YOU KNOW, 'VE BEEN READING ALO’ ABOUT THAT SUPERMAN Hewve GOT OVER IN METROPO! EN EAING UP EVERY "Her PULITZER, NEVER MIND HER MILLION DOLLAR yee Alicea Ze WIG A a Pe he OM Le Cea Le omar RE Leen Cae a, — e ee a7 aIS LIKE PULLING waste TEETH OUT OF A PISSED- Lean OF ate OFF SHARK, GETTING OUR BATMAN TO TALK. BUT SUPERMAN, HE TALKS ABOUT HE EVEN TALKS ABOUT WHERE He SPENDS HIS SPARE TIME. SOME PLACE UP AROUND THE | J NORTH POLE. HE CALLS THis FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE. 1 LIKE THE RING OF THAT... - YEAH, I LIKE THAT HE CALLS This FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE. 0 THINK WE ALI OR ALOT OF U5, ANYWAY HAVE OUR OWN PLACES LIKE ‘THAT. MAYBE WE'D GO CRAZY IF We DIDNT. IT MIGHT BE THE CORNER SALOON. OR A SPOT IN THe WOODS THAT NOBODY ELSE VISITS, OR A FORGOTTEN STRETCH OF TIMELESS WATER- FRONT, LIKE THIS ‘ONE. Nit CHICAGO DAYS, THERE Wie THis STRETCH ‘OF NOTHING ATEW THe CABIN GREEN Cape rt a 20 Hr THAT cee eees STRETCH AT TWO An SHEP THERE Ws nBtHiNe Here, NoBoo, Wet One BOARDEDSUP STOREFRONT AFTER ANCTHER, WOT ME AND AwicLE Lov oF NOTHING. came To love war Sree rcaCOP’S LIFE 15: WHICH BRINGS: ‘A BUBY ONE, AND TO TOP SF ME 70 YOUNG OFFICER IT OFF, I MARRIED YOUNG. STAVROS, AND THAT AND MY BARBARA, GOD BLESS PIECE OF CARDBOARD HE HER, SHE DIDN'T WASTE ANY BROUGHT Me, TONIGHT--AND TIME GETTING PREGNANT. 90 MY LIFE WAS NOISY, FULL ‘OF VOICES. THAT STRETCH OF BLOCKS WAS THE ONLY PLACE I COULD HEAR MYSELF THINK. MNAM, YOU'RE HURT. YOU NEED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. SHE'D KNOCKED OVER SOME GARBAGE CANS AND SET A STRAY SIAMESE TO HOWLING. THAT GOT STAVROS RUNNING. nS He FOLLOWED A TRAIL SHE 3 OF BLOOD TOFINO A _ geruseD HELP. Yada WOMAN DRESSED Stie WAS, HE NOTED UP LIKE A CAT. IN HIS REPORT, POINTEDLY RUDE'TO YOUNG OFFICER ‘STAVROS. ‘I WHERE You ARE. DON'T MOVE. ‘YM CALLING THS IN‘UST ONE LUNATIC IN TIGHTS: WRITING To ANOTHER. NOT WORTH 1 Ape to ANYBODY.ou uners wr Tit dibsiep where HONEY, HAVE ARE YOU? A. DeNKINALFRED, SCRAMBLE THE CHOPPER. MEET HOPPER. MB INSONae a, Some ENTERTAINMENT CHAIN out o® HOLLYWOOD crenea ug this tlace alpeut a YEAR AGO, bragsing om how its BRIGHT LIGHTS aind shiny PLASTIC woul thalke all the KIDS east of NOVICK go STRAIGHT. iD “Straight re HELL )y is where it went, 2 Por fae Oe ———— He took atbout TWo WEEKS, for the DEALERS te move im on all the POSERS from ‘the BURBS ma shew them some REAL big city action — THAT LITTLE mE STOLE CRANK or SKANK or SLAG or SPOOZLE or X DA] SPETZLE or WHATEVER the latest is,..tuens your BRAINS and BONES to MUSH and you puke AY fez iy Cr WII LiTTLE \ ip Ta WAKING US ee —hodking Hhew on CRANK ama (: showing thew how to PAY For it with the parts of theiv BODIES that stil WORK. Ey S| And these MM make \ Re irom | {) [ana another stretch oP A [poten nes Ran ev iY a”Wm Are and spare + the MATCHES. The place Is a FRIGHT. Sure and there's barely a STICK left standing. You wouldn't Tet your MOTHER so much. take a GLANCE at It and no} be In the BAD BOOKS for a week, you wouldn't. *% And I've got nobody but my ‘Own sweet SELF to BLAME for all this havoc, truth be told. The room was TIDY enough when T went and let myself IN. These boys were just going about thelr business as peaceable 2s You Could ask for, and there was Hardly’ any call for me tojust charge in ike T did and not leave a single one ‘them standing or with sO much as a PENNY in thelr pockets Those BOYS. Thelr BUSINESS. A pack OF PIMPS and LOAN SHARKS ‘they are, every last one of them Cursed with the love Of GAMING, and ft’s not the LEGAL kind OF, gaming Tm making reference to. No, this kind of wagering. doesn't involve ATHLETIC, CONTESTS, not of the HUMAN or ANIMAL sort. No, nothing of THAT sort. No, these gents, EY tne wagering ‘And, sure as the SUN wil eG) ap its stern glare through d tomorrows morning FOS ind even the RATS Ell wake~ ~three days from now, every last man in this room, whether EMBALMED or reduced to ASHES or left to ROT, will be surrendering his every last ‘ 4 i ATOM back to God's green EARTH. | P ah ¢ Wipe Se Po NNdead they be, gat the dev | And all the INNOCENTS whose {fates and fortunes and lives they wagered