As Bruce Wayne sits in a jail cell on Mother's Day, his mind wanders to his childhood and he recalls the event that led to his arrest, the "connection" between himself and the Roman only recently uncovered by Harvey Dent. Years ago Vincent Falcone arrived on the doorsteps of Wayne Manor, carrying his injured son Carmine. Luigi Maroni had put a hit out on Carmine but had not succeeded in killing him. However, Carmine was bleeding badly and would have died if he did not see a doctor. Vincent came to Thomas Wayne because he knew that only if Carmine received private medical attention would he be safe from further attack. Vincent offered Thomas compensation for his work, but Thomas refused.
In the present day Alfred is attesting to Dr. Wayne's rejection of payment on the witness stand. Harvey cross-examines Alfred, questioning him about a relationship between Carmine and Bruce, which Alfred denies exists. Then Harvey accusingly asks why Thomas Wayne never notified the police about the incident that night. But Alfred suggests that he might have, but that the Falcone family used its influence on the police, which he implies might continue to this day, to bury the truth.
While Sal Maroni is visiting his father Luigi, seeking advice on how to handle the Holiday matter, Holiday himself strikes. He kills Luigi and flees, leaving Sal to awkwardly weep over the body of his dead father.
Sofia delivers Carmine the news that the grand jury has released Bruce Wayne, finding him innocent of wrongdoing. She also gives him a Father's Day gift, a tie, but he brushes her aside in his haste to go and take care of some business. Catwoman, spying on the Falcones through binoculars from a nearby rooftop, watches Sofia get the cold shoulder and turns away in disdain.
In the Gordons' house, Jim comes home late, again, to receive a gift from his sleeping infant son. It is a tie covered in baby James' handprints, and Jim proudly dons it instantly as Barbara looks on. Similarly, Gilda descends into her basement to find her husband Harvey brooding over the outcome of the Wayne trial. He has also just returned from visiting his father, who gave Harvey a gift: a two-headed coin.
In Gotham Central Park the Scarecrow, who escaped from Arkham a month ago, is brewing a mysterious concoction with the help of Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter. Their alliance is uneasy, however, and the two are at each other's throats. But in the nick of time the man who arranged their escape from Arkham steps in. It is Carmine and he has brought them together for a job involving the Gotham City Bank.
Bruce, back at home, discusses with Alfred what might have been if his father had let Carmine die. Alfred too cannot help but wonder if he has failed Bruce as a parent. The two together comfort each other as they remember the man they lost who was so dear to them both, Thomas Wayne.
And Harvey Dent, dragged by Vernon to his office at a very late hour, finds a blood-splattered Maroni there, offering to work with Dent to bring Falcone down.
Annotations/Analysis
Page1--The caption here, "I remember my father," will be repeated on page 21.
Page 2 and 3--
Notice the silhouette of Bruce on page 2 in the upper left corner of the large panel, which casts a shadow on the wall on page three.
Vincent Falcone's mention of Luigi Maroni is the only mention of Maroni's father up until this point, or of Carmine's either, for that matter.
Page 6--In panel two, Harvey implies that if Thomas Wayne had refused to help Carmine, Gotham would have been better off. He's implying that Thomas should have committed murder, and the right side of his face, the just side, is in shadow.
Page 7--Luigi Maroni's line in panel three, "You can act like a man," is a Godfather reference. Don Corleone gives this advice to his godson (and Frank Sinatra wannabe) Johnny in the opening scenes when he complains too much about problems with his wife and his career.
Page 8 and 9--The shooting of Luigi Maroni includes visual references to the Godfather, specifically the scene in which Don Corleone is shot. Fredo is incapable of protecting his father, dropping his gun and then weeping impotently over his father. Maroni pretty much does the same thing here, but his dad dies.
Page 10--The layout of Carmine's desk, as seen in the last panel, is still the same, including the TV.
Page 11--Does this tie look like something Carmine would wear? He goes for the straightforward look (his tie here is plain blue) and this tie is very modern.
Page 12--Catwoman's facial expression here tells a lot about her involvement with the Falcones. My suspicion is that she and Sofia knew each other when they were younger, were possibly very close, and Selina is displaying disdain for the way the family is incapable of relating to each other. Maybe also Selina had problems with her father, and this look is Selina's memory of her bad relationship with him.
Page 13--According to Gordon's watch (is it the same one from Dark Victory?), it's about twenty 'til eleven at night. That's awfully late to be getting home from work, esp. on a Sunday.
Page 15--Harvey had to "go see" his dad, because, as the "crazy as ever" comment Harvey makes on the next page tells us, Harvey's dad is in an insane asylum. We found this out in one of the Batman annuals, in which Two-Face found Harvey's dad and tried to kill him for his rotten childhood.
Page 18--
Check out all the crows in the upper portion of panel two. Scarecrow's not doing his job.
The caption for Jervis Tetch, "Delusional. Schizophrenic. Homicidal. The Mad Hatter," comes from Jeph and Tim's LODK Halloween special, Madness, and it will recur in the next issue. (I think the "Jonathan Crane, psychologist turned psychopath" quote comes from the first LODK Halloween special they did.)
Of course the nursery rhyme "Pat-a-cake" is where Scarecrow's dialogue come from here. Check out the whole rhyme at this location.
Page 19--The Mad Hatter's dialogue here, "You can always have more," is a misquote from Alice's Adevntures in Wonderland. In the seventh chapter, Alice meets the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse, who are all having a perpetual tea party. The March Hare offers Alice some more tea, but Alie protests that she can't have "more" when she hasn't had any. "You mean you can't take any less," said the Hatter. "It's very easy to take more than nothing."
Page 20--
Bruce's description of Wayne Manor as "my father's house" in panel one shows how much he feels he is living under his dad's shadow. He'll reiterate these feelings further in Dark Victory #1, when he tells us that the house is mostly empty.
Alfred reveals a lot about himself and the relationship he and Bruce have in panel five. He says that he feels he has let Bruce down as a father. Bruce and he do have a troubled relationship, mostly because Bruce doesn't want to replace his father in his mind. So he treats Alfred poorly so he can pretend he's not emotionally attached to him. Alfred feels he might be to blame for the state of Bruce's life, when as we learned last issue it has a lot more to do with Bruce's own insecurities than anything else.
Page 21--The shadows Alfred and Bruce cast on the wall in panel four hark back to page 2, just as the caption brings closure to the thought Bruce had on the first page.
As Bruce Wayne sits in a jail cell on Mother's Day, his mind wanders to his childhood and he recalls the event that led to his arrest, the "connection" between himself and the Roman only recently uncovered by Harvey Dent. Years ago Vincent Falcone arrived on the doorsteps of Wayne Manor, carrying his injured son Carmine. Luigi Maroni had put a hit out on Carmine but had not succeeded in killing him. However, Carmine was bleeding badly and would have died if he did not see a doctor. Vincent came to Thomas Wayne because he knew that only if Carmine received private medical attention would he be safe from further attack. Vincent offered Thomas compensation for his work, but Thomas refused.
