(Batman: The Cult #1 (fb)) - <1609> The Dutch landed at the future site of Gotham City, and found Blackfire's tomb. they ignored the warning totem, and released him. He sensed the Dutch were not followers of his path, and never could be, so he slaughtered them, all.

(Batman: The Cult #3 (fb, BTS)) - Blackfire staid in the wilderness for centuries, content with his own contemplations. By the 1920s the wilderness of Gotham had all but vanished, and he reentered society determined to gain power. He became a bootlegger, and later a hitman. He was arrested for murder and spent most of the '40s in jail, but when he was released he joined the mafia. He decided crime was not his path, so he dabbled in politics before returning to his roots as a religious leader to attain power.

(Batman: The Cult #1, 2) - Deacon Blackfire set up a mission in Gotham city as a front for rebuilding his cult. Commissioner Gordon contacted Batman when a number of criminals were found brutalized. The violence of the attacks escalated, and soon criminals were found cut into pieces. After Batman foiled a streetcart robbery he was shot by one of the perps. He was losing consciousness, but witnessed a homeless man killing his attacker. When Batman woke up he was tied up in the sewers of Gotham, face to face with Deacon Blackfire and his cult, who were the homeless and disenfranchised who were purifying Gotham by killing predators. Batman was starved and beaten, and programmed to accept the word of Blackfire as the word of God. After weeks of torture he told Blackfire he'd seen the light, and Blackfire took him into his inner sanctum, showing him the massive totem fueled by blood that was the source of his power. Drugged and pliable, Batman was sent to a mafia don's headquarters with Blackfire's cultists, and watched numbly as they slaughtered the gang. Blackfire's follower Ratface had a personal grudge against a former neighbor, and brought Batman along when he killed him. Batman finally snapped out of his programming, and slugged Ratface, allowing the police to capture him, but he fled from the policemen so he could look for food. The drugs drained from Batman's system, and he realized Blackfire had broken him, something no man had ever done to him. Ratface told the police that Blackfire's holy mission was a cover for taking over Gotham City with his new power base, and Gordon issued an arrest warrant for Blackfire. This decision proved to be unpopular, as most of Gotham's citizens said they felt safer with Blackfire massacring the criminal element. Batman gathered his courage and entered the sewers as Blackfire preached that all of Gotham had to burn since the GCPD had proved themselves to be sinners for condemning him. The cultists killed Gotham's mayor, and his potential successor councilman Holmes, plunging the city into chaos. Batman was captured and shot, but swam through the sewers until he arrived at the mass grave where the bodies of Blackfire's enemies were left to rot. Robin had followed him into the sewers, but Batman was incoherent, ranting that he was in Hell for doubting Blackfire.

(Batman: The Cult #3, 4) - Deacon Blackfire showed his second-in-command Jake Baker the pool of blood he bathed in to keep himself young. Support for Blackfire in Gotham grew, and out-of-town homeless people entered Gotham to join his crusade. Blackfire's cult murdered anyone who dared speak against him, and when Gordon called a press conference announcing that Gotham was under marshal law Blackfire's men shot him. Blackfire's men shot a reporter on the air and broadcast a message from their leader. He said he was taking control of Gotham, and promised all his followers would receive protection. The national guard went into the sewers, and headed straight into an ambush. The governor evacuated Gotham, and Blackfire urged his men to claim the surface, announcing a brand new day for them. Batman and Robin called Alfred, and Batman said he was leaving Gotham, because Blackfire owned it now. Batman had a dream about the ghosts of Thomas and Martha Wayne urging him to save Gotham, and he woke ready to fight. He ordered armaments from the Stiles Foundation, building a new tanklike Batmobile, and arming himself and Robin with tranquilizer guns. Blackfire gave up any pretense of being a good guy and began mass killings of dissenters. Batman rolled into Gotham with the U.S. army following him, and fought his way to Gotham Central, the center of Blackfire's domain. Blackfire decided he would end his career as a religious savior by becoming a martyr, so he welcomed Batman, and urged him to kill him with a gun. Batman refused, and goaded Blackfire into attacking him. Batman beat Blackfire near death, striking painful blow after painful blow until Blackfire begged for mercy. Blackfire's cultists, seeing him humbled, turned against him, ripping him to pieces as Batman hurried Robin away, saying there was nothing they could do to help. The cultists broke up, and most left Gotham with Blackfire's death.

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