REAL NAME: Bruce Wayne
OCCUPATION: Industrialist, Philanthropist
MARITAL STATUS: Single
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Gotham City
HEIGHT: 6'2"
WEIGHT: 210 lbs.
EYES: Blue
HAIR: Black
COSTUME:
- Cowl is Kevlar-lined helmet with Starlite nightvision and
radiolinked to the Batcave
- Costume and cape are Nomex fire-resistant and lined with
triple-weave Kevlar
- The points of Batman's cape are weighted for use as an
offensive weapon
- Weapons include razor-sharp "Batarangs"; decel
monofilament cord jumplines and grapnels; gas capsules and
thermite; rebreather and other devices stored in utility belt,
which is booby-trapped to prevent tampering
THE
MODERN AGE BATMAN
Though
regarded by many Gothamites as an "urban legend" built
on superstition and fear of the city's darkened streets, Bruce
Wayne knows all too well that the Batman is a cold, hard reality
of his own fabrication. Since his parent's untimely death in
Gotham's dreaded "Crime Alley", Wayne has spent his
life in pursuit of physical and mental perfection in order to
wage unrelenting war on crime. Watching over Gotham's streets
from its gargoyles and parapets, the Dark Knight is the city's
last best hope against evil. And it is this obsession that drives
the Batman, for Wayne has vowed that no innocent should ever
suffer the pain he has endured.
When the
Venom-fueled Bane destroyed Arkham Asylum and unleashed its
inhabitants on an unwary Gotham, Bruce Wayne learned that his
obsession might be more than he can endure. Driving himself past
the point of exhaustion to capture Arkham's most dangerous
inmates, Batman led himself right into the clutches of Bane, who
had deduced his identity and invaded the sanctity of Wayne Manor
and the Batcave. There, surrounded by all the trophies and
weapons of his crusade, Bruce Wayne was defeated, his back broken
and his spirit destroyed.
Crippled and
wheelchair-bound, the humbled Wayne left Jean Paul Valley his
costume and began an arduous quest to regain his strength and
will to fight, including calling upon the beautiful but deadly
Lady Shiva to retrain him in the fighting skills he had spent
years mastering. Upon learning that Valley had become a darker,
more violent vision of Batman, Wayne returned to Gotham to
forcibly reclaim the mantle of the Dark Knight. Shortly
thereafter, Bruce Wayne departed Gotham once again, leaving the
city's custodianship in the hands of his former partner Dick
Grayson for a brief time. When Wayne finally did return, it was
for good, adopting a darker look and stronger arsenal to reflect
the changes in body and mind Bane's attack had wrought upon him.
Since that
time, he has returned to the Gotham night and attempted to
rebuild his life as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, in addition to
reaffirming his relationships with Tim Drake, Dick Grayson and
Alfred. Make no mistake: Batman's mission is no less driven, but
by his own will is now tempered by a sense of his own fallibility
and a realization that the war on Gotham's crime need not be
fought alone.
BATMAN
TIMELINE
ORIGIN
- Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha are murdered in
"Crime Alley" as they accompany their young son Bruce
home from a viewing of "The Mark of Zorro" at a Gotham
City movie cinema.
- Selina Kyle's mother commits suicide. Selina's father slips
into alcoholism and later, death.
- Ten years after his parents' murder, Bruce Wayne embarks on a
worldwide odyssey, auditing collegiate classes in european
universities and polytechnics, and seeking training in martial
arts, manhunting and all the skills he would need to become a
crimefighter.
YEAR
1
- Bruce Wayne becomes Batman.
- Coerced into robbing a chemical factory, a failed comedian
disguises himself as the Red Hood, later confronting the Batman
and falling into a vat of caustic chemicals which bleach his skin
chalk white, color his hair green and leave his lips a ruby red
leer. Driven hopelessly insane, this ace of knaves the Joker
later attempts to extort millions from Gotham's citizens,
becoming perhaps the most feared villain Gotham City has ever
known.
- After mastering martial arts and other ninja stealth skills,
Selina Kyle dons the costume of Gotham's master thief, the
Catwoman.
