It was a time of reconstruction amid global turmoil. Earlier in the year, Earth had been invaded by the ruthless armies of Apokalips, led by the supremely powerful warlord and New God known as Darkseid. To combat this existential threat, the various governments of the world united to resist the invasion, inspired by the Justice League, the Justice Society, the Titans, and the Outsiders. Previously isolationist societies like Atlantis, Themyscira, Gorilla City, and others had joined the fight, knowing that the survival of the planet was at risk. Perhaps most shockingly of all, these groups were joined by other notable metahumans and super-powered criminals, led by Lex Luthor, Slade Wilson (Deathstroke), and others. Despite unlikely alliances coming together, the tide of the battle truly turned thanks to the intervention of the Justice League's allies from other worlds. Reinforcements from planets like Thanagar, Rann, Almerac, Colu, Tamaran, Mars, Daxam, New Krypton, as well as key members of the Green Lantern Corps had agreed to intervene, and were able to hold their own and protect the Earth against the Apokaliptan armada. However, the greatest assistance came from the planet New Genesis, Apokalips' most powerful adversary, who recognized that Darkseid's invasion of Earth was a violation of a millenia-old treaty. Victory was achieved, and Darkseid was defeated once and for all, but at a great cost. Millions of lives were lost, many cities destroyed or left in shambles.
Gotham City had been as affected by the invasion as any place else. Some people resorted to panic, while others had taken this as an opportunity to look beyond their own local differences and rebuild. Things like organized crime still existed, but they seemed relatively small in comparison to extraterrestrial invasions. Even after the role Batman and his ever-expanding group of partners played in the war against Darkseid, Bruce Wayne knew that Gotham still needed Batman. What Bruce had not counted on was that his life was about to change in ways he had never expected, following the parole of Selina Kyle.
Selina and Bruce had known each other for over a decade by this point, both in and out of costume. While not nearly as wealthy as the Waynes, Selina came from a fairly well-to-do family in Gotham. Selina's stepfather, Brian Kyle and his family had been in the jewelry business for several generations, and Selina's mother, Maria, was a successful ballet dancer and instructor. Tragedy struck the Kyles during Selina's childhood when her father was murdered by the Falcone crime family when he couldn't pay back the loans to cover his mounting gambling debts. Despite being a talented athlete in her youth, Selina turned to a life of crime as she had gotten older, becoming highly-skilled thief, eventually earning her the nickname "Catwoman" in the local press. While not initially in the habit of wearing a costume, Selina was inspired by the emergence of the vigilante known as the Batman; her natural athleticism and affinity for cats helped inspire her new persona.
Despite her penchant for stealing rare jewelry and artifacts, Selina was not a particularly violent criminal, nor were her intentions always harmful. During their encounters, Batman and Robin were often at odds with Catwoman and her crimes, although they often found themselves working side by side against greater threats. While Batman never approved of her methods, he could tell that Catwoman was not evil, but was misguided in her approach. As Catwoman, Selina had considered herself to be a Robin Hood-like figure, stealing from those who she believed were doing harm to others. When Selina learned that her biological father was Carmine Falcone, the very man who had arranged the murder of the man who raised her, she had become consumed by revenge. Despite briefly working with Batman and his young proteges, Robin and Batgirl, Catwoman had eventually been arrested by the police and imprisoned for her crimes.
In the years since Selina Kyle's imprisonment, much had changed in the life of Bruce Wayne. While Batman had saved many lives and eventually dealt many significant blows to the criminal underworld, his arrival had also unwittingly inspired the rise of the costumed super-criminal. Over the years, Batman had faced the likes of The Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot), The Riddler (Edward Nashton), Two-Face (Harvey Dent), The Scarecrow (Dr. Jonathan Crane), Bane, Poison Ivy (Dr. Pamela Isley), Mr. Freeze (Dr. Victor Fries), and perhaps his deadliest adversary, the mass murderer known as The Joker.
Thankfully, Batman didn't have to face these threats alone over the years. Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's lifelong butler, head of security, medic, assistant, and surrogate father figure had been by Bruce's side every step of the way. If Alfred was the closest thing Bruce had to a father after his parents were murdered, then his surrogate mother would undoubtedly be Dr. Leslie Thompkins; Leslie was a close friend and colleague of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and loved Bruce as if he were here own. However, their relationship had been strained over the years due to her disapproval of Bruce's activities as Batman, which she viewed as reckless and unnecessarily dangerous, especially when it came to his young students getting involved. Aiding Bruce in his crusade was Lucius Fox, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises; not only was Fox a brilliant businessman who ran one of the largest multinational corporations in the world, but he had worked directly with Bruce in covertly supplying and designing the technology, gadgets, and vehicles that Batman used in his war on crime. Finally, Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon was one of Batman's closest allies; often working with the Dark Knight closely to battle Gotham's criminal underworld.
But perhaps Batman's greatest legacy to this point were the students he trained along the way. The first of which being Richard "Dick" Grayson, the young circus performer whose parents were murdered as well; seeing a kindred spirit, Bruce took in the young acrobat and trained him to become the first Robin. Shortly thereafter followed Barbara Gordon, the brilliant and feisty young daughter of Commissioner Gordon; inspired by Batman, she created the persona of "Batgirl" and took it upon herself to fight crime in ways her father couldn't. Eventually Batman and Robin made Batgirl an official part of the team.
The Bat Family was not without its share of drama and tragedy over the years; as Dick Grayson came of age, he and Bruce often clashed, eventually resulting in Dick angrily falling out with Bruce, abandoning the Robin identity and going out on his own, adopting the more mature persona of Nightwing. As Nightwing, Dick transitioned from student to teacher, forming the Titans with other young costumed crimefighters, effectively training the next generation of heroes.
