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I'm looking for the comic book/one-shot where Batman is somehow hurled back in time to the night of his parents' murder. It was here that he realized that there IS NO Joe Chill. Facing the hard-learnt truth he sees that he was the one who murdered the Waynes. If he doesn't, there will be no Batman.

I read a short summary of something like this a long time ago. Is it part of some alternate Earth story line or a one-shot comic book?

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  • How long ago had you read this? What did the cover look like?
    – Edlothiad
    Nov 30, 2017 at 12:52
  • @Edlothiad About a year ago. Too late to ask the question i guess :P I read it on the internet and just I want to find out its source. Because it did sound interesting
    – Shreedhar
    Nov 30, 2017 at 12:55
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    Reddit Discussion maybe? - reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/38of8i/…
    – Paulie_D
    Nov 30, 2017 at 12:55
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    tickld.com/x/jaw/…
    – Paulie_D
    Nov 30, 2017 at 12:55
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    @Paulie_D My itch is scratched.. So it was nothing that I imagined to be; just a fan theory. Well, that's a little disappointing :(
    – Shreedhar
    Nov 30, 2017 at 12:57

2 Answers 2

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The closest match I know of is the "To Kill a Legend" storyline from Detective Comics Vol 1 500. In that issue, the Phantom Stranger takes Batman and Robin into a world where time has moved differently, and his parents have not yet been gunned down. Batman faces the decision of whether he should save this alternate set of parents, knowing that that would mean no Batman, someone who has saved thousands of lives over the years. Complicating things, a bit of research shows that this world lacks any heroes, to the point that they don't even have mythological heroes. And, of course, it's barely even a question as to what he decides.

Batman deciding that he must save a life if he can

Despite the moral conflicts of the whole ordeal, Batman's intervention causes the event in which the Waynes are killed, although Chill is now not part of the event. Realizing his mistake, Batman saves the Waynes and a young version of himself, who was a spoiled and obnoxious little kid. Having saved the Waynes, the Phantom Stranger returns the heroes to their own world, but the deed has changed the young Bruce Wayne's life, who now changes his demeanor and wants to become the "Bat Creature" who saved them. The Batman will exist, although this time is not because of vengeance, but for a rather inspiring motivation.

Batman saving the Waynes

Alternate Bruce inspired to become something greater

There's an interesting analysis of the storyline here, which harps on the whole "no concept of a hero" thing, and how it beggars belief.

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  • I'd seen that and contemplated answering with it, but the story is significantly different in my opinion.
    – Edlothiad
    Nov 30, 2017 at 13:13
  • Although finding out that what I wanted was just a fan theory, @FuzzyBoots, you have peaked my interest with your answer. This storyline seems interesting as well. Seeing a Bat with no trauma and someone who now inspires and motivates, something cool.
    – Shreedhar
    Nov 30, 2017 at 13:14
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    I just assumed they'd read a reddit fan theory.
    – Edlothiad
    Nov 30, 2017 at 13:20
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    @PaulD.Waite: Oy, some of the things I've seen... the number of times newspapers have said "grown weary" when they mean "grown wary", or one recent official email I saw of a resignation where they claimed they were avoiding "burying the lead"...
    – FuzzyBoots
    Nov 30, 2017 at 16:09
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    @PaulD.Waite my bad man. my bad :p
    – Shreedhar
    Nov 30, 2017 at 16:50
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It was a fanfic on Reddit 2 years ago.

What do you think would be the craziest reveal that could occur in comics?

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