Character Profiles - Heroes - Golden Age Batman
Alter Ego: Bruce Wayne
Occupation: Multimillionaire Industrialist, Playboy, Philanthropist and Crime Fighter
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Thomas Wayne (father; deceased); Martha Wayne (mother; deceased), Philip Wayne (uncle), Jack Wayne (grandfather), Laura Elizabeth Wayne (great-grandmother)
Group Affiliations: Justice Society of America
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)
BATMAN: Golden Age (Earth 2)
Born c.1917.
Started career in 1939.
First comic book published in 1939.
Bruce Wayne was the son of wealthy parents, and might've grown up to be one of the "idle rich" had it not been for a life shattering tragedy when he was a small boy. Bruce was taking a walk with his parents in Gotham City to stretch their legs after seeing a Valentino movie when they were confronted by a mugger called Joe Chill who murdered Bruce's parents right before his eyes. The shock, anguish, and outrage at the experience boiled in the boy until the day of his parents' funeral, when he solemnly vowed revenge against all criminals.
For many years Bruce trained his mind and body for the task in secret while letting the world think he was a soft aristocrat. When he finally felt that he was ready to make good on his vow, he sat in what had been his father's study trying to figure out exactly how to go about it. "Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot" he thought. How could he use that against them? Just then a bat fluttered through the window. That was it! "I shall become a bat!" he resolved.
Dressed in a rather demonic bat-man costume, Bruce began his crime fighting career with great anger and furious vengeance. Criminals who crossed him were quite likely to wind up crippled or even dead. Bruce even used a gun in a few rare instances in his early costumed career. Branded an outlaw vigilante, the Bat-man had to stay one step ahead of the law.
Soon Bruce began to reconsider his approach a bit. This was probably due in part to the fact that Batman got a partner in the form of Dick Grayson, known as Robin, the Boy Wonder. Batman realized that taking life was a bad example for the boy, as well as being just plain wrong. When Bruce and Dick were joined in Wayne manner by the bumbling wannabe detective/ faithful English butler Alfred Pennyworth, it became hard for the Batman to remain a cold-hearted night stalker.
During World War II Batman and Robin stopped various Axis and Nazi plots against America, and became affiliated with the Justice Society of America and recognized as friends of law enforcement. After the war, Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon granted Batman special recognition as a deputized officer of the law. The Caped Crusaders were now appearing in public in the daylight rather than exploding out of the shadows of the night.
Batman had quite a rouge's gallery of recurring criminals to oppose. One of which, the sexy and clever Catwoman (Selena Kyle) turned out to be not all-bad... Even during their conflicts, there was undeniable chemistry between Batman and Catwoman. She eventually reformed, and later Bruce and Selena were married. They had a daughter in the late 1950s and named her Helena.
As he grew older, Bruce started to cut back on his activities as Batman. Robin, now grown-up, was able to handle most of the super-hero needs of Gotham, and Bruce was beginning to turn his attention to more conventional crime fighting. When Jim Gordon retired, Bruce Wayne became the new Police Commissioner.
When a criminal named Bill Jensen acquired superpowers and threatened Gotham City, an aging Bruce donned the cape and cowel to lose his life as Batman while stopping the villain.
Compiled By: FlaBat
Sources:
The Ultimate Guide To The Dark Knight by Scott Beatty
Unofficial DC Guide
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TITLE:
The Case of the Chemical Syndicate
COVER DATE:
May, 1939
WRITER:
Bill Finger
ARTIST:
Bob Kane
INKER:
Bob Kane
EDITORS:
Vincent A. Sullivan
COVER:
Bob Kane
PRICE: $.10 U.S.
CHARACTERS: Batman (Bruce Wayne);
Commissioner James Gordon
PLOT:
Commissioner Gordon receives a call telling him that Old Lambert, the chemical king, has been murdered. Gordon leaves for the crime scene bringing his millionaire friend Bruce Wayne. The prime suspect is Lambert’s son, but the boy claims to have found his father stabbed. A telephone call from Steven Crane, one of Lambert’s partners, reveals that Lambert’s life had been threatened.
Crane is also murdered by two thugs, who also steal a contract. They are confronted by a masked man on a rooftop, the Batman. Batman dispatches the hoods in short order, recovering the contract which leads him to the laboratory of another of Lambert’s partners, Alfred Stryker.
Stryker is being visited by the final partner, Paul Rogers. Rogers is knocked out and nearly killed by Stryker’s assistant, Jennings. Batman arrives in time to save the man and stop Jennings. Stryker also tries to kill Rogers to protect himself from the knowledge that he made secret contracts with the partners for control of the Apex Chemical Corporation. Batman rescues Rogers again, and knocks Stryker into a vat of acid, killing him.
