The following article contains spoilers from Detective Comics 2022 Annual #1 on sale now.
Gotham City was once known as "Gathome Settlement" during the 1700s, Detective Comics 2022 Annual #1 reveals.
The story "Motif," penned by Ram V, shows Gathome in 1776, a far cry from the sprawling metropolis depicted in other Batman comics. Nevertheless, the relatively small settlement is still filled with various factions intending to control it. Detective Comics 2022 Annual #1 also reveals several Revolutionary War analogs to famous Batman characters. These include Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Two-Face and the Dark Knight himself, a man named Aldridge Pearce who shares Bruce Wayne's passion for justice. Lurking behind these colorful 18th-century takes on modern heroes and villains are the mysterious Orghams -- a dynasty connected with supernatural demons and the present-day Arkham family that has loomed large over V's current Detective Comics run.
Gotham's Historical Roots
While Gotham's old name of "Gathome" appears for the first time in the annual, the city's colonial roots have been explored in the past. The 1988 limited series Batman: The Cult, by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson, depicted Dutch colonists in the early settlement and introduced the villainous Deacon Blackfire, a man who had supposedly gained immortality and was descended from the indigenous Miagani people of the region.
"Dark Knight, Dark City," a story by Peter Milligan and Kieron Dwyer that ran in the pages of 1990's Batman #452 - 454, also showed Gotham in the 1700s. There, the city's origin was tied with the occult, as a group of rich colonists attempted to summon the bat demon Barbatos. The creature attacked them and was sealed in a temple, and Gotham's foundations were built on the grounds above this resting place. Grant Morrison would later resurrect the demon Barbatos, tying him intrinsically with a time-traveling Batman in his The Return of Bruce Wayne story arc of 2010. The demon would go on to play a major role in writer Scott Snyder's Metal and Death Metal events of 2017 and 2020.
Detective Comics 2022 Annual #1 is written by V, illustrated by Christopher Mitten, Rafael Albuquerque and Hayden Sherman, colored by Lee Loughridge, lettered by Deron Bennett and features a cover by Evan Cagle. The annual is on sale now from DC.
Source: DC