Set before issue #1, Batman is trying to solve a group of murders that he thinks have been commited by Zsasz, who is a murderous mastermind who slices himself after every kill, but he learns that Zsasz is locked away in Arkham, so Batman and Jim Gordon devise a plan to get Batman inside Arkham Asylum. They fake a police officer's death and blame Batman and have him declared insane so that he will be put in Arkham. Jeremiah Arkham does not know about this, because they think he may be involved, and so he begins to try and "cure" Batman.