We all know the story of Bruce Wayne. Heir to Gotham’s city greatest fortune, he sees his parents gunned down in front of him when he’s about eight years old. He then uses the family fortune, the blessings of genetics, and his own indomitable will to become the biggest asshole in super-heroing.
But what if things had gone differently? Suppose Alfred had had access to a really, really, really good psychotherapist who sat young Bruce down and helped him work through his rage & violence issues? Bruce still grows up determined to spare other children the trauma of seeing their parents murdered–but he also realizes that dressing up like Dracula and becoming a high-tech vigilante causes as many problems (read: escalation) as it solves. Thus, when he takes over Wayne Enterprises after college, he decides to clean up America’s dirtiest city–only as Bruce Wayne, financier and philanthropist, rather than as Batman.
Clean up City Hall. Much of Gotham’s problems stem from the unholy alliiance between the Machine and organized crime. Start or buy a newspaper, bankroll some crusading reporters and fearlessly expose corruption. Back a reform candidate to oppose the current mayor and his cronies. Get in good graces with Commisioner Gordon- probably the only honest official in the entire police department- and coordinate a strategy of carefullly planned leaks. At this point, well trained dependable bodyguards and self-defense courses wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Now it’s been suggested that the Joker, et al, wouldn’t exist if Batman didn’t exist. If so, fine. If not, if Gotham suddenly becomes plagued with psychotic freaks terrorizing the city, then maybe you do need extraordinary measures. Maybe not a costumed vigilante but certainly some expert in dealing with so-called “super villians”. Find a tough smart detective with a reputation for getting the job done, even if it means cutting certain corners. Det. Davenport of John Sandford’s Prey series would be ideal.
First you’d need a tough federal prosecutor to bring RICO indictments against the mobsters and the corrupt pols. The you’d need a law and order mayor to literally clean up the city by cracking down on petty crime and urban decay. Seems to me it’s been done.
Supervillains are another matter. Maybe you could hire the Flash.
It wouldn’t work. Bruce would be the target of a mob hit, and if he dodges that one, he’ll be the target of another. The mob won’t stop, and the police won’t be able/willing to protect him, until he’s dead. Bruce can’t hide behind bodyguards or avoid traveling through the city while preaching that people should live their lives without fear or he’ll look like a hypocrite and mess up his message. Something similar was a plot point of "Batman Begins."Ra’s Al Ghul reveals that his organization was trying to bring Gotham down for “cleansing” via financial pressures, but Thomas Wayne was leading the fight against them by donating his time and money to public infrastructure improvements(like the monorail). This was raising the standard of living for everyone and counteracting the cycle of poverty and crime the League of Assassins was using to bring Gotham down. So, the League had Thomas Wayne, and his wife, gunned down.In short, Batman is what keeps Bruce alive. Bruce does do a lot as a public minded citizen and philanthropist(depending on who is writing the story at least), but he can’t work as openly as is being suggested in this thread or he’d just get whacked.
Depending on whether or not his rather dark and authoritarian outlook is a result of the trauma of his parents’ murder, I think Bruce Wayne could very easily be the next Big Brother. I mean, look at the comics. He’s spied on his fellow heroes. He’s set up emergency programs in the case he has to take down his fellow heroes (a few of which have been suborned to the wishes of his enemies). He’s paranoid and authoritarian and not terribly in tune with a rehabilitation model of criminal justice.
Give him the Wayne fortune and a little political power and you’ve got yourself an authoritarian dictator for city/county/possibly state leader.
The only ones that have successfully come into play were taken by bad guys - Ra’s al Ghul in Tower of Babel, Max Lord taking control of Brother Eye in IC, Braniac hijacking the OMAC prototype he’d stored in the recent Batman/Superman arc.
Every time he’s tried to use his kryptonite ring, it’s been shut down - most recently destroyed by Superman-2.
This is what drives me nuts when people say ‘but it’s just smart!’
Anyway, yeah…help to clean up city hall, the police department, and the DA’s office. Specifically, support Gordon and Dent, two of the only honest people in the whole Gotham establishment, when he started. Run for mayor himself, or back a strong anti-corruption candidate.
Fund Arkham, with the goal of improving their security situations for the incorrigibles (Joker, Croc, Hatter), and treatment of those who can be treated and released (Riddler, Ventriloquist, Harley).
If I recall correctly, Chris Claremont outlined something similar in his peculiar Elseworlds series, “Whom Gods Destroy.” Though focused on the Golden Age Superman, the story touches on the altered fates of several other iconic characters in that timeline. By 1963, Bruce Wayne has become President of the United States, having channeled his philanthropism and financial influence into a long and successful political career. During an interview with Lois Lane, he offhandedly reveals that, as a young man, he initially toyed with the idea of fighting corruption on a more personal level as a masked vigilante. However, he realized that his goals would be better served by directing his full efforts toward changing the system.
Well, from what I’ve learned in biology, the first thing that comes to mind is Gause’s Law of competitive exclusion…
That is; Bruce should form his own Mafia dynasty. Better organized, better trained, more…benevolent, if not less ruthless.
Bruce has vast financial means, but he obviously has vastly superior strategic and organizational skills. That, and the universe he inhabits has more than it’s fair share of possible henchmanrecruits.
In short, out-compete the local corruption. Start an actual protection racket. Pay off the cops and judges to be tough on crime. Etc, etc.
Eventually, form a public image of himself as a sort of “boss”—his open philanthropy and business interests bring prosperity to the city, and the “open secret” of his underworld despot keeps people in fear of him, and yet, in the quiet of their souls, thankful that at least he seems to make the worse people just “go away.” That’s not such a bad thing to live with, is it?
So yeah, picture it: “Bruce Vetinari.” “The Bat-Kingpin.”
Wayne buys local Baby Bell, & all phones in Gotham are de facto bugged.
ECHELON, on a local scale.
Hired private detectives to do the physical activities.
25% of Gothan’s worst problems could be solved by giving Joker a lobotomy.
Hire Will Magnus, & build some badass robots. Badass Crimefightin’ robots.
Or, even better–get the GOLDEN AGE GREEN LANTERN back in action. He used to defend Gotham, back in the 40s.
Bruce Wayne, after getting too old to be Batman (the premise of “Generations” is that characters age in realtime) ends up confronting Ra’s al Ghul, who has come up with a way to use the Lazarus Pit without its usual side effect of temporary insanity. The catch is that two enter, one leaves. It turns out that Bruce is the one who survives and is rejuvenated – he takes over the role of Ra’s al Ghul, and subtly converts his criminal empire into legitimate businesses and aid organizations.
The OP’s newspaper idea is the key… But who says that he needs to make himself a target? With the resources and resourcefulness that Bruce Wayne is proven to have, he could construct an anonymous and untraceable, but pervasive, grapevine newspaper. Get enough things right, and eventually folks will start realizing that those mimeographed sheets the street people hand out on the corner and that show up at the bottom of the free alternative newspaper bins are more reliable than the Machine’s slick press releases. Get enough people to know what’s going on, and the corrupt regime crumbles.
