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    The Batman Family #20

    The Batman Family » The Batman Family #20 - Enter The Ragman! released by DC Comics on November 1, 1978.

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    "Enter The Ragman!"

    Batman beats a group of vandals into unconsciousness, then leaves them for the police. Looking down on the street, Batman observes a shady character purposefully jostle Bette Berg's arm, while she's taking pictures. Batman follows Berg, and her boyfriend, Rory Regan, back to Regan's pawn shop. Eavesdropping, Batman learns that people are being kicked, or burned out of their homes. Conferring with Police Commissioner James Gordon, Batman reveals that he was put on to the vandals, when he nearly ran over the family they had put out on the street. Berg is targeted by gangsters, for her photographic documentation of the ongoing crisis.

    Pouring through the archives at City Hall, Regan determines that the crimes are not random, and more, who is behind them. Returning home he finds Berg badly beaten, and his shop vandalized. As rage fills his heart, Regan reflects on his past, specifically the death of his father, and three friends, at the hands of gangsters. That was the night Regan became the Ragman. Batman, as Bruce Wayne, is preparing for a night on the town, when he becomes aware of a presence on the terrace. Wayne, as Batman, goes out to confront the intruder. When Alfred floods the terrace with light, the Ragman stands revealed.

    Ragman accuses Wayne of masterminding the arsons and vandalisms occurring in his neighborhood. Batman defends Wayne's good name, but Ragman refuses to hear Batman's words. Ragman beats Batman down, then heads off to confront Wayne's accomplices. Ragman crashes down into the gangster's lair, and nearly takes out the entire gang alone. Batman arrives at the end of the conflict, taking down the last gangster standing. Batman convinces Ragman that the management agency Wayne employed was legit, until it was secretly taken over by gangsters. With the gang out of commission, Berg is able to get her expose on the mob's land swindle published. Wayne drops in on Regan's pawn shop to offer to pay for the damages, having recognized Regan's voice as the Ragman's.

    Peril Of The Power Sower

    Having received a distress call from Batgirl, Robin, the Teen Wonder, uses the Justice League of America's transporters to get from Hudson University to Washington D.C. Onboard the Justice League satellite, Elongated Man informs Robin that something has drained away all the power in Washington D.C, which may relate to Batgirl's call. The Red Tornado was sent to the power plant to investigate, coming into conflict with the Power Sower. Despite fighting valiantly, the Red Tornado is badly beaten by the energy stealing villain. Robin arrives on the scene to find the Power Sower gone, Red Tornado terribly injured, and Batgirl trapped within an energy cocoon.

    Batgirl had arrived on the scene after Red Tornado's defeat. She engaged the Power Sower in combat, ending with her imprisonment. Robin relays Red Tornado's coordinates to the Elongated Man, for transport back up to the Justice League satellite. Robin then siphons off the energy of Batgirl's cocoon with some high tension cable. The Dynamite Duo then head off in pursuit of the Power Sower. En route, they hear the Power Sower addressing the nation. The Power Sower intends to drain away America's power to force the country to cut back on it's energy consumption. Leaving Batgirl to confront the Power Sower, Robin heads back to the power plant, intent on cutting the Power Sower off from it's energy resources.

    The plan almost works, until the Power Sower begins draining power directly from the sun. Batgirl is on the verge of being killed, when the Red Tornado steps in and saves her. The Power Sower unleashes a blast of energy at a nearby tenement building, setting it ablaze. Red Tornado single-handedly gets all the tenants to safety, while also putting out the fire. Batgirl and Robin use high tension cables, attached to their batarangs, to short circuit the Power Sower's armor. Robin then, literally, knocks the Power Sower's head off. Within the armor, the Power Sower is revealed to be a young female activist, descended from Betsy Ross. Batgirl offers to take Robin, Red Tornado, and the Elongated Man out for coffee, but each man declines.

    "Private Eye Man-Bat"

    Batman is in the process of beating down the Gotham Guerrillas. Spying a sniper taking aim on Batman, Man-Bat takes out the sniper. After the police have taken the criminals away, Man-Bat asks Batman for a favor. Man-Bat, as Kirk Langstrom, pays a call on Private Investigator, Jason Bard, to offer his services as Bard's partner. Bard declines the offer. Langstrom secretly follows Bard, hoping to prove his worth. Langstrom follows Bard to Long Island's Suffolk County, where Bard is immediately taken hostage by arms dealers. Langstrom intervenes on Bard's behalf, and the two men take down the arms dealers. Bard notices that their plane has yet to set down, indicating that it never got the signal to land. Bard needs the plane's cargo to put the arms dealers away. Langstrom transforms into Man-Bat, and brings the plane down. Realizing the kind of asset Man-Bat would be to his investigations, Bard hires Langstrom.

    Trial By Fire

    The Huntress regains consciousness, tied to a chair, trapped inside a burning building. On the trail of an arsonist, she had discovered that Councilman Franklin Gresham was her quarry. Gresham intends to burn down his own district to garner funds from the federal government for reconstruction. Tipping the chair over, the Huntress uses the flames to burn through her ropes. Using her crossbow as a crow bar, she pries the bars from the window, allowing her escape. Fearing that Gresham may have unmasked her while she lay unconscious, the Huntress maintains a low profile. Gresham, too, stays out of the public eye, until he is confidant that the Huntress really did perish in the flames.

    Gresham leads the Federal Authorities on a tour through his district, to prove how decrepit it is. Upon entering the first building, Gresham falls through the floorboards. The Huntress is waiting for him. She reveals that she knows his plan, then throws one of his incendiary devices at him. The explosive is set to go off during the tour, a push to spur the government to free up those funds. Gresham lunges at the Huntress, who hurls him back against the wall. Suddenly, Gresham's incendiary goes off, separating him from the Huntress, by a wall of fire. The Huntress tries to get through to Gresham, but is barred by the flames. Though Gresham perishes, his goal is still accomplished. Federal funds funnel into his district, earmarked for reconstruction.

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