Batman, due to his lack of superpowers and his recent films’ adherence to the Christopher Nolan model, has a reputation among casual fans as a “realistic superhero”. Yet this belies nearly 90 years of fantasy-infused comics history. Many Batman stories explore the supernatural, and one of the most influential is 1990’s “Dark Knight, Dark City,” a three-issue story (“Batman” #452-454) written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Kieron Dwyer. All three issues feature covers drawn by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola for added weirdness.
Some Batman stories open with the Dark Knight observing Gotham from a skyscraper or gargoyle perch, some begin with an action sequence in which he takes down criminals, others begin by recounting the tragic origin of Bruce Wayne. It begins in the 1760s, as robed men huddle in the basement of a farmhouse, part of the colony that would become Gotham City. These men – including future founding father Thomas Jefferson – are gathered for a gruesome and occult ritual, “The Ceremony of the Bat”. This ceremony aims to summon a bat demon, Barbathos, and bind him to his will via human sacrifice. Nerves, a fight and the sight of a large bat in the shadows of the basement leave the cultists running. They block the entrance to the cave and the ceremony remains incomplete… but has anything been brought from the other side?
The comic intermittently returns to the ritual, recounted as the confession journaled by one of the cultists, Jacob Stockman. Meanwhile, in the present, Batman is following the Riddler. Eddie Nygma goes on a rampage, leaving puzzles (and bodies) across Gotham, but Batman still can’t see the big picture. The story’s denouement reveals that the Riddler discovered Stockman’s journal and set about recreating the conditions of the Bat Ceremony – with Batman as the sacrifice.
In Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City, the Riddler attempts an occult sacrifice
The bat ceremony requires six conditions: the offering must have kissed a hanged man, bathed in blood, frolicked with the dead, killed a wild dog, slit the throat of an unbaptized child, and performed a Sabbath dance before the devil (although a goat will suffice as a satanic substitute). Some of these are easily accomplished by the Riddler, such as spilling blood on Batman. Others require a little creativity; there’s no way Batman would kill a baby, so the Riddler kidnaps the newborns, shoves a small bullet down their throats, and leaves Batman to perform a life-saving tracheotomy.
How come “The World’s Greatest Detective” doesn’t put this all together before the Riddler explains it all? The bat ceremony was buried by those who attempted it and remained unnoticed. When Batman realizes that the Riddler is luring him to Stockman’s Square, built where Stockman’s old farm once stood, he has no idea of the significance of the location. Yet this may be the most important point of Gotham, as Barbathos was summoned… but without connection with any man, and therefore left in limbo. The demon was trapped in the basement with the screaming Dominique (the woman intended for his offering). As Gotham grew over the ensuing decades, the dark and lingering influence spread.
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The Batman-led segments of “Dark Knight, Dark City” are narrated by a narrator pretending to be Gotham City itself. By the end of the story, it is clear that the narrator is Barbathos, the soul of the city. When the Riddler hears this voice and asks if it is Gotham or Barbathos, the voice replies that there is no difference. The Riddler will not be his master, however. It’s a dark city and Batman is the dark knight it created.
How Barbathos Returned in Later Batman Stories
“My blood and seeds mixed in mortar, my breath in mud and sewers and buildings large and small. My spirit in every brick, in every inch of wood. The whole city is a twisted and distorted echo of my own desolation,” Barbathos intones. He manipulated the history of Gotham to bring about his savior: Batman.
If you’re expecting Batman to fight a monstrous bat demon, “Dark Knight, Dark City” is a more subtle story than that. It’s about how memories persist in physical places and how cities are built on those memories. Jefferson’s appearance isn’t just a historical joke, it connects the evil buried beneath Gotham to the sins — slavery, colonialism and misogyny (including the Salem witch trials, as noted by Batman podcast “The Black Casebook”) — that laid the foundation of America.
Batman releasing the demon is more of an exorcism and a wrong righted. Bruce drops off Dominique’s skeleton at Wayne Manor and thinks about what Barbathos told him, concluding that it doesn’t matter; he already knew that Gotham City killed his parents. We are all shaped by the places we live, so the “darkness and desolation” of Barbathos and Gotham rest with Bruce Wayne, Gotham’s favorite son.
Much like Barbathos’ darkness spreading across Gotham, “Dark Knight, Dark City” influenced later Batman stories. Writers like Grant Morrison, Scott Snyder, and Ram V have all reused and reinterpreted Barbathos (whose name was later spelled “Barbatos”). Snyder’s “Court of Owls” revealed that a secret society has controlled Gotham for centuries, while “Endgame” suggested that the Joker may be an immortal curse on Gotham. You won’t get these stories without “Dark Knight, Dark City.”
