TITLE: Detective Comics issue #724
YEAR: August 1998
COMPANY: DC Comics
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Penciler: Jim Aparo
Inker: James Hodgkins
Colorist: Gloria Vasquez
Separator: Android
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Scott Peterson
Batman created by Bob Kane
In 1998, DC kicked off its Batman crossover story arc “Cataclysm” which featured Gotham City being hit by a massive earthquake.
Needless to say, Bruce Wayne and others feel powerless because while they have protected the city from crime, there was no way they could have stopped this earthquake and with over a million people killed, millions of people that are homeless, hospitals are over capacity, the city is bankrupt and the remaining population are leaving Gotham City.
As the city tries to rebuild, the city wants to install a memorial statue where most of the devastation in Gotham City took place. But Bruce Wayne is against it. He wants to see something that the city needs to move on.
Meanwhile, a Mr. Davenport, a former millionaire athlete who owns a building, the Davenport Center is blocking emergency crews from crossing to the otherside and he doesn’t want his toppled building being broken, just to let vehicles in.
As Bruce Wayne plans to use his wealth to help rebuild the city, there is no doubt that Bruce Wayne is taking the destruction of Gotham City pretty badly. But what does he intend to do in Gotham City with everything in the city nearly destroyed?
Overall, this issue was quite short and really quick to read. But the storyline continues to show how difficult things have become in Gotham City and the despair that people must endure.
An entertaining issue but a bit too quick of a read!