Batman: The Man Who Falls
Encyclopedia
"The Man Who Falls" is a 1989
comic book
story by Dennis O'Neil
and Dick Giordano
. It is an overview of Bruce Wayne's early life, including his parents' murder, his time spent traveling and training throughout the world, and his return to Gotham City
to become Batman
. Decades later, the story became the structural basis for Batman Begins
, which rebooted the Batman film franchise in 2005.
trade paperback
collection.
Group Editor—Mass Market Martin Pasko
was DC's liaison to Warner Bros. Studios, vetting scripts as well as facilitating studio research by supplying comics and consulting on issues related to DC continuity. In this capacity, he suggested that the story be used as the structural basis for Batman Begins
.
"The Man Who Falls" was reprinted in the Batman Begins tie-in graphic novel
, which also included the film adaptation and reprints of other, more recent, Batman stories. The Deluxe Edition DVD of Batman Begins includes a miniature trade paperback that includes "The Man Who Falls" as one of three comics that "inspired the movie."
#33, which includes Gardner Fox
and Bob Kane
's first version of Batman's origin
.
O'Neil's story begins with a young Bruce Wayne falling down a hole on the grounds of Wayne Manor. Bats begin to swarm towards him and out the hole. Bruce's father, Dr. Thomas Wayne
, rescues Bruce but chastises him for his carelessness, while Bruce's mother, Martha Wayne
, comforts him. When Bruce asks if he was in Hell
, she reassures him it "was just some old cave." The story then cuts to the murder of Bruce's parents and him kneeling at their dead bodies. The layouts of this version of the Waynes' murder is designed to resemble Frank Miller
's Batman: Year One
.
At the age of 14, Bruce leaves Gotham City to explore and obtain skills in martial arts
and forensics
. Scenes of his early training as a teenager are depicted, including failed attempts at college, and a disillusioning experience in working with the FBI upon turning 20. He realizes that to achieve justice the way he sees fit, he cannot work "within a system." The story next turns to Bruce's foreign travels, one extended scene depicts Bruce's time training at a monastery
, hidden in a mountainous region of Korea
. After nearly a year of training, Master Kirigi
tells Bruce he has exceptional intelligence and physique, but his trauma
tic past has made him self-destructive.
Bruce Wayne leaves Korea and heads to France
, where O'Neil summarizes events from Sam Hamm
's Batman: Blind Justice. Bruce trains with a bounty hunter
named Henri Ducard
, who shows him "the uses of brutality, deception [and] cunning." When Ducard kills a fugitive he had been tracking one night, Bruce abandons his training, disgusted.
The narration explains that Bruce meets and learns from every great detective in the world, when he approaches Willie Doggett. Summarizing events from O'Neil's own Legends of the Dark Knight
story, "Shaman," Bruce (now 23) and Doggett track down a man named Tom Woodley to a mountain ledge, where Woodley shoots and kills Doggett. Woodley himself falls from a precipice. Bruce, without food or warmth, wanders the snowy mountains. After falling unconscious, he is rescued by a Native American
shaman. When Bruce awakens, the old man tells Bruce he has the mark of the bat, an animal sacred in his tribe.
Bruce returns to Gotham to begin his crime-fighting career. O'Neil again recounts events from Year One: Bruce's first night out, fighting street thugs while still uncostumed, is deemed a failure. While brooding in the library of Wayne Manor that night, a bat crashes through the study window. Modeling himself after the recurring images of bats, Bruce creates his costumed identity: the Batman.
, Batman and the Mad Monk
and Batman and the Monster Men
, depict the emergence of Batman as a major presence in Gotham. Batman: The Man Who Laughs
is tied directly into the ending of Batman and the Mad Monk, in which Gordon reveals the warehouse of corpses.
Jeph Loeb
and Tim Sale
's maxi-series Batman: The Long Halloween
and Batman: Dark Victory
depict the latter part of Year One and part of Year Two (Long Halloween), and conclude the character arcs with Dark Victory during the "Year Three" time frame.
