Batman (The Dark Knight)

Author: (American) Kieron Pringle, Sargeant Lapointe, Jos Villarрубия, etc. Illustrated by Xiong Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-11
Features: Bruce Wayne's father is the richest man in Gotham City, owning billions in assets. Bruce grew up playing with Rachel Dawes, and once while playing, young Bruce accidentally fell into a deep well on Wayne Manor. Inside the well, he discovered an exit to a cave, where countless terrifying bats swarmed out, terrifying young Bruce greatly. After recovering, one day, Bruce went to the theater with his parents to watch a performance. On the way, he learned from his father that Gotham City was then in a severe economic depression. To help Gotham City out of its, Bruce's father invested in building a public transportation system that provided cheap services. The entire city's water supply, energy, and public transportation system were all located directly beneath Wayne Enterprises Tower. During the performance at the theater, Bruce was startled by the plot, which reminded him of the bats in the deep well, and he left early with his parents. When they were not far from the theater, they were robbed by the city's poor man, Chil. Chil shot and killed Bruce's parents. Witnessing his parents' murder, young Bruce was utterly shocked, which brought him lifelong pain and ignited an unquenchable desire for revenge. Although the police later captured the murderer Chil, Bruce's desire for revenge could not be suppressed. To free himself from guilt, Bruce handed over the company to board member Mr. Earl for management and left Gotham City to study at Princeton University. Several years later, when the court reopened to grant Chil early release, Bruce returned to Gotham City. By then, Rachel had become an assistant lawyer and was interning at the prosecutor's office. During their reunion, Bruce made Rachel feel like a playboy who prestigious universities. Rachel told Bruce that the reason for Chil's early release was to allow him to testify against the notorious drug lord Falcone. Rachel persuaded Bruce to abandon his personal vendetta to bring Falcone to justice, which greatly displeased Bruce. At this time, Falcone had bribed Judge Fenton, and Chil was put on trial publicly. Under Falcone's manipulation, Chil was declared in court. Bruce could not accept this reality and decided to take matters into his own hands to eliminate Chil. Just as he was about to shoot Chil publicly outside the courthouse with a gun, Chil was killed first by a female assassin sent by Falcone's gang leader. Upon learning of Bruce's plan to assassinate Chil, Rachel was greatly disappointed in Bruce, believing him to be a coward who only solves problems with guns. To prove himself, Bruce came to Falcone's territory alone to challenge him, showing that he was not afraid of him. However, Falcone exposed Bruce's inner fear and threatened Rachel and butler Alfred with their lives. To save them, Bruce decided to disappear from Gotham City and travel the world secretly in search of ways to fight crime and confront evil. In his quest to find criminals, Bruce traveled all over the world, even going to prisons. In prison, he was discovered by Ducard, a member of the extremely dangerous yet respected ninja organization, the League of Shadows. Convinced by Ducard, Bruce joined the League of Shadows and became his student. Under Ducard's tutelage, Bruce learned combat skills and willpower to deal with evil, and he also learned from Ducard how to control his anger—the emotion of revenge. Bruce's growing strength attracted the attention of the leader of the League of Shadows, Ra's al Ghul, who was always engaged in illegal subversive activities. At this time, Gotham City was rife with crime and chaos, and Ra's al Ghul, under the guise of maintaining justice, sent Bruce back to Gotham City to carry out destructive activities. Bruce refused to become a merciless executioner and broke away from his master Ducard and the League of Shadows. To escape the League of Shadows' secret base on Snow Mountain—the Temple—Bruce ignited the explosives inside, causing a massive explosion. The entire temple turned into a sea of fire, and in the nick of time, Bruce managed to rescue the severely injured Ducard. After entrusting the injured Ducard to the locals, Bruce returned to Gotham City. Upon returning, Bruce found that crime and corruption were rampant, and Wayne Enterprises, the humanitarian business model once set by the Wayne family, was now under the control of Chairman Richard Earl, who cared only