TITLE:
The Killers of Kurdistan
WRITER:
Unknown
ARTIST:
Fred Guardineer
INKER:
Fred Guardineer
CHARACTERS:
Speed Saunders
PLOT:
N/A
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TITLE:
Bullet Bluff
WRITER:
Homer Fleming
ARTIST:
Homer Fleming
INKER:
Homer Fleming
CHARACTERS:
Buck Marshall
PLOT:
N/A
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TITLE:
The Mysterious Murders
WRITER:
The Mysterious Murders
ARTIST:
Joe Shuster
INKER:
Joe Shuster
CHARACTERS:
Bart Regan, Spy
PLOT:
N/A
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TITLE:
Murder on the Oceanic Line Docks
WRITER:
Jim Chambers
ARTIST:
Jim Chambers
INKER:
Jim Chambers
CHARACTERS:
Crimson Avenger; Wing
PLOT:
Crimson Avenger investigates the murders of a night club owner and a photographer. The trail leads to notorious gambler Mike Moran, who killed the night club owner for gambling debts. Moran gets the drop on the Crimson, but fails to notice that the phone is off the hook, allowing the operator to hear his confession. Moran is caught and the Crimson escapes.
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TITLE:
The New Orleans Mardi Gras Murder
WRITER:
Tom Hickey
ARTIST:
Tom Hickey
INKER:
Tom Hickey
CHARACTERS:
Bruce Nelson
PLOT:
N/A
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TITLE:
The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu
WRITER:
Sax Rohmer
ARTIST:
Leo E. O'Mealia
INKER:
Leo E. O'Mealia
CHARACTERS:
Dr. Fu Manchu
PLOT:
N/A
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TITLE:
Cosmo the Phantom of Disguise
WRITER:
Unknown
ARTIST:
Sven Elven
INKER:
Sven Elven
CHARACTERS:
Cosmo the Phantom of Disguise
PLOT:
N/A
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TITLE:
Plain Clothes Pete
WRITER:
Russell Cole
ARTIST:
Russell Cole
INKER:
Russell Cole
CHARACTERS:
Unknown
PLOT:
N/A
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TITLE:
The Murderer on Vacation
WRITER:
Jerry Siegel
ARTIST:
Joe Shuster
INKER:
Joe Shuster
CHARACTERS:
Slam Bradley; Shorty Morgan
PLOT:
Slam Bradley and Shorty are run off the road by Blackjack Benson, a notorious felon. Slam stops the crook and rescues FBI man, Dick Kelly. Benson is arrested but later breaks jail pursued by Kelly.
When Kelly fails to return, Slam goes in search of his new friend. They track him to Switzerland where they find Benson hiding with his brother Helger. The crooks try to kill Slam and Shorty as they have already done with Kelly, but Slam escapes and arrests Benson. Blackjack Benson is then sent to the electric chair.
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John Logerquist founded Gotham in 1635. It was presumably named after the village in England, famous for its wise fools. At the time, it was just a small outpost on in the mostly unexplored New World. However, as more and more emigrants came over from Europe it began to grow.
By the mid-1700s, the American colonies had grown restless and had begun to choke under the yoke of England. Increasing taxation among other reasons had many thinking about independence. In 1764 Thomas Jefferson, Jacob Stockman, and others decide to perform a mystic rite known as the Ceremony of the Bat. In the ceremony, they brought forth a virgin to sacrifice to a demon known as Barbathos, but they were interrupted and the demon became the spirit of Gotham City. This foreshadows a later rite, which would create the living spirit of America, which would empower heroes like Minute Man, Brother John, and, more recently, Uncle Sam.
When the War for Independence broke out, the British held Gotham for most of the war. However, a victory was won in Gotham by patriot Darius Wayne who is an ancestor of Batman. After the war in return for his heroism, he was rewarded for his heroism by a plot of land that would become the traditional estates of the Wayne family. Darius began building Wayne Mansion (though he never lived to occupy it) and also founded Robinson Park. The wilderness guerilla and war hero Tomahawk also decided to make Gotham his home for a short time.
In 1800s a time travelling Swamp Thing swamp thing visited early Gotham. Tomahawk encountered a slave trader, the immortal Jason Blood, who is then an Admiral in the Royal British Navy. The encounter left Tomahawk disgusted with city life and he left Gotham with his Indian lover, Moon Fawn.
