Gotham City
Gotham City is a
fictional city appearing in
DC Comics, and is best known as the home of the
Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in
Detective Comics #48 (February 1941); before then, Batman's adventures happened in either
New York City or an unnamed city. Gotham is known to be architecturally modeled after New York, but with more exaggerated vices. The name
Gotham is an old nickname of New York, popularized by author
Washington Irving.
In terms of how Gotham City's atmosphere is usually depicted, it has been said by some that, metaphorically,
Metropolis (home to
Superman) is "New York during the day", and Gotham is "New York at night". This comparison is helped by the fact that Metropolis is more often seen during the day, and Gotham more at night (due to Batman's
MO). Longtime
Batman writer and editor
Dennis O'Neil has also said figuratively that Metropolis is New York above 14th St. on a sunny summer day, and that Gotham City is New York below 14th St. on a cold, rainy November night. Within the comics themselves, however, New York, Metropolis and Gotham City all exist as separate cities. However, in the 2005 movie
Batman Begins Ra's Al Ghul states that Gotham is "the world's greatest city", implying that Gotham is the largest and most prominent.
Gotham City's atmosphere took on a lighter tone in the comics of the 1950s and part of the 1960s, similar to the tone of Batman stories of that era; by the early 1970s, however, Gotham's tone (and the
Batman stories themselves) had become grittier.
Batman Beyond envisions a Gotham City 40 years into the future. In it, the gothic architecture has been replaced by futuristic architecture with mixed gothic and Asian influences, reminiscent of the film
Akira, with elevated streets looping around buildings.
According to
Swamp Thing #53 (and various subsequent
comic book stories), Gotham City was founded in 1635
by a Swedish mercenary and was later taken over by the British. This loosely mirrors the history of New York, which was founded by the Dutch and taken over by the British. During the
American Revolutionary War, it was the site of a major battle and various
occult rites were rumored to have been conducted within the city. Perhaps for these reasons Gotham is a dark and forbidding place rife with crime, grime, and corruption. Despite this, Gotham City has maintained a thriving economy and is considered a major economic center of activity.
Architecture
The unique architecture of Gotham City can be traced back to Judge Solomon Wayne during the pre-
American Civil War era. Wayne's entrepreneurial skills made him a leading citizen in Gotham, starting a dozen businesses including the Gotham Buggy Whip Works. His campaign to reform Gotham came to a head when he met Cyrus Pinkney, a young architect looking for a commission. After the promotion of Pinkney's designs in the Property Holders Association, Wayne commissioned the first "Gotham Style" structures to be built in what is now the center of the city's financial district. Despite mixed reviews from critics, the
Gothic architecture became a focal point for a thriving commercial center. Wayne and Pinkney would raise a dozen similar buildings in the years that followed, as Gotham took on a new face that would make it famous the world over.
GCPD and corruption
In addition to rampant
organized crime activity in the city, the
Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) was steeped in corruption up until the late 1980s. The strongest blow against
police corruption came in 1986, when an increasing amount of
conspiracy charges, arranged by the intervention of the mysterious Batman against
Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, forced him to resign his position. The Falcone crime family, which had had a stranglehold on Gotham's underground for generations, finally crumbled by the end of the 1980s, when a series of killings shook the structure of the
mafia organization. After the death of
Carmine Falcone in 1988, the mafia lashed out in sloppy, retaliatory crimes, which, in combination with rising
gang violence, severely crippled organized crime in Gotham City. Simultaneously, the ebbing presence of corrupt police officers allowed
James Gordon to become the new
Commissioner, a man determined to eradicate crime wherever it existed.
