Meanwhile, in the Auram residence...
So you’re saying after your parents’ murder you vowed to exterminate crime as some sort
of owl-man?
Yeah, Scott, we’ve been over this! I’ve been Batman for years. I’m honestly surprised
that you never figured it out, I’m never available at night and I do live in a pretty
sketchy part of town.
Wait a minute, Batman? Last week you said you were Owlman! Are you sure you’re a crime-fighting
vigilante? Is that why I keep getting expense reports for smoke bombs?! I’m not paying
for these, Auram!
Uhhhh…. Gotta go!
Hello and welcome to the Show With Issues, I’m Auram and -- Bruce Wayne! The Batman…
He’s been around for decades and because of DC’s tendency to reboot and retcon every
other day, his origin has been told and retold so many times. Because of this it has been
morphed and changed in little ways over the years and I’m here today to try and spell
the differences between the versions of Batman’s origins!
To start off we should probably narrow down how many times the Bat’s origin has been
retold. Regardless of how many times it’s simply been mentioned at the beginning of
a new run or something similar to that, Batman as a character has been essentially rebooted
four times; during the Golden Age on Earth-Two, during the Silver Age on Earth-One, after
Crisis on Infinite Earths on New Earth, and after Flashpoint on Prime Earth. That last
one is the New 52 and the most recent telling of the origin for those unaware. I could go
on and on about how each one of those eras/universes came to be, but that’s pretty much a whole
other video so all you need to know is that there have been four versions of Bruce Wayne’s
Batman over the years.
So with that out of the way what does Batman’s origin boil down to essentially? If you needed
a barebones version of the thing it would probably consist of three things; a rich kid’s
parents dying, that same kid getting in peak physical condition somehow as he grows up,
and eventually donning a suit that vaguely resembles a bat...kinda. (Seriously though,
does anyone else think he really doesn’t look that Bat-like?) Anyway, let’s start
by focusing on the first third of the origin, the murder of the Wayne-parents.
Starting with the Golden Age way back in 1939, Detective Comics #33 detailed a very quick
version of that famous Wayne murder. In fact, it happens on the very first page of the comic!
An unknown street thug found the Waynes walking home from a movie and he was immediately interested
in Mrs. Wayne’s necklace. Fun fact, Bruce’s mother wasn’t actually named in this issue,
but Thomas, his father, was. It wasn’t until 1948’s Batman #47 that Mrs. Wayne was given
the name Martha, and it’s been that way ever since. Anyway, Mr. Wayne told the thief
to stand down and leave Martha alone, but this didn’t go over well. Thomas was shot
and killed right on the spot causing Martha to call out for the police. The mugger didn’t
like this either so he shot her as well and honestly there wasn’t much tension in this
version of the origin. Bruce’s parents were shot and killed in as quickly as two panels.
Anyway, a few days later Bruce “swore by the spirit of his parents” that he would
avenge their deaths by spending the rest of his life waging a war on crime.
This isn’t the whole story though, the entire Golden Age origin was retold and expanded
upon in the aforementioned Batman #47. Along with the mugger who shot and killed the Waynes
being named Joe Chill, it was also revealed that Martha wasn’t actually shot! No, she
didn’t come back as a masked super villain threatening to kill Batman in some kind of
tragic irony, but it was instead shown that Martha died of shock after seeing her beloved
husband shot in front of her. In that same issue, Batman tracked down Chill and threatened
him, somehow causing his death, thus closing the case on Thomas and Martha Wayne’s deaths,
at least as far as Earth-Two goes.
Earth-One Batman’s origin was told in a rather unconventional way for classic superhero
origins. It was actually showcased on its own in a book from 1980 titled Untold Legend
of the Batman and didn’t even start with the death of Bruce’s parents. Instead, it
starts at a charity costume event where the Waynes were in attendance. Thomas was dressed
in a bat costume, which Bruce took a huge liking to. His father promised Bruce that
he could wear the costume when he was older, but right as he said this a group of criminals
showed up to the party, one of whom has been shot. See, they were looking for a doctor
and assumed, rightfully, that one would be at the fancy party. They kidnapped Dr. Thomas
Wayne and forced him to remove the bullet, but Thomas didn’t comply. He punched the
gunman and ran straight to the cops, saying that he wanted to find the guy and put him
on trial. So Lieutenant James Gordon did just that, and Lew Moxon faced several years in
prison, until he got out and ordered a hit on the Waynes, of course. Joe Chill, a common
street thug hired by Moxon, found the Waynes on their way home from a movie in Park Row
and tried to steal Mrs. Wayne’s necklace. Thomas said no, Chill shot him, Martha made
an uproar, Chill shot her, and Bruce later vowed his war on crime once again. The death
of the Waynes played out pretty similarly to its Earth-Two version, and that’s largely
because of the seeming lack of transition between the Earth-Two and Earth-One Batmen.
