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Latest revision as of 12:58, 11 May 2024 edit undoTrailblazer101 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Page movers, File movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers35,477 edits ←Changed redirect target from List of DC Universe locations#Fictional cities to List of DC Universe locations#BlüdhavenTag: Redirect target changed |
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#REDIRECT ] |
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{{Infobox comics location |
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<!--Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Comics--> |
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|name = Blüdhaven |
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|image=Blüdhaven.jpg |
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|imagesize = 236 |
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|caption = |
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|publisher = ] |
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|creators = ]<br>] |
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|type = |
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|city=y |
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|residents = ]<br>]<br>Catalina Marie Flores |
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|races = humans |
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|locations = |
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|subcat = DC Comics |
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|altcat = |
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|sortkey = Bludhaven |
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}} |
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{{Fictional location redirect|anchor=yes|series_name=DC Comics}} |
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'''Blüdhaven''' is a ]al city in the {{DC Universe}}. Created by ] and ] in 1996, it was originally intended to serve as a backdrop for the '']'' comics series. |
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==Fictional geography== |
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Maps, character conversation, and implied travel times have repeatedly represented Blüdhaven to be both south of and located close or adjacent to ], home to ].<ref>"A short car ride down the coast from Gotham" - {{Comic book reference|Title = Nightwing|Volume = 2|Issue = 1| Date = Oct 1996 | Publisher = ]}}</ref> Some published maps of the two cities fit corresponding points on the New Jersey coast: Gotham's geography fits the ] area of ] and ] in ], while Blüdhaven fits into the area of Atlantic City or ]. Its metropolitan region is divided between two DC Universe-specific counties, named Haven and Avalon,<ref name="NSF">{{Comic book reference|Title = Nightwing Secret Files|Issue = 1|Date = Oct 1999|Publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> neither of which is a county in any ] in a similar locations, though ] is a real place near Atlantic City. |
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==Fictional history== |
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===Beginnings=== |
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Dixon and McDaniel created the city as a former ] town, which was officially incorporated as a "]" in 1912.<ref name="NSF"/> 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 ] than Gotham. Not unlike Gotham, ] syndicates always dominated Blüdhaven, which were, until its final years, protected by endemic ]. |
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===Introduction to the DC Universe=== |
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Blüdhaven first became a major setting in the ] with the start of the ''Nightwing'' ongoing series. Nightwing goes to Blüdhaven in pursuit of the ]-turned-crime-boss ]. 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. |
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===Effects of later stories=== |
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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 ] to bring resolution to the arc. Under the writing of ] (noted for her work on Batman series '']'') Nightwing allowed the amoral vigilante ] 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, ] and ], to Blüdhaven, to act as its resident heroes. |
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]'' #4 (March 2006), art by ].|thumb]] |
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===Destruction of the city=== |
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In '']'' #4, the ] drops ], 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 '']'' #648, official sources set the resulting death toll from Chemo's assault on Blüdhaven at 100,068. |
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] and other ] such as the ] 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. |
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===''The Battle for Blüdhaven''=== |
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{{main|One Year Later}} |
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].]] |
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Following the Chemo disaster, the ] 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 ] present in the city is a mystery. A new government-sanctioned super team codenamed "Freedom's Ring" (an apparent spin-off of the ]) takes charge of Blüdhaven, and orders the Teen Titans and all other ]s to leave the city. One year later, "The Wall" has become a permanent structure, and displaced citizens compare the immediate area to the ]. Many live in ]s that have sprung up around the wall while the superhero ] helps to keep the peace. |
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Within the city, the supervillain ] commands American forces, ordering his men to shoot and kill any heroes (referred to as ]) who enter the city. His forces also erect ] in which experiments are conducted upon American citizens. Also active in the city are the ]s, who run an ']' in an attempt to smuggle citizens out of the city. The Society dispatch the Nuclear Legion (Geiger, ], ], Mister Nitro, ]) 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 ] 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. |
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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 ], 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 ] ] arrives to square off against ], 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 ] that urges him to come to the ]. |
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The ] place ] in a containment suit designed to limit his radiation output, similar to the armor worn by ]. 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 ], in pursuit of ], ] and his creator, the scientist ], claims Blüdhaven for himself, activating a new OMAC Army. |
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===Final Crisis and its Aftermath=== |
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Blüdhaven has been the geographic focus of all issues of '']'' published to date. In issue #1, it is seen on T.V. as televangelist ] speaks about the inability of the government to do anything for the city. In issue #2, ], acting on a tip from the ], 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. |
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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. |
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During the events of ''Batman: ]'' #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. |
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==Other media== |
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===Television=== |
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* Blüdhaven appears briefly in the '']'' television series episode "Grudge Match" as the backdrop for a meta-human fighting match organized by ] in which female Leaguers under mind control (including ], ] and ]) fight it out. A signboard at the city's entrance says "Welcome to Blüdhaven". In the same scene, the silhouette of ] appears in a cameo. |
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* Blüdhaven is also the setting for the '']'' episode "The Color of Revenge!", teaming an adult Robin (who still uses that identity instead of Nightwing) with Batman against ], who blames Robin for his blindness. Aquaman later drives near the city while on vacation during "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure!" In "Menace of the Madniks!", ] mentions that he and ] had been captured by villains during a past adventure in Blüdhaven. |
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* Although not shown, Blüdhaven was referenced in the '']'', '']'' (episode "Epitaph"), '']'' (episode "Zero"), and '']'' series. |
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* Blüdhaven appears in the '']'' episode "Depths" as the location where Nightwing, ] and ] reunite with ] after faking her death. In the episode "Cornered", the team moves into one of Nightwing's ]s in Blüdhaven after the destruction of ]. |
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* Blüdhaven is mentioned in the '']'' episode "An Innocent Man", and seen in both "Dead to Rights" and "The Undertaking." Where in the first of which, the wounded ] is hiding, before China White locates him for a job: kill ]. In the second appearance, it is the city where Merlyn has been keeping Walter Steele. Blüdhaven is also mentioned by ] in the episode "The Man Under the Hood" and later again by Oliver in "Uprising". |
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* Blüdhaven is mentioned in '']'' episode "Prey for the Hunter". |
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===Video games=== |
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* Blüdhaven appears in '']''. There was a mention of Chemo being dropped onto Blüdhaven. In a League Alert, the players had to track down Chemo while fighting the Chemoids and other mutated creatures there. The players end up having an encounter with Major Force, who is testing the Chemoids and getting a sample of Chemo for ]. |
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* Blüdhaven is mentioned at various times by the thugs in '']'' and '']'', and by Batman and Nightwing in '']''. The latter also features a ] ] mission in which the objective is to free ] from the Blüdhaven Police Department, defeating Nightwing in the process. |
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* Blüdhaven is mentioned in a Clash Sequence between Batman and Nightwing in '']''. |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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{{Batman}} |
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{{DC Comics populated places}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bludhaven}} |
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