Wayne Manor then fell out of the hands of the Wayne family. Solomon and Joshua Wayne, grandsons of Darius, were soon able to buy it back. Afterward, Joshua joined the Underground Railroad and used the caves beneath the Manor as a hiding place for runaway slaves. Joshua was later mortally wounded in this pursuit and, in order to preserve the secret of the Underground Railway, climbed into a drainage pipe to ensure that his corpse would not be found.
Gotham continued to grow in size. Eventually, Solomon Wayne, who had become a judge, hired the eccentric architect Cyrus Pickney. His industrial-gothic style would continue to dominate the look of Gotham. Solomon Waynes's son Alan founded Wayne Enterprises, which grew to become Gotham's, and later one of America's, leading corporations.
In 1894, in Slaughter Swamp outside of the city, the wealthy Cyrus Gold is murdered. He would later return in various incarnations of the monster Solomon Grundy.
In 1920, Prohibition was declared. Many criminals begin selling illegal booze, along with other illicit substances. A vicious gang war erupted. Guiseppe Bertinelli united three of the "Five Families" of Crime in Gotham behind him against the other two, winning the gang war. With this, corruption and graft among politicians and the police began to grow.
In 1921, Elizabeth Arkham Asylum is founded by Amadeus Arkham who would himself later be imprisoned there.
Gotham, like the rest of America, is later hit hard by the Great Depression. During this time, organized crime grew increasingly powerful. Corruption infiltrated all levels of Gotham society from cops who were paid to look the other way to politicians in the pockets of gang lords. At the same time, however, Gotham became the home of two of the earliest superheroes: Green Lantern I and Black Canary I. Eventually, the Justice Society would even make its headquarters in Gotham for a short while. However, no matter what good these forces managed to do, the city remained in the control of organized crime. The mayor was murdered in the first of a series of grizzly murders that would taunt the then protector of Gotham, Green Lantern (Alan Scott).
Gotham would remain in the clutches of criminals for most of the 20th centuries. In the 1960's Tomaso Panessa arrived in the city disrupting the balance of power among the "Five Families." Not soon afterwards, a vigilante known as The Reaper appeared, who wantonly slew criminals and terrorized the city before mysteriously disappearing.
One dark night, in the infamous Crime Alley, two of Gotham's most prominent citizens were murdered: Doctor Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha. Though there was a great media sensation around the tragic event, their murderer was never caught. They left behind their son Bruce, who witnessed the crime and swore on their graves to avenge their deaths (eventually becoming known as the Batman).
The murder soon became a symbol of the failure of the justice system. Over the following decades, corruption grew even worse. Drugs, prostitution, and graft skyrocketed. Organized crime embedded itself within the system, being lead at this time by Carmine Falcone, alias The Roman. An honest cop became a rarity. This changed with the arrival of two men: James Gordon and Bruce Wayne.
After years of training abroad, Bruce Wayne returned. During a reconnaissance mission, he was badly wounded and barely makes it back to Wayne Manor alive. He became distraught and began to question his efforts. Suddenly, a bat flew through a window. This incident caused him to come up with the idea of dressing like a bat, on the belief that criminals, a cowardly and superstitious lot, would be frightened by the costume. Not long after, the Batman first appeared on Gotham's streets.
James Gordon arrived in Gotham from Chicago with his wife and a tarnished record. He soon found that the police force was almost entirely corrupt, going all the way up to the police commissioner. He was soon assigned to track down the Batman. However, upon witnessing the Dark Knight's heroism, he changed his opinion and decided to work with him.
The two men, along with DA Harvey Dent, began a crusade to clean up the city. They were successful in cleaning up the police force and bringing down the Roman. At this time, a new and stranger criminal element arose. Lunatics in weird disguises appeared. The worst of these was (and still is) the insane clown-like killer known as the Joker. Selina Kyle, inspired by Batman, became Catwoman, hovering on the borderline between good and evil. Gordon and Batman soon lost their ally Harvey Dent, when, during a court hearing, a suspected criminal throws acid on his face. Dent went insane and became the criminal known as Two-Face. Other vigilantes such as Robin, Batgirl, and the Huntress appeared in the years that followed, countering the increased evil with their presence.
Recently, Gotham has undergone a series of disasters. The first of these was when the criminal Bane unleashed the inmates of Arkham's criminally insane ward in part of a strategy to destroy Batman. Batman, along with Robin III and Azrael, did their best to bring the lunatics in safely, but there was substantial loss of property and lives. Bane used this distraction to attack Batman. Weary from his battles, Batman was unable to defend himself and had his back broken. With Bruce Wayne taken out of commission, Azrael (Jean Paul Valley) replaced him as Batman II.
