Bruce Wayne’s new ward, the orphaned Jason Todd, desperately wants to prove himself worthy of becoming Batman’s sidekick. However the Caped Crusader is adamant that Jason will never be Robin. Bruce’s love-life is also about to take a complicated turn when a new femme fatale enters his life and becomes a rival for Vicki Vale…
Crossover: This storyline is a standard three-part crossover.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- ALL MY ENEMIES AGAINST ME (1983) – Jason Todd becomes Bruce Waynes’ ward
- A REQUIEM FOR SKULLS (1983) – Bullock tries to sabotage Gordon
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Detective Comics #529 [1/2]
- Batman #363
- Detective Comics #530 [1/2]
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Detective Comics #529 [1/2] The shadowy Night-Thief avoids being caught by the Batman. At the Wayne Foundation, Lucius Fox prepares for his trip to Markovia (see WARS ENDED… WARS BEGUN, 1983) when he’s informed of Ms N Knight, an employee at the Wayne-funded Gotham Astronomical Observatory who’s receiving treatment following an experiment that turned her skin deathly white and extremely sensitive to light. While Jason Todd is out with his circus friend, Waldo the Clown, Bruce Wayne decides to hit the town with Vicki Vale. But he blows her off mid-date for a chance to catch the Thief of Night when he steals the Brevoort Diamond Necklace. Batman fails to catch the thief again and returns to an angry Vicki Vale, three hours later. At Wayne Manor, Jason tells Bruce he’s returning to the circus… 1st appearance: Nocturna/Natasha Knight (mentioned & off-panel), Thief of Night/Night-Thief |
| Batman #363 (pp.1-22) The Night-Thief has spent a week stealing valuable items and dodging the Batman. Astronomer Natasha Knight attends an event at Wayne Manor and meets her employer, Bruce Wayne. Vicki Vale shows up and, seeing Bruce talking to Natasha, assumes the worst. The Night-Thief crashes the party and demands that the attendees hand over their valuables. Jason Todd follows the Thief as he departs. Batman detects a connection between Natasha Knight and the Night-Thief and goes to her home address, finding her trying on the stolen items and calling herself ‘Nocturna’. Natasha explains she was unofficially adopted right off the streets by the wealthy Charles Knight, with his son, Anton Knight, becoming her brother. Charles’ death came with revelations about his criminal activities. Now, Anton Knight is the Night-Thief, Nocturna’s lover and personal larcenist. Nocturna uses sleep gas on Batman and escapes. Batman’s woken by Jason who followed him. Batman orders Jason to go home, then follows Nocturna to the observatory where he defeats the Night-Thief. Nocturna escapes in a hot air balloon… 1st appearance: Nocturnal/Natasha Knight (full) Identity revealed: Thief of Night/Night-Thief is Anton Knight |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Batman #363 (p.23) Three days later, Nocturna sends Bruce Wayne a cheque. Jason Todd runs away from Wayne Manor… |
| Detective Comics #530 [1/2] Nocturna happens to see Jason Todd fleeing in the night but fails to convince him to return to his new ‘father’. Alfred Pennyworth discovers Jason has run away. Batman orders him to find the boy. Anton Knight is convicted. Nocturna hurls a grenade from her hot air balloon at his prison transport, allowing him to escape it. But Batman bursts the balloon with a Batarang and takes Nocturna and the Night-Thief into custody… |
| Must Reads | Issue(s) & Fallout | Event/ Crossover |
| ✔ | Batman and the Outsiders #1-3 (1983) Batman and Lucius Fox take their trip to Markovia. | WARS ENDED… WARS BEGUN! |
| ✔ | Batman #364 (1983) Detective Comics #531 (1983) Jason Todd returns to Hill’s Circus; Jason impresses Batman and earns a shot at being his sidekick. | THE FACE OF CHIMERA |
| Batman #366 (1983) Jason Todd dyes his hair black and dons Dick Grayson‘s Robin costume for the first time to assist Batman against the Joker. | THE JOKER IS WILD! | |
| ✔ | Batman #367-368 (1984) Jason Todd officially becomes the new Robin. | |
| ✔ | Batman #376-378 (1984) Nocturna returns to Gotham City; Nocturna shoots the Night-Thief – now known as the Night-Slayer – to save Batman; Nocturna is given custody of Jason Todd as part of Mayor Hill‘s attempts to ruin Bruce Wayne’s life; Batman falls in love with Nocturna. Batman #380-381 (1985) Batman and the Night-Slayer switch identities; Batman clears his name and defeats the Night-Slayer; Nocturna gives up custody of Jason Todd to Bruce Wayne. | NIGHTMARES, INC |
| ✔ | Batman #389 (1985) Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale’s turbulent relationship finally comes to an end. Batman #391 (1986) Batman has his final showdown with the Night-Slayer; Nocturna’s fate is decided. | CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS |
| Collected Edition Title | Includes… |
| Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan vol.1 | Detective Comics #529 |
| Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan vol.2 | Detective Comics #530 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2025
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