Blüdhaven
Blüdhaven is a city that features in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
Blüdhaven was a former whaling town, which was officially incorporated as a 'Commonwealth' in 1912. The town has been depicted as having a generally poor socioeconomic populace, owing in part to failed efforts to transform itself into a manufacturing and shipping center. The stories often state that culturally and financially, Gotham City has always overshadowed Blüdhaven, and that the city has a worse crime rate than Gotham. Not unlike Gotham, organized crime syndicates always dominated Blüdhaven, which were, until its final years, protected by endemic police corruption. However, unlike Gotham City, Bludhaven's crime is known from coming from the corrupt rich downwards rather from the gangs upwards in Gotham.
Nightwing goes to Blüdhaven in pursuit of the supervillain-turned-crime-boss Blockbuster. Blockbuster proceeds to take over organized crime in the city. Soon Nightwing sets up shop in Blüdhaven, becoming its protector. Writers quickly introduced corrupt police officers, such as Detective Soames and Chief Redhorn. In his civilian identity of Dick Grayson, Nightwing joined the force himself and fought the corruption from within. After numerous plots in which the villains lead back directly, or indirectly, to Blockbuster, who was never completely defeated in any of these stories, writers built a more complex arc to bring resolution to the arc. Under the writing of Devin Grayson (noted for her work on Batman series Batman: Gotham Knights) Nightwing allowed the amoral vigilante Tarantula to shoot and kill Blockbuster, although the reader sees that he could have stopped her. Suffering a crisis of conscience and wracked with guilt, Nightwing left Blüdhaven, apparently for good. Writers soon relocated two other Batman related heroes, Robin and Batgirl, to Blüdhaven, to act as its resident heroes.
In Infinite Crisis #4, the Secret Society of Super Villains drops Chemo, a gigantic, semi-intelligent pile of chemicals, on the city, causing a devastating explosion and toxic chemical fallout. The city is destroyed. Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin survive, since all were out of the city at the time of the attack, but the fates of other Blüdhaven-based heroes such as Tarantula are unknown. In Adventures of Superman #648, official sources set the resulting death toll from Chemo's assault on Blüdhaven at 100,068. Superman and other superheroes such as the Teen Titans enter Blüdhaven to save people from the chemical fallout at the same time that Chemo tries to re-integrate. Superman fights the monster, surmising correctly that Chemo would regenerate more quickly if he were in battle. As Chemo regenerates, he draws the toxins out of the city, removing harmful fall-out and chemical waste. At the culmination of his battle with the regenerating Chemo, Superman hurls the giant into outer space.
Following the Chemo disaster, the President declares a state of emergency and erects a wall around the city, as it is a threat to public health. Since Chemo was only chemically toxic, the nuclear fallout present in the city is a mystery. A new government-sanctioned super team codenamed "Freedom's Ring" (an apparent spin-off of the Force of July) takes charge of Blüdhaven, and orders the Teen Titans and all other metahumans to leave the city. One year later, "The Wall" has become a permanent structure, and displaced citizens compare the immediate area to the Gaza Strip. Many live in refugee camps that have sprung up around the wall while the superhero Monolith helps to keep the peace.
Within the city, the supervillain Father Time commands American forces, ordering his men to shoot and kill any heroes (referred to as insurgents) who enter the city. His forces also erect internment camps in which experiments are conducted upon American citizens. Also active in the city are the Atomic Knights, who run an 'underground railroad' in an attempt to smuggle citizens out of the city. The Society dispatch the Nuclear Legion (Geiger, Professor Radium, Reactron, Mister Nitro, Neutron) to discover the nature of the radioactive leak inside the city, but in a conflict with Freedom's Ring and the Atomic Knights, one member of the Legion is killed. The Society sends the Nuclear Family to assist, and they locate the leak, but engage the Atomic Knights under the city in a struggle that merges into a larger battle between the Titans and SHADE agents.
Increasingly concerned by the developments, Robin leads the Titans back into the city. The Black Baron, once a drug lord who was mutated by the blast, now styles himself as the leader and ruler of the inner part of the city. In a fight with the Titans, Monolith and Firebrand, the Baron is punched into the next state by Monolith. SHADE agents engage the Titans and Lady Liberty is killed by Ravager, who then defeats the SHADE officers sent to retrieve the Titans. The Green Lantern Hal Jordan arrives to square off against Major Force, and Major Victory tells Force to stand down. Force refuses and beats Victory to death using Victory's own arm, after which Force's subordinates and some of the SHADE agents refuse to stand by him. Monolith is shattered in the fight and Firebrand escapes, following a voice that urges him to come to the Mississippi River.
