Comic Title: Batman:The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 4 TPB
Publisher: DC
Cover Date: 2021
On Sale Date: January 19, 2021 Direct Market Date January 20, 2021
Source: ComicList, New Comic Book Releases List for Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Direct Market Date January 19, 2021
Source: DC Connect, #5

Cover Price: $29.99
Page Count: 352
Editor: Jeb Woodard

See Also: The Guide to Graphic Novels and Collected Editions

Title: "Blood Secrets"
Pages: 44

Feature(s):
Batman (Post-Crisis)

Writer: Mark Waid
Writer: Brian Michael Augustyn
Penciller: Val Semeiks
Inker: Michael Bair
Letterer: Todd Klein
Colorist: Adrienne Roy

Reprinted From:
Detective Comics Annual #2 (1989)

Feature Character(s)

• Batman (last appearance in Detective Comics #607; next appearance in Captain Atom #33)

Guest Star(s)

• Harvey Harris (first post-Crisis appearance; dies in flashback; no further appearances)

Villain(s)

• Malcolm Falk (a doctor; no further appearances)
• Ben Carr (a handyman; dies in flashback; no further appearances)
• Lamar Nelson (a judge; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Dek Burnley and his friends (Amos and Jake named; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Richard Hunt (leader of the Paladins of the Cross; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Paladins of the Cross (Wright, Ralph J. Hopkins, Wallace Sykes, Johnson, and Delaney named; die in flashback; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Sheriff Dewey and Deputy Morrison (Huntsville police; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Cloris Pratt (formerly Cloris Hunt; Richard's ex-wife; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Nolan (a bartender; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Charlotte (a nurse; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Mrs. Sykes (a librarian; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Maybelle (a maid; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Residents of Huntsville (no further appearances)

Flashback Appearance(s)

• Bruce Wayne (as a 17-year old; uses the alias Frank Dixon; last appearance in Detective Comics #614; next appearance in Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes TPB)

Cameo Appearance(s)

• Thomas Wayne (in flashback)
• Martha Wayne (in flashback)
• Joe Chill (in flashback)
• Chu Chin Li (one of young Bruce's mentors; in flashback)

Synopsis:
Young Bruce Wayne travels to the town of Huntsville in search of Harvey Harris, a respected detective. Bruce, using the false name Frank Dixon, convinces Harvey to train him. Bruce then follows Harvey while he investigates a series of murders. Bruce demonstrates anger and impulsiveness throughout the investigation. However, the detective and his apprentice put together clues that lead them to the Paladins of the Cross, a secret society which was led by the late Richard Hunt. The victims were all former members.

When Harvey and Bruce join the police on a trip to question Hunt's widow Cloris Pratt, they find her being attacked. Bruce charges the gunman and saves the woman's life. However, Harvey is shot in the melee and dies. Before dying, Harvey reveals that he knew who Bruce was and cautions him against being emotional. The gunman is revealed as Ben Carr, a local handyman. He has also died in the melee.

The police and Bruce assume the case is over. However, Bruce takes Harvey's advice and detaches himself from the emotion of the case. In this state of mind, Bruce has unanswered questions. These eventually lead him to the local doctor Malcolm Falk. Bruce connects Falk as Hunt's bastard son who blamed his father and the Paladins for his mother's murder. Bruce confronts Falk who admits to using Carr to commit the murders. However, there is no evidence to prove it.

Year after year Bruce returns to Huntsville, now as Batman, to confront Falk for his sins.