The Wrath's debut story was titled "The Player on the Other Side", published in Batman Special #1 (1984). The title was based on the essay "A Liberal Education and Where to Find It" by Thomas Henry Huxley. It is also a reference to the Ellery Queen novel of the same name, as the story's author, Mike W. Barr is a renowned Queen enthusiast. A Post Infinite Crisis legacy version of The Wrath debuted in the pages of Batman Confidential #13 in a story arc written by Tony Bedard, with Elliott Caldwell, the 'student' of the original Wrath, taking on his mentor's mantle.