Should Current Batman find his parent's murderer?

[GreenLantern]

This question comes up in my head alot. I know pre-crisis batman found out but should post-crisis batman do the same? ( Even if the killer is the same guy as pre-crisis - Joe Chill.)

I personally think that finding his parents murderer will kinda cheese it up unless it was real good story arc...but even then...

[Benoit Fabre]

As a lot of people tend to think in the Arena, Batman can do anything given enough prep time ;)

[Ammar Al Subahi]

If written good, then why not?

[Mathew Smith]

I dont see why not, it's been long enough, and besides even if he does find his parents murderer would he really give up the being Batman?!
It's even been hinted that Bruce is the Alter ego and Batman is his true persona!

[AmazingMattMan]

yeah i forgot which comic it was but bats said "they may have discovered im bruce wayne" or something to that effect. rather then "...discovered im batman" pretty interesting

[S.A. Parvaze]

I, for one, would not care to see it. I like the current "random street crime" nature of their deaths. I like the sense of hopelessness that it gives his cause -- the fact that he's on a fool's errand. There are reasons for him being a dark and sobering character, and this is one of the reasons for it -- even the world's greatest detective is not perfect. It's such a great slap in the face for the "Bat-God" ego.

[Liam Creswick]

I dont think he should. Even if its a good arc. Hes not out to find his parents killer, hes out to rid Gotham/the World of evil. Its just one of those detials about his charactor that should stick. Even though in The first arc of Superman/Batman he got all excited/pissed when he found out there was information about it hidden at star labs. I just dont think its necissary, its part of his charactor, it should stay that way.

[Fanatix]

I was undecided until I thought about the first arc of superman/batman, where metallo was set up to look like the waynes murderer and how pissed off I was. I thought it was a crap way of introducing something that had tormented bruce his entire life. I just can't see it working. I'd rather it be some random thug, but that would be a boring story. Whereas one with a lot of mystery and a major villan would ruin batmans fight on street crime.

[Terry Verticchio]

I voted no, cuz then he'd have to consider it closure and then find a real job. Besides what would happen to all those well maintained neuroses he developed over the years? He can't very well have people call him Bats in a Board Meeting. ;)

[mike trobaugh]

i think he has enough of a motivator not to stop being batman, because hes more batman now than bruce wayne anyway.
when was the last time he ever really was wayne if not to do work that he couldn't do as batman?

i think if it was well written, which the odds of that happening for a story as important as this or pretty slim, it would be good. or, if he finds out who killed his parents, and while he tries to "bring them to justice" robin or batgirl or oracle or someone is killed because or it, someone close to him, or some random child or a random child's parents where killed in the fight, it might have a little bit of an emotional kick to it, or it might come off as being hokey and cliche. maybe ideas like this is why i'm not a comic book writer.

[Arrrggghhh]

I voted Yes. As long as they keep the killer as Joe Chill.
Was glad to see the movie Batman Begins respect the history and not make someone like the Joker the killer. (Sidenote: "You ever dance with the devil by the pale moon light?" Why would the Joker ever say such a thing . . . haed that! argh!)

Anyway, does anyone remember Batman confronting Joe Chill in a dark alley or warehouse, tearing off his cowl, exposing himself as Bruce Wayne and screaming at Chill that he was the reason Batman existed. Then Chill has a heart attack or something because of the fear that all villains would kill him now because of what he "created"
Is this the post crisis event?? I somehow picture this happening - yet I'm not sure if I'm mixing this up with another comic book character or Elsewhere story.

Arrrggghhh!

[cv_otaku]

Anyway, does anyone remember Batman confronting Joe Chill in a dark alley or warehouse, tearing off his cowl, exposing himself as Bruce Wayne and screaming at Chill that he was the reason Batman existed. Then Chill has a heart attack or something because of the fear that all villains would kill him now because of what he "created"
Is this the post crisis event?? I somehow picture this happening - yet I'm not sure if I'm mixing this up with another comic book character or Elsewhere story.

