9. The Destroyer
The 3-part fan-favourite story Destroyer ran throughout February of 1992, appearing in all three Batman books of the time (Batman, LOTDK & Detective Comics, respectively). It was written by Alan Grant and Denny ONeil and featured the incredible pencilling talents of Jim Aparo, Norm Breyfogle and Chris Sprouse. In the story, we are treated to an origin, of sorts, for Gotham City itself. In flashback scenes, Solomon Wayne (ancestor of Bruce) hires a young architect named Cyrus Pinkney to craft the Gothic towers, elegant spires and brutish gargoyles that are now a familiar part of Gothams noirish landscape. Pinkneys designs are hated by most and accused of creating an oppressive feeling in Gotham. Many years later, a former US Navy Seal named Andre Sinclair goes crazy and decides to start levelling buildings in order to restore Pinkneys works to their former prominence on the skyline. He begins by demolishing vacant buildings, but eventually moves on to the inhabited ones. Batman stops him of course, and, in the ensuing battle, Sinclair is hit by a wrecking ball. Despite the severity of his injuries, the man known as The Destroyer does not die and is later seen being carted away in an ambulance. Andre Sinclair was a thoroughly fun character to read, his paroxysms of anger, disbelief and genuine woe made him compelling and, to some degree, relatable. In his own, warped mind, Sinclair was attempting to restore virtue and prestige to Gotham City, which lent him a sense of pathos, while his hero worship of Pinkney was played so straight and earnestly that it rang true as a psychopathic obsession. One imagines that Sinclair has nothing better to do these days than peruse the prison library, reading and researching the secret origins of Batmans city. When (or if) he does re-emerge, this could make him a very dangerous foe indeed. He could be the one foe who knows Gotham better than Batman does (Court of Owls notwithstanding). Whether The Destroyer appears again or not, I heartily advise you to pick up all three chapters of the story which bears his name, its a great Batman tale.