Tales of the Batman: Carmine Infantino #[nn]

In "Batman Battles the Living Beast-Bomb!", a desperate Walter Hewitt unleashes a dangerous experiment that transfers his mind into Karmak the Gorilla, turning the beast into a cunning criminal with a deadly agenda. With Robin at his side, Batman must outwit a gorilla who’s not only stolen his own abilities but also rigged a bomb to detonate if he’s defeated—forcing the Dark Knight to think faster than ever to stop the chaos before it’s too late.

In a twist on a classic showdown, Batman and Robin defeat the Bouncer by stripping his elastic costume of its powers—but writer Gardner Fox imagines an alternate path where Batman’s death forces Robin to find a new way to stop the villain. The story explores what might have happened if the Dark Knight hadn’t survived, testing the limits of courage and ingenuity in a world where even the greatest heroes can fall.

When the Blockbuster—long imprisoned beneath Gotham—breaks free and is manipulated by the Outsider, he turns on Batman in a brutal assault that leaves the Dark Knight unconscious and sealed in a coffin. As the villain's control wavers, the Blockbuster's fractured mind begins to rebel, turning his fury on the Outsider himself. With the tide shifting, Batman must reclaim his footing and bring the volatile force back into custody—before the city pays the price.

When hypnotic letters begin targeting Gotham’s elite—including Batman, Robin, and Commissioner Gordon—each recipient finds their belongings rigged to trigger deadly traps, turning allies into unwitting pawns in a sinister game of psychological warfare. As paranoia spreads and trust erodes, the city’s defenders must unravel a mystery where every clue leads deeper into a web of deception, with no clear line between friend and foe.

In a twist of fate straight out of the Gotham playbook, the real Batman and Robin [Tim Drake] are pulled into a murder mystery when the star of the "Batman" TV show is found dead—right on set, with the cast in chaos. As the investigation unfolds, the line between performance and reality blurs, with a shadowy figure from the past and a forensic scientist's chilling clue pointing toward a killer who’s been playing both sides all along.