Batman #436-439 – “Batman Year 3” Story Arc (1989)

Written by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by John Beatty & Michael Bair. Cover art by George Perez.

Someone is killing off Gotham's mob bosses, and Batman keeps arriving too late to prevent the murders. Boss Zucco, the killer of Dick Grayson's parents, is up for parole. Nightwing returns to Gotham, having heard that Batman's sanity is eroding, and sets off in search of his mentor. Boss Zucco gets killed, which leads the criminals of Gotham on a violent search for a book he kept with all their secrets. Batman and Nightwing trace the book to a hiding place in the orphanage where Zucco and Dick Grayson spent part of their childhoods, helping Batman & Nightwing heal their relationship.

Contains key book; first appearance of Tim Drake, who would later become Robin; the Post-Crisis origin of Robin (Dick Grayson) told in flashback.