If Congresswoman Gordon isn't in continuity, this oughta be.

Barbara shows Bruce the Master of Laws from Harvard, that she quite possibly picked up over the weekend, in one of the few light moments in Batman: Gotham Knights #25, "No Exit" Written by Devin Grayson, pencils by Roger Robinson, inks by John Floyd.

This was part four of the crossover Bruce Wayne: Murderer? There's a lot of cover elements, but the Brian Bolland cover of a handcuffed Batman is pretty sweet. I actually had to do a quick search, since I wasn't sure this storyline had been collected, the GCD didn't mention a reprint. But the storyline ran over twelve issues through seven titles, with at least five writers! (Grayson, Chuck Dixon, Ed Brubaker, Kelly Puckett and Greg Rucka.) I have to believe that sort of thing is going to be a bit of a trainwreck, unless one writer or the editor really rides herd on the rest. Grayson may have also had the unenviable task of having to try to make Batman, or Bruce Wayne at least, seem unstable in the issues leading up to the murder of Vesper Fairchild. (She appeared in the Doug Moench/Kelley Jones run of Batman, and deserved better.)

The judge rules that Bruce, with his vast resources, would be a flight risk and denied bail. Pending trial, Bruce is held in Blackgate Prison, but seems oddly reticent and reluctant to have Nightwing, Oracle, Robin, Alfred, or anyone else help him. And...that's about as far as we get this chapter; counting the conclusion Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, this is part four of thirty. (About $75 cover price!) And Vesper's real killer only makes sense if you'd been reading Batman comics all the way back to No Man's Land, and possibly then-current issues of Superman and JLA as well.


Somewhat more cheerfully, this issue also features another sterling installment of Batman: Black & White, "Last Call at McSurley's" Written by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer. The titular bar may be a filthy, debauched gin joint; but to the Batman it's a virtual goldmine of information. When the bar faces closure over unpaid taxes, Bats chips in to save it...with a rare grin in the Batcave. He doesn't do the full on Alan Davis grin though; Bats is still too serious for that. Probably more enjoyable in eight pages than all of Bruce Wayne: Murderer?