Middle Class Batman?

[The P.R. Man]

so I've been arguing with a guy at work over Batman. he doesn't like him at all, as he claims that Batman's only what he is becouse of his money, and if he grew up poor, his parents death wouldn't have driven him to fight crime. his eliteist "better than you" upbringing is what made him believe a lifestyle of running around in a cape was even realistic as a lifelong career.

I say that batman's wealth wouldn't have made much difference on the effect the loss of his parents had on him. would he have traveled the world to learn crimefighting skills? sure! he would've found a way. might have taken more time, and he might have had to work a little harder, but he would've learned the skills he needed. and without Wayne enterprises to get him all the gadgets? I say Batman's more than the tools he uses. the money only makes him more Effective, it doesn't affect his determination or goals.

so, what do you guys think? Thomas Wayne comes home from working at the Plant one day, takes his family out to Dennys, and they get killed for their last $20 on the way to the car. what does young Bruce do?

[JC Immortal]

Have you seen the new show 'The Cape'? same concept but without the money... id venture to say he would go down the same path but without the cool car and pretty batcave!

[The P.R. Man]

y'know, I have been watching it, and that never even crossed my mind. thats a good point.

on the other hand though, how much of a role did Alfred play in him becoming Batman? if the Wayne family's making 30k a year, they sure wouldn't have a Valet,

plus, the guy in the cape has an end goal in mind, he just wants to clear his name and expose chess. the only reason Batman would quit was if crime were completely eliminated. the Cape has a clear goal in mind, an is focused on stopping one criminal. Batman's goals are more broad.

[Selkirk]

i guess i have similar problems with batman-i mean the aristocratic(issues of class rarely if ever seem to come up in batman comics ) crimefighter is more than a bit behind the times...wouldn't he be better off just donating his money to charity or doing public works.

[The P.R. Man]

My favorite batman is a guy who's actually a raving lunatic, but just happens to be as good as he thinks he is, and coincidentally, his compulsions are actually useful to the common good.

Now someone needs to do a "hoarders" parody where they deal with batman.

"Bruce, the giant penny? The dinosaur? The hood of the MONK?? do you even remember who the monk Is?"

Thinking about it again, I'm not sure if its so much as a victimized child with a thirst for justice, as he's just a guy with a very specific and bizzare O.C.D. an an enabling old Brit. If he wasn't born rich he'd be more like the MAXX? he even was wearing a purple costume and sleeping in dumpsters last year or something.

[Selkirk]

yeah i just find batman to be uninteresting...unless he's handled with a light touch-ala knight and squire...or the the light handling in the batgirl series or the pissed off rich kid robin now. played straight away as rich rightwing psychopath is just snoozeville for me-daredevil was a much more believable(all things being relative ) character in how he related to hell's kitchen.

[Toddoss]

Quick Robin! To the Honda Civic