Behind all that steel and all those dawn gadgets...you're just a common thug! You want to be Batman, huh? Yeah, right. You'd have to stand on top of Gotham Tower just to reach his boots! 
Detective Comics #677 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1994.
Synopsis for "Flesh and Steel"
An enraged Nightwing goes after Jean-Paul after the Batmobile exploded with Bruce inside. Robin meanwhile saves a child from a car that is about to explode. Nightwing and Jean-Paul's combat is too intense and they fall off of the bridge into the water.
At that moment, Robin is shocked to see Bruce unharmed. He explains that he managed to escape seconds before the explosion after he deduced that the car would've been rigged. Bruce tells Robin to follow him away from the scene, knowing that Nightwing can hold his own and would know when to back off with Jean-Paul.
After they are gone, Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya arrive at the scene and they learn of the chaos caused by the fight. It is then that Bullock deduces that the masked vigilantes are fighting to get control over Gotham.
There is only One Batman!
Meanwhile, the fight between Nightwing and Jean-Paul leads them to a riverboat casino. Once inside, they wreck the place with their best efforts to defeat each other. Jean-Paul tells Nightwing that he will kill him and then Robin so there will be no more "pretenders". Thanks to his metallic armor and the system, Jean-Paul defeats Nightwing and would've killed him, have the Gotham City Police Department not arrived in time to save him. Jean-Paul throws Nightwing's defeated body into the cops' path, escaping in the process.
Jean-Paul finds his way to the subway tunnels back to the Batcave, praising St. Dumas all the way. He feels confident that he is the conqueror of Gotham and the rightful owner of the mantle of the Bat. When he hears someone above in Wayne Manor, Jean-Paul assumes that it is Robin, the last challenger, but when he goes up to face the intruder, he is confronted by Bruce Wayne, the real Batman, who has come to remove Jean-Paul from the role of the Dark Knight.
Appearing in "Flesh and Steel"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Robin
- Gotham City Police Department
- Harvey Bullock
- Renée Montoya
- Adderly (Single appearance)
- Dave (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Carol-Ann (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- Batsuit
- Giant Joker Card (Cameo)
- Giant Penny (Cameo)
- Mechanical T-Rex (Cameo)
Notes
- This "KnightsEnd" crossover takes place between Batman: Shadow of the Bat #30 and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #63.
- This issue is reprinted in the trade paperbacks Batman: Knightfall Part Three - KnightsEnd, Batman: Knightfall Volume Three - KnightsEnd and Batman: KnightsEnd.
Trivia
- In an ironic twist that foreshadows Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #63, Bruce's stance on the last page mirrors Bane's stance on the last page of Detective Comics #663. The background of each image is identical, in terms of where each is standing in relation to the entrance to the Batcave, but different in the fact that Wayne Manor has been left unkempt since Jean-Paul's assumption of the Mantle of the Bat.
- The people inside the riverboat casino bear some similarity with DC staff. The characters are drawn in resemblance to writer Chuck Dixon, editors Archie Goodwin, Jordan B. Gorfinkel and Dennis O'Neil.
- There is also a newspaper with the headline "Peterson Marries". This is a reference to assistant editor Scott Peterson.
See Also
Recommended Reading
