From the Joker’s schemes to more supernatural causes, Gotham City has experienced many forms of destruction over the years.
Batman is the protector of Gotham City and its citizens. In the course of battling various supervillains, Gotham often takes the brunt of the damage of these battles. Currently, Gotham is in ruins as the Joker and Punchline, now in control of the Wayne fortune, have taken over the streets of the city once again in “The Joker War” arc.
In Justice League #53, by Joshua Williamson, Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr, and Tom Napolitano, which is a crossover issue of the current Dark Nights: Death Metal crisis, Nightwing returns to Gotham City to find it looks more like a post-apocalyptic nightmare more akin to The Road Warrior than the Gotham he knew. Littered with abandoned cars and crumbled buildings, the streets of Gotham are full of creatures that look like twisted versions of The Creeper as well as large, hulking Dark Multiverse versions of Solomon Grundy. Gotham City has indeed seen better days. Below are five more times when Gotham City was completely destroyed.
Batman: Cataclysm
Cataclysm is an eighteen-issue crossover event in 1998 that ran through all the Batman titles at the time. In Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73, by Alan Grant, Mark Buckingham, Wayne Faucher, Pamela Rambo, Android Images, and Bill Oakley, Gotham City is hit by a massive 7.6 earthquake that doesn’t just completely destroy Gotham, but it also wipes out Wayne Manor and the Batcave. The city quickly falls into chaos as only the inhabitants of Wayne-built buildings were safe. Heroes and villains manage to put aside their differences to help locate and save survivors. The aftermath of Cataclysm serves as the catalyst for the beginning of two years worth of storylines for all the Batman and spin-off titles, including the storyline, No Man’s Land.
Batman: No Man’s Land
In 1999, Batman: No Man’s Land picks up on the aftermath of Cataclysm. The city is still in ruins. In the prelude to No Man’s Land, the U.S. government evacuates Gotham and abandons those who chose to remain in the city. As a result, Gotham City has become a lawless wasteland divided into various territories that are run by the city’s most powerful people. The outline for this story that ran through all the Batman titles at the time was written by Jordan B. Gorfinkel, and ran for almost a full year. This arc detailed the lives of the residents of the city who remained behind. This crossover explores all the events from the time Gotham was destroyed until it’s rebuilt.