Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Batman: Detective Comics Annual 2022 #1
DC Comics has just confirmed Batman's history in Gotham goes back a lot further than Bruce Wayne (for a very surprising reason). With the powerful Orgham Family returning to Gotham after an extended absence, the new annual issue of Batman: Detective Comics confirms their role behind the scenes dating back to the city's founding as a colony. However, they weren't counting on a Dark Knight rising to challenge their darkness beginning in 1776.
Currently, in the new era of Detective Comics, the seemingly immortal Orghams are Gotham's biggest threat whom Bruce Wayne still yet to fully encounter. However, he has started to feel the effects of their connection to powerful demons such as the dark god Batbatos. Related to the Arkhams, the much older Orgham Family has returned to continue their work following the recent destruction of Arkham Asylum, no doubt intending to finally reclaim the city for their own dark purposes.
Now, the new Detective Comics Annual 2022 #1 from Ram V, Christopher Mitten, Rafael Albuquerque, and Hayden Sherman reveals the Orghams' supernatural role in Gotham's history. Back when it was still the colony of Gathome in 1776, it's revealed that the Orghams placed a powerful device in the church crypt, the very site where Arkham Asylum would eventually be built. While they intended to perpetuate reverberations of recurring darkness in Gotham, they weren't counting on a masked man rising to face Gathome's most sinister residents, many of whom appear to be the predecessors of Batman's modern-day rogues' gallery such as Two-Face, Penguin, and Poison Ivy. That being said, the reason this Batman of 1776 and the Dark Knights that followed exist at all is rather surprising.
Gotham's First True Batman Was Born In 1776 (With A Major Twist)
As this new issue confirms, Aldridge Pierce was inspired by a mysterious stranger to become a bat-like demon while also protecting the newly orphaned Wainwright boy. Known only as Mordecai, this man encourages Aldridge to wear a mask and fight for the innocents of Gathome. What makes this so significant is that Mordecai was the name Bruce Wayne during the colonial era took following Final Crisis when Darkseid sent Batman hurtling back through time. While the rest of the world thought Batman had been killed, Bruce eventually made his way back to the 21st Century after visiting multiple time periods.
As such, a major Batman paradox has been created where Bruce Wayne inspired the original Batman of 1776 who would inadvertently become part of Gotham's recurring legacy, resulting in Bruce Wayne himself becoming Batman in the city's modern era (and the loop begins again). Clearly, the existence of an enduring Batman throughout Gotham's history was not something the long-lived Orghams were expecting, though they finally seem ready to end the Dark Knight once and for all in future issues. Batman: Detective Comics Annual 2022 #1 is on sale now from DC Comics.