- Psychologist Jonathan Crane adopts the identity of the
Scarecrow and begins a murder spree following his dismissal from
Gotham University.
- Pamela Isley becomes the alluring Poison Ivy through bizarre
experiments conducted by Jason Woodrue, a.k.a. the Floronic Man.
- To sate an obsessive need for attention, Edward Nigma creates
the guise of the Riddler, a criminal with a compulsion to leave
clues and puzzles revealing the nature of his crimes.
- Despite the wishes of her mother, the Golden Age Black Canary,
Dinah Lance becomes the new Black Canary.
YEAR
2
- Haly's Circus aerialists The Flying Graysons are murdered by
Boss Zucco. Their son Dick is made ward of millionaire Bruce
Wayne.
- Lieutenant Gordon becomes Captain Gordon.
- A bullet proof yellow oval is added behind his bat chest symbol
for bad guys to shoot at.
- A laboratory accident bathes scientist Victor Fries in
super-coolants, altering his body chemistry and creating the icy
Mr. Freeze, who later blames the Batman for the death of his
cryogenically preserved wife Nora.
- When acid thrown by mob kingpin "Boss" Marconi
horribly scars the left side of his face, District Attorney
Harvey Dent becomes the grotesque schizoid criminal Two-Face.
- Character actor Basil Karlo assumes the role of Clayface, a
grotesque maniac he popularized on the silver screen.
- Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot hatches a criminal career as the
murderous Penguin, basing his crimes on his own fascination with
birds and orinthology.
YEAR
3
- After arduous training, Dick Grayson becomes Batman's partner
in crimefighting, Robin, The Boy Wonder.
- Drury Walker masquerades as wealthy socialite Cameron Van Cleer
and offers Gotham City's underworld protection as the costumed
Killer Moth.
- The seemingly immortal terrorist Ra's al Ghul masterminds the
kidnapping of Batman's partner Robin, as well as his own daughter
Talia, in order to test the Dark Knight's worthiness as his
future heir.
Robin is unable to save an innocent threatened by Two-Face.
YEAR
4
- After discovering a mysterious chemical pool while exploring an
underground grotto, fortune hunter Matt Hagen finds himself able
to morph into any shape or assume any appearance, and becomes
Clayface 2.
- Robin joins the Teen Titans alongside Wonder Girl, Kid Flash
and Speedy and becomes leader of the team.
YEAR
5
- Barbara Gordon dons the costume of Batgirl for the first time.
- Robin joins the New Titans, assuming leadership of the new
team.
YEAR
6
- Dick Grayson gives up the role of Robin. He later becomes
Nightwing.
- To cure his chronic hyperpituitarism, scientist Preston Payne
isolates the malleability enzyme in Matt Hagen's blood and
injects it into himself. Payne's flesh also becomes maaleable,
but requires a containment suit to support his body, which now
reduces others to protoplasm with a simple touch, a necessary
evil to survive as Clayface 3.
YEAR
7
- Orphan and juvenile delinquent Jason Todd is adopted by Bruce
Wayne and later assumes the role of Robin.
- THE KILLING JOKE: Barbara Gordon gives up her Batgirl identity.
Shortly afterward, the Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum and
shoots Barbara through the spine, crippling her for life. The
Joker then proceeds to kidnap and torture her father, Police
Commissioner James Gordon. Barbara later becomes Oracle.
- After losing control of his Janus Cosmetics corporation, Roman
Sionis assumes the identity of Black Mask, later dominating
Gotham's underworld with his masquerading army of thugs,
"The False Face Society".
- A DEATH IN THE FAMILY: In Africa, the Joker savagely beats
Jason Todd, the second Robin, and leaves him to die in an
explosion. Later, the Joker becomes the Iranian ambassador to the
United Nations and plots nuclear terrorism.
YEAR
8
- After intensive weapons and martial arts training, Helena
Bertinelli becomes The Huntress.
