Why didn’t Bruce Wayne start fighting crime as a teenager

[JBatmanFan05]

Exactly. And I'm not fond of the idea that Bruce wanted to join law enforcement either.

I'm kinda fond of it, the small FBI part in 1989's "The Man Who Falls" by Denny (and Untold Legend where Bruce considered the police in criminology college). I think it helps reinforce that Bruce wanted to give "the system" more of a chance, per this undying idealistic strain he has, and that part of Bruce wanted a somewhat normal-ish law-abiding life where he could avert the extreme and most deadly path of being an outlaw vigilante. I think it was a brief flirt amidst his many domestic and international schoolings and trainings. He tried to avert his tragic fate at points (being Batman is somewhat a bittersweet tragic fate in his life), and he failed, the system failed, and he fatalistically fell into his dark nocturnal superheroic destiny.

Many Batman stories have highlighted the partly tragic nature of being Batman, Mask of the Phantasm did it really well with the moment he dons the cowl, in a way finally turning his back on marriage, love, the system, etc.

[hareluyafan1]

The idea of kiddie sidekicks has always been stupid as far as back as the creation of Robin, but at least you could understand it when young kids were reading comics predominantly. Why they are still around I'll never know.

Beg your pardon but the idea of Batman himself is stupid. The idea of Joker and Two-Face is stupid. If you can accept those then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to accept Robin.

This video describes it well. This is mostly about film adaptations but it applies to the comics as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHpeVgO2FEk

Now adults are the true readers of these titles, despite some token magazines for kids, so having youngsters fighting supervillains today is, IMO, ludicrous.

It's no more ludicrous than Batman himself.

Any battlefield is no place for children. Ask the child soldiers who were conscripted and had no choice but to fight in a war zone.

I've heard that analogy before and it doesn't work because the Robins did have a choice. They were not conscripted, they chose to become Robin. As pointed out previously, Dick Greyson made it clear that if Bruce didn't make him his sidekick he'd go after his parents killer by himself. At least by making him his sidekick Bruce can keep an eye on him.

[The Darknight Detective]

Beg your pardon but the idea of Batman himself is stupid. The idea of Joker and Two-Face is stupid. If you can accept those then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to accept Robin.

This video describes it well. This is mostly about film adaptations but it applies to the comics as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHpeVgO2FEk

These are apples and oranges, of course, but I never said I couldn't accept it. I leave my brain outside the door on occasion if I'm being entertained. But there's a reason why there hasn't been a juvenile Robin in anything live action since the '40s.

[Alan2099]

If you're looking at it as kids entering war zones and engaging in brutal battles, of course it doesn't make sense, but if you look at it as kids having adventures, it makes all the sense in the world.

[bat39]

I'm kinda fond of it, the small FBI part in 1989's "The Man Who Falls" by Denny (and Untold Legend where Bruce considered the police in criminology college). I think it helps reinforce that Bruce wanted to give "the system" more of a chance, per this undying idealistic strain he has, and that part of Bruce wanted a somewhat normal-ish law-abiding life where he could avert the extreme and most deadly path of being an outlaw vigilante. I think it was a brief flirt amidst his many domestic and international schoolings and trainings. He tried to avert his tragic fate at points (being Batman is somewhat a bittersweet tragic fate in his life), and he failed, the system failed, and he fatalistically fell into his dark nocturnal superheroic destiny.

Many Batman stories have highlighted the partly tragic nature of being Batman, Mask of the Phantasm did it really well with the moment he dons the cowl, in a way turning his back on marriage, love, the system, etc.

I think Bruce wanting to be part of the system at some point is compatible with the Adam West-esq notion of Batman being a 'duly deputized officer of the law'. Or the fact that he works with Gordon and the 'good cops' in the GCPD in general. We tend to exaggerate just how much Batman is an 'outlaw vigilante' in recent decades, when actually for the vast majority of his history, he's worked fairly closely with the authorities.

[JBatmanFan05]

We tend to exaggerate just how much Batman is an 'outlaw vigilante' in recent decades, when actually for the vast majority of his history, he's worked fairly closely with the authorities.

