Entry tags:

char: alfred pennyworth, char: batman/bruce wayne, event: no man's land

This comic takes place during the time that Gotham was declared to no longer be part of the United States, after an outbreak of plague, an earthquake and the standard constant supervillains attacks just cause Congress (with some prodding from Azrael villain Nick Scratch and lobbyists working for Lex Luthor) to say that rebuilding the city would be just too expensive. So they told the citizens of the City to get out and move elsewhere, Bludhaven for example, or they'll be trapped inside there along with the Joker and Co. when they seal it off from the rest of the country.

Some people chose to stay though, because they had no where else to go, because they thought that it would be a great adventure or they thought that it would be a great opportunity. One of those who decided hang around was Alfred, who thought that just because Bruce Wayne happened to disappear after failing to convince the government to not abandon his city that SOMEONE had to help the people there.

The frame device of the story is Alfred attempting to entertain a bunch of kids with a story about a Squire (basically himself) who is attempting to use his skills to help people while awaiting for his Knight (guess who) to come back. But despite Alfred basically saying that he'd been able to help a lot of people using his skills as a medic, spy and actor, a kid with horrible 90's hair indignantly says that the "Squire" sucks because he isn't out being exciting and beating up bad guys like a proper hero.

This being in the pre-Damian DCU, Alfred only puts up with a bit of the kid's kvetching before telling of the one time that the Squire actively tried to copy his master's role,