1989 in comics
-Year overall:* "Inferno" company-wide Marvel Comics crossover continues, involving the mutant titles The Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, The New Mutants, and Excalibur, as well as the X-Terminators limited series and various other Marvel titles...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
story by Dennis O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
and Dick Giordano
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...
. It is an overview of Bruce Wayne's early life, including his parents' murder, his time spent traveling and training throughout the world, and his return to Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
to become Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
. Decades later, the story became the structural basis for Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
, which rebooted the Batman film franchise in 2005.
Publication history
The comic was initially published as the only original story in the Secret OriginsSecret Origins
Secret Origins is the title of three American comic book series published by DC Comics.The title began in 1961 and for one issue, all reprints. The title Secret Origins of Super Heroes went onto a second series, also reprints, which ran for seven issues from 1973-1974...
trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
collection.
Tie-in with Batman Begins
In 2004, DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Group Editor—Mass Market Martin Pasko
Martin Pasko
Martin Pasko is a writer and editor in a diverse array of media, including comic books and television.Pasko has worked for many comics publishers, but is best known for his work with DC Comics over three decades. He has written Superman in many media, including television animation, webisodes, and...
was DC's liaison to Warner Bros. Studios, vetting scripts as well as facilitating studio research by supplying comics and consulting on issues related to DC continuity. In this capacity, he suggested that the story be used as the structural basis for Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
.
"The Man Who Falls" was reprinted in the Batman Begins tie-in graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, which also included the film adaptation and reprints of other, more recent, Batman stories. The Deluxe Edition DVD of Batman Begins includes a miniature trade paperback that includes "The Man Who Falls" as one of three comics that "inspired the movie."
Plot
"The Man Who Falls" consists of a series of concentrated retellings of previously published Batman stories, including Detective ComicsDetective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
#33, which includes Gardner Fox
Gardner Fox
Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer best known for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic-book historians estimate that he wrote over 4,000 comics stories....
and Bob Kane
Bob Kane
Bob Kane was an American comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comics superhero Batman...
's first version of Batman's origin
Origin story
In comic book terminology, an origin story is an account or back-story revealing how a character or team gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances under which they became superheroes or supervillains....
.
O'Neil's story begins with a young Bruce Wayne falling down a hole on the grounds of Wayne Manor. Bats begin to swarm towards him and out the hole. Bruce's father, Dr. Thomas Wayne
Thomas Wayne
Thomas Wayne is a fictional character in the Batman series of comic books. Dr. Thomas Wayne was the father of Bruce Wayne, and husband of Martha Wayne, as well as a gifted surgeon and philanthropist...
, rescues Bruce but chastises him for his carelessness, while Bruce's mother, Martha Wayne
Martha Wayne
Martha Wayne is a fictional character of the Batman series of comic books, published by DC Comics. She is Dr. Thomas Wayne's wife and mother of Bruce Wayne. When she and her husband are murdered during a holdup, young Bruce swears to avenge their deaths by fighting crime...
, comforts him. When Bruce asks if he was in Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, she reassures him it "was just some old cave." The story then cuts to the murder of Bruce's parents and him kneeling at their dead bodies. The layouts of this version of the Waynes' murder is designed to resemble Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's Batman: Year One
Batman: Year One
"Year One", later referred to as "Batman: Year One", is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, colored by Richmond Lewis, and lettered by Todd Klein...
.
At the age of 14, Bruce leaves Gotham City to explore and obtain skills in martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and forensics
Forensics
Forensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action...
. Scenes of his early training as a teenager are depicted, including failed attempts at college, and a disillusioning experience in working with the FBI upon turning 20. He realizes that to achieve justice the way he sees fit, he cannot work "within a system." The story next turns to Bruce's foreign travels, one extended scene depicts Bruce's time training at a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, hidden in a mountainous region of Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. After nearly a year of training, Master Kirigi
Kirigi (DC Comics)
Kirigi is a fictional character, a martial arts master in the DC Universe. The character first appeared in Batman #431.-Fictional character biography:...
tells Bruce he has exceptional intelligence and physique, but his trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
tic past has made him self-destructive.
