Origins of Gotham

I’m a hardcore urbanite. I love cities, real and imaginary. There’s just something about masses of humanity drawn to an area with gaudy structures and richly envisioned neighborhoods. I can’t live too far from a city or I’ll lose my mind.

I’m not a big comics guy. If I had a favorite, it’d be Batman, simply because he has no superpowers and has to rely on his training and wits. But also, Batman has always defended Gotham City and I find Gotham City to be fascinating. I snatch up every small shred of information about Gotham its creators leave me. I love it.

So when I discovered Scott Snyder, who also did the Court of Owls Batman series that delved into Gotham’s history (which I also enjoyed) was essentially writing an origin story for it, I was intrigued.

It mostly met my expectations. 2 stars for a blasé Batman story. This is a universe where Dick Grayson is filling in for Bruce at the cowl, which fine. But there are also two Robins and a Batgirl. One of the Robins is jealous of the Batgirl, which presents a subplot that only serves to annoy. The other is Damien Wayne, Bruce’s son, a storyline I’ve never been a fan of.

But as far as the origins of Gotham (how it got all the tall buildings, why is it corrupt, etc.), that was interesting. I learned a lot and it filled in gaps for me. Who knows if it will be held as canonical across other universes but its in my personal canon and frankly, as a comic sampler but not necessarily reader, that’s good enough. Consider the itch sufficiently scratched.