When the Riddler shut off all the power in Gotham City during the crisis known as the Zero Year, the criminal issued a challenge: citizens needed to start improving their brains, or die by natural selection. The Riddler promised that if anyone could ask him a riddle he couldn't answer, he would restore power to Gotham. A whip-smart young student named Duke Thomas began training his mind in order to take down the Riddler and save his city. When a hurricane pummeled Gotham, Duke’s family rescued an unconscious Bruce Wayne. Wayne remembered the young boy after he went on to save the city from the Riddler.
Many years later, Batman and The Joker had their ultimate battle, as the Clown Prince of Crime learned Batman’s true identity. The Joker then kidnapped Duke Thomas and his family and planned to re-create Bruce Wayne's parents' murders in front of him using the Thomas family. Although Batman rescued Duke from The Joker, Duke's parents fell victim to the mind-controlling gas The Joker had released. They disappeared.
Duke was placed in the foster system. Eventually, he learned The Joker’s toxins had been found in the Gotham City sewers, and he escaped from foster care to go down to the sewers to look for his missing parents. While down there, he found a group of Gotham City kids inspired by Batman and Robin to follow their example, during a time when Batman had gone missing. For a time, Duke was a member of this “We Are Robin.”
After Bruce Wayne returned, he offered Duke a position as his new protégé, an offer which Duke accepted under one condition—he didn’t want to be another Robin, as there had already been four, and he had already been part of a Robin movement. Instead, Batman gave him a bright yellow suit and began training him. He promised Duke he wouldn’t be another Robin, but instead would become something new. After months of rigorous training, Batman revealed Duke’s name would be the Signal, after the Bat-Signal that lit the skies of Gotham at night. Duke’s role would be to protect Gotham City during the day, when Batman and his partners tended not to operate. During this time, Duke realized he was a metahuman, with superpowers related to his new role.
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Character History
CREATORS: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo
FIRST APPEARANCE: Batman Vol 2 #21 (August, 2013)