GOTHAM CITY	ATLAS
Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

CITY INFORMATION

Official Name: Gotham City
Location: Northeastern United States Seaboard
Size: 327 square miles
Founder: John Logerquist
Prominent Inhabitants: Batman; Bruce Wayne; James Gordon
Notable Sights: Wayne Manor; Batcave; Arkham Asylum; Crime Alley; Slaughter Swamp
First Appearance: (seen): Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)
(named): Detective Comics #48 (February 1941)
Creators: Bob Kane and Bill Finger

OVERVIEW

If Metropolis is the City of Dreams, then Gotham is the City of Nightmares. Its history is a long and bloody tale of crime, corruption, and death. It has the highest homicide rate of any city in North America. It has suffered disasters both man-made and natural. It has been home to both villains and heroes.

HISTORY

John Logerquist founded Gotham in 1635. It was presumably named after the village in England, famous for its wise fools. At the time, it was just a small outpost on in the mostly unexplored New World. However, as more and more emigrants came over from Europe it began to grow.

By the mid-1700s, the American colonies had grown restless and had begun to choke under the yoke of England. Increasing taxation among other reasons had many thinking about independence. In 1764 Thomas Jefferson, Jacob Stockman, and others decide to perform a mystic rite known as the Ceremony of the Bat. In the ceremony, they brought forth a virgin to sacrifice to a demon known as Barbathos, but they were interrupted and the demon became the spirit of Gotham City. This foreshadows a later rite, which would create the living spirit of America, which would empower heroes like Minute Man, Brother John, and, more recently, Uncle Sam.

When the War for Independence broke out, the British held Gotham for most of the war. However, a victory was won in Gotham by patriot Darius Wayne who is an ancestor of Batman. After the war in return for his heroism, he was rewarded for his heroism by a plot of land that would become the traditional estates of the Wayne family. Darius began building Wayne Mansion (though he never lived to occupy it) and also founded Robinson Park. The wilderness guerrilla and war hero Tomahawk also decided to make Gotham his home for a short time.

In 1800s a time traveling Swamp Thing visited early Gotham. Tomahawk encountered a slave trader, the immortal Jason Blood, who is then an Admiral in the Royal British Navy. The encounter left Tomahawk disgusted with city life and he left Gotham with his Indian lover, Moon Fawn.

Wayne Manor then fell out of the hands of the Wayne family. Solomon and Joshua Wayne, grandsons of Darius, were soon able to buy it back. Afterward, Joshua joined the Underground Railroad and used the caves beneath the Manor as a hiding place for runaway slaves. Joshua was later mortally wounded in this pursuit and, in order to preserve the secret of the Underground Railway, climbed into a drainage pipe to ensure that his corpse would not be found.

Gotham continued to grow in size. Eventually, Solomon Wayne, who had become a judge, hired the eccentric architect Cyrus Pinkney. His industrial-Gothic style would continue to dominate the look of Gotham. Solomon Waynes's son Alan founded Wayne Enterprises, which grew to become Gotham's, and later one of America's, leading corporations.

In 1894, in Slaughter Swamp outside of the city, the wealthy Cyrus Gold is murdered. He would later return in various incarnations of the monster Solomon Grundy.

In 1920, Prohibition was declared. Many criminals begin selling illegal booze, along with other illicit substances. A vicious gang war erupted. Guiseppe Bertinelli united three of the "Five Families" of Crime in Gotham behind him against the other two, winning the gang war. With this, corruption and graft among politicians and the police began to grow.

In 1921, Elizabeth Arkham Asylum is founded by Amadeus Arkham who would himself later be imprisoned there.

Gotham, like the rest of America, is later hit hard by the Great Depression. During this time, organized crime grew increasingly powerful. Corruption infiltrated all levels of Gotham society from cops who were paid to look the other way to politicians in the pockets of gang lords. At the same time, however, Gotham became the home of two of the earliest superheroes: Green Lantern I and Black Canary I. Eventually, the Justice Society would even make its headquarters in Gotham for a short while. However, no matter what good these forces managed to do, the city remained in the control of organized crime. The mayor was murdered in the first of a series of grizzly murders that would taunt the then protector of Gotham, Green Lantern (Alan Scott).

Gotham would remain in the clutches of criminals for most of the 20th centuries. In the 1960's Tomaso Panessa arrived in the city disrupting the balance of power among the "Five Families." Not soon afterward, a vigilante known as The Reaper appeared, who wantonly slew criminals and terrorized the city before mysteriously disappearing.

