Strange New World - Recap

Atop a building, Batman makes a recorded entry in his battle journal telling how a plague has turned all of Gotham’s citizens into mindless zombies. He prepares to activate an explosive charge but Robin and Batgirl, transformed into zombies, attack him. They force him to drop the remote and as he tries to get back to it, he thinks back to how it started.

48 Hours Ago

Bruce rehearses a speech for a town ceremony but gets word that the imprisoned Hugo Strange wants to meet with Batman. Bruce goes there with Robin and Strange boasts that he has unleashed a virus that will transform everyone in Gotham into mindless “zombies,” and is spread by touch. Strange then crows that he has already taken the antidote and that if anyone infected doesn’t take it within 24 hours, they are transformed permanently. He breaks a vial of the disease and Batman and Robin quickly don rebreathers to avoid infection. They fight off the Arkham guards, who have been transformed, and then escape and start collecting samples. They try to get hold of Batgirl without success and respond to the Bat-Signal, but it’s a trap set by a zombiefied Commission Gordon and his men.

They manage to escape and Batgirl seemingly arrives to help them… but she’s been transformed as well. She attacks Robin who manages to fight her off, and the two heroes get back to the Batcave. Only to find Alfred transformed as well. After subduing him, Batman wonders how Alfred was infected within the self-contained Batcave.

24 Hours Ago

Batman has had no luck finding an antidote and goes back to visit Strange, safe in his Arkham cell. Strange offers to trade the antidote for Batman’s identity, so Batman figures there must be more of it. Strange reveals it’s hidden at police headquarters. Zombie-Batgirl attacks Robin and Batman is forced to abandon him when he is transformed as well. Batman gets the antidote at the police evidence room and needs to figure out a way to duplicate and distribute it. Robin and Batgirl track him via the Batmobile’s GPS and attack as Batman drives through the streets, but leap off rather then risk exposure to the antidote.

17 Hours Ago

Batman works to synthesize the antidote and make enough to save the city. With an hour left he finally succeeds and puts it in bombs throughout the city. He then heads to a tall building to send an activation signal using the Batwave. However, Batgirl and Robin come after him and try to stop him.

Now

Batman grabs the detonator but his former partners knock him off the building. He manages to break his fall but Gordon and the other men are waiting and try to infect him. As he climbs back up the building, he overhears Robin say something about “Mess with head.” Putting two and two together, Batman figure sit out: Strange has set him up, and actually infected him with a hallucinogen that is causing him to see everyone as zombies. The “antidote” that Strange gave him and Robin is actually the hallucinogen, and if Batman releases it, it will cause everyone in the city to go insane and hallucinate zombies. He gives up… and Robin sprays him with the “disease.” It’s the antidote, which Batgirl synthesized and sprayed Robin with earlier. Batman is back to normal, and later prepares to give his speech, reassured by Alfred that he would never turn against Gotham.


Share this article with your friends