See, unlike the Flash or Green Lantern, Batman as a character wasn’t completely overhauled;
the Flash went from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen, Green Lantern went from Alan Scott to Hal
Jordan, but Batman went from Bruce Wayne to Bruce Wayne. Now, of course, there wasn’t
any crisis to cause the split between the Golden and Silver ages, but it was made very
clear later on that the two “ages” took place on different Earths. In fact, the goings-on
of Earth-Two’s Bruce after the transition to Earth-One were told in 1977’s DC Super-Stars
#17. After marrying Selina Kyle, Catwoman, Bruce decided to retire from vigilante justice
because he didn’t want his daughter to be orphaned. That’s right, Bruce and Selina
had a child, Helena Wayne, who would later go on to be known as Earth-Two’s Huntress!
Bruce couldn’t completely give up crime-fighting though, so he ran for the position of Police
Commissioner of Gotham and won! Bruce would, however, return to Batmanning once more, after
learning that he was dying of cancer. Sadly, Bruce was killed in this last hurrah by Bill
Jensen, who had just gained mystical powers. Long story. Anyway, this, once and for all,
cleared up the confusion between the Golden and Silver Age versions of Batman.
So after all of that, in 1985, a Crisis struck up! The mega event Crisis on Infinite Earths
happened where DC’s multiverse was essentially destroyed and rebooted into one single continuity,
which was later retconned to be a multiverse, or supertime or something. The point is, this
paved the way for a new Batman! And with him, a new set of parents for someone to kill!
So how did it happen Post-Crisis? It’s actually pretty simple in this case, the Waynes were
walking home from seeing the Mark of Zorro where a mugger named Joe Chill stopped them
and shot both Thomas and Martha sending Bruce into a spiral where he vowed his war on crime
once again. This is where the stereotypical Batman origin started and stemmed from. In
fact, the whole thing was summed up in one page with little-to-no dialogue during the
Year One storyline in Batman #404. And that’s really all there is to know about the Post-Crisis
death of the Waynes.
But, before we move on to the New 52, let’s talk about another staple of Batman’s origin;
the person who took him in as their adopted child after the death of his parents. So all
of you probably know that Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne family butler, took the boy in,
but this wasn’t always the case! In the Golden and Silver Ages Bruce didn’t actually
meet Alfred until well into his career as Batman. No, in fact, Bruce was taken in by
his uncle Philip and was raised by him instead of Alfred, but this all changed Post-Crisis.
Alfred became Bruce’s guardian this time, and that seems to be what every adaptation
of the origin since pulls from. Also, apparently in the Silver Age, Uncle Philip left Bruce
to Mrs. Chilton, his housekeeper, who was apparently the mother of Joe Chill, the man
who killed Bruce’s parents. That’s pretty messed up.
Alright, now we can move on to the New 52! This one is very par for the course as far
as the actual shooting goes. The Waynes were on their way home from seeing Zorro at the
Monarch Theatre when Joe Chill, a common street thug, confronted them looking for money. Thomas
tried to bargain with the guy and calm him down, but Chill got scared and shot at him
and his wife Martha. He ran away and left Bruce Wayne parentless once again. Bruce longed
for a world where no one dies the way his parents did, setting him on a quest to find
justice and this is where the New 52 deaths get a bit interesting.
Without diving too far into the training aspect of the New 52, which we’re about to tackle
as a whole, Bruce took it upon himself to find a reason for his parents’ murder. He
couldn’t live with it just being some freak coincidence on a random night, even going
so far as to obsess over the idea of the mythical Court of Owls being responsible in some way,
but never found anything. At the age of 18; however, he finally found Joe Chill once and
for all! Chill explained that there really was no deeper connection between him and Bruce’s
parents and that he simply needed the money at the time, thus closing the book on the
New 52 version of the Wayne murders.
