Introduction
September 3, 2002
This story has been floating around in my mind for some time. For some reason, my young mind seems to fixate on the early 20th century, a time of tumult and turmoil. A time when the lines between good and evil were, in reality, as clear as they are made to be in the comics that I have made such a large part of my life.
This story focuses on a character that is probably one of the most influential men in comic-dom, though indirectly. Before I tell you whom, though, I'll ask a couple of pointed questions.
What made Batman the man he is today? Superb athleticism does not spring from the ether because of childhood trauma, it is in the genes. Who, then, were these people who contributed to the stew that is Bruce Wayne? What kinds of people were the Waynes?
This first story will deal almost exclusively with Thomas Wayne, the father of the Bat. In a silver-age Batman tale, Batman discovers that he shares more with his father than he ever thought. In watching an old film, he discovers that Thomas Wayne once attended a costume party as a Bat-Man. I believe that this was an attempt to trot out the original bat-suit for show and get Bruce into it when his suit is destroyed, but it made me wonder. Did that part of Bruce Wayne that drives him to protect come from his father? Did Thomas Wayne have it in him to strike out into the night in search of justice? What if?
I've borrowed quite a bit from Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween, both of which feature the Gotham mob during the rise of Batman. That being the case, I want to thank Jeff Millar for his creations of the Falcone family, his fleshing out of the Moronis and giving such a rich contribution to the world that is Gotham City.
So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of what I hope will become the first in a series on pre-Batman Gotham, Hero's Blood.
Sincerely,
Joshua "Dante" Epstein
September 3, 2002
This story has been floating around in my mind for some time. For some reason, my young mind seems to fixate on the early 20th century, a time of tumult and turmoil. A time when the lines between good and evil were, in reality, as clear as they are made to be in the comics that I have made such a large part of my life.
This story focuses on a character that is probably one of the most influential men in comic-dom, though indirectly. Before I tell you whom, though, I'll ask a couple of pointed questions.
What made Batman the man he is today? Superb athleticism does not spring from the ether because of childhood trauma, it is in the genes. Who, then, were these people who contributed to the stew that is Bruce Wayne? What kinds of people were the Waynes?
This first story will deal almost exclusively with Thomas Wayne, the father of the Bat. In a silver-age Batman tale, Batman discovers that he shares more with his father than he ever thought. In watching an old film, he discovers that Thomas Wayne once attended a costume party as a Bat-Man. I believe that this was an attempt to trot out the original bat-suit for show and get Bruce into it when his suit is destroyed, but it made me wonder. Did that part of Bruce Wayne that drives him to protect come from his father? Did Thomas Wayne have it in him to strike out into the night in search of justice? What if?
I've borrowed quite a bit from Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween, both of which feature the Gotham mob during the rise of Batman. That being the case, I want to thank Jeff Millar for his creations of the Falcone family, his fleshing out of the Moronis and giving such a rich contribution to the world that is Gotham City.
So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of what I hope will become the first in a series on pre-Batman Gotham, Hero's Blood.
Sincerely,
Joshua "Dante" Epstein