Arkham Asylum
Numerous costumed maniacs have emerged, necessitating the construction of an
asylum dedicated to the incarceration of the criminally insane (called Arkham Asylum in homage to the fictional city of
Arkham,
Massachusetts in the works of
H.P. Lovecraft, whose stories often included forbidding and decrepit
New England cities with histories of occult practices and other evils). The origins of the asylum have been traced back to 1920, when
psychiatrist Amadeus Arkham converted his estate into a mental health institution. Dr. Arkham studied under
Carl Jung, interviewed
Aleister Crowley during a trip to Europe and pioneered several key concepts in
criminal psychology. Unfortunately, a series of personal tragedies caused Dr. Arkham's mental deterioration. At the start of the
Great Depression in 1929, Amadeus was incarcerated for assaulting his
stock broker. He died years later, imprisoned in the asylum he created. His nephew, Jeremiah Arkham, currently runs the asylum, and oversaw its reconstruction in 1992, and its movement to the Mercey House in 1995. Unfortunately, the asylum has rarely managed to cure or keep its various insane inmates for long.
Recent events
In the late 1990s, Gotham City suffered from an artificially created
epidemic, and was given its most devastating blow when an
earthquake (measuring 7.6 on the
Richter Scale) struck the city in 1998, resulting in untold property damage and, according to
Adventures of Superman #648, 5,057 dead at last recorded count. After much political controversy, a federal edict cut off the city from the rest of the
United States, with most of Gotham's residents evacuating in the process. After a full year as a federally proclaimed
No Man's Land, the reconstruction of the city was initiated by privately owned businesses, and later taken over by the Federal Works Projects. Old landmarks were painstakingly restored or recreated in tribute to the city's rich history. New buildings were erected, in addition to the completion of the Gotham Rapid Transit System, which included the longest independently operated
monorail system in the world. Gotham thus regained its identity, and remains today as one of the greatest cities in the world.
Additionally,
James Gordon retired from service as Gotham's police commissioner. He subsequently became a Criminology faculty member at Gotham University for several years, succeeded by
Michael Akins, his personal choice for his former post in the Gotham police. However, the status quo was recently restored during the "
One Year Later" event, and James Gordon is now once again Commissioner, serving his third stint in the position.
A list of Gotham City's
mayors, in chronological order from earliest to latest:
*
Hamilton Hill — before
KnightSaga.
*
Armand Krol — early 1990s; during
KnightSaga; lost election to Grange; later died from the Clench virus unleashed by
Ra's al Ghul in the
Legacy storyline.
*
Marion Grange — late 1990s; failed to prevent the federal government from declaring
No Man's Land before being assassinated by agents of
Nick Scratch.
*
Daniel Danforth Dickerson III — early 2000s; elected mayor following
No Man's Land;
corrupt;
assassinated by
the Joker.
*
David Hull — current.
A year after the
Infinite Crisis, following a phonecall received by Commissioner Gordon, the current mayor of Gotham was referred to as 'she'. The current mayor's full identity is, as of yet, unknown.
In other media
*Mayor Linseed was the mayor in the 1966-68 ABC-TV series
Batman (a play on the name of New York City's then-mayor,
John Lindsay) and Stonefeller was the governor of "Gotham State" (as opposed to
Nelson Rockefeller, who was governor of New York State during the same period). There was also a West River (as opposed to New York's East River), and "Bernie Park's Gallery", compared to the real Park Bernet Gallery.
*William Borg was the mayor in the 1989
Batman film.
*Hamilton Hill was the mayor in
Batman: The Animated Series (and later the name of a high school in
Batman Beyond).
*Marion Grange is the mayor in the
The Batman, and in a divergence from the comics, is depicted as male. The original version of Grange, as published in the comics, was female.
One of Gotham City's most famous residents is
Bruce Wayne,
CEO of
Wayne Enterprises and noted
philanthropist and
playboy. It is unknown to the general public or law that Wayne is also Gotham City's other most famous resident, the Batman.
A number of heroes associated with Batman have operated in Gotham City. These include several youths in the role of
Robin (Batman's
sidekick),
Nightwing (the original Robin;
Dick Grayson's adult superhero identity),
Batgirl (superhero identity of
Jessica Wayne),
Huntress, and even
Black Canary.
Apart from Gotham's
superhero residents, the residents of the city were featured in a back up series in
Detective Comics, "Tales of Gotham City" and in two
limited series called
Gotham Nights. In addition, the Gotham City Police Department was the focus of its own series,
Gotham Central.
Other
DC Comics characters outside the Batman-related titles also reside in Gotham City.