One dark night, in the infamous Crime Alley, two of Gotham's most prominent citizens were murdered: Doctor Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha. Though there was a great media sensation around the tragic event, their murderer was never caught. They left behind their son Bruce, who witnessed the crime and swore on their graves to avenge their deaths (eventually becoming known as the Batman).

The murder soon became a symbol of the failure of the justice system. Over the following decades, corruption grew even worse. Drugs, prostitution, and graft skyrocketed. Organized crime embedded itself within the system, being lead at this time by Carmine Falcone, alias The Roman. An honest cop became a rarity. This changed with the arrival of two men: James Gordon and Bruce Wayne.

After years of training abroad, Bruce Wayne returned. During a reconnaissance mission, he was badly wounded and barely makes it back to Wayne Manor alive. He became distraught and began to question his efforts. Suddenly, a bat flew through a window. This incident caused him to come up with the idea of dressing like a bat, on the belief that criminals, a cowardly and superstitious lot, would be frightened by the costume. Not long after, the Batman first appeared on Gotham's streets.

James Gordon arrived in Gotham from Chicago with his wife and a tarnished record. He soon found that the police force was almost entirely corrupt, going all the way up to the police commissioner. He was soon assigned to track down the Batman. However, upon witnessing the Dark Knight's heroism, he changed his opinion and decided to work with him.

The two men, along with DA Harvey Dent, began a crusade to clean up the city. They were successful in cleaning up the police force and bringing down the Roman. At this time, a new and stranger criminal element arose. Lunatics in weird disguises appeared. The worst of these was (and still is) the insane clown-like killer known as the Joker. Selina Kyle, inspired by Batman, became Catwoman, hovering on the borderline between good and evil. Gordon and Batman soon lost their ally Harvey Dent, when, during a court hearing, a suspected criminal throws acid on his face. Dent went insane and became the criminal known as Two-Face. Other vigilantes such as Robin I, Batgirl, and the Huntress appeared in the years that followed, countering the increased evil with their presence.

Recently, Gotham has undergone a series of disasters. The first of these was when the criminal Bane unleashed the inmates of Arkham's criminally insane ward in part of a strategy to destroy Batman. Batman, along with Robin III and Azrael, did their best to bring the lunatics in safely, but there was substantial loss of property and lives. Bane used this distraction to attack Batman. Weary from his battles, Batman was unable to defend himself and had his back broken. With Bruce Wayne taken out of commission, Azrael (Jean Paul Valley) replaced him as Batman II.

Valley, however, was unstable and began using increasingly violent methods. This culminated when he allowed the serial killer Abattoir to die. After being mystically healed, Bruce Wayne battled Valley and eventually reclaimed the mantle of Batman.

A year later, Gothamites began to fall victim to the Clench virus. A full-out plague hit the city and literally thousands died. The plague continued until Batman and his allies were able to obtain a cure. Batman later tracked down the source of the plague to eco-terrorist Ra's al Ghul.

Later an even greater disaster struck the city, when a 7.6 earthquake devastated Gotham. Thousands died and the government declared Gotham a "No Man's Land": those that could not or chose not to leave were left to fend for themselves. Batman temporarily left Gotham and various factions including the GCPD, Two-Face, Scarface, the Penguin and others took control of portions of the city. Huntress began acting as Batgirl II.

Batman returned and after weeks of reconnaissance he revealed his presence. Deciding that he could not reclaim the city alone, he began working with other allies: Robin III, Azrael, Nightwing, and a new Batgirl, Cassandra Cain. As he recruits these allies, turf wars were fought between the various factions. During this period, Bane infiltrated Gotham and destroyed the public records at the behest of Lex Luthor.

LexCorp and Wayne Industries then began rebuilding Gotham (Luthor's attempt to take ownership of large portions of property being foiled by Batman) and eventually, the government rescinded its proclamation and Gotham returned to the U.S.

Since the rebuilding of Gotham, the citizens have been split between the O.G.'s (the original Gothamites who stayed through the NML period) and N.G's (returned to or moved to Gotham after NML) and the rise of organized crime syndicates like the Russian Mafia and the Costra Nostra has again been notable. Ra's Al Ghul once again attempted to take control of Gotham, this time using a mutagenic drug, but was once again foiled by Batman. Bruce Wayne was recently framed for murder, but was eventually cleared. He also had to deal with schemes of mysterious person known as Hush, but again came out triumphant. Batman's war with crime continues.

What the future holds for Gotham City is unknown, but if the past is any indication, tragedy will strike again and it will rely once again rely on the heroism of its defenders.

PROFILE REFERENCES

Secret Files & Origins Guide to the DC Universe 2000 #1 (March 2000)

Batman: Gotham City Secret Files #1 (April 2001)