Contagion / Legacy (1996) With the end of "Prodigal" and the "Troika" storyline that saw Batman's revised costume, DC had sworn to keep the Bat-titles separate for at least a year. With sales dipping, however, a new event was felt to be needed, something that would shock readers and spike sales. At the Bat-conference, deciding the direction of the Batman books, various ideas for a new unified storyline were suggested and debated. The chosen storyline -- "Contagion" -- would not focus on Batman's person, as had "Knightfall," but rather on Gotham City. This time, Batman and the various denizens of the city would have to deal with a deadly, city-wide threat: a fast-acting and fatal virus. It should be pointed out that Hollywood had recently produced a few films addressing the subject, reviving the disaster movie genre (which had its heyday in the 1970s). The "Contagion" storyline would run for two months through every Batman title except Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (which generally told stories from Batman's early years): Batman, Detective Comics, Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Catwoman, Robin, Azrael (which had never participated in a Batman event), and even an issue of the quarterly Batman Chronicles. While the storyline chaffed at the disjunctures produced by so many different creative teams telling a single continuing story, it nonetheless had many dramatic points as Gotham plunged into chaos while its citizens died brutally and en masse. But the storyline had left one major plot thread hanging: who had sent the virus to Gotham in the first place? The Bat-titles returned to telling separate stories for three months. Following this, the unanswered question of "Contagion" would be resolved: Ra's al Ghul, the well-respected and near-immortal Batman villain, was the culprit. This stemmed the "Legacy" storyline, running through less Batman titles for another two months. In this sequel, Batman and friends (now sans Azrael) battled Ra's and Bane, newly revealed to be Ra's minion, to prevent a new dispersal of the virus. Just as "Contagion" had left its culprit unrevealed, "Legacy" had failed to reveal how Bane had joined Ra's al Ghul. DC rectified that in 1998 with the four-issue mini-series entitled Batman: Bane of the Demon.

IMAGE	TITLE	DESCRIPTION	STATUS
1. Contagion
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48, Detective Comics #695, Robin (second series) #27, Catwoman (second series) #31, Azrael #15, Batman #529, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49, Detective Comics #696, Batman Chronicles #4, Catwoman (second series) #32, Azrael #16, Robin (second series) #28: "Contagion" storyline
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48-54: no data entered
	Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48		0
Detective Comics #695-702: no data entered
	Detective Comics #695		0
Robin (second series) #27-33: no data entered
	Robin (second series) #27		0
Catwoman (second series) #31-36: no data entered
	Catwoman (second series) #31		0
Azrael #15-20: no data entered
	Azrael #15		0
Batman #529-534: no data entered
	Batman #529		0
	Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49		0
	Detective Comics #696		0
Batman Chronicles #4-5: no data entered
	Batman Chronicles #4	contains a good "Contagion" tie-in story starring the Huntress	0
	Catwoman (second series) #32	in this radically man-hating issue, Catwoman, in Miami, complains girls have it tough, doesn't mourn for murdered man (before knowing he dealt drugs), seemingly masturbates hardcore using the sign on a cab's roof (causing her to become "disoriented"), insults and tortures a man, then callously jokes with a female plague survivor about "all the jerks" (i.e. plague victims) they've "left behind"	0
	Azrael #16	Azrael and friends find a cure	0
	Robin (second series) #28		0
	Batman: Contagion	collects Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48, Detective Comics #695, Robin (second series) #27, Catwoman (second series) #31, Azrael #15, Batman #529, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49, Detective Comics #696, the tie-in story from Batman Chronicles #4, Catwoman (second series) #32, Azrael #16, and Robin (second series) #28; softcover	0
2. Interlude
	Batman #530		0
	Batman #531		0
	Batman #532		0
	Catwoman (second series) #33	Catwoman battles Hellhound	0
	Catwoman (second series) #34	Catwoman battles Hellhound	0
	Catwoman (second series) #35	Catwoman battles Hellhound; ends with Catwoman where she first appears during "Legacy"	0
	Detective Comics #699	concludes with the former Mayor Krol's death and the revelation that "the Clench" has returned	0
2a. DETECTIVE COMICS
	Detective Comics #697		0
	Detective Comics #698		0
2b. SHADOW OF THE BAT
	Batman: Shadow of the Bat #50		0
	Batman: Shadow of the Bat #51		0
	Batman: Shadow of the Bat #52		0
2c. ROBIN
	Robin (second series) #29		0
	Robin (second series) #30		0
	Robin (second series) #31		0
3. Legacy
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #53, Batman #533: official prelude to the "Legacy" storyline
	Batman: Shadow of the Bat #53	the city discovers that "the Clench" has returned; focuses on Huntress; cover-dated August 1996	0
	Batman #533		0
Detective Comics #700, Catwoman (second series) #36, Robin (second series) #32, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #54, Batman #534, Detective Comics #701, Robin (second series) #33: "Legacy" storyline
	Detective Comics #700	Batman fights Ra's al Ghul	0
	Detective Comics #700 [alternate]	carries a fancy, unfolding thick paper wrapper	0
	Catwoman (second series) #36	Catwoman escapes her prison	0
	Robin (second series) #32	Robin and Nightwing stop Ra's contingent in Paris	0
	Batman: Shadow of the Bat #54	Batman stops the Edinburgh contingent	0
	Batman #534	Batman stops the Calcutta contingent; Lady Shiva appears; a good story	0
	Detective Comics #701	Batman battles Bane	0
	Robin (second series) #33	Batman defeats Ra's	0
	Detective Comics #702	in the aftermath of "Legacy," an assualt is staged on police headquarters; Batman and Robin mourn	0
	Batman: Legacy	collects the last few pages of Catwoman (second series) #35 and Detective Comics #699, plus Batman: Shadow of the Bat #53, Batman #533, Detective Comics #700, Catwoman (second series) #36, Robin (second series) #32, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #54, Batman #534, Detective Comics #701, Robin (second series) #33, Detective Comics #702; softcover	0
AZRAEL
	Azrael #17		0
	Azrael #18		0
	Azrael #19		0
	Azrael #20		0
BATMAN: BANE OF THE DEMON
Batman: Bane of the Demon #1-4: tells how Bane joined Ra's al Ghul for "Legacy" storyline; no data entered
	Batman: Bane of the Demon #1	Bane returns to Santa Prisca and meets Ra's al Ahul; cover-dated March 1998	0
	Batman: Bane of the Demon #2		0
	Batman: Bane of the Demon #3		0
	Batman: Bane of the Demon #4	cover-dated June 1998	0
BATMAN CHRONICLES
	Batman Chronicles #5		0

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