2008 (July to December)
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— “Week 11” of 52 — Note in 52 #11. Kate Rebecca Kane aka the new Batwoman makes her debut, teaming-up with the Question and Renee Montoya against Intergang in Gotham. It is revealed that Kate and Renee are lovers. Kate is related to the original Bat-Woman, but not by direct bloodline. Former Bat-Girl Bette Kane is Kate’s cousin.
–Around “Week 12” of 52 — Note in a reference in Detective Comics #817. July. Massive corruption within the GCPD begins to show its face in public.
–Around “Week 12” of 52 — Note in Battle for Blüdhaven #1 Part 2 and Battle for Blüdhaven #2-6. July. The villainous Father Time of SHADE (Super-Human Advanced Defense Executive) takes over Blüdhaven, sending his agents—including new Phantom Lady (Stormy Knight), new Doll Man (Lester Colt), and new Human Bomb (Andrew Franklin)—to battle incursions from Hal Jordan, the Monolith (with Alice Cohen and Tilt Shimura), a new Firebrand (Andre Twist), the Atomic Knights (Atomic Knight aka Gardner Grayle, Marene Herald, Bryndon Smith, Doug Herald, Wayne Hobard, Hollis Hobard, and their rideable giant Dalmatians), and the Teen Titans. Eventually, a comatose Captain Atom awakes and destroys what remains of the city. Robin’s appearance here is very likely a continuity error. After all, he’d be on sabbatical at this juncture, so either we ignore him completely or we consider that he has momentarily left his sabbatical.[1]
— “Week 16” of 52 — Note in flashback from Catwoman Vol. 3 #56 and flashback from Catwoman Vol. 3 #62. August. Selina Kyle tells Holly Robinson that she is pregnant! She also reveals the father is Sam Bradley Jr. Then, Holly begins training with Wildcat and Alan Scott to become Selina’s replacement (as seen through flashback from Catwoman Vol. 3 #56). Sam, unfortunately, is killed by Black Mask’s leftover thugs and will never get to see his baby girl (as seen through flashback from Catwoman Vol. 3 #62).
— “Week 23” of 52 — Note in 52 #23. Egg Fu (Chang Tzu) has kidnapped a bunch of the DCU’s major scientists and forces them to create gigantic mutated techno-organic warriors on Oolong Island.
–Around “Week 24” of 52 — Note in a reference in Detective Comics #817. Ex-cop Harvey Bullock plays a pivotal role in exposing the corruption within the GCPD. His record is cleared and he is given his old job back on the force.
— “Week 25” of 52 — Note in 52 #25. Bruno Mannheim allies his Intergang organization with the Religion of Crime (a cult invented by Boss Dark Side—i.e. Darkseid incarnate—that worships evil and follows the “Crime Bible”). Mannheim kills Gotham’s crime bosses or forces them to fall under Intergang’s power. Among the murdered are Mirage (Kerry Austin), Kite Man, and Sewer King. Astonishingly, Kite Man and Sewer King had recently ascended to the top of the Gotham criminal food chain prior to this. As had Ventriloquist, Magpie, and the Squid, who quickly fall back to the bottom of the food chain, joining Intergang to save their own lives. Intergang and the Religion of Crime now control all of Gotham’s mob activity.
–Around “Week 25” of 52 — Note in Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters #1.[2] Uncle Sam rises from the dead and begins recruiting the brand new Freedom Fighters. For anyone wondering how Uncle Sam rises from the dead, he’s the goddamn Spirit of America originally brought to life by an occult ritual performed by the Founding Fathers in the 18th century. He can never really die! The new Freedom Fighters consist of Uncle Sam, new Black Condor (John Trujillo), Doll Man (Lester Colt), Firebrand (Andre Twist), Human Bomb (Andrew Franklin), Phantom Lady (Stormy Knight), and new Ray (Stanley Silver).
— “Week 26” of 52 — Note in 52 #26 and Detective Comics #817. Gotham City elects a new mayor. Little is known about this character. In fact, the comics don’t even give us the new mayor’s name—only that the mayor is female and defeats incumbent David Hull in the election. However, some (admittedly) highly speculative information from a non-canon source—West End Games’ Daily Planet Guide to Gotham (2000)—gives us the name Karen Willis. Applying an obscure sourcebook reference to our timeline here might be a bit of a stretchy fanwank, but the alternative is simply “unnamed female mayor.” It’s always nice to get a name when we can, even from an unlikely place.[3]
–Around “Week 26” of 52 — Note in Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters #2. Senator Henry Knight is elected President of the United States. Former President Jonathan Horne is his running mate, thus becoming the new Vice President. However, unknown to the world, Henry Knight has been murdered by the villain Father Time shortly before election day. Furthermore, the evil android known as Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard has replaced the real Henry Knight and taken his place as President-Elect. That’s right people, your new president is really Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard. Amazing.
— “Week 27” of 52 — Note in a reference in Detective Comics #823. Harvey Dent, vigilante protector of Gotham, apprehends Poison Ivy.
–In “Week 30” of 52 — Reference in Batman #700. Late November. Bruce returns to Gotham to honor his mother and father on the anniversary of their deaths. Dick meets with Bruce before he departs for Crime Alley, witnessing Bruce’s preparation for his annual tribute. This year, Bruce has decided to make a change; instead of two roses, Bruce prepares an all black wreath, which he lays down on Crime Alley. The switch to the black wreath from the roses will be a permanent change to this yearly ritual.