Bruce Wayne leaves Korea and heads to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where O'Neil summarizes events from Sam Hamm
Sam Hamm
Sam Hamm is an American screenwriter, perhaps best known for writing the screenplay for Tim Burton's Batman and an unused screenplay for the sequel. As a result of his work, he was invited to write for the Batman comic. The result was Batman: Blind Justice, which introduced Bruce Wayne's mentor,...
's Batman: Blind Justice. Bruce trains with a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
named Henri Ducard
Henri Ducard
Henri Ducard is a fictional character in the Batman comic book universe. Created by Sam Hamm, Ducard's first appearance was in Detective Comics #599 , part of the "Blind Justice" story arc...
, who shows him "the uses of brutality, deception [and] cunning." When Ducard kills a fugitive he had been tracking one night, Bruce abandons his training, disgusted.
The narration explains that Bruce meets and learns from every great detective in the world, when he approaches Willie Doggett. Summarizing events from O'Neil's own Legends of the Dark Knight
Legends of the Dark Knight
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, commonly referred to as simply Legends of the Dark Knight is a DC comic book featuring Batman. It was launched in 1989 with the popularity of the Batman movie, following on from Frank Miller's Batman: Year One...
story, "Shaman," Bruce (now 23) and Doggett track down a man named Tom Woodley to a mountain ledge, where Woodley shoots and kills Doggett. Woodley himself falls from a precipice. Bruce, without food or warmth, wanders the snowy mountains. After falling unconscious, he is rescued by a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
shaman. When Bruce awakens, the old man tells Bruce he has the mark of the bat, an animal sacred in his tribe.
Bruce returns to Gotham to begin his crime-fighting career. O'Neil again recounts events from Year One: Bruce's first night out, fighting street thugs while still uncostumed, is deemed a failure. While brooding in the library of Wayne Manor that night, a bat crashes through the study window. Modeling himself after the recurring images of bats, Bruce creates his costumed identity: the Batman.
Continuity
"The Man Who Falls" uses parts of Year One, Blind Justice, and the first arc of Legends of the Dark Knight as part of the story. All these make up the training and first months of Batman's career. Later stories by Matt WagnerMatt Wagner
Matt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist, best known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel.-Career:...
, Batman and the Mad Monk
Batman and the Mad Monk
Batman and the Mad Monk is an American comic book limited series, featuring the DC Comics superhero Batman. It is set during the Batman: Year One continuity, but after the events of Batman and the Monster Men and before the events of Batman: The Man Who Laughs...
and Batman and the Monster Men
Batman and the Monster Men
Batman & the Monster Men is an American comic book limited series written and drawn by Matt Wagner with colors by Dave Stewart, published by DC Comics and starring the superhero Batman. It, along with its sequel Batman and the Mad Monk, are set in between the events of Batman: Year One and Batman:...
, depict the emergence of Batman as a major presence in Gotham. Batman: The Man Who Laughs
Batman: The Man Who Laughs
Batman: The Man Who Laughs is a one-shot prestige format comic book by Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke, released in February 2005, and intended as a successor to Batman: Year One....
is tied directly into the ending of Batman and the Mad Monk, in which Gordon reveals the warehouse of corpses.
Jeph Loeb
Jeph Loeb
Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost, writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf and was a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its...
and Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
's maxi-series Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: The Long Halloween is a 13-issue comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. It was originally published by DC Comics in 1996 and 1997. It was inspired by the three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials by the same creative team...
and Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: Dark Victory is a 14-part comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale. The series is a sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween and was originally published from 1999 to 2000 by DC Comics. The series takes place primarily during the third/fourth year of Batman's career...
depict the latter part of Year One and part of Year Two (Long Halloween), and conclude the character arcs with Dark Victory during the "Year Three" time frame.