One day I’m going to have to rework my Tom King post. But he has a lot of content that came out in the past few years. Thankfully I managed to finish one of them.
Gotham City: Year One - The Origin of Batman’s Foundations
This 6-issue series is yet another Batman-related in DC’s catalogue. Thankfully, this isn’t tied into any controversies like the breakneck events or anything like Batman: Fortress. There aren’t even ties to the writer’s own turn with the mainstream Batman comics. It’s just a self-contained adventure tributing everything that made Batman who he is.
Tom King has a notable preference for Noir stories. This one certainly hits a lot of familiar tropes. A protagonist tied to the background conflict, femme fatales, characters in moral gray areas, twists and betrayals, and survivors passing down what they know.
The protagonist in question is Slam Bradley, DC’s earliest success story in Detective Comics back when it was an anthology, predating Batman by 2 years. Slam has appeared in a number of other Batman-related comics and media often in tribute to Detective Comics. But Slam takes more influence from the more hardboiled detectives, relying on his fists and instincts more than his intelligence.
Before I go any further, everything below this line is a Spoiler!
What Created Batman?
The series taking place in 1961 is not so much about Gotham becoming a city as it is about how it became the present nightmare. Through an elderly Slam, the reader and Batman learn about a scandal involving Batman’s grandparents and an aunt he never knew. Like most pulpy detectives, Slam finds himself in over his head. After that, it’s a wild goose chase with twists, turns, and a few beatdowns. One of which was an affair with Bruce’s grandmother Constance.
In the series are a few mythology gags like how Bruce’s grandfather Richard Bruce Wayne was the “original Bat-Man” complete with the Bat Cave full of memorabilia and an affair with a “cat-woman” he conspired with for a ransom. Who in turn uses an alias similar to Zoe Kravitz, the actress who portrayed Catwoman in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. But unlike his grandson, Richard’s trophies were about his other affairs. All of which were with women-of-color he didn’t see as human.
Another was Helen Wayne, who died with an owl adorned blanket. This is a reference to one of two things: Owlman, the inverted Batman who was Bruce Wayne’s brother and/or the Court of the Owls with whom the Waynes were connected with. Both of which are signs that while the Waynes are the ones who helped found and build Gotham, they share the responsibility of corrupting it.
Something that wasn’t quite as apparent in the series until the end. Apparently the crime rate was lower than Metropolis’ until Slam hospitalized the commissioner in retaliation for beating him. The beating was so savage that the alley it took place became “Crime Alley”.
Who Ruined Gotham?
And there's people’s more immediate problem with this series. Tom King writes how Slam caused Gotham to go into a downward spiral. Not just with the commissioner, but how his actions gave Constance the means to twist Gotham to restore the Wayne’s fortune. Yeah, Richard had a gambling and booze problem in addition to being a creep. Oh and he beat his wife, who hired help to keep him in line, further fueling feeling emasculated.
On an unrelated note, Slam is revealed to be biracial. While people could say this was to remove Slam from his more racist depictions beating down Yellow Scare villains, this was purely a creative choice. Being biracial was a bigger deal in the 60s before MLK Jr., because that meant you were still “colored” and thus less human. Which in a Gotham segregated in the richer North and poorer South meant something. It’s why Slam eventually lashed out at the Captain he used to be a friend of because most of the cops were openly bigoted.
Speaking of Gotham’s segregated South Side, Richard was building a factory there. Constance completed it with the riots over Helen’s death and the injured commissioner allowing her the contracts to restore the Wayne’s fortune. That in turn poisoned Gotham’s South Side until the plant was sold off as Ace Chemicals. Effectively, this means that Slam and Constance had created the Joker. Among one other thing.
Who Created Batman?
While it was never confirmed, it was strongly implied that Slam is Batman’s biological grandfather when Constance asks Slam to help toughen her son Thomas up. As if Constance knew her son’s eventual fate in Crime Alley. But Slam already had enough, refusing without a second thought.
Spiritually it makes sense. Slam was Detective Comics’ first character, building the foundations for Batman to eventually become the anthology’s premiere title. Becoming too involved would have obscured Slam.
As for Gotham City: Year One, this implication isn’t meant to be too serious. As Batman notes: “Cities aren’t people. They don’t start or end. They’re just where you are.” There are plenty of things going on in the background that could have led to Gotham’s crime rates. Besides with or without Slam, Ace Chemicals was going to appear.
Even more, the fact that Batman exists says something. That despite every tragedy and every bit of baggage you inherit, something good can come out of it. Batman inherited his family’s resources, Gotham’s crimes, Slam’s detective skills, and more. In effect, Batman is the redemption of Gotham personified.