Batman

This article refers to the superhero. For other uses of Batman, please see Batman (disambiguation).

Batman is a comic book superhero that is published by DC Comics and has become one of the most popular superheroes in comic book history. The character has spanned across all sorts of mediums including, film, tv, video games and books.

Origins

He was born as Bruce Wayne to the extremely wealthy Wayne family who were considered royalty in his home town, Gotham City. When Bruce was eight years old, his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, took him to the cinema to see his favourite film, The Mask of Zorro. Leaving the cinema, they turned into an alley where a gunman held them at gunpoint, demanding their money and jewelry. Bruce's father calmly gave him the money, but when the gunman tried to take the pearls as well, Thomas got angry and tried to stop it. The gunman shot him dead without hesitation. Bruce's mother began screaming and was also shot dead. Bruce was left alive while the gunman ran away, never to be seen again.

Becoming Batman

Bruce became engulfed with guilt, anger and vengeance. Vowing to put an end to crime, he left Gotham for several years to prepare himself for this task. He trained with numerous senseis and detectives, notably Henri Ducard. Upon his return to Gotham he realised that criminals are easily scared by something seemingly beyond human. He utilised his own fear of bats to become the Batman and began his war on terror.

From gangsters to freaks

Batman successfully managed to rid Gotham of corruption (as depicted in Batman: Year one by Frank Miller) from the now-deceased police commissioner Loeb and his police force, and gangsters running riot like Carmine Falcone and his rival Sal Maroni. (Both were killed in the

Batman's rogue gallery, from an alternate cover to the Batman:Hush conclusion issue, 2003.

holiday murders, as depicted in The Long Halloween.) The fall of gangsters was due in part to the rise of what they called 'freaks'. These included supervillians like Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, Two-face and Batman's future nemesis and arch-foe: The Joker.