Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed? is a Batman storyline which ran through Issues #291-294 (September-December 1977). The story was written by David V. Reed, with art by John Calnan and Tex Blaisdell.
The Batman is missing in action, with multiple conflicting rumors flying around the criminal underworld claiming that he has been killed. In hopes of getting to the truth, a "trial" is held, where those wishing to claim credit for the deed can present their case and try to prove that they are indeed the one who ended Batman's career, and thus attain the glory and status that comes with the deed.
Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed? provides examples of:
- Absence of Evidence: After Joker gives his testimony, Two-Face points out he never submitted his story, denying the court a chance to investigate. The Joker retorts that he does have evidence, but was smart enough not to carry it in a room full of criminals.
- Accidental Murder: In Joker's testimony. While fighting Batman, he accidentally injects his opponent with a lethal dose of Joker toxin from his combat ring, which had been jolted open from one of his punches. Joker admits that he hadn't intended to do it, but had shed no tears over it, either.
- Batman Gambit: Two-Face surmises that Catwoman's testimony amounts to this; she gave up a first-rate racket in hopes of winning the admiration and loyalty of the best the criminal underworld has to offer.
- The Blank: In Joker's testimony, he uses his "dissolving fluid" on Batman's dead body, completely destroying any means of identifying him. This includes melting away his face until nothing but featureless flesh remains.
- Bluff the Imposter: When Batman encountered Riddler disguised as Bruce Wayne, he saw through the illusion (for obvious reasons) and used it to his advantage by tricking "Bruce" into thinking he'd gotten Riddler's latest riddle wrong.
- Continuity Nod: Two-Face's former position as Gotham's district attorney is mentioned, and used to justify his being made chief inquisitor of the trials.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Batman dishes out two of these in Catwoman's testimony; the first to the crooks robbing the clients of her new identity, and the second to Catwoman herself and her assistant Cody after tracking them down.
- Lex Luthor thought he was administering this to Superman trapped in Batman's body. In reality he was attacking a disguised Superman, who was only pretending to be beaten to death (and rolled with all of Luthor's punches to keep him from breaking his hands).
- In Joker's testimony, he witnesses Batman utterly humiliating a run-of-the-mill criminal.
- Epic Fail: In Joker's testimony, he finds himself in the lucky position of watching Batman duking it out with a regular criminal, giving him the perfect chance to take them both out with an air gun which fires barbed pellets that reduce the target's blood pressure to zero. Unfortunately for Joker, he had neglected to load the weapon beforehand.
- Fainting: Riddler passes out in terror during Two-Face's dynamite demonstration.
- Foreshadowing:
- During Catwoman's testimony, Batman examines a criminal she took down, and is heard exclaiming "vibrissa!". It is later revealed that he had discovered whisker hairs from Catwoman's pet jaguar on the criminal's clothes, cluing him in that the crook was working for her.
- Before starting his testimony, Riddler shows off a trick exploding cigar, asking Two-Face why his testimony is like the cigar. After Riddler tells how he supposedly blew up Batman, he smugly states that both the testimony and the cigar went "boom" at the end.
- During Joker's testimony, he notes that "Batman" seemed surprised to see him, and barely put up a fight. Soon after, it is revealed that "Batman" was actually a fan in the middle of re-enacting the fight from the night before.
- The Ghost: The trials are held at the estate of a big-time criminal known as Jake "The Claw" Van Cleeve. Van Cleeve is mentioned several times, but never actually seen.
- Grand Theft Me: Lex Luthor planned to destroy Superman by using a special satellite to transfer the Man of Steel's mind into Batman's body, rendering him too surprised to fight back as Luthor killed him. After finishing his testimony, Luthor announces that he is now going to transfer his mind into Superman's empty body, making him invincible. His Evil Gloating is cut short once it is revealed that Batman had infiltrated Luthor's gang, bringing back enough intel on the satellite that both he and Superman were protected from it (with Superman's arrival proving this).
- High Hopes, Zero Talent: Jerry Randall, the "Batman" who was actually killed, had been a great fan of the real Batman, reading about and re-enacting the Dark Knight's exploits. He had even planned to take over for Batman if anything happened to him. Unfortunately, when he ran into the Joker by accident, Jerry froze up, and could barely put up any kind of fight at all.
- Hollywood Acid: In Joker's testimony, the Clown Prince of Crime uses a flashlight which doubles as a sprayer of "dissolving fluid". He puts it to good use against Batman, blinding him with a single spray, then using it to melt away his downed opponent's face and other identifying features.
- Humiliation Conga: Riddler is not only proven to be a liar, but tied up, scared out of his wits, then fined $25,000 in damages for Two-Face's dynamite demonstration.
- In-Universe Factoid Failure: Invoked by Two-Face when he proves Catwoman and Riddler's testimonies are fake.
- In Catwoman's testimony, she claims that she, her pet jaguar and her spoils were adrift in a river atop the jaguar's Brazilian pepper wood cage, with Catwoman being forced to push Batman (who was hanging onto the side) into the river rather than let him weigh them down. Two-Face has the cage brought in, along with a tank of water. He reveals that the wood has a density one-and-a-half times that of water, meaning that the cage couldn't have even stayed afloat by itself, let alone support anyone; a fact which is proven when he drops the cage in the tank and it sinks immediately.
