The untold story of Martha Wayne (Batman's Mother)

It occurred to me that in the past, when the Batman backstory has been explored, it mainly focuses on Bruce's relationship with his father, Thomas...but much less has delved into his relationship with his mother. With his father being out of the house so often as a doctor and a wealthy, busy industrialist building a fortune, Bruce would have actually spent MUCH more time with his mother than his father.

In an effort to flesh out this relationship, here is what I've worked out so far:

The whole story would be told in flashback as Batman, as an adult, while investigating a different crime, finds the clues that reveal this story, which eventually leads him to an old and dying man, with a secret about his past.

We begin by establishing long before one fateful night in Crime Alley, that although to all outside appearance the Wayne family was one big happy family, in reality, with the father away from the house so often, his mother feels neglected and lonely. At one of their many social events Martha is, once again, left alone when Thomas gets called away on business. On one of these occasions, Martha meets Miles, a charismatic acquaintance of Thomas. Miles deals with international business. Importing and exporting.

Working Outline for Steampunk Borg

Timeline
(Working Outline)

1885: 

• Thomas Edison begins designs on making a Ghost Detector.

1890:

• Mad Scientist in San Francisco modifies design and creates a more powerful ghost detector". Mad Scientist begins taking readings. 

1892:

• He gets nothing that he can make sense of until he starts getting signals when transdimensional aliens begin stealing life energy from the indigent lower class of 1892 San Francisco.

1893 - (ST:TNG - Time's Arrow)

• Following the events of the Enterprise-D's intervention, these readings change. Mad Scientist continues to tinker with device.
• As portal closes, the healing rip in the space-time continuum becomes a beacon. The head and spine of Borg Queen (the remainder of technology remaining at the end of Star Trek: First Contact) appears in the sewers of San Francisco, drawn by residual energy from the time distortions. Absorbing the remaining temporal disruptive radiation, mechanical tendrils begin to slowly grow.

1895

• Mad Scientist further refines his device.  He is finally able see a pattern of concentrations of electromagnetic radiation emanating throughout San Francisco. He investigates to find strange steam powered electro-gyroscopes and mechanisms connected by copper wiring stretching throughout the city sewers.

1898:

• Mad Scientist ghost detector picks up the barely-functioning Borg Queen's head's unusual radiation signature, thinking it is like the signals he had been received.  

Risa Nights

Risa Nights
(The lost audiodrama)

Episode 1.01

** PROLOGUE**

Riker:

"Risa.  Galactic paradise.  Sun...beaches...adventure...romance. 

They come here because it's perfect.  As perfect as a holodeck. 

But this is no holodeck and it is far from perfect. 

I should know.  My name is Riker.  William Thomas Riker.  I stop bad guys. 

And the bad guys always come out.  They come out at night. 

Nights like this one. 

Risa nights."

The...Real...Death...of...Kirk

Awesome Trek Death:

Shit Trek Death:

It was mentioned on the quasi-weekly Star Trek Podcast called Make It So (yeah...you read that right) that they thought that Kirk's death should have been cooler...since falling off a scaffold is just lame.  Also...in Star Trek V, Kirk said that he knew that when he died, he would be alone.  Trapped under a scaffold 12 feet from Picard is not “alone”.

So here is an alternate that I came up with...

Return of the Jedi...as it should have been.

STAR WARS: EPISODE 6: REVENGE OF THE JEDI.  
Something has bothered me since 1983, and I could not put my finger on what it was.  I remember distinctly feeling that something was missing.  

From 1977 to 1980, STAR WARS (we'll add the Episode 4: A New Hope later) was endless playtime. The stories continued without limitation...as large our imagination could create.  But it was simple. There was nothing to speculate; nothing to ponder...just play.  No great mystery to solve, no threads to tie.  Just entertainment.  Sure, Vader was still out there chasing Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie, but good guys being chased by bad guys was simple, pure and easy.

But in 1980...the story changed.  STAR WARS: EPISODE 5: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. The anticipation changed.  Our vision of Lucas’ galaxy changed.  From 1980 to 1983, we were left wondering would Han be saved? If so...how?  Who WAS this Jabba the Hutt he has been running from?  Would the Princess be able to save her scoundrel?  As for Vader...could it be that the most evil, powerful bad guy in the galaxy is actually not the murderer of Luke's father, but in truth his father in disguise or, uh, what?  What did that even mean? Was he lying?  If so, why?  