–52 #30
“Week 30” of 52. Dick and Tim encounter Intergang smugglers in North Africa while Bruce meets with the Ten-Eyed Brotherhood in the desert in order to “release his inner demons.” Robin travels to the desert and meets with a nearly out-of-control Bruce, who has supposedly “purged his demons.” The Ten-Eyed Brotherhood scenes in the African desert are also shown via flashback from Batman #673, Batman #683, and Robin Vol. 2 #175. Dick then returns to Gotham, suits up as Nightwing, and meets Batwoman for the first time.
— “Week 32” of 52 — Note in 52 #32. Ollie Queen wins a special election and becomes the mayor of Star City.
— “Week 33” of 52 — Reference in The Batman Files. Bruce reviews Nightwing’s files and notes, which Nightwing has been meticulously taking while Bruce is away. Among the updated Bat-computer files is a new entry about the new Batwoman, whose secret ID Nightwing has deduced as Kate Kane (although he hasn’t 100% verified this information yet). Bruce carefully studies Kate Kane’s bio and trusts Nightwing’s assessment of Batwoman, but he’s not satisfied that Kate Kane is really the person behind Batwoman’s mask. In fact, Batman won’t actually verify Batwoman’s secret ID for another three years (not until Batwoman #0)!
— “Week 33” of 52 — Reference in 52 #33. Bruce gives Nightwing a Batarang to give to Batwoman as a gift, signifying that she has been officially adopted into the Bat-Family.
— “Week 33” of 52 — Note in 52 #33. Gotham city officials announce that Michael Akins, due to the corruption within his department, will be removed as commissioner and Jim Gordon will replace him in his old post! The GCPD throws Jim Gordon a “Welcome Back” party. Gordon has taken up smoking his pipe again, something he hasn’t done in years (ever since his heart attack). For shame, Jim, for shame.
— “Week 34” of 52 — Note in 52 #34. New Year’s Eve. Lex Luthor shuts down the “Everyman” powers without warning. Hundreds of flying “Everyman” superheroes plummet to their deaths. Downtown Metropolis is devastated with piles of bodies and a ton of property damage.
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- [1]MARTÍN LEL / COLLIN COLSHER: The first issue of the six-issue miniseries Battle for Blüdhaven (which includes “Infinite Crisis: Aftermath” trade dressing) aptly begins in the immediate aftermath of Infinite Crisis. However, midway through the first issue, the story shifts, placing the rest of Battle for Blüdhaven supposedly “one year later.” However, its direct sequel, the Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters series (which also ostensibly contains “one year later” nods), actually overlaps with 52. Because of this, neither the main action of Battle for Blüdhaven nor Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters can actually occur “one year” after Infinite Crisis. Instead, Instead, the main action of Battle for Blüdhaven must happen less than three months after Infinite Crisis (here in July). Likewise, its follow-up, Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters, will occur interspersed throughout 52, as we will see below. (We’ll address the continuity of Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters when we get to it below.) In regard to Robin’s potentially erroneous appearance in Battle for Blüdhaven, he’s the only character that shows up that probably shouldn’t be there. Again, if we do regard his appearance canonically, we have to fanwank a reason for him being away from his sabbatical. In any case, Battle for Blüdhaven is a bit broken no matter how you spin it. Issue #1 even has a major artistic/writing error, showing Robotman when they meant to show Cyborg.↩
- [2]MARTÍN LEL / COLLIN COLSHER: As mentioned above, Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters is a sequel to Battle for Blüdhaven. Both of these series are erroneously presented as being “One Year Later” era tales, but they are unequivocally stories that occur during 52. There are several clues as to why Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters must occur during 52. First, Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters heavily revolves around a US presidential election. As scholar Chris J Miller maps out, “November 4 is the date of the 2008 election in the US. [The election shown in Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters] is clearly the DCU’s first presidential election since Luthor’s year, and thus this story must fall here, four years after that one, despite some references seemingly placing it in a ‘OYL’ context.” Second, Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters #6 references Black Adam in Kahndaq, distinctly placing it prior to World War III. Furthermore, in World War III #1, Father Time is wearing his post-Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters face. Finally, in the sequel to Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters (Uncle Sam & The Freedom Fighters Vol. 2), the events of the first volume are referred to as having happened “last year.”↩
- [3]PURPLEGLOVEZ (TIPTUP JR 94): When Batman returns to Gotham City after a year-long sabbatical following the Infinite Crisis storyline, an unnamed woman is serving as mayor, as referenced in 52 #26 and Detective Comics #817. We know nothing about her at all, but there is an obscure clue to her identity in West End Games’ Daily Planet Guide to Gotham (2000). In this sourcebook, it is noted that many of Gotham’s mayors (including Armand Krol and Marion Grange) come from the District Attorney’s office. Thus, it’s speculated that Karen Willis—the District Attorney at the time, in the aftermath of “No Man’s Land”—was potentially on track for the mayor’s office in future elections. It’s unclear if this was a seed planted by DC editorial that never bore fruit, but at any rate, the unnamed female mayor of the “One Year Later” era could possibly be Karen Willis.↩
