After his parents are murdered, young Bruce Wayne vows to find their killer, but his quest leads him into conflict with Gotham City. Alfred Pennyworth tries to protect Bruce from criminals, corrupt police, social climbers, relatives.

Following the death of his parents, an eight-year-old Bruce Wayne sets out on a quest to find the killer but ends up challenging Gotham City itself. Alfred Pennyworth is the only line of defense against the child's enemies that grow to include notorious criminals, crooked cops, ambitious aristocrats, extended family, and the boy himself. These are the building blocks of the mind that would become the Batman, the first pages of Exordium.—Coulter Rail