on will be that. much more likely to go on with lives of their Own... “unnsolled by these ROTTERS Who'd have sold them into (SLAVERY or TORTURED and RAPED and MURDERED them in some basement FILM set. ll for the perverse usement of drooling MONSTERS who can smilie into the heart of darkness with the click of 4 MOUSE. INTERNET SNUFF PURVEYORS, ‘each and every one of them, betting CASH For DATABASES of NAMES arid ADDRESSES Of BABIES Just literate and just IGNORANT “enough to Frolic In CHAT. ‘ROOMS run by PREDATORS. Dead they'll be, these bastards, When their SUPERIORS come knocking for thelr MONEY- and find tt ene and rd et \ Fee wiped CLEAN. And theyll never know | 2 wee COLLEEN ran ofF with every last DOLLAR.. EINE work, this is. Good for the SOUL. But where's a girl 0 SPEND ail this? ‘And here blessed GOTHAM'S. i] BURSTING with BLOOD MONEY...but ONE little thing Ike ME can collect ‘only 80 MUCH... APT keep up this PACE. ny dear little MUSCLES will swell up to MANLY. proportion. A sorry ‘SIGHT Td be. Land even bold ROBIN HOOD had. need of his MERRY MEN, now didn’t he..? naftd Just a5 4 FOR INSTANCE, ‘Should ? INDULGE in a bout oF RECRUITMENT. .for the sake OF my FIGURE, if nothing else... 3 O (With her FISTS “wal MAEVE at the FIGHT CLUB, 59 RAINED quic ‘She's been reduced to selling her Y MN DREAMS and her precious VIRTUE on the STREET Just to keep that, SCAMP Of hers'in SHOES...‘Sweet-Jesus, what a GRAND night It Is. And Ill be sleeping, ‘ike 9 BABY. ‘Once Tve put my cals init MAEVE and L134. y- \ | And maybe RUTH..now THERE'S a thought. a lst oa / . [7 woro is ste oes Po Hwxe our at Tar ‘i CLUB FOR A.GOOD Vass 51k HOURS... STUCK 10 | DS Siizecel" cv ns XS ‘THE PARTY WENT ay wz, SHE THREW AROUND CAPTAIN'S NAME A LOT TO KEEP THe DRINKS: COMING BUT EVENTUALLY THEY CUT HER OFF ANYWAY. SHE MADE SOME THREATS AND ‘TORE OUT OF THERE. THAT'S WHEN THE BARTENDER CALLED IT IN. ‘SHE MUST'VE BEEN GONG ABOUT FIFTY. PASBITO EMDR WE PROBABLY ‘SHE CAN'T HAVE GOTTEN FAR. 4 CONCUSSED. CONFUSED... bX ‘The SMOKE burns ny LUNGS. The last ia Bae oiee : neers Pee for the HURT of it. AMBULANCE HAS HER ON THE WAY TO ST, ROSALWN'S. No. REROUTE THEM TO.ST. MARYLINS. I'S ONLY TWO. BLOCKS FURTHER AND THEY'VE GOT A BETTER SHOCK- TRAUMA UNIT. WE'LL, MEET THEM THERE.E fSHE'S COMFORTABLE ENOUGH. ‘THE MORPHINE WILL TAKE ‘CAPTAIN, TM CARE OF THE PAIN AND HELP "DUE IN TRIAGE, HER SLEEP. WE'VE ALSO GIVEN SO I MUST SPEAK / YOUR WIFE'S LIFE 15 ON THE LINE. ‘AND YOU MIGHT BE THE ONLY ONE ONLY ONE mM 5 Yusicine, 4 AL? Sr Doctor. MERKEL meas out ore Teenifoenescete Tosi ase P| CONDITION is ADVANCED. Cees BEYOND He CONTROL. 2 HER HUSBAND, I ADVISE YOU TO SAY ANYTHING YOU WITH HER BLOOD LEVELS, SHE'S LUCKY TO BE BREATHING. PSU BST ks There's only TWO REASONS I don't give the girl a SWAT. ONE reason is that ea somebody's already Destruction of Public property. Incitement to riot. being she's being 50 impossibly, impossibly BRAVE about the whole thing. Hell. If things had gotten| any WORSE in that dam ARCADE, she'd be dow for ‘accessory to MURDER. But luckily for everybody DRESSED UP LIKE BATMAN, ‘CAN TO CONVINCE HER TO. ‘STAY IN OUR CARB. FAMILY LIFE, oi LN BARBARA ‘SHOULD BE CONSCIOUS ENOUGH TO SPEAK IN DON'T Use THAT BADGE YOU HAVENT DONE ‘OF YOURS TO MAKE ANYTHING IN YOUR ANYTHING EASIER FOR WHOLE LIFE TO ME, DADDY. T DON'T WANT YOU TO, AND T DONT DESERVE IT. 60 our “SHE TLL DO My [ AND GET DRUNK BEST ABOUT AGANP THAT, DARLING, ‘BUT YOU SHOULD CALL(Onejlong;lonelyiwalk later... It's the WRONG ‘thing to do, It's the ONE! — Sera She washes over me and there's no pain or guilt How that little angel of mine anywhere in the world. ows about Sink BETOND fe Tooud go CRAZY, tying 2 ‘ oaten WO wth ay oom tre wild thou tes your"ld AUGER, flicker through 2 A strange thought Uy wife's got another ‘thirty minutes before she's likely to ask for me, /| im tar enough away all my problems to. One person. A man. | ZI af ris i TA) ‘A wild thought, a fleeting thing, ‘Then I fall back into Sara's voice and I know I'll be strong enough and wise enough to handle things... and everything's going to be all right, all right, all right...everything’s going to be all right...