Alan Scott, the
Golden Age Green Lantern, is based there and
Plastic Man has been said to operate out of Gotham City as well. The original
Black Canary was shown as residing in the city in the
Justice Society of America series, and in later years, her daughter resided there during much of the
Birds of Prey series. Angela Roth, later
Arella, mother of the
Teen Titans member
Raven, resided in Gotham City for some time when she was a teenager. From this, one could guess the cult she joined, which attempted to raise
Satan, is located in or close to Gotham. In the original
Justice League of America series, it was revealed that
Zatara and
Zatanna also resided in a mansion known as Shadowcrest, located in Gotham. Tommy Monaghan, the title character from the
Garth Ennis comic-book series
Hitman, is a hired killer from Gotham's "Cauldron" neighborhood. Also operating in Gotham City was the self-proclaimed superhero team
Section 8.
In addition to Arkham Asylum, other major facets of Gotham City seen in
Batman comics include:
|
Map of Gotham City that hangs behind (then) Captain Gordon's desk, as it appears in Chapter Two of The Long Halloween. Art by Tim Sale. |
*
Blackgate Maximum Security Penitentiary: The city's main
prison, located on Blackgate Isle (named Stonegate Prison in
Batman: The Animated Series).
*
Brentwood Academy: A privately run
high school once attended by
Tim Drake (the third
Robin) and
Jessica Wayne (Batgirl).
*
The Clocktower: A tower in central Gotham which once contained the secret headquarters of
Barbara Gordon, currently known as Oracle.
*
Crime Alley: Formally "Park Row", Crime Alley is a small side street, located in the East End, where Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed by
Joe Chill during
Bruce Wayne's youth, after the family had visited a
cinema. It is a dangerous,
crime-infested area. Also in comic continuity, this is also the location where Batman first met
Jason Todd, when he attempted to steal the tires off of the
Batmobile. In the future seen in
Batman Beyond, Bruce Wayne used his influence to keep Crime Alley preserved while the rest of Gotham was rebuilt, making it the only remnant of the present-day Gotham City to remain.
*
The East End: An underdeveloped part of Gotham laden with poverty, crime,
prostitution, and the circulation of
illegal drugs (in the 2005 movie
Batman Begins a similar type of area in Gotham is referred to as
The Narrows). Some comics writers occasionally conflate the East End together with Crime Alley. It is currently under the protection of
Catwoman.
*
The Narrows: An even seedier, grittier portion of Gotham than the East End, introduced in the
Batman Begins version of Gotham. Accurately described as dangerous and dilapidated. Often viewed as the skid row of Gotham. The Narrows are located on an island joined to Gotham proper by the Narrowsborough Bridge, an obvious dig into New York's very own Queensborough Bridge. It is rumored that the infamous Arkham Asylum is located in the Narrows, and can easily be proved as the Narrows are shown as the asylum's background in
Batman Begins. Whether or not the neighbourhood is incorporated into the comics has yet to be decided.
*
Gotham Docks: Gotham City's harbor, also the site of the final arrest of Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins.
*
The Stacked Deck: A seedy nightclub where the most notorious criminals in Gotham go to hide out sometimes.
*
Falcone Penthouse: Was the home to
Carmine Falcone before being killed by
Two-Face. Was also the place of
Catwoman first encountering
Batman (not Bruce Wayne), and the first time Batman faced Two-Face.
*
Plant Factory: Batman's first battle with
Poison Ivy took place here during his first year. It apparently burnt to the ground by the battle's finish.
*
Finnigan's: A bar popular with uniformed police officers in Gotham.
*
Gotham Heights: The affluent area where Wayne Manor is located. Also known as "Bristol" and/or "Crest Hill", due to mutual proximity of the three neighborhoods of those names.
*
Gotham County High School: A public high school once attended by Tim Drake.
*
Gotham Square a resemblence to New York City's
Time Square.
*
Grand Avenue: Gotham City's version of
New York City's
Broadway.
*
The Iceberg Lounge: A nightclub in the city centre operated by the
Penguin.