Man, I swear. Every time I read that you've posted, I get scared. Your ID screams anger :D

I've never read it, but I would assume it would have been pre-crisis. Batman launched the investigation and learned Chill did it in the late 70's/early 80's. However, this is one of the things that was carried over post-crisis until Zero Hour in the 90's. At this point, ED decided that Batman shouldn't know who killed his parents...so they changed it. It's been that way since.

[Arrrggghhh]

I've never read it, but I would assume it would have been pre-crisis. Batman launched the investigation and learned Chill did it in the late 70's/early 80's. However, this is one of the things that was carried over post-crisis until Zero Hour in the 90's. At this point, ED decided that Batman shouldn't know who killed his parents...so they changed it. It's been that way since.ARRRggggghhhhhh!

RE: Batman confronting Joe Chill
No one seems to fully remember this moment, though I have it locked away in the back of my foggy memory. It was a very dramatic image for back then (probably pales in comparison to the events happening in comics today). As a kid, this story was the closest to Batman causing someone to die - intentionally. I always thought of it as the turning point to the Batman becoming darker, more serious and a loner. Yet this part of the Batman history seems to be insignificant. (Like everyone at DC wanted this to go away and never happen.)

The image of Batman tearing off the cowl, screaming, enraged was powerful to me as a kid – (right behind my childhood trauma vision of the dead horse head in the bed scene from the Godfather -- which is then quickly followed by Charlton Heston screaming upward at a sand sunken Statue of Liberty – carrying on about some unclean primates.)

I don't remember Zero Hero making such a change to Batman -- (in fact I don't remember much about Zero Hour other then the countdown) When it comes to any of the "Crisis" cross-overs -- I get very confused on Batman's history. I know Superman got his entire history revamped - and Batman got a modernized re-hashing of his origin via “Year One” . . . yet what Batman stories remained in continuity was always confusing.

Sidenote: I would love to see the story "Son of the Demon" become more of an actual event in the DC Universe and not be treated like an elseworld story.

’Nuff said,
Arrrggghhh

[cv_otaku]

I don't remember Zero Hero making such a change to Batman -- (in fact I don't remember much about Zero Hour other then the countdown) When it comes to any of the "Crisis" cross-overs -- I get very confused on Batman's history. I know Superman got his entire history revamped - and Batman got a modernized re-hashing of his origin via “Year One” . . . yet what Batman stories remained in continuity was always confusing.

I could be completely off base with this one, but the way I understood it is that all Batman pre-crisis is canon...except if it's been retconned post-crisis. For example, Batman had all of the adventures from the seventies, he just wasn't married to Selina Kyle at the time.

In the late eighties, his appearances in World War two were retconned by the great Roy Thomas to have been Dynamite Dan and Pinky...

Because of what ED did in Zero-Hour, it was retconned that Batman never found who killed his parents.

Other stuff like that.

On silverbulletcomicbooks.com a few years ago, "DC Answer Man" Bob Rozakis wrote a rather lengthy column about the things in Batman's continuity that were still canon. I'll have to see if I can find it...

EDIT: Found it. It's a great article...it even addresses the whole Joe Chill thing...Check it out: http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/bobro/103887248221989.htm . I'd also recommend checking out the rest of his columns...there are awesome. Him partnered with John Wells know pretty much everything.

[Mark Blicharz]

Everything that happened before the crisis, save for the New Gods, was erased in the Crisis.

[cv_otaku]

I believe that's what was originally intended by DC eds in 1985; however, leave it up to writers to make it even more confusing.

From what I understand, there were some characters, like Superman and Wonderwoman, that WERE completely erased pre-crisis and that remains until today...

However, Aquaman was pretty much kept intact (except for his origin) which would explain why his son is still dead, and David dealt with the animosity between Arthur and Tempest over this. The whole Meera estrangement thing...all of that, links to events from the early seventies, so that would have to still be canon...

And then some of the Batman events talked about in that Rozakis article...things like Joe Chill being Bruce's parents' murderer...

Again, I believe the Eds wanted a complete reboot, but the writers thought that there was too much good material pre-crisis to let that happen...

[Mark Blicharz]

Characters from the PC era are still around. Some are from other universes though.