You think you know the story. After
all, even when he teams with Marvel heroes,
Batman’s story is pretty straight forward.
Young
Bruce Wayne, going home with his parents….only to see them killed by a mugger,
and he adopts the mantle of the Batman….or does he? Get ready for a step into
the Twilight Zone! (or, the DC
equivalent…their tales of Elseworlds…tales that seem familiar, but are also
not!).
Superman: Speeding Bullets
In
the 1993 Elseworlds, Superman: Speeding Bullets (by J. M.
DeMatteis and Eduardo Barreto), young Kal-El was rocketed to
Earth….and found by Thomas and Martha Wayne! Naming their son Bruce, he grew up
unaware of his powers, until the day a mugger killed his parents, incinerating
the thief with his heat vision.
Later in life, Bruce does grow up to become
Batman, who uses his powers to attack the villains of Gotham, including some
joker named Lex Luthor (a brilliant scientist who was disfigured and driven
insane). Eventually, with the help of Lois Lane, the super-powered Bruce gives
up the Batman identity to become Superman.
Batman: In Darkest Knight
In
1994, with the Batman: In Darkest Knight (by Mike W. Barr
and Jerry Bingham), Bruce had just returned to Wayne Manor after an
unsuccessful attempt to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, and was
looking for a symbol to inspire him. At that point, a ghostly green image
appeared, taking him to the spaceship of a dying Abin Sur…who gives him the
power ring of the Green Lantern.
With this ring, Green Lantern Bruce Wayne is
able to stop the Red Hood, and is later summoned to take the power ring from
the power mad Green Lantern Sinestro. GL Bruce Wayne also finds the killer of
his parents with the help of Commissioner James Gordon (who does find Joe
Chill, but Gordon is killed by Sinestro, who is now in possession of a yellow
power ring from Qward, and Sinestro finds Chill, and absorbs his mind!). The
Guardians of Universe recruit Clark Kent, Diana and Barry Allen to help Green
Lantern Katma Tui stop Bruce Wayne (who they fear is as power mad as Sinestro).
What’s
next…Superman becoming the Flash? Lois Lane
becoming Batwoman?
Well, those happened too, but are a tale for another time....
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