Now on to the second part of the origin, how Bruce trained both physically and mentally
to become Batman! Going back to the Golden Age and Detective Comics #33, Bruce’s training
was pretty much brushed under the rug. It’s said that he became a “master scientist”
and “trained his body to physical perfection.” And that’s really all that’s said on the
subject, that is until 1986’s Secret Origins #6 where Earth-Two is revisited for another
crack at Batman’s origin! In this story, it’s revealed that Bruce started his “training”
in college where he joined the Theater Department and met one Julie Madison, his soon-to-be
girlfriend, but we’ll get back to that later.
Moving on to the Silver Age side of things, it’s once again a bit unconventional here.
Bruce actually started his training to become Batman almost instantly after his parents
died. He learned of the top detective in Gotham, Harvey Harris, and decided that he would become
Harris’ pupil, but knew that Harris would turn him away if he learned his identity,
so Bruce donned his first costume; one very similar to the traditional Robin outfit, actually.
He found Harris while he was on a case one night and asked the detective to be his protege.
Harris said yes, and even called the boy Robin, because apparently he looked as brilliant
as a Robin Redbreast in his costume -- or something. Anyway, Harvey trained Bruce in
fighting and detective skills for years, until Bruce turned 18.
He was in peak physical condition, but he wanted to expand his mind by studying at university.
So Bruce left for college, majoring in criminology and minoring in psychology, but this isn’t
where he learned his “greatest lesson,” as Bruce put it. It was in his law class where
he learned the distinction between justice and the law. With this knowledge in hand,
Earth-One’s Bruce Wayne had finished his training and was ready to become the Batman!
Moving on to the Post-Crisis side of training, things, once again, got a bit interesting.
Bruce left Gotham at the young age of 14 and began studying forensics and martial arts
at college, but failed. Bruce later turned to the FBI as a means to carry out his vow,
but decided that to attain his form of justice he would need to operate outside of the “system.”
He then started his journey around the world, from North Korea to France, Bruce perfected
his skills over the course of many years and when he returned to Gotham, he was in peak
condition to start his campaign of vigilante justice!
In fact, keeping in line with how the Post-Crisis origin of Batman is really what other adaptations
pull from, the Christopher Nolan movies were heavily inspired by this origin. In Batman
Begins, Bruce is shown travelling the world intending to learn new skills and abilities,
when he stumbles upon the League of Shadows and is trained by Ra’s Al Ghul.
To finish the loop, though, similarly to the Nolanverse training sequence, is the New 52
training sequence! After the death of his parents and learning Joe Chill’s lack of
motive, Bruce decided to travel the world to train himself to take on crime. He learned
extreme stunt driving in Rio, mechanical skills in Russia, endurance and intimidation tactics
in Norway, and even picked up various martial arts techniques and sword-fighting skills
along the way. Bruce did this for three years, but eventually returned to Gotham; ready to
fight the Red Hood Gang and protect his city, but we’ll get back to that.
Another cool tidbit about Bruce’s training regimen as Batman can be found in the 2014
anniversary book, the Batman Files. There’s actually an entire page inside detailing one
of Bruce’s weekly workout routines. Seems like he does a lot of cardio in the morning
and strength- or skill-training in the afternoon. I guess he doesn’t do anything at night
because, y’know, Batman.
Now, finally, for the third and most exciting part of Batman’s origin, actually donning
the suit and becoming the vigilante himself! Going back to his his Golden Age origin, once
again, we find Bruce back at college with his girlfriend Julie where they stayed together
until graduation. Julie pursued a career in acting on Broadway while Bruce returned to
Gotham to become a police officer. Later, Julie sent Bruce a letter convincing him not
to be a police officer because she couldn’t be with a man who endangers his life every
day. This inspired Bruce to try fighting crime and doing detective work in disguise. He decided
that he would need a costume that would strike fear into the heart of his foes and just as
he makes this epiphany, a bat flies through the window! Bruce takes this as an omen and
sets out to get his first Batsuit made. He dresses as an old man and hires the two most
experienced costume-makers in Gotham to create said Batsuit. Bruce dons the outfit and for
the first time ever, becomes the Batman! I guess it’s also worth mentioning that the
Detective Comics #33 version of this origin is pretty much the same, except all the college
stuff is left out.
