Discover the identity of the assassin of Thomas and Martha Wayne, the parents of the famous Bruce Wayne, and indirectly contributed to the appearance of Batman.
The scene is one of the best known in pop culture. The origin story of Batman is famous, but do you know the name of the murderer of Bruce Wayne’s parents?
His official name is Joe Chill. He is a criminal who first appeared in Detective Comics No. 33, published in November 1939, only a few months before the first Batman adventure, released in May 1939.
Warner Bros. Animation
Fifteen years before Batman’s first appearance in Detective Comics, Thomas Wayne and his (then unnamed) wife are killed for a petty hoodlum to steal Bruce’s mother’s necklace. Thomas intervenes and is shot, like his wife, who called the police for help. Little Bruce is paralyzed, and the bandit takes the opportunity to escape.
It is necessary to wait until Batman has his own comics, and more precisely the n°47, so that the assassin of his parents is named. The Dark Knight and Robin investigate a smuggling case and Batman recognizes one of the criminals involved as his parents’ killer, and discovers his name is Joe Chill. The origin story is also changed since in this version, Chill kills Thomas and Martha dies of a heart attack in shock.
DC Comics
Joe Chill is killed by his accomplices, once they discover that he is responsible for the creation of Batman, a vigilante who has been rotting their lives for years.
We later learn a few more little details, like the fact that the mother of Chill and his brother Max (yes, he had a brother) was the housekeeper of Philip Wayne, the brother of Thomas and uncle of Bruce (Batman n°208) or that Bruce as a child was voluntarily left alive by Chill who was acting on behalf of a mafia boss, Lew Moxon (Batman #235).
Warner Bros. Animation
Thereafter, according to the reboots of the comics, Joe Chill will play a more or less important role depending on the different versions.
An episode of the animated series Batman: The alliance of heroes (S02E11) brings together most of the elements of the information present in detective comics and the first Batmanshowing the Dark Knight tracking down the culprit of the murder of his parents, going all the way back to Lew Moxon, then Chill, who became a weapons dealer for villains.
Her moral dilemma with the one who ruined her life is worth the viewing alone. In addition to the fact that the voice actors (VO) of the supervilains are those of Batman, the animated series, returned especially for the occasion. To see or to see again absolutely.
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