*
Killinger's Department Store: - Large department store similar to
Macy's in New York.
*
Ace Chemical Processing Inc.: - The factory where a costumed criminal named the
Red Hood fell into a vat of chemicals and became the
Joker (named Axis Chemicals in the 1989 film).
*
Monarch Playing Card Co.: - The playing card factory adjacent to Ace Chemical Processing that the Red Hood was attempting to rob before encountering the Batman and fleeing.
*
My Alibi: A lowlife bar in the city center.
*
The Statue of Justice: - Also known as "Lady Gotham", modeled loosely on the
Statue of Liberty in New York, modified with a blindfold over her eyes, and a sword and scales in her outstretched hands. In
Batman: The Animated Series, the statue is shown holding a shield and a torch.
*
Toxic Acres: An abandoned neighborhood of newly built houses, unsuitable for habitation due to its proximity to a toxic waste dump. Gas masks and/or antivenom is required to prevent illness while staying. Toxic Acres was a one-time hideout for
Poison Ivy and
Harley Quinn.
*
Wayne Manor â€" sometimes referred to as "Wayne Mansion" or "Stately Wayne Manor". The
mansion estate of Bruce Wayne, and the location of the
Batcave.
*
Wayne Tower â€" Headquarters of
Wayne Enterprises. Located at the corner of Finger and Broome Streets (named after comic creators
Bill Finger and
John Broome).
Many other areas and landmarks have been referred to more inconsistently in the comics and most are named in homage to important
Batman creators. These include:
*
Aparo Park and Aparo Expressway - (named after artist
Jim Aparo)
*
Archie Goodwin International Airport - (named after writer and editor
Archie Goodwin)
*
Barr Town - (named for writer
Mike W. Barr)
*
Cape Carmine - (named after artist
Carmine Infantino)
*
Davis Avenue - (named for artist
Alan Davis)
*
Dixon Dock - (named after writer
Chuck Dixon)
*
Finger River - (named after Batman co-creator
Bill Finger)
*
Finger Memorial Park - (named after Batman co-creator
Bill Finger)
*
Grant Park - (named after writer
Alan Grant)
*
Miller Harbor - (named after writer/artist
Frank Miller)
*
Novick Tunnel - (named after artist
Irv Novick)
*
Robbinsville â€" (named after artist
Frank Robbins)
*
Robinson Park: â€" The city's main park (named after 1940s
Batman artist and Joker co-creator
Jerry Robinson, as were Robinson Square and Robinson Plaza). Was
Poison Ivy's territory during No Man's Land.
*
R.H. Kane Building and the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge - (named after Batman co-creator
Bob Kane)
*
Sprang Bridge and the Sprang River - (named after artist
Dick Sprang)
*
The Westward Bridge - (named after the
Batman live-action TV series' actors
Adam West and
Burt Ward).
Gotham City is a major economic center within the
DC Universe's United States; its important industries include
manufacturing,
shipping,
finance,
fine arts (with its numerous
museums, galleries, and
jewelry displays), and the production of giant novelty props. In addition to a commercial
seaport, there is also a
naval shipyard.
Major businesses based in Gotham City include its most noteworthy corporation: Wayne Enterprises, which specializes in various industrial aspects and advanced technological research and development.
Noteworthy
newspapers in Gotham City include the
Gotham Gazette. In the
Silver Age comics, the
editor-in-chief of Metropolis newspaper
The Daily Planet,
Perry White, had once worked for the
Gazette early in his career.
 |
One possible map of Gotham. Original design of map by Eliot R. Brown for Gotham City Secret Files and Origins #1 |
Several maps of Gotham City have been produced over the years. Many of them are directly based on
Manhattan and other real coastlines, and others are completely original. One map showing Gotham City in relation to
Metropolis (the home of
Superman), published in
New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), placed Gotham City and Metropolis on opposite sides of a large bay. Another map of Gotham City pictured in
Swamp Thing (2nd series) #53 (October 1986) was directly based on the geography of
Rhode Island. A map of Gotham City used in the 1989 film
Batman was actually an inverted map of
Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada (in the same movie, a map of the Axis Chemical plant was actually a map of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada). The current definitive maps of Gotham City are those based on the ones produced for the
No Man's Land story arc.
