In this story, Illegal Batman has apparently reached the pinnacle of his career Ð the High Summer of Illegal Batmandom. He is feted and presented with awards. Almost all criminals are defeated and Gotham City is a happy place smiling in the sunshine. He renounces all the gadgets and Bat-wizardry which has granted him his success and retreats to an older form of each of his activities, becoming increasingly ineffectual and provoking despair among his crime-fighting colleagues. Why has he done this, especially when he has been so pleased with his achievements? - From the foreword by Chris Reynolds