspecified point in Batman's crimefighting career.

Synopsis:

A wealthy Gothamite with a huge collection of Lewis Carroll memorabilia has died. It is rumoured that in his possession he has Carrolls' answer to the Wonderland riddle 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' and this is an irresistible target for Edward Nigma, the Riddler. He breaks into the house and negotiates his way through a maze of Wonderland and Looking Glass animatronics, until he finds himself at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, where the answer is in the teapot. However, Batman is waiting for him and captures him. And, as a final blow, tells Nigma that this is not the correct answer to the riddle, but rather one that Batman planted there, making the Dark Knight the only livng person who knows the solution.