Editing Gotham City (section)

==History==
[[File:Gotham-City-1881.jpg|thumb|Gotham City in 1881 from ''Batman: Gates of Gotham'' (April 2011). Art by Trevor McCarthy.]]

Gotham City was founded in 1635 by Jon Logerquist, a Norwegian mercenary, before subsequently being taken over by the English; this parallels the [[history of New York City]], which was founded by the [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] as [[New Amsterdam]] before [[Conquest of New Netherland|being conquered]] by [[Kingdom of England|England]] and renamed [[Province of New York|New York]].<ref>''Atlas of the DC Universe''. Mayfair Games.</ref> During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Gotham City was the site of a major battle between [[Patriot (American Revolution)|American]] and [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] forces (paralleling the real-life [[Battle of Long Island]]). This was detailed in [[Rick Veitch]]'s ''Swamp Thing'' #85 featuring [[Tomahawk (character)|Tomahawk]]. Rumors held it to be the site of various [[occult]] rites.

The 2011 comic book series ''[[Batman: Gates of Gotham]]'' details a history of Gotham City in which Alan Wayne (Bruce Wayne's ancestor), Theodore Cobblepot ([[Penguin (character)|Oswald Cobblepot]]'s ancestor), and Edward Elliot ([[Hush (character)|Thomas Elliot]]'s ancestor), are considered as the founding fathers of Gotham. In 1881, they constructed three bridges called the Gates of Gotham, each bearing one of their last names. Edward Elliot became increasingly jealous of the Wayne family's popularity and wealth during this period, jealousy that would spread to his great-great-grandson, Thomas Elliot or Hush.<ref>'''Batman: Gates to Gotham'', May 2011. DC Comics.</ref>

The occult origins of Gotham are further delved into by [[Peter Milligan]]'s 1990 story arc "Dark Knight, Dark City",<ref>{{cite web|author=Burgas, Greg|title=Dark Knight, Dark City|url=http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/04/13/comics-you-should-own-flashback-batman-452-454/|date=April 13, 2010|website=[[Comic Book Resources]]|access-date=July 29, 2012|archive-date=September 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927184121/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/04/13/comics-you-should-own-flashback-batman-452-454/|url-status=dead}}</ref> which reveals that some of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] are involved in summoning a bat-demon which becomes trapped beneath old "Gotham Town", its dark influence spreading as Gotham City evolves. A similar trend is followed in 2005's ''[[Shadowpact]]'' #5 by [[Bill Willingham]], which expands upon Gotham's occult heritage by revealing a being who has slept for 40,000 years beneath the land upon which Gotham City was built. Strega, the being's servant, says that the "dark and often cursed character" of the city was influenced by the being who now uses the name "Doctor Gotham". In ''[[Gotham Underground]]'' #2 by [[Frank Tieri (comics)|Frank Tieri]], [[Tobias Whale]] claims that 19th century Gotham was run by five rival gangs, until the first "masks" appeared, eventually forming a gang of their own. It is not clear whether these were vigilantes or costumed criminals.

Many storylines have added more events to Gotham's history, at the same time greatly affecting the city and its people. Perhaps the greatest in effect was a long set of serial storylines, which started with [[Ra's al Ghul]] releasing a debilitating virus called the "Clench" during the "[[Batman: Contagion|Contagion]]" storyline. As that arc concluded, the city was beginning to recover, only to suffer an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the [[Richter magnitude scale|Richter Scale]] in the 1998 "[[Batman: Cataclysm|Cataclysm]]" storyline. This resulted in the federal government cutting Gotham off from the rest of the United States in the 1999 storyline "[[No Man's Land (comics)|No Man's Land]]", the city's remaining residents forced to engage in gang warfare, either as active participants or paying for protection from groups ranging from the GCPD to the Penguin, just to stay alive. Eventually, Gotham was rebuilt and returned to the U.S. as part of a campaign mounted by [[Lex Luthor]], who used the positive publicity of his role to make a successful bid for the position of President of the United States.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=June 2021}} Suggestions of other Gotham City histories include a founding date of 1820 seen in a city seal in ''[[Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders]]''.