The Atomic Knights place Captain Atom in a containment suit designed to limit his radiation output, similar to the armor worn by Monarch. Atom kills Major Force by draining all of the radioactive energy out of him and delivers a warning, telling anyone who wants to live to evacuate the city. After the evacuation, Captain Atom unleashes a nuclear explosion, destroying what is left of Blüdhaven and leaving a radioactive crater in its place. Meanwhile, the Atomic Knights retreat to an underground bunker known as Command-D. Later Brother Eye, in pursuit of Karate Kid, Una and his creator, the scientist Buddy Blank, claims Blüdhaven for himself, activating a new OMAC Army.
Blüdhaven has been the geographic focus of all issues of Final Crisis published to date. In issue #1, it is seen on T.V. as televangelist Godfrey Goode speaks about the inability of the government to do anything for the city. In issue #2, Dan Turpin, acting on a tip from the Mad Hatter, travels by bus to the city, where he sees the Atomic Knights, and is later led to the Command-D Bunker, which is revealed to be a new version of the Evil Factory, which Darkseid's minions are using as a base of operations on Earth.
Early in the series, the troubles of Blüdhaven are used as part of the new identities several of Darkseid's people have laid down. Its troubles are still the focus of TV broadcasts. Battles continue to be fought in its remnants, before and after the time compression in issue three. The area is cleared of Darkseid's influence by the end of the series.
During the events of Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3, the immediate region around the Command-D Bunker is depicted as so toxic as to require Batman and Robin - at that point Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne - to wear hazmat suits to investigate the possibility of Darkseid's exiling of Bruce Wayne into ancient history.
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
It was said that Bludhaven had been the site of an attack wherein the semi-sentient toxic mass known as Chemo was dropped on the city, resulting in widespread destruction and the deaths of millions of civilians. In the chaos that followed, Darkseid used the city as a base of operations, working to his nefarious ends from within the Command D bunker. (City Boy v1 #4) Eventually, however, he was defeated and the city was reclaimed. In time, the city was restored to much of its previous state, though the area immediately surrounding Command D remained filled with wreckage. The Bunker itself eventually fell into the hands of the D.E.O. (Infinite Frontier v1 #3)
Gothamites who were down on their luck would often move to Blüdhaven to begin a new life, without having to worry about Batman. These included the Run-Offs, a support group consisting of former villains.
Nightwing moved to Blüdhaven after New Earth Superman revealed that his universe's Dick Grayson had operated in the city. However, Blüdhaven's citizens did not like the idea of having their own costumed vigilante.
Nightwing would meet the Run-Offs and teamed up with them to save the city from Raptor. Later, the Judge would arrive in Blüdhaven and begin targeting the elite for their role in the city's corruption.
The Wyrm, a manifestation of the Dark Web, targeted Blüdhaven. After taking over the city using holographic technology, Nightwing and Batgirl teamed up to take it down.
Following the death of Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson inherited billions of dollars. He used these funds to help Blüdhaven's homeless youth.
Overview
Locations in the city included:
- Tail's End : (Nightwing v4 #30)
- Meadowdale Mall : (Nightwing v4 #30)
- Ports Park : a Brazilian neighbourhood. (Nightwing v4 #30)
- Boardwalk : (Nightwing v4 #30)
Organizations that operated within the city included:
- Blüdhaven Police Department :
- Run-Offs :
Inhabitants
- Dick Grayson :
- Roland Desmond :
- Monolith :
- Nite-Wing :
- Cheyenne Freemont :
- Catalina Flores :
- Jonathan Law :
- Firebrand :
- Defacer :
- Arsenal :
- Elise Svoboda :
- Alphonse Sapienza :
- Colleen Edwards :
- Malcolm Hutch :
- Zak Edwards :
- Heartless :
Notes
- Blüdhaven was created by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel where it made its first appearance in Nightwing v2 #1 (October, 1996).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Birds of Prey, Blüdhaven was mentioned in the setting of the live-action television series in the episode "Prey for the Hunter".
- In Justice League Unlimited, Blüdhaven appeared in the setting of the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe in the episode "Grudge Match". It served as the backdrop for a meta-human fighting match organized by Roulette in which female Leaguers under mind control included Fire, Wonder Woman and Black Canary fight it out. A signboard at the city's entrance says "Welcome to Blüdhaven". In the same scene, the silhouette of Nightwing appeared in a cameo.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Blüdhaven appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "The Color of Revenge!". An older adult Robin was with Batman against Crazy Quilt, who blamed Robin for his blindness. Aquaman later drove near the city while on vacation during "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure!" In "Menace of the Madniks!", Booster Gold mentioned that he and Ted Kord had been captured by villains during a past adventure in Blüdhaven.
- In The Flash, Bludhaven was mentioned in the 2014 live-action television series where it was first mentioned in the episode "Attack on Gorilla City". Julian Albert told Captain Singh that he and Barrey Allen were going to a conference in Bludhaven in order to hide a mission to Earth-2 to save Harrison Wells from Grodd.
Films
Video games
Appearances
- Nightwing v2: (1996)
- Nightwing v4:
External Links
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