When he was first introduced, Bruce Wayne was already the vigilante known as Batman. In Detective Comics #33 the origin of the character was told. Bruce Wayne was the son of Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha Wayne. His parents were wealthy philanthropists in the high society of Gotham City. Bruce grew up in Wayne Manor and experienced a privileged life until one fateful night. Bruce and his parents went to the movies and were walking home when suddenly they were confronted by a small-time crook named Joe Chill. At first, Chill demanded Martha's jewelry, but he ended up shooting both of Bruce’s parents. After the deaths of his parents, Bruce swore to rid Gotham City of evil forever. He began an intense mental and physical training and mastered many skills including martial arts, criminology, and escape artistry.

Upon completing his training Bruce realized that his skills alone were not enough to do the job; he needed the criminals to fear him. It was then that a bat flew through the window, scaring Bruce. He was inspired by the symbolism of the bat and used this to become Batman.


The Batman is born.
Batman witnessed the death of the Flying Graysons, high flying acrobats that were killed by crooks after the owner of the circus refused to pay "protection money". Bruce took in young Dick Grayson as his ward and trained him as his sidekick, Robin. Together the " Dynamic Duo" faced off against many enemies such as the Riddler, Scarecrow, Penguin and the Joker. Batman eventually became one of the founding members of the Justice Society Of America. However it was later said that he and Superman were honorary members and only participated in limited JSA adventures. Batman continued working with the Gotham City Police Department in fighting crime and was later legally deputized as a civilian police agent . Later Alfred Pennyworth was introduced and served as his butler. Alfred eventually learned the identities of the Dynamic Duo and aided them in both their identities. Love interest Vicki Vale debuted during the 1940's as one of the numerous girlfriends of Bruce Wayne. Vicki was created as a mirror of Lois Lane of Metropolis. She often spent her time trying to figure out the identity of Batman. Whenever she got close to figuring out Batman was Bruce Wayne, Batman would often trick her into believing he was not Bruce Wayne.