Taking Dick's place as Robin was his first successor, Jason Todd. Jason was a troubled young teen from the streets of Gotham whom Bruce rescued and trained to become the second Robin. While a brilliant young detective and athlete in his own right, Jason's impulsive, rebellious temperament proved to be his own downfall. Jason had carelessly been ambushed by the Joker and his hired guns while recklessly going out on his own one night; caught off guard, the Joker viciously beat Jason within an inch of his life using a crowbar before leaving him to die in an exploding warehouse. In recent years, Bruce was shocked to find that Jason's lifeless body had been revived by Ra's al Ghul, the international criminal mastermind and head of the League of Shadows. Using the mysterious Lazarus Pit chemicals, which had kept Ra's alive for over 600 years, Ra's was able to revive the recently-deceased Todd, in an attempt to offer an olive branch toward Bruce and his team. However, Ra's and his daughter Talia spent years undoing Jason's mental and physical damage, and helped retrain him, before Jason went out on his own. Now known as the Red Hood, Jason had become a brutally violent, bloodthirsty vigilante who had been dealing his own lethal brand of justice towards criminals all over the world.
Barbara Gordon's career as Batgirl was cut short after being shot in the spine, paralyzed, and sexually assaulted by The Joker in a sadistic campaign to target her father. In the years that followed, Barbara had used her genius skills as a computer hacker, detective, researcher, and information broker under the codename Oracle, providing remote assistance to the Bat Family, as well as the Justice League, and her own group of female crimefighters, known as the Birds of Prey. Among Barbara's students and colleagues in the field were Cassandra Cain (AKA Orphan), Stephanie Brown (AKA The Spoiler), and Helena Bertinelli (AKA The Huntress). With the aid of surgery and cutting-edge medical technology, Barbara had been working on regaining her ability to walk, but wasn't expecting to ever be Batgirl again.
The tragic combination of Jason Todd's apparent death, Barbara Gordon's paralysis, and the breakdown of his friendship with Dick Grayson had been almost too much for Bruce to bear. More often than not, Batman was becoming more aggressive and reckless in the field, and had been isolating himself from the few close friends he had left. Many had feared that Bruce would one day get himself killed or someone else killed in action if he had kept up his self-destructive ways. One person in particular who noticed this was a brilliant young teenager named Tim Drake. Tim was the son of Jack and Janet Drake, a wealthy couple that lived in the same posh neighborhood as Wayne Manor. For as long as he could remember, Tim was a massive supporter of Batman and Robin. When he was a young child, he was at the Haly's Circus event where Dick Grayson's parents were murdered. As he grew, Tim had developed his critical thinking and analytical skills to become a great detective in his own right, eventually deducing that Batman was Bruce Wayne, and both Dick Grayson and Jason Todd had been Robin. While Tim was not a natural athlete, he worked diligently to get in shape and take up various martial arts to learn how to defend himself. One day, Tim had tracked down Dick, imploring him to return to his role as Robin and help get Batman back on the right track. While Dick refused to become Robin again, he was impressed by Tim's initiative and skills. Tim had inspired Dick to reconcile with Bruce after years of not speaking, and Dick encouraged Bruce to train Tim to become the next Robin.
The addition of Tim Drake as Robin, as well as the expansion of the Bat Family to include Nightwing, Oracle, Batwoman, Spoiler, Orphan, and others was exactly what Bruce Wayne needed. As Batman, Bruce had trained his body and mind to the peak of human perfection; he had been considered by most in the superhero community to be the world's greatest detective, and was quite possibly the greatest martial artist alive. However, he was not indestructible. He knew in the back of his mind that he was still only human, and could not keep up at the same pace forever. Eventually age and mounting injuries would cause him to slow down. As much as Bruce did not want to admit it to himself, he knew that he had to plan for every possible contingency, for every possible outcome in the future. He had not ever imagined that he would settle down, get married, and/or start a family of his own. Yet, he couldn't deny that his proteges and colleagues had helped fill many voids in his heart.
Bruce had several love interests over the years, but he couldn't help but feel a unique connection with Selina Kyle. Despite her previous criminal actions, Bruce saw Selina someone whose life might have mirrored his own, had he not had the same support system like Alfred or the same resources that his family's fortune provided. Feeling that Selina had truly changed for the better, Bruce had employed some of the best legal counsel money could buy; Selina had agreed to turn state's evidence against Salvatore Maroni and the remaining members of the Falcone family in exchange for a reduced sentence, as well as 5 years of probation. Furthermore, the judge specified that if Selina ever put on the Catwoman costume again, she would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Upon her release, Selina reconnected with Bruce and they fell madly in love. Eventually, Bruce revealed to Selina that he and Batman were one and the same. Not long after, she had moved into Wayne Manor. By this time, things had been relatively quiet in Gotham, when it came to organized crime. Batman's team had largely been able to stay on top of most of the major ongoing cases while Bruce had been rehabbing a torn ACL for the past few months. Most of Batman's infamous Rogue's Gallery by this time were either dead or in prison, but the whereabouts of the Joker and Harley Quinn had been unknown for months, as had been the case for Jason Todd. The last Batman had seen of the Clown Prince of Crime was during an elaborate revenge scheme on the part of the Red Hood. It was at this time when Batman determined that Red Hood was indeed his former protégé returned from the grave. Jason had manipulated Roman Sionis, the disfigured mob boss known as Black Mask, into breaking the Joker out of Arkham Asylum, only for the Red Hood to double cross and attempt to murder both Black Mask and the Joker until Batman intervened. While Black Mask had managed to avoid arrest and conviction, the Joker and the Red Hood had not been seen in Gotham for months since Batman had last confronted them.