Martha Wayne

Martha Wayne

Their tragic murder at the hands of a desperate burglar, Joe Chill, in Gotham's Park Row, shook the city to its core, and led to years of urban blight. Their tragic deaths inspired their son, Bruce Wayne to continue their philanthropy and save Gotham from blight and corruption as the Batman.

Background
Inheriting the Wayne Family fortune from his father, Patrick Morgan Wayne, Dr. Thomas Wayne was one of the most respected patrons in all of Gotham City. He inherited his family's ancestral home, Wayne Manor, and took charge of the family business, Wayne Enterprises. A skilled surgeon, Thomas was non-the-less an infamous playboy and "party animal". During one such party, a gala for Gotham's high society, he met and became endeared with a young woman named Martha Kane, who had attended the gala in an attempt to gather benefactors for the East End Free Clinic, but being drunk his attempts to impress her resulted in him vomiting on her shoes. Profusely regretful, he had Alfred Pennyworth chauffeur him to the East End clinic to try to apologize and in the process interrupted a mob hit on Kane. While the clinic's doctors recovered from the attack, Thomas volunteered to work at the clinic alongside Martha and became content with charity. While working together, it wasn't long before Thomas and Martha became romantically involved and Thomas established himself as an official sponsor for the clinic. Using his vast resources to keep the clinic running, while distancing himself from his previous carefree lifestyle; Thomas cited Martha as his inspiration to change and became an esteemed figure in the business community.

One night Thomas, Martha and Bruce were walking home from a night out at the Monarch Theatre when a mugger leapt from the shadows of Park Row and assaulted them, demanding money and the pearls around Martha's neck. While Thomas tried to fight back, the mugger shot him in the chest. The mugger then turned his gun on Martha and shot her while attempting to steal her pearls. As he watched the mugger run away, Bruce made a promise that he would bring the killer to justice and avenge his parent's deaths. Decades later, the Wayne murders were considered the start of the city's fall to crime and corruption, as, once it became clear that even people like Thomas and Martha Wayne could be murdered, the city's people began to lose faith in its police, and the police themselves started to lose faith in their importance, leading to corruption within the force and the free reign of syndicates like the Gotham City Organized Crime Family.

Since becoming the Batman, on the anniversary of their deaths, Bruce always visits the site where his parents died; leaving a memorial of flowers over where they fell. This ritual is recognized by the other members of the Bat Family and they actively ensure that the alley is clear for their mentor to place the flowers without witnesses or interruption.

Trivia

 * Thomas and Martha Wayne first appeared in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939).
 * The movie that the Waynes went to see has fluctuated between the The Mark of Zorro (1920) starring Douglas Fairbanks and The Mark of Zorro (1940) starring Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone.
 * Martha and Thomas Wayne died June 26th at 10:47pm.
 * The concept of Bruce visiting the alley where his parents died every year came from Detective Comics #457 (1976).