I agree somewhat, but I think it's somewhat that it's just very wordy or a tad complex to explain Bruce's relation to law enforcement. He's technically an outlaw vigilante, but yes, one that very much works closely with and (kinda in his mind) on behalf of the system when he can, he believes in the system (in so far as he believes his supplementing of it makes it perhaps sufficient).

[Ascended]

I'm kinda fond of it, the small FBI part in 1989's "The Man Who Falls" by Denny (and Untold Legend where Bruce considered the police in criminology college).

It's something I could see damn near every version of Bruce thinking about, if only for a minute. Just a momentary fling with a better future, quickly given up on because yeah, Batman is a tragic story. Absolutely.

But if we're talking prime motivations, then a momentary fling where Bruce questions his choices doesn't count. Like I said, I'm fine with a story where Bruce initially intends on a more normal life in law enforcement. If that's the story they want to tell, cool. It all comes down to just how disillusioned and pissed off he is when he walks out of the alley.

[hareluyafan1]

If you're looking at it as kids entering war zones and engaging in brutal battles, of course it doesn't make sense, but if you look at it as kids having adventures, it makes all the sense in the world.

Exactly. Another reason why the "child soldier" thing doesn't work.

These are apples and oranges, of course,

Not really. Look at for example, Two-Face. A man with exactly half his face burned off (perfectly symmetrical) who can speak perfectly normally (which is impossible. His words should be slurred) and wears suits that are differently coloured on either side. How is that any less ridiculous than Robin?

but I never said I couldn't accept it.

True.

But there's a reason why there hasn't been a juvenile Robin in anything live action since the '40s.

That reason is a lack of imagination, a misguided need to make Batman "grounded" and "realistic" (which is nonsense) and the simple logistical fact that it's harder to find a juvenile actor that could do the role justice.

[Restingvoice]

Back to the original question, when it comes to the modern interpretation, compiling all the memories I have of seeing different interpretation throughout the year, the answer is he did try to become teenage vigilante from time to time, but most of the time he has school and Alfred to supervise him so the time he can go out is limited, and also he is distracted by his own trauma and depression.

There's also Leslie and Alfred who want and advise him to be healthy, and so he follows their idea, trying to be a good kid, until eventually he realize that this isn't working.

He's not yet able to be focused enough to think and channel his feelings, so his actions were random and impulsive. So sometimes he will go out to look for his mother's pearl, or investigate the rumors of The Court of Owls, other times he either lock himself up reading books and playing chess, or lash out by punching classmates and burning his teacher's lawn. He went to school, he went to therapy, he got therapy at home, he got nightmares, he dates Julie Madison but seeing his mother's death in her, he hangs out with Tommy but he has his own trauma, he got bullied for being an orphan prince, he fights, he got expelled, moved to another school, he's suicidal, he makes his own costume, go out to spy on people, try to fight regular criminals, got manipulated and traumatized by lack of skill and experience and so on.

Basically while he did swear to fight crime, emotionally he's a mess and unable to focus enough to be a regular vigilante, and there's no one to guide him. Alfred, if he knows, wasn't an enabler back then, or he just doesn't know what to do beside trying to make a happy home life for him, send him to school and therapy.

[The Darknight Detective]

Not really. Look at for example, Two-Face. A man with exactly half his face burned off (perfectly symmetrical) who can speak perfectly normally (which is impossible. His words should be slurred) and wears suits that are differently coloured on either side. How is that any less ridiculous than Robin?

I have been a huge fan of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy (not to mention superheroes) since I was age 5 or even younger, so I'm not one of those type of people who lack an imagination. With that said, however, there are limits. As I mentioned earlier, though, it doesn't mean I can't appreciate something beyond those limits, but that doesn't mean I can't poke fun at it.

That reason is a lack of imagination, a misguided need to make Batman "grounded" and "realistic" (which is nonsense) and the simple logistical fact that it's harder to find a juvenile actor that could do the role justice.

