# Was Joe Chill a utilitarian time traveler? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [March 15, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460 "2026-03-15T15:46:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/41 "2026-03-22T20:24:01Z")
There was a Batman comic a few years back where Booster Gold went back and saved the Waynes to do something nice for Batman. The reality that resulted was awful so he had to go back and undo it and let them die. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/42 "2026-03-23T07:59:39Z")
I remember reading in the 80s or something there was an arc where Batman and Joe Chill had to team up to solve another crime. That always struck me as the dumbest most contrived comic book story ever, it’s like if Superman and a bad guy made entirely of Kryptonite had to work together for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/43 "2026-03-25T20:31:33Z")
That was _Batman: Year Two_ (1987). Someone calling himself The Reaper is killing Gotham mobsters, and Batman approaches the mob bosses with an offer to work together to catch him, but they want to include their own guy, who turns out to be Chill. Batman plans to kill Chill after they stop the Reaper, using the same gun he used to kill his parents (which Batman owns for some reason). He ends up revealing his identity to Chill, in Crime Alley, but before he can pull the trigger, the Reaper shows up and kills Chill, conveniently preventing Bruce from resolving his moral conundrum. At the end, its revealed that the Reaper was the father of Bruce’s love interest in the story, which inspires her to become a nun, conveniently preventing him from resolving the moral conundrum of pursuing his career as Batman or settling down and starting a family. It’s a terrible story on so many levels, not the least being that it was a direct follow up to the excellent _Batman: Year One_. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/44 "2026-03-26T00:34:18Z")
I’m also getting vague Batman: Mask Of the Phantasm flashbacks from the summary. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2026, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/45 "2026-03-26T04:12:22Z")
Yeah, Mask of the Phantasm seems to have been pretty directly inspired by Year Two: [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/7112p7ss1gL._AC_UF350,350_QL80_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/7112p7ss1gL._AC_UF350,350_QL80_.jpg) [![](https://www.mikeymo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/batman-mask-of-phantasm-splash.jpg) ](https://www.mikeymo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/batman-mask-of-phantasm-splash.jpg) Except for the sucking part; MotP was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2026, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460/46 "2026-03-26T13:52:10Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > He ends up revealing his identity to Chill, in Crime Alley, but before he can pull the trigger, the Reaper shows up and kills Chill, conveniently preventing Bruce from resolving his moral conundrum. So much could have been avoided if the Wayne’s had the good sense to not go to a place called Crime Alley. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joe-chill-a-utilitarian-time-traveler/1028460.md?page=2)