Gotham Without Batman

Wayne Manor, overrun with weeds. The Batcave, untouched and desolate.

When Bruce fell alongside his parents in Crime Alley, Gotham did not grow any worse over the next twenty years.

But it hardly grew any better, either.

The Joker wipes away his pallid makeup. A young Penguin still bides his time, concealing his ambitions. Harvey still racks his brain for a way to uproot Maroni's gang.

The whole world feels real enough to make you shudder.

Perhaps it lacks a splash of that base spirit called extreme villainy.

Perhaps it is missing a garnish of strange powers and mutants.

But none of that softens the savage bite of this Bloody Mary.

Drink it. Down it in one gulp!

Then, amid the violent vertigo, witness the birth of a heretical Batman.