- Scientists in the employ of the megalomaniacal Kobra alter the
body chemistry of a hideously disfigured woman to grant her
powers similar to Matt Hagen's and to assume the role of Clayface
4.
YEAR
9
- A LONELY PLACE OF DYING: To torment a beleaguered Dark Knight
still reeling fromt the death of Jason Todd, an injured Joker
secretly manipulates Two-Face's most ambitious crime spree,
requiring the combined might of Batman, Nightwing and a third
Robin, Tim Drake, to bring him to justice.
- Stephanie Brown dons the costume of the Spoiler to thwart her
father, the Cluemaster.
- All four previous Clayfaces join forces to create the Mudpack.
Basil Karlo subsequently is transformed into the Ultimate
Clayace.
YEAR
10
- Jean Paul Valley becomes Azrael, avenging angel of the Order of
St. Dumas, after his father, the previous Azrael, is killed.
- VENGEANCE OF BANE: Escaping from the savage Santa Priscan
prison Pena Duro alongside his henchmen Bird, Trogg, and Zombie,
the man known only as Bane makes his way inexorably toward Gotham
to rule the city's underworld and defeat its guardian, the
Batman.
- KNIGHTFALL: The venom-enhanced criminal Bane frees the inmates
of Arkham Asylum, leading Batman on a suicide run to reclaim them
before setting a trap for the Dark Knight at Wayne Manor and
breaking Batman's back in the Batcave.
- KNIGHTQUEST: Jean Paul Valley assumes the mantle of Batman from
the crippled Bruce Wayne and descends into violence and madness.
- Rather than see his employer and friend destroy himself, Alfred
Pennyworth leaves the service of Bruce Wayne.
- Many of Arkham Asylum's inmates are housed at Blackgate
Penitentiary while Arkham Asylum is rebuilt in a new location.
- KNIGHTSEND: Bruce Wayne returns to claim the mantle o f Batman
from Jean Paul Valley after his spine is healed by Dr. Shondra
Kinsolving and his will to fight is restored under the tutelage
of Lady Shiva.
- PRODIGAL: In order to attend to matters of his own, Bruce Wayne
appoints Dick Grayson as Batman. Grayson must battle his own
fears and insecurities in the role in order to defeat Two-Face,
his most feared foe.
- Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City and once again takes up the
role of Batman, adopting a darker look.
- VENGEANCE OF BANE II: While in solitary confinement in
Blackgate, Bane undergoes withdrawl from the strength-enhancing
drug Venom, then slowly rebuilds his body and mind to peak
perfection before escaping his incarceration, later threatening
Gotham with a floating nuclear reactor.
- TROIKA: Russian criminals Colonel Vega, Romana and the KGBeast
unite to rule Gotham's underworld or else destroy the city with a
baseball-sized nuclear device.
- UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED: In concert with a throng of so-called
super-villains, several of Batman's persistent foes sell their
souls to the demon Neron in exchange for enhanced power. The
laughable Killer Moth is transformed into the monsterous
man-insect Charaxes, while Dr. Phosphorus and Hellgrammite become
more formidable foes, and new and more deadly variations on
Blockbuster and Spellbinder are created.
- CONTAGION: Thousands of Gotham's citizens are killed when the
Order of St. Dumas lets loose a virulent plague of Ebola Gulf-A
upon the city. Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Azrael and Catwoman
scour the globe to find a cure for the plague, dubbed "The
Clench". Robin contracts the virus and is nearly killed
before Azrael unlocks the virus's secrets and delivers the
makings of the vaccine to the quarantined Gotham.
- LEGACY: Ra's al Ghul is revealed to be the mastermind behind
"The Clench" outbreak in Gotham. Batman and his allies
pursue the immortal villain around the world to prevent him from
unleashing a worse cashe of viruses from an ancient artifact
called the "Wheel of Plagues".
- Cassius, the son of Clayface 3 and Lady Clayface, becomes the
fourth such creature to confront the Dark Knight and is later
dubbed "Clay-Thing" by the Government's Department of
Extranormal Operations (DEO).
- Nightwing sets up shop in neighboring city Bludhaven in order t