Valley, however, was unstable and began using increasingly violent methods. This culminated when he allowed the serial killer Abattoir to die. After being mystically healed, Bruce Wayne battled Valley and eventually reclaimed the mantle of Batman.
A year later, Gothamites began to fall victim to the Clench virus. A full-out plague hit the city and literally thousands died. The plague continued until Batman and his allies were able to obtain a cure. Batman later tracked down the source of the plague to eco-terrorist Ras Al'Ghul.
Later an even greater disaster struck the city, when a 7.6 earthquake devastated Gotham. Thousands died and the government declared Gotham a "No Man's Land": those that could not or chose not to leave were left to fend for themselves. Batman temporarily left Gotham and various factions including the GCPD, Two-Face, Scarface, the Penguin and others took control of portions of the city. Huntress began acting as Batgirl II.
Batman returned and after weeks of reconnaissance he revealed his presence. Deciding that he could not reclaim the city alone, he began working with other allies: Robin III, Azrael, Nightwing, and a new Batgirl, Cassandra Cain. As he recruits these allies, turf wars were fought between the various factions. During this period, Bane infiltrated Gotham and destroyed the public records at the behest of Lex Luthor.
Luthorcorp and Wayne Industries then began rebuilding Gotham (Luthor's attempt to take ownership of large portions of property being foiled by Batman) and eventually, the government rescinded its proclamation and Gotham returned to the U.S.
Since the rebuilding of Gotham, the citizens have been split between the O.G.'s (the original Gothamites who stayed through the NML period) and N.G's (returned to or moved to Gotham after NML) and the rise of organized crime syndicates like the Russian Mafia and the Costra Nostra has again been notable. Ra's Al Ghul once again attempted to take control of Gotham, this time using a mutagenic drug, but was once again foiled by Batman.
Gotham is located mostly on an island just off the North Eastern Seaboard, Gotham lies not far from Metropolis, New York, and Blüdhaven. It is connected to the mainland by various bridges and tunnels including the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge in the North, New Trigate Bridge and Vincefinkel Bridge over Gotham River in the West, Old Steam Tunnel, Brown RR Tubes, Novick Tunnel, and Peterson RR Tubes lay underneath the river.
In the center of the city is the Reservoir, along with Robinson Park and Wayne Botanical Gardens. The island is criss-crossed by Finger River, which empties into Miller Bay. To the North is Sprang River. Situated on a delta within the river is a delta on which lies Arkham Asylum. Further north is a part referred to as Old Gotham, which is the location of the infamous Crime Alley. It is also one of the most crime-ridden areas of the city.
South of Finger River is the younger part of town. Among the landmarks here are City Hall, the Gotham Superior Court House, Gotham Center, and the Vauxhall Opera Shell and Indoor Concert Center. In the southern part of the Island are two of the most noticeable landmarks of the Gotham skyline: Wayne Tower, headquarters of Wayne Enterprises; and the Gotham Clock Tower (base of operations for Oracle, also owned by Wayne Enterprises.)
Surrounding the island are a variety of shipyards. These include Dixon Docks on the western side of the island. On the other side of the island is Port Adams. Located between these two on the southern part of the island is Trigate Yards. Just off shore on nearby island is the infamous Blackgate Isle on which lies Gotham Penitentiary also know as Blackgate.
On the mainland, there are several interesting sites as well. These include Wayne Manor and the Batcave, which lies underneath it. Also there is the Archie Goodwin International Airport and the Gotham Light and Power.
THOMAS WAYNE
Real Name: Thomas Wayne
Occupation: Doctor
Marital Status: Married
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Height: 6ft
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Detective Comics #33 (November 1939)
Created By: Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson
Thomas Wayne is seldom shown outside of Bruce Wayne's and Alfred Pennyworth's memories of him, and often through Bruce's dreams and nightmares. He is frequently depicted as looking very much like Bruce Wayne, but sporting a thick moustache.
A notable occurrence in Thomas Wayne's biography was when Bruce fell through a fissure on the Wayne property, into what would one day become the Batcave (sometimes the fissure is replaced with an abandoned well). Thomas Wayne eventually rescued his terrified son from the cave.
