Batman fans know that when the Dark Knight receives super powers, it’s usually a temporary event. However, one comic book storyline dared ask what if Thomas and Martha Wayne – not Jonathan and Martha Kent – were the ones who discovered baby Superman in his rocket ship from Krypton? It’s an intriguing question, and one that leads to a Batman unlike any other.
But it’s not just Batman who’s different – in this alternate reality, everyone from the Joker to Lex Luthor gets a fresh new look as well! Much like Marvel Comics’ What If --? series, DC’s Elseworlds offer stories that twist familiar characters and plotlines into bizarre but fun amalgams readers never thought they’d see.
For Superman: Speeding Bullets, readers get to see a world where Kal-El’s rocket ship lands in Gotham City just as Doctor Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha are heading towards a campaign dinner. Choosing to adopt the baby, the Waynes name him “Bruce” and raise him as theirs, negating their need to conceive a child of their own.
What If Bruce Wayne COULD Have Stopped His Parents from Dying?
Kal-El/Bruce grows up happily in a world of privilege… until one night when his parents take him to the movies, Joe Chill steps out of the shadows and guns down his mother and father. It’s a familiar scene – but what follows gives it a disturbing twist. Horrified by what happened, Bruce’s Kryptonian powers kick in – and when Chill turns the gun on him, the bullets bounce off harmlessly. Simultaneously, Bruce turns his heat vision on Chill, burning the man alive. The trauma causes him to forget his strange new abilities, and Bruce grows to adulthood in Wayne Manor with only Alfred Pennyworth for company.
When a thief tries to rob his home, however, Bruce’s powers – along with his memories – come flooding back. Realizing what he can do to the criminal world that took his parents, Bruce decides to start a one-man war on crime. He didn’t spend years preparing for this by honing his body and mind, but thanks to his alien powers, he doesn’t need to…
The Dark Kryptonian
Donning a version of the Batman costume – albeit one with a more threatening full-head mask – Bruce seeks out criminals to punish. Where the classic Batman learned to temper his rage with his need for justice, however, this Batman takes down thieves and muggers with the power of an angry god. While this Elseworld Batman doesn’t kill, he also doesn’t have a problem maiming or crippling criminals either.
Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne also comes out of seclusion and prevents Lex Luthor from taking over Wayne Enterprises. Promising to take a more active role in his business, Bruce ends up hiring Perry White and Lois Lane to work at his paper, The Gotham Gazette. And while Batman provides a way for Bruce to express his rage, the Gazette offers a chance to use his idealism to make a positive difference in Gotham City. This earns him Lois’ attraction, but she’s also horrified when she’s attacked by muggers one night and sees Batman brutally beat them up.
Luthor the Joker
Things come to a head when Luthor arrives at the Gotham Gazette seeking revenge for Bruce forcing him out. Turns out this Lex suffered an accident in a chemical factory earlier – which transformed him into a Joker-like villain who also wields an umbrella full of all the Penguin’s weapons. It’s a bit much, but it does allow him to kidnap Lois and fly away with his helicopter pack.
Naturally, Batman tracks him down, but the new “Joker” has already launched a mercenary army to destroy Gotham. Faced with the choice of killing Luthor or saving his city, Batman finally chooses justice and uses his powers to protect innocent people instead of punishing the guilty. Inspired by Lois to use his abilities to become “a symbol of hope,” Bruce abandons his Batman identity to become a new hero – Superman.
One of the weirder Batman-Superman mash-ups, Superman: Speeding Bullets allowed readers to see what Bruce Wayne would do with Superman’s powers (and what Clark Kent would do with Bruce Wayne’s money). The ending is strangely abrupt, but it does reinforce the notion that Batman shouldn’t have powers – but Superman definitely does.