Story: "Madmen Across The Water" (18 Pages)

Credits:

Alan Grant (plot, script)
Tim Sale (pencils)
Jimmy Palmiotti (inks)
Ken Bruzenak (letters)
Bernie Mireault (colors)
Dennis O'Neil (edit consults)
Neal Pozner (edits)

Feature Character:

Jeremiah Arkham (last in...)

Villains:

Two-Face (last in Showcase '93 #8)
Poison Ivy (last in Batman #495)
Amygdala (last in Detective Comics #659)
Firefly II (last in Detective Comics #662)
Bane (last in Batman: Turning Points #4; next in Robin Vol. 2 #8)
Jim Paul Sarter (first appearance?; 'the suicide freak'; dies)
Scarecrow (last in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #18)
Zsasz (last in Detective Comics #660; next in Batman Chronicles #3/2)
Riddler (last in Detective Comics #662)
Mad Hatter (last in Batman #492)
Cornelius Stirk (last in Batman #494)
Doctor Faustus (first appearance?)
Skeets Young (first appearance; a Blackgate inmate)
Big Red (not named until next issue; first appearance; a Blackgate inmate)

Other Character:

Governor Victor Zehrhard (of Blackgate)

Note: Story continues in the next issue

Synopsis:

Jeremiah Arkham and the insane criminals in his care travel to Blackgate Penitentiary where they are to stay until Arkham Asylum can be rebuilt or relocated. Here they are met with prejudice from both the inmates and the staff, most notably Governor Zehrhard, and as time goes on, they lose their various privileges - dining with the other inmates, workshop activities and so on - until the Blackgate prisoners' taunts drive Sarter, who has been suicidal for years, to dive off the cliffs and finally succeed in killing himself. Jeremiah Arkham feels that a game between the two sides might help matters, and Zehrhard agrees. Blackgate and Arkham will play a game of softball.

Second Story: "What's Your Twenty?" (10 Pages)

Credits:

Chuck Dixon (plot, script)
Howard Porter (pencils)
Mark Stegbauer (inks)
Lois Buhalis (letters)
Greg Rosewall (colors)
Neal Pozner (edits)

Feature Characters:

Razorsharp (last in ...)
Channel (last in ..., next in ...)
Hackrat (last in ...)

Other Characters:

T. Clyde Pontefract (a Texas millionaire; behind the scenes) and his security staff

Note: Story continues in the next issue

Synopsis:

The Psyba-Rats take on a potentially dangerous job, busting into the heavily guarded headquarters of a Texan millionaire in order to introduce a computer virus to his system. Soon after Razorsharp and Hackrat gain entry to the sixty floor building, the secury staff realise that someone has been interfering with their cameras and block Channel's signal, sending armed guards after the intruders.

Third Story: "Caged City, Chapter Two: A Bug In The System" (10 Pages)

Credits:

Brian Augustyn (plot, script)
Patrick Rolo (pencils)
Dick Giordano (inks)
Willie Schubert (letters)
Mike Danza (colors)
Neal Pozner (edits)

Feature Characters:

Blue Beetle II

Villains:

Kurtz
Marcus

Note: Story continues in the next issue

Synopsis:

Blue Beetle has been arrested in the city of Freemont, where the public safety director is clearly a very driven, obsessive man. Beetle is able to escape from his guards, using his superior knowledge of their technology (mostly copied from his own patents) and discovers a hangar full of his Bugs. Taking off in one of these, he is soon pursued, and is rather shocked to find that they have been outfitted with missile launchers...