There was so much to ponder...so much to imagine.   The expectations were boundless.  It really shouldn’t have been a surprise that our building anticipation over those 3 years would come up short once STAR WARS: EPISODE 6: RETURN OF THE JEDI was over.  

Don't get me wrong...the finale to ROTJ was amazing. It was a Joseph Campbell-esque epic climax and it was for the ages.  Luke's burst of anger at the thought of Vader corrupting Leia accompanied an angelic chorus culminating with the maturation of an impatient farm-boy becoming a hero and the redemption of a villain in the face of his own humanity. Classic does not begin to describe it.  

The great trial at the heart of both Luke's and Vader's heroes journey was the conflict within. The choice between good versus evil. But more importantly, it was a diatribe on the dangers of hate leading to more hate and the power and universal difficulty of severing the vicious circle of evil.  

It was basically George Lucas screaming from the top of his lungs his support and hope that the ideals of non-violent resistance echoing the ideals of Thoreau, Gandhi and MLK would live on in a new generation. Defeating evil in the Star Wars trilogy was not met out with a sword, but with an open heart expressing love and hope.  


The seeds for this were clearly planted back in 1977 when Obi-Wan informed Vader that if he was striken down, than he would became more powerful than Vader could possibly imagine. Within the story this could mean that Obi-wan would become a Force Ghost and thus overcoming death. But another meaning could be that his death as a martyr to the cause would inspire Luke and others to fight even harder for freedom and justice. Leia knew that the stronger the grip of tyranny would lead to more and more resistance as star systems would slip through his fingers counter-intuitively as he tightened his grip. Man is not meant to live in fear, and good people would resist evil and imposition on their freedom even at risk to their lives and well-being.

This is still balanced with violent ends when necessary. Stormtroopers, TIE-Fighter pilots and Imperial Naval personnel along with the The Emperor's death is certainly a violent one. As was Jabba the Hutt's. So, there is room for violent solutions when all options are exhausted. But in Star Wars, this is only a last resort.

But regardless...it was and remains EPIC!  

For Luke.  

And for Vader.

But there was an emptiness left when the stories ended.  A sense of dissatisfaction that it was over. I remember my 10 year old self discussing this with my father at the time.  He said to me that because the story was over, there was a sense of finality once all the strings were tied.

But now, looking back over THIRTY years later, I realize that not all the strings were actually tied up very well.  And it has been an on-going discussion throughout the fandom regarding flaws in Star War, in general, and Return of the Jedi, in particular.  

Sure, Luke’s story and Vader’s story were completed to near perfection...but what about the rest of the characters?  The rest of the myriad of stories.

The Prequels - Re-envisioned

I got giddy back in, what was it...1998 (I was about 25 then) when they had the movie preview of the re-release of the original Star Wars movies.  It was ridiculously effective having the trailer begin with a little TV screen and an X-Wing flying straight out of it directly at the audience bringing along full sound and music with it.  Seeing those old films in the theatre was a real thrill.  And then shortly thereafter, the anticipation of the new stories was even more of a delight.  My friends and I savored the first images and sounds.  The wonder of mysterious unknown creatures emerging from the mists of a swamp.  The music.  The sights.  A bunch of my friends and I even bought a ticket to Meet Joe Black and walked right out right after that first preview as spent the rest of the night at the bar discussing it. Another 50 or so other geeks like ourselves did the same thing, too...leaving to the applause of the guys we were leaving behind who had been dragged to see the movie with their girlfriends.  (We're married with kids now...our social times have changed)

And after seeing the prequels, I liked them.  I did.  But I quickly realized that something was missing from the movies.  Here is what I came up with:

Star Wars - In Seven Haikus

Star Wars (1977):

Was Luke the new hope?

Or was it Princess Leia?

I think it was Han.

 
The Empire Strikes Back (1980):

Wars not make one great.

I’ve got to hand it to you.

You’re not my father!

 
Return of the Jedi (1983):

What Ben said was true,

from a certain point of view.

Death Star Two blew up.

 
The Phantom Menace (1999):

Vader as a child?

Jar Jar? Metachlorians?

My childhood was raped.

 
Attack of the Clones (2002):

Oh! Stormtroopers cloned!

Anakin was as whiny

as his son Luke was.

 
Revenge of the Sith (2005):

Burned by Obi-wan!

Would he feel better in a

refrigerator?

 
Let’s sum up:

A Long Time Ago...

“May the Force be with you,” and

“I love you.”  “I know.”