Gotham City is serviced by Kane County morgue, implying that the county was founded by a relative of Batman's creator,
Bob Kane.
Gotham City's location has, like other
fictional cities in the
DC Universe, varied over the decades, due to the capricious nature of the various writers, editors and storylines. At various times, Gotham was depicted as being on the shores of "Lake Gotham". The majority of appearances place Gotham as being on the east coast of the United States, however.
Current
Batman comics state that Gotham City is located in
New Jersey, with recent maps closely following the geography of southern
Ocean County, placing Gotham's location nearly matching that of the
Little Egg Harbor Township, and the downtown looking like the geography of the
Mystic Island section of the town.
The 1960s live-action
Batman television series never specified Gotham's location, though in the related theatrical movie, Gotham was shown to have a harbor and a beach.
In the 1997 film
Batman and Robin in which the co-villan,
Mr. Freeze, attempts to encapsulate the city in a block of ice using a giant laser, the targeting screen locates Gotham somewhere on the
New England shoreline, possibly as far north as
Maine.
The 2005 film
Batman Begins leaves the location of Gotham ambiguous.
Alfred comments that the caverns beneath Wayne Manor that are to be converted into the Batcave were once used by a Wayne ancestor to hide escaping slaves in the
Underground Railroad, thereby placing it anywhere from the northeast United States to Iowa. It is likely on the east coast as it does have a port that leads to the ocean. However, many of the visible license plates in the film, including
Rachel Dawes', are based on the
Illinois license plate. In several shots are seen various skyscrapers of Chicago, including a part of the
Sears Tower,
Two Prudential Plaza, and the twin
Marina City towers. In addition, Wayne Tower is visually based on the
Chicago Board of Trade.
The 1990s
Batman: The Animated Series depicted a driver's license of a Gotham area resident, listing his hometown as "Gotham Estates,
NY" (as seen in the first season episode "Joker's Favor"). This implies that Gotham City borders or is within the state of New York, and has
suburbs (such as Gotham Estates) within
commuting distance. In one episode, when Bruce Wayne leaves for England, it shows Gotham City located on New York's
Long Island, clearly in the same location of
Queens County.
In another episode of
Batman: The Animated Series, however, it is implied that Gotham resides in a state of the same name, as a prison workshop was shown stamping license plates that read "Gotham - The
Dark Deco State" (as a reference to the artistic style of the series, this plate may have been intended to simply be one of the visual gags that were common on the program). Also, the
Batman: The Animated Series episode "
Harlequinade" states that Gotham City has a population of approximately 10 million people, approximately 2 million more than that of New York City.
The distance between Gotham City and Metropolis has varied over the years, with the two cities having been shown as everywhere from being hundreds of miles apart to being
twin cities on opposite sides of a large
bay.
Blüdhaven, a city that for several years was home to
Nightwing, is located near Gotham City. Additionally, in the
Seven Soldiers of Victory series
Klarion the Witch Boy,
New York City is called the "Cinderella City", referring to nearby Metropolis and Gotham as its "ugly step-sisters".
Also, issue #3 of the
Man-Bat series establishes Gotham City in the
Central Time zone.
* Brady, Matthew and Williams, Dwight.
Daily Planet Guide to Gotham City. Honesdale, Pennsylvania:
West End Games under license from
DC Comics, 2000.
* Brown, Eliot. "Gotham City Skyline".
Secret Files & Origins Guide to the DC Universe 2000. New York: DC Comics, 2000.
*
Grant, Alan. "The Last Arkham".
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1. New York: DC Comics, 1992.
*
Loeb, Jeph.
Batman: The Long Halloween. New York: DC Comics, 1997.
*
Miller, Frank.
Batman: Year One. New York: DC Comics, 1988.
*
Morrison, Grant.
Arkham Asylum. New York: DC Comics, 1990.
*
O'Neil, Dennis. "Destroyer".
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #27. New York: DC Comics, 1992.
