Story: "The Apocalypse Plague. Contagion: Part One" (22 Pages)

Credits:

Alan Grant (plot, script)
Vince Giarrano (pencils)
Ray McCarthy (inks)
Pamela Rambo (colors)
Android Images (color separations)
Bill Oakley (letters)
Dennis O'Neil (edits)

Feature Character:

Batman (next in Detective Comics #695)

Guest Star:

Azrael V (last in Azrael #14, next in Robin Vol. 2 #27)

Supporting Characters:

Robin III (next in Detective Comics #695)
Commissioner Andrew Howe (next in Robin Vol. 2 #27)
Armand Krol (next in Detective Comics #696)
Alfred Pennyworth (next in Detective Comics #695)

Other Characters:

Daniel Maris (a wealthy Gothamite)
Kip Palmoy (his servant)
Mr Zavier
Mr Ames
Mrs Ames
Mr Magillo (four Gothamites, fellow residents of Babylon Towers with Maris; all six next in Detective Comics #695)
General Mondial Derwent (dies; first appearance of all)

Comment: Part One of the Contagion crossover. Story continues in Detective Comics #695.

Synopsis:

Azael contacts Batman with troublesome news - a deadly filovirus has been released and is on its way to Gotham City. As Batman investigates a militiary enclave where the virus, Ebola Gulf A (also known as the Clench), has been studied, the residents of Babylon Towers in Gotham, alerted to the threat of the Clench by one of their own, elect to seal themselves in their climate-controlled building, paying off their servants, believing this to be their only hope of surviving the plague. Batman learns there is no known cure for the virus, and if there is, such a cure will no doubt reside in the blood of a survivor.