Thomas Wayne (Earth-One)

Aliases: Thomas Wayne , Batman
Universe: Earth-One
Gender: Male
Alignment: Good
Nationality: American
Occupation: Doctor

First Appearance: Detective Comics #33 (November, 1939)

History:

Thomas Wayne was one of the most respected patrons in all of Gotham City. He inherited his family's ancestral home Wayne Manor and took charge of the family business Wayne Enterprises. A skilled surgeon and philanthropist, Thomas Wayne also established the charitable Wayne Foundation.

Thomas and Martha Wayne had two sons, Thomas, Jr. and Bruce. Thomas, Jr. was more introverted while Bruce was far more excitable and extrovert than his brother. One night when Bruce was a young child, his family attended a costume fundraiser. The theme of the party was "Creatures of the night". Thomas Wayne decided to masquerade as a bat, and wore a costume consisting of a pointed mask, and large, dark blue scalloped wings. The impressionable Bruce admired his father's outfit and openly asked if one day he might be able to wear such a fearsome costume. Thomas had no idea how prophetic the innocent question truly was. ^[1]

During the party, several gangsters raided the mansion and recognized that Wayne was a physician. Kidnapping him, they brought him to an old warehouse where he was to perform emergency surgery on mob boss Lew Moxon who had been suffering from a serious gunshot wound.

Wayne knew that once he removed the bullet from Moxon's body, the gangster would likely kill him. Instead of performing the surgery, Thomas dove into the gangsters and managed to apprehend every one of them. He called the police and handed the thugs over to a young police lieutenant named James Gordon. The courts sentenced Moxon to ten years in prison.

Moxon only served a few years in jail and upon release, he decided to pay a visit to Thomas Wayne. With a menacing sneer, he glibly told Wayne that he would find a way to get even with him – even if he had to use somebody else to do his dirty work.

A few weeks later, Thomas, Martha and young Bruce were walking home from a night out at the movies. A mugger leapt from the shadows of Park Row and assaulted them, demanding money. Thomas tried to fight back, but the mugger shot him directly in the chest, killing him. He then turned his gun on Martha and viciously ended her life as well. Bruce Wayne stared on in horror, as his parents layed dead beside him. Chill turned on his heel and ran from the alleyway. The boys' uncle Philip took custody of the two placing Thomas, Jr. into to mental institution as Thomas had complete emotional collaspe from the event. Bruce would turn his obvious energies into a longstanding anger that would drive him to seek vengence on every criminal everywhere as the Batman. The Wayne brothers would not meet again until far later in their adult lives where personal tradegy resulting from criminals would again befall them, ending in Thomas, Jr.'s death.

Appearances:

• Appearances of Thomas Wayne (Earth-One)
  
  

Notes:

• His first appearance is historical.

References

1. ↑ Untold Legend of the Batman #1

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