Unless you're going to make a Batman movie lighthearted and without any real physical risks to the characters, then Robin is going to take a beating every now and then like Bruce does. You don't think there would be a public uproar over that if he were only age 9? Besides, it would just look silly having this runt next to a full-sized man fighting brawlers and bruisers. IOW, what works in the comics doesn't always work in reality.

[Riv86672]

Unless you're going to make a Batman movie lighthearted and without any real physical risks to the characters, then Robin is going to take a beating every now and then like Bruce does. You don't think there would be a public uproar over that if he were only age 9? Besides, it would just look silly having this runt next to a full-sized man fighting brawlers and bruisers. IOW, what works in the comics doesn't always work in reality.

^^^I remember reading somewhere that on the Batman ‘66 TV show, Batgirl wasn’t allowed to get punched by any of the villains/henchmen.

The only time she was hit onscreen it was by invisible men in the (I had to Google this part) episode “The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra”.

[The Darknight Detective]

^^^I remember reading somewhere that on the Batman ‘66 TV show, Batgirl wasn’t allowed to get punched by any of the villains/henchmen.

The only time she was hit onscreen it was by invisible men in the (I had to Google this part) episode “The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra”.

Yep, and she was a full-grown woman. I can't recall Lynda Carter getting punched as Wonder Woman, either.

[Riv86672]

Yep, and she was a full-grown woman. I can't recall Lynda Carter getting punched as Wonder Woman, either.

^^^Jamie Sommers either…!

[The Darknight Detective]

^^^Jamie Sommers either…!

Nope, unlike Steve Austin.

[bat39]

It's something I could see damn near every version of Bruce thinking about, if only for a minute. Just a momentary fling with a better future, quickly given up on because yeah, Batman is a tragic story. Absolutely.

But if we're talking prime motivations, then a momentary fling where Bruce questions his choices doesn't count. Like I said, I'm fine with a story where Bruce initially intends on a more normal life in law enforcement. If that's the story they want to tell, cool. It all comes down to just how disillusioned and pissed off he is when he walks out of the alley.

You're right. Though I don't think there's ever been a version of Bruce who was literally disillusioned when he walked out of the alley. Hard to see an eight year old kid being disillusioned. Or even a ten year old. Angry, confused, terrified, traumatized...absolutely! Not necessarily disillusioned. I think the disillusionment, if it sets in at all, sets in later.

I hate to be a broken record but once again I feel Nolan did a great job with this Bruce is understandably distraught and even feels guilty (because he forced his parents to leave the opera early, leading to them being in the alleyway) but he isn't disillusioned with the system. Jim Gordon comforts him (something Bruce would remember well into adulthood) and Loeb informs him almost immediately that Joe Chill has been apprehended. In the Nolanverse, Bruce as a kid has no reason to be disillusioned...the police acted swiftly to catch his parent's killer, and one good cop took the time to comfort him.

The disillusionment sets in years later, when Chill is released on parole. Bruce believes this is a sign of the system being broken, and plans to fix things by killing Chill himself. But then he sees that the rot is actually far worse when Chill is murdered by the real criminals who have the city and the system in a stranglehold - namely the likes of Carmine Falcone. Chill physically murdered his parents in a desperate act, but Falcone and the corrupt official of Gotham are the one symbolically destroying everything they stood for. And that is the trigger for him to leave Gotham and try to find a way to fix the system from the outside.

If we're talking about the comics - well, if we go by the Bronze Age version then again, Bruce wasn't disillusioned. But he'd sworn as a kid that he'd spend his life warring against criminals. As an adult, his attempt to practically realize his childhood dream was by studying law and planning to become a law enforcement officer. But then he realizes the limitations of the law, and believes he can be more effective in fighting criminals like the one who murdered his parents (at this time he didn't know who it was) by working outside the law. So this leads him to become a vigilante, albeit one who pretty quickly establishes a relationship with Jim Gordon and works fairly closely with the authorities.

There's also the possibility, implicit in many retellings, that Bruce simply wanted to be out there fighting criminals himself. It was more an emotional decision than a logical one. Which of course also opens up questions about his mental and emotional health.