Biography of Comic Book Hero Batman aka Bruce Wayne Part 1

About the famous comic book hero Batman aka Bruce Wayne, history and biography of the caped crusader.

PEOPLE WHO NEVER WERE--YET LIVE TODAY

BATMAN, (BRUCE WAYNE)

Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne, has earned the reputation of being America's premier detective by fighting crime successfully for nearly 40 years. His prowess in subduing the criminal element--with the help of Robin the Boy Wonder--has prompted gangland figure "Knuckles" Conger to state: "It's amazing how one man and a boy can terrorize the whole underworld!"

Born in 1914 to Thomas and Martha Wayne of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne was orphaned at the age of 10 owing to the brutal murder of his parents at the hands of small-time mugger Joey Chill. The indomitable lad, bearing the psychological scars caused by his parents' senseless death, swore that as a memorial he would spend the rest of his life fighting the forces of evil.

Since the Wayne estate made him fabulously wealthy, Bruce Wayne was able to devote his adolescence to the study of science, the training of his body, and a scrutiny of the criminal mind. As an adult, he was well equipped for his life's work. He was a master scientist and inventor. He was a highly trained gymnast. And most important, perhaps, he was an expert in the labyrinthine twistings of the criminal mind.

But before embarking on his crusade against crime, he needed a disguise. He decided that a creature of the night would strike terror into criminals, who were generally a superstitious and cowardly lot. As he mused about this one night, he looked out the window of his study and saw the chilling silhouette of a bat displayed against the full moon. Instantly, he chose the bat as his symbol. Thus did Bruce Wayne, the flamboyant millionaire and playboy, become Batman, the world's greatest detective.

Batman's initial onslaughts against the underworld, which began in 1939, drew the ire of police officials, who refused to condone his extralegal vigilante activities. However, after 1941, when he was made an honorary member of the Gotham Police Force. Batman was able to escalate his crime-fighting endeavors. From tilting with small-time hoodlums, he moved on to tackling mightier foes in higher places. Realizing that he could use an assistant, he chose Dick Grayson, a young aerialist with a traveling circus, whose parents had been killed by extortionist racketeers. Bruce Wayne adopted the boy and trained him to be a junior edition of Batman himself.

Together Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder have engaged in a never ending battle against the forces of chaos in society. This battle has taken them not only to the four corners of the earth but also to distant planets and different time dimensions. But the scene of their greatest victories has been Gotham City.

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