Dr. Wayne was also the "first Batman" according to The First Batman, a Silver Age tale where Dr. Wayne attacked and defeated hoodlums while dressed like a "Bat-Man" for masquerade ball with flying creatures as a theme. This was recognized as one of the inspirations for Bruce donning the Batman costume. According to the story, Thomas Wayne's actions resulted in Lew Moxon being imprisoned and ordering the murder of Thomas Wayne ten years later. Though this would make Bruce 12-15, the Silver Age Batman tales were known for their inaccuracies. When Batman realizes Moxon ordered his parents killed, he confronts Moxon, who can't remember what he did due to amnesia. When Batman's costume is torn, he wears Thomas Wayne's, which looks very much like the original Bat-costume from 1939. Moxon remembers his crime, believes that he is being attacked by Thomas Wayne's ghost and flees into the streets where he is killed by a truck.
Whilst Bruce seems to have been closer to his mother Martha than his father, he still shares many common attributes with him, including his intellect, cleverness, and brooding over his failures to save people's lives. In many of the modern interpretations of the character, such as those by Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb, Thomas was occasionally very distant or stern towards his son prior to his demise, although his kindness and generosity are unequivocal.
Thomas Wayne was once thought to be the father of Bane, a man who would one day break his son; however, DNA testing proved this to be false, and Bane's real father was recently revealed to be King Snake.
Thomas Wayne saved the life of future crime lord and gangster Carmine Falcone shortly before the Wayne's murder. Falcone's father, Vincent, came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot in a gangfight by rival gangster Luigi Maroni. Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting, thus causing the surgery to be performed in the dining room with Alfred Pennyworth assisting. After saving Carmine Falcone from death, Thomas was offered a reward or favor from Vincent, but he flatly refused, in that "to a doctor, a patient is a patient." Young Bruce Wayne watched this all in silence from afar. Years later, Bruce contemplates whether Gotham would have been better off had Thomas let Carmine die.
MARTHA KANE WAYNE
Real Name: Martha Kane Wayne
Occupation: Stay At Home Mom
Marital Status: Married
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Detective Comics #33 (November 1939)
Created By: Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson
Born Martha Kane, Martha was the heir to the Kane Chemical fortune and a member of one of Gotham City's wealthiest families. In her youth, Martha had a reputation as a notorious party girl, socialite, and debutante, frequenting all the most prestigious country clubs, night clubs, and soirees. However, she also had a developed social conscience and often used her family's wealth and status to champion causes and charities.
Martha's closest friend in those days was a woman named Celia Kazantkakis. Both were renowned for their beauty, which caught the attention of a gangster named Denholm. Martha dated Denholm for a time prior to meeting Thomas Wayne, though she was unaware of his true nature at the time. Celia, who had had previous dealings with Denholm, became very protective of her friend and conspired to get this thug out of her life. However, in the process it came to light just why Celia was familiar with him. Celia, it turned out, was a criminal herself and had been embezzling money from an orphanage that was one of Martha's charities. She attempted to hide the evidence of this by setting fire to the building but Martha discovered her duplicity. Before Celia departed for her family's home in Greece, Martha threatened to expose her should she ever return to Gotham.
Shortly after Celia's departure, Martha met and fell in love with prominent physician and philanthropist Dr. Thomas Wayne. They were wed soon after and Martha eventually gave birth to a son, Bruce.
THE MURDERS
When Bruce was eight years old, his parents took him to a screening of The Mark of Zorro at a cinema in Gotham's Park Row. Returning to the car through an alley, they were confronted by a lone gunman who attempted to steal Martha's pearl necklace, an anniversary gift from Thomas. In the ensuing struggle, the thief shot both the Waynes dead. In the wake of this tragedy, Park Row was given the nickname "Crime Alley."
It is asserted that the Wayne murders were the main cause of much of the corruption and crime in Gotham City, as, once it became clear that even wealthy, important people could be murdered so easily, the people began to lose faith in its police, and the police themselves started to lose faith in their importance, leading to corruption within the force.
OTHER WAYNES
PATRICK MORGAN WAYNE
Real Name: Patrick Wayne
Occupation: Buisness Man
Marital Status: Married
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: (gravestone shown) Batman: Shadow of the Bat #45
Created By: Unknown
Bruce Wayne’s grandfather (now deceased) and the original leader of Wayne Corporations
SOLOMON ZEBEDIAH WAYNE
Real Name: Solomon Wayne
Occupation: Buisness Man
Marital Status: Married
Base of Operations: Gotham City
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #45
Created By: Unknown
A judge and businessman in Gotham City during the 19th century, The great-great-great grandfather of Bruce Wayne. He was the first Wayne residing in Wayne Manor, and helped Cyrus Pinkney to establish his arcitectural style in Gotham.
Golden Age Batman |
Silver Age Batman |
Modern Age Batman
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