And following in that iteration’s footsteps is the Silver Age version of Bruce’s suiting
up! After studying at college, Bruce returned to Gotham and told his parents’ grave that
he couldn’t be a policeman like he always dreamed, because they’re often held back
by the law so Bruce decided that he would have to become someone else, something else…
the Arrow! Wait, no that’s not right, but Bruce did decide to become a symbol with a
costume and, just like the Earth-Two version, right as he said this, a bat flew through
the window inspiring Bruce to become the Batman once more!
Post-Crisis is where things got a little more interesting with how Bruce decided to don
the suit and become Batman. Returning to Gotham 18 years after his parents murder, Bruce starts
his war on crime by posing as a drifter. That’s right, in this case, Bruce started vigilante-ing
without a Batsuit! Anyway, he goes after an underage prostitute’s pimp and ends up getting
into a fight with the guy. It escalates and Holly, the underage girl, stabs Bruce in the
leg, causing him to lash out and kick Holly to the ground. Selina Kyle, who was in a nearby
window watching all this, jumps at Bruce and starts to fight him for hurting Holly as the
cops arrive to arrest them all. Bruce blacks out and wakes up in handcuffs. He breaks out
of them and steers the officer right into traffic, wrecking the car and setting Bruce
free. He was bleeding out by the time he got back to his father’s study at Wayne Manor;
however, and was faced with a decision. He could ring a bell and have Alfred patch him
up, but only once he knew what he would become. Bruce flashed back to his parents’ death
and right as he did that, say it with me class, a bat crashed through the window inspiring
Bruce to become the Batman! This was also where the inclusion of Bruce being scared
of bats himself was included in the origin, another staple in the adaptations of today’s
media.
There’s also 2010’s The Return of Bruce Wayne, a book written after Final Crisis,
which detailed the adventures of a time-traveling amnesiac Bruce and introduced the idea of
the Batman being a self-fulfilling prophecy started by Bruce during this whole debacle
throughout time. Although, it is written by Grant Morrison and, frankly, I don’t even
fully understand it, so take that story with a grain
of salt and interpret it however you want.
Jumping back into the New 52 universe with Bruce’s reason for becoming Batman being
a little different, but at the same time slightly similar to the Post-Crisis origin. After three
years of training, Bruce returned to Gotham fully ready to strike up his war on crime,
starting with the famous Red Hood Gang. He assaulted them with everything he had, using
very intricate face masks as disguises, but it wasn’t enough, constantly being bested
by Red Hood One and his lackeys. One night Bruce decided to meet with his Uncle Philip,
who had recently discovered that Bruce was back in town and not, in fact, dead. Philip
was laying a trap for Bruce; however, and outed his “revival” to the media, causing
the Red Hood Gang to immediately strike and attempt to kill Bruce on his way home. The
Gang blew Bruce’s house to shreds with him still inside, but he miraculously survived
crawling his way back to a nearby Wayne Manor. The next day, Bruce found himself patched
up by Alfred and he soon made his way to his father’s study where everything culminated
once and for all.
Bruce began crying out for a sign of what he needed to do to truly carry out his mission
and inadvertently activated his father’s “Witch’s Eye” device, causing a 3D map
of the cave below the Manor to illuminate the room. He turned to the window, in awe
of the holographic bats flying through his body, with one real, live bat in the mix,
and made the decision that he would become a bat.
And all of that is how Bruce Wayne became Batman. In four different major iterations
of the character over 75 years of history with a bunch of changes between them, but
still! Speaking of which, I am 99% sure that I missed some information in one of the retellings
or reboots here, so let me know in the comments if I did! Oh, and while you’re down there,
let me know which one of these origins you like the most. I think my favorite is the
Silver Age one, it’s just so weird and unnecessarily complicated. I mean, Thomas was the first
Batman and Bruce was the first Robin? Come on!
Anyway, before you head out make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on anything I upload
every Friday and every other Wednesday! And, of course, thank you so much for watching!
Next time I’M BATMAN!
Wha? Oh my! Oh! Hmmm. Hmmm? Hooooh!