Recently picking up a copy of Batman Detective Comics Annual #2, I was reintroduced to a few storylines from the DC Universe. I understand that the DC Universe has a habit of dredging up origin stories in many of their tales, but everything worked in this story and even seemed important to the storyline. In addition, they could have delved deeper into the past. Peter J. Tomasi kept only what remained necessary to this story within the pages of the striking artwork by Travis Moore and Max Raynor. In addition, Tamra Bonvillain and Rick Filardi provided the color to an already colorful story.
A vigilante has been making their presence known throughout Manchester, Paris, Zagreb and Greece. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is ready to turn down an invitation to the Bridleburg Summit in Crete. Nonetheless, once Bruce started checking out the international news that Alfred Pennyworth had downloaded onto his tablet, Mr. Wayne's feelings changed about the Bridleburg Summit. Leafing through his Black Casebook, Bruce noticed a similarity between this new vigilante and the time when Judson Caspian returned to Gotham City from Europe as the Reaper.
The book gives a quick synopsis of that moment, but DC fans may remember that Caspian had an encounter with Alan Scott (the Green Lantern) first before going to Europe. Caspian's world was in shambles after he lost his wife to thieves in the street. Caspian made his first appearance as the Reaper in Detective Comics #575 from June of 1987. Caspian's daughter Rachel was one of Bruce Wayne's many love interests.
However, Bruce Wayne witnessed Caspian fall to his death from a building. Alfred believes that it wouldn't be an unusual occurrence in Gotham City for a villain to reappear after being known to be dead. Needing a cover for his arrival in Crete, Bruce asks Sophia Zervas to be his date. Another blast from the past, Sophia is the daughter of a wealthy owner of a bank. There was some minor history between Wayne and the wealthy social activist Zervas. I guess it wasn't important that Wayne was essentially using Zervas because she probably didn't have high expectations due to Wayne standing her up in the past.
Another piece of history that should be mentioned was that Batman's first dealing with the Reaper led the caped crusader to come in contact with mobster Joe Chill, the thug who murdered Wayne's parents. While attempting to work with Batman to bring down the Reaper, Chill was shot in the head. This took away any revenge that Batman might have eventually planned to execute.
When all the smoke cleared, it turned out that the copycat killer was revealed to be Caspian's son Julian. The story kept me involved all the way to the end. In addition, it reminded me why I love the Batman story. In the movies, I was only really invested in the Dark Knight series. However, keep the comics coming!