- Riddler's testimony claims that he set a box of dynamite near the trapped Batman, with a lantern placed underneath with its top removed, leading to Batman being blown up moments later. Two-Face disproves this by arranging a "demonstration" where Riddler is tied to a platform with many boxes of the same brand of dynamite set alight below. When no explosion happens, Two-Face reveals that fire does not ignite dynamite. Detonation requires an electrical spark (via lighting the fuse) or percussion (achieved by throwing it) thereby proving Riddler couldn't have killed Batman the way he described.
- Joker Jury: Literally; the jury consists of multiple members of Batman's rogue's gallery (The Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Signalman, and The Spook).
- Know When to Fold Them: After Riddler's testimony is proven to be a fake, Ra's Al Ghul announces that several other claimants have decided to withdraw their own claims.
- Ludicrous Precision: Luthor's plan relied on arranging for both Superman and Batman to be looking upwards at the exact same time, so his "Skysurgeon" satellite's twin MASER beams could hit both of them in their eyes.
- Master of Disguise:
- Riddler disguised himself as Bruce Wayne to infiltrate a high society party. The disguise was so good that it caused a passing Batman to freeze in shock.
- Batman disguised himself as one of Lex Luthor's underlings in order to gain information on Luthor's plan.
- The final issue reveals that "Two-Face" is actually Batman in disguise, having orchestrated the entirety of the trials in order to find "his" killer.
- Moving the Goalposts: Riddler begins his testimony by reminding the court of how he can't commit a crime without first giving Batman a clue in the form of a riddle. Two-Face is quick to point out that if Riddler actually did kill Batman, then that would mean he ended his own career, since he is compelled to send the Dark Knight a riddle before every crime. Riddler replies "Wrong! I can send it with flowers - to his grave!"
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Batman had this reaction when he saw Jerry Randall's dead body in a copy of his costume. He notes that Jerry was not the first person to try and imitate his heroic deeds (with deadly results), and can only hope that he will be the last.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Catwoman takes on a new identity - that of Madame Claudine, a celebrated couturiere. Her "disguise" is nothing but a blonde wig.
- Playing Possum: Superman, posing as himself in Batman's body, pretended to die at Lex Luthor's hands. Luthor, in his usual hubris, sent the seemingly dead "Batman" up into orbit in a specially-made coffin, which would attach to the "Skysurgeon" satellite. This gave Superman the perfect opportunity to remove the satellite's threat.
- Red Herring: in Catwoman's testimony, she mentions how a crook she chased into her office and subdued was weakly saying "Two-Face", leading the police to believe Two-Face was behind the heist (Two-Face actually interrupts her testimony to voice his objection). Later in the story, Batman deduced that Catwoman had really injected the crook (who was working for her) with a drug which induced cataphasia - the repetition of a single word - and the crook was actually trying to call her "two-faced".
- The Reveal: The final issue reveals the truth: A "Batman" was indeed killed, but it was actually a devoted fan of the real caped crusader. Joker killed him, believing him to be the real deal. Upon discovering the dead man in his costume, Batman had the incarcerated Two-Face placed into solitary confinement, took on his identity, and arranged the trials in order to discover the identity of "his" killer.
- Russian Reversal: As the narration notes, the story is essentially a murder mystery in reversal, with claimants stepping forward to claim the credit for the crime.
- Sore Loser:
- Catwoman is not happy when Two-Face exposes her testimony as a fake. She openly threatens his life before storming out of the room.
- After Two-Face reveals that he had been made a fool of by Superman, Luthor rants about Two-Face's methods, calling him a "sell-out" for bringing Superman in as a surprise witness.
- Spanner in the Works: Joker's testimony begins with the hateful harlequin sneaking into the warehouse of a fur company, seeking money meant for secret overseas bank accounts. While he slipped into the building easily (via placing a circuit bypass on the roof alarm), his heist is ruined by a regular criminal, who set off the alarm while stealing some fur coats.
- Spotting the Thread: When Superman starts giving his testimony, he points out that Luthor's big plan began with a fatal blunder; a million dollar offer for one hour of his time. Superman declares that he couldn't help wondering why anyone would give a million for something he'd gladly do for free, which was what led to him investigating further.
- Stern Old Judge: Ra's Al Ghul serves as the trials' judge. Not only is he centuries old, but he has little patience for the antics of the claimants, from telling Catwoman her display of mourning is in bad taste to reacting to Riddler's trick cigar by threatening to hold him in contempt of court if he tries another such stunt.
- Surprise Witness: Two-Face brings in Superman as one, in order to disprove Luthor's testimony.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: When Catwoman takes the stand, the other criminals openly doubt her, acknowledging that she never kills.
- Unexplained Recovery: In Riddler's testimony, he seemingly brought down Batman with a Tommy gun burst, only for Bats to show up later to foil his heist, with no explanation for how he survived.
- Villain Cred:
- The narration in the first issue notes that mere attendance at the trials is a sign of high rank in the criminal underworld.
- When Riddler is called to the stand, the narration states "Some are surprised... but not many. For this maniacal outlaw is a thoroughly credible candidate for the mantle of the Batman's assassin ".
- The Joker refused to submit the story for his testimony beforehand, but was allowed to take the stand on the grounds of his reputation and history with Batman. Like Riddler, he is considered one of the prime "suspects" for the deed.
- Widow's Weeds: Catwoman wears these before taking the stand, showcasing her mourning for the deceased Batman. The other criminals are naturally disgusted by this.
