DC Just Gave Gotham Its Own Daily Bugle, and It’s Exactly What Batman Needs

Gotham City might not be its own character, but it has always had one of the biggest personalities in comic books. It’s a place like no other, real or fictional. Gotham is this seedy, shadow-covered city that feels like it’s been ripped right out of the 1940s and messily mixed with the modern day. It has more gargoyles than anywhere reasonably should and is cursed by multiple demons and at least one founding father, but all the same, its people still mill about their day-to-day lives like it’s normal. To them, giant bats and riddle-themed goons attacking the back is normal. Gotham is very distinct, and it’s easy to see its personality from a mile away when it’s on page.

However, over the past several years, as Batman comics have gotten a wider scope for worldwide threats, the view of Gotham and its people has gotten less intimate. We still see Gotham City in all its dirty glory, and when it’s written wrong, fans can spot that with ease, but overall, Gotham has lost a lot of its charm. Nowadays, it’s rare to spend time on Gotham’s streets instead of its rooftops. In many ways, the city has become a caricature of itself. However, Matt Fraction’s run on Batman (2025) has brought individuality back to Gotham, and he started by giving the city its own version of the Daily Bugle: the Gotham Eye.

The Eye Over Gotham Never Blinks

The Gotham Eye was introduced in issue #4, but the foundation for its introduction was laid in issue #3. A young boy named Huston was interviewing his neighbor for a school project when he heard Batman get into a firefight with a couple of dirty cops. He recorded Batman and Robin making their escape, and police commissioner Vandal Savage planting evidence that Batman killed an officer. Wanting to get the word out, Huston went to another one of his neighbors: disgraced journalist and drunk Jack Dean. Dean brought Huston to the Gotham Eye, where he intended to spread the truth.

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Unfortunately, the Gotham Eye was a shell of its former self. Once a great newspaper on the same level as the Daily Bugle, it’s long since fallen into disrepair and layoffs. Dean was screamed out of the office in under seven minutes, the editor clearly in Savage’s pocket. From its slogan that “The Eye Above Gotham Never Blinks,” it’s clear that the Eye once had a stellar reputation that cared about the truth, but is now just a shambling, corrupt corpse, much like many, many other places in Gotham. While a newspaper on its last legs might not seem important, it does wonders for the character of Gotham that has been criminally missing from Batman for years.

Character Built From the Ground Up

The Gotham Eye, first and foremost, helps Gotham City feel alive. The implied history of this newspaper perfectly mirrors the decline of Gotham after the death of the Waynes, and the terrible, but not hopeless, situation its people now live in. It’s a location with that special Gotham City charm that nowhere else has. That charm is what makes Gotham City so unique and such a fascinating backdrop for Batman’s many adventures. Without it, the world feels like an empty sandbox. Batman’s adventures can be entertaining anywhere, but they are dramatically improved when Gotham’s character adds to them.

Beyond the city itself, the Gotham Eye gives civilian characters a chance to shine. Huston and Dean are concerned civilians who are proactively trying to make their city a better place, which is something we haven’t seen in Batman in years. Nine times out of ten, civilians exist to be set pieces, victims, and mouthpieces to show how Batman or a villain has made an impact in any particular story. However, Huston and Dean feel real and alive, which in turn makes Gotham feel more real. A city populated by dolls will never be anywhere near as interesting as one home to characters who have individual thoughts and desires. 

The Gotham Eye and the characters surrounding it are the perfect amount of life to breathe into Gotham City. Just these small details and semi-important side characters elevate the story surrounding them significantly by grounding it in a way that no amount of focus on Batman can. They show what Gotham City looks like to the average person, which gives the readers a new understanding and appreciation of the world and makes them more invested. These details might be small, but they do serious heavy lifting. 

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