about listing the company on the stock market and ignored its social responsibilities. Earl declared Bruce dead on the grounds of his seven-year disappearance and attempted to take over Wayne Enterprises. Upon his return, Bruce was assigned to an insignificant department, where he met Mr. Lucius Fox, a former subordinate of his father. Later, Bruce discovered in the deep well where he had fallen as a child that there was a huge cavern beneath Wayne Manor, filled with countless bats and a spectacular waterfall. With Fox's help, Bruce found a large amount of equipment in his father's secret warehouse, including a model of a "armor" that inspired him. He then established a secret base in the cavern beneath the manor and adopted a new identity—Batman, a night knight clad in black armor and a mask, who struck fear into the hearts of criminals. Batman began to maintain Gotham City's peace. Bruce discovered that most of Gotham City's police had been bribed by Falcone, and only Police Commissioner Jim Gordon remained a good officer, refusing to go along with the corruption and rejecting bribes from his partner Flass (actually Falcone's hitman). Determined to cooperate with Gordon, Bruce decided to fight Falcone's drug trade. With Batman's help, Falcone was caught red-handed, but at the same time, Wayne Enterprises' desert combat weapon, the "Microwave Emitter," a device specifically designed to evaporate enemy water sources, mysteriously disappeared during transport. Desperate, Falcone turned to Dr. Crane for help. It turned out that the mastermind behind Falcone was Dr. Crane, who, to cover his tracks, had Falcone inhale a special hallucinogenic agent he had created (which caused those who inhaled it to exhibit symptoms of psychosis). As a result, Falcone was diagnosed as a psychopath and sent to Arkham Asylum, which was under Crane's control. While investigating Falcone's drug trade, Batman was also attacked by Dr. Crane, who had transformed into the "Harlequin," releasing toxic gas. After being poisoned, Batman was helped by butler Alfred and recovered thanks to an antidote developed by Fox. Falcone's sudden "psychosis" aroused Rachel's suspicion, who went to Arkham Asylum to gather evidence and unexpectedly discovered that Dr. Crane was poisoning the entire city's water supply through the asylum's pipes. To cover his tracks, Crane again administered the gas to Rachel, who was also poisoned. Bruce, who had followed Rachel, exposed the Harlequin's mask and let him reap what he sowed, successfully saving Rachel. Just as Bruce was about to hand over the antidote sample to Gordon for mass production, Ducard and the deceased leader of the League of Shadows, Ra's al Ghul, suddenly appeared. It turned out that the mastermind behind all this was Ducard, and Ra's al Ghul was merely his puppet, with Arkham Asylum being a secret base of the League of Shadows. At this time, the League of Shadows was preparing to destroy Gotham City. Bruce finally discovered that the culprit who stole the Microwave Emitter was Ducard. It turned out that the poison the League of Shadows had placed in Gotham City's water pipes was a respiratory poison. Ducard planned to use the Microwave Emitter to evaporate the water in Gotham City's water pipes, causing the hallucinogenic gas, which had already spread through the water supply, to vaporize. Bruce intervened but was unable to defeat Ducard. Ducard placed the "Microwave Emitter" on a light rail train, intending to use it to reach Wayne Enterprises Tower, which was the center of Gotham City's water pipes. If the train carrying the activated Microwave Emitter reached Wayne Enterprises Tower, the entire city's water pipes would explode, and the toxic gas would spread throughout Gotham City. With the help of the old butler, Bruce regained his composure, evaded pursuit from the ground and the air, and finally caught up to the train, causing the tracks to break and the train to crash from a height, destroying the Microwave Emitter and eliminating Ducard. Afterward, Bruce used various charitable funds in the stock exchange to buy back most of Wayne Enterprises' shares, regaining control of the company and earning Rachel's forgiveness. Bruce finally overcame the psychological trauma from his childhood and grew into a justice warrior who struck fear into the hearts of criminals, using his strength, wisdom, and a series of high-tech weapons to fight evil. However, Gotham City's peace did not last long. Batman received a card with the name "Joker," issued by the Joker, marking his challenge. Batman's story continues.