{"product_id":"absolute-batman-vol-1-4-1-50-fornes-variant-cgc-ss-9-8-signed-by-scott-snyder","title":"Absolute Batman Vol 1 #4 - 1:50 Fornes Variant - CGC SS 9.8 - Signed by Scott Snyder","description":"\u003cp\u003eBruce Wayne's earliest adventures as Batman are shown. Shortly after returning to Gotham from college, Bruce fashions a costume designed to make him look like a vampire, complete with glowing red contact lenses, a voice distorter and fake fangs, as well as extendable metal claws on the back of his gloves. He attacks members of a gang called the Ten Thieves who are shaking down Crime Alley residents for protection money, hissing and screeching as he does so in an attempt to intimidate them. He overpowers the Ten Thieves, then pulls out a gun to shoot their leader Raff. As he does so, he remembers when he was working on his entry for the engineering competition: because bats are intimidating his initial design was made to look imposing and look strong so the people inside it would feel safe, but his father asked him if an intimidating design was the best idea. Batman does not shoot Raff and swings away, realizing that his current approach is all wrong. He returns to the garage he is using as a headquarters and burns the costume and gun. He also realizes that getting rid of street criminals like the Ten Thieves won't change anything as a new gang will simply take their place, and that he needs to think bigger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBruce decides to instead shut down the pipeline of illegal guns and drugs into the city from Florida, known as the Orange Blossom Special as the items are smuggled aboard produce trucks usually carrying citrus fruit. The OBS is run by the Maroni and Falcone crime families, who are enmeshed in the city's business community and have contacts in the GCPD, making them untouchable. He crafts a new costume, still intimidating but less \"theatrical\", and stops a gun shipment using a remote-controlled jack built out of commercially available materials. Bruce thinks that this feels better but still not quite right. He then remembers his second bridge design, which was inspired by bats' adaptability and incorporated multiple adjustable parts for versatility. Thomas liked it but asked Bruce if he was sure it captured what a bat was at its core. He told Bruce how he had once wanted to be a heart surgeon because his own father had died of a heart attack in front of him, but wasn't able to go to medical school; he realized that he had wanted to be a doctor to prevent any other child having to feel what he had, and that as a teacher he could still help children feel safe by preparing them for the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBruce goes on a soul-searching trip across the country to decide his next move. He remembers how he finally came up with his winning design by combining the best elements of the previous ones and also made it lightweight enough to be easily transported and airdropped into devastated areas, so that people could deploy it themselves and for their own needs without needing to rely on the powers that be. Bruce also thinks about how he gave a statement at Joe Chill's sentencing hearing, where he told Chill that the morning of the trip was the happiest he had ever been, and he would never be happy like that again. He then told Chill that he hated him and left before Chill gave his own statement, because he didn't care about why Chill went on his shooting spree.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBruce returns to Gotham City, where he builds the wings of his costume and sets up his hidden bases in the sewers and skyscrapers. As Batman he stakes out a charity ball attended by Gotham's elite, including Randal Powers, the owner of the trucking company the Maronis and Falcones use to smuggle into the city. Although he denies all knowledge that the criminals were using his vehicles and publicly supported stricter regulations to prevent such a thing happening again, he is privately lobbying to prevent such laws being passed. A GCPD helicopter flying overhead spots him and he swings away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLater Bruce forces himself to go to Blackgate Penitentiary and visit Joe Chill to hear what he has to say.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DC Comics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52063776637230,"sku":"P4159S","price":250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0845\/2027\/2174\/files\/DSCF0013_28ce884e-9679-443b-ad8a-c18c9ebabe4a.jpg?v=1781243478","url":"https:\/\/lunatechcomics.com\/products\/absolute-batman-vol-1-4-1-50-fornes-variant-cgc-ss-9-8-signed-by-scott-snyder","provider":"Luna-Tech Comics LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}