WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Nightwing #81 by Tom Tayler, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas, Wes Abbott, on sale now.
It was no secret that Blockbuster had consolidated a successful criminal empire in Bludhaven by the time Nightwing moved in. And now he's poised to resume the title of being the leader of Bludhaven's criminal enterprises. But before all that, he was a failed criminal who couldn't make it in Gotham City because of Batman. Coming to Bludhaven was the fresh start he needed to make his ambitions a reality.
And in Nightwing #81, it seems he was not the only one to have this idea. The Maroni Family of Gotham City has now relocated to Bludhaven and it could be the start of a trend for Gotham's rejects to go to Bludhaven when Batman stops their crimes one too many times.
The Maronis were first introduced in 1942's Detective Comics #66 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Ira Schnapp. They were one of Gotham's most prominent crime families alongside their rivals, the Falconis. But their descent into ruin began with Batman, but ended with Two-Face. Their leader, Sal Maroni, was responsible for disfiguring Harvey Dent, leading him to massacre most of the Maronis. What was left were absorbed into the Falcone crime family, but even that fell apart after a fashion.
Now though, it seems that the Maronis are attempting to make a comeback within Bludhaven. Here they don't have to worry about Batman or Two-Face. Instead, there is a city ripe with corruption ready for a strong hand to guide it. In many ways, Bludhaven is very much like Gotham City before Batman arrived, corruption everywhere with no one capable of stopping it.
This is what Blockbuster recognized and exploited to seize control over the city. The saying is true, in life everything is location, location, location. Blockbuster just needed a place that was Bat-free. And it gave him complete control, for while the Maronis have a seat at the table in this corrupt cabal, it is not the head. That spot is reserved for Blockbuster. But his ingenuity in finding new territory to conquer without resistance could be the first of many new problems for Bludhaven.
If an entire criminal organization like the Maronis have already crossed over to Bludhaven, how much longer before other Gotham rejects begin to see the appeal of such a move. There are new criminals every day and many of them don't last the test of time in Gotham. Batman has grown more experienced and efficient and can usually shut down the new groups before they become too big of a threat.
However, that lack of a roadblock is what makes Bludhaven such fertile ground. There is no formal resistance against their criminal activity there yet, outside of Nightwing. The mayor's office is firmly in their pocket, as are the police. One superhero lives in the city, but that's something that can be handled from a practical standpoint. The Maroni's relocation to Gotham's sister city could mean that the smarter failed criminals from Gotham could begin migrating over if they feel that Batman is too big a threat to be overcome.
That in turn could lead to things becoming steadily worse for Bludhaven. An influx of criminals, both powered and ordinary, could finally push the city past the point of no return. Nightwing was already hesitant to believe that anyone in Bludhaven would be willing to help a group of children in danger, if Bludhaven suddenly became the safe haven of failed criminals, then there's no telling how far gone the city could become.