Bruce Wayne's lost years: how did he pass the time?

[Revelator]

Thinking back on "Rebirth," I began wondering--there are two to three decades in between Bruce saying "never again" to Batman and Batman's rebirth in the form of Terry McGinnis.
What did Bruce do in the space of 20 to 30 years of inaction, when he was no longer Batman? We know that he ended up a miserable old recluse, but what did he do with his time? Did he spend three decades sitting in an armchair brooding? By the time Bruce gave up being Batman, he presumably had already driven away Tim, Dick and Barbara. By this time he also was no longer part of the Justice League, though perhaps they occasionally consulted him on cases. So at this point Bruce was left with Alfred, and sometime later even Alfred died. Lastly, Bruce also lost control of his company. He seems to have been left with nothing to do.

But surely he must have done something to pass the time. Did he play endless games of solitaire? Write his memoirs? Play around on the internet? Take up macrame? Devote himself to charity work?
I tried visualizing what Bruce's daily diary from these lost years might look like...

The Ultra-Secret Diary of Bruce Wayne.
7am: Woke up. Still getting used to dressing myself. God how I miss Alfred.
8am-9am: Prepared breakfast: burnt toast and ornage juice. Accidentally set the kitchen on fire. God how I really miss Alfred. Took loads of pills.
9:30-10:30: Read newspapers. Careful not to look at crime stories, otherwise I might be tempted to solve them. Look at financial pages instead. That bastard Powers is going to completely own my company someday. Damn these people with their business acumen. If Fox were still around he'd help me out of this.
10:30-12:00pm: Drove into town to check in at the office. Gotham keeps getting worse and worse. I'm almost glad I don't have to look after that sty any longer. I saw a mugging in a far-off alley and ran to help, but got chest pains and had to stop. Watched helplessly as the muggers ran away laughing at me. To hell with this city. Nothing at the office, as usual. I feel like a figurehead.
12:00pm-12:30pm: Drove home, made lunch and took loads of pills, and checked messages. Bum leg gave me trouble walking up the driveway. I curse the Joker and hope he's roasting in hell. Two messages from the league: Kent wants me to give him advice on a case, Diana wants to invite me to a get-together on the satellite. I ignore both, then later erase them.
12:30-2:30pm: Worked on the memoirs. Agonizing. I wish I was a natural writer like Kent. I want the book to be released several years after my death, but I don't know if I can finish it--brings up too many bad memories. When that happens I have to go brood.
2:30-3:30: Brooding time. Sat in the plush chair by the fire and had a good brood. Might brood again later tonight.
3:30-5:30: Short nap. I feel like such an old fart.
5:30-6:30: Dinner. I microwaved a couple of TV dinners. Undercooked. I should really get a cook, but it wouldn't feel right having anyone here after Alfred.
6:30-7:30: Barbara calls, asking if I can send a check for Sam's upcoming campaign. I say yes and get off the phone as soon as possible. Decide to work on my files. Not much to update--most of the Arkham inmates dead or inactive. Wonder how Selina's doing.
8:30-9:00: Daily cemetary visit. More graves to visit every year. There's no reason to go every night, but what else is there to do? Anyway, it's my favorite place in Gotham.
9:00-11:00: Stare into fire. More brooding. Not as good as the afternoon brood.
11:00: Bed. Still getting used to sleeping at night instead of day. Take sleeping pills in hope of not having the dream again. Look forward to another day of tedium--wonder why I bother waking up.

That's one day in what I imagine Bruce's post-Batman, pre-Terry life must have been like. Please feel free to contribute your own guesses at to how he spent those long, lonely years.

[Wonderwall]

I've wondered too what his life was like in the 20 years of his last night and when Terry entered his life. That's pretty much how I imagined his life being, slowly and surely wasting away physically and emotionally. Until the day he probably stops feeling the days pass. I imagine a big part of Bruce died that night and he was like a zombie until terry gave him another shot at life again.

[Yojimbo]

It would have been fairly interesting now, but I think maybe Wayne made regular trips to Nanda Parbat to visit the Master and try to meditate on things. Good way to pass the time.

[Alex Weitzman]

Massive amounts of Texas hold'em.

[Revelator]

Massive amounts of Texas hold'em.

But with who? I was under the impression that poker wasn't a one-man game.

[Silly McGooses]

Solitare.

[Toddman]

Interesting questions...

The only real flashback we ever see of Bruce's life during the 20 year span that was skipped over during episode 1's intro, was in "Ace in Hole." And it's been so long since I've seen that episode, I don't even remember what Old Man Wayne was up to when he first found Ace. Visiting his parents' murder scene, I guess.

Personally, I like Revelator's ideas quite a lot. They range between the humorously cheeky and the surprisingly poignant.


Toddman

[Bowles]

I imagine he probably visited old haunts, did this and that - the normal stuff for a billionaire, but a bit more solitude. Maybe played golf with Superman and then accused him of cheating. I think he was pretty solitary, but he still had things to do.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I think he called up Amazon, had them send one of every DVD ever made that they still have, and got down with the kickin' home theatre system in the Batcave. Or he got the Wayne-owned TV station to do it for him (http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_04_26.html#011389).

I think he also got seriously into Sudoku. Or he would talk to Eddie Nygma with increasingly intricate but non-lethal puzzles to while away the afternoons.


8:30-9:00: Daily cemetary visit. More graves to visit every year. There's no reason to go every night, but what else is there to do? Anyway, it's my favorite place in Gotham.

I have to say that this one manages to be equally funny and poignant at the same time.

-- Ed

[awh1978]

It's possible that Bruce managed to hold on to a small glimmer of hope because he knew that there'd be a new Batman in the future. Presumably he spent some time adjusting the size of the suit, since there's no good reason a skintight suit on Bruce Wayne would also be skintight on Terry.

[Nightwing]

I have to say that this one manages to be equally funny and poignant at the same time.


Totally. Totally and completely. lol.

Great job, Revelator. Creative stuff. :p

And if it wasn't for Revelator's posted "to-do" list for Old Man Bruce, I'd continue to view those years in a very sad and depressing light. It's just so wrong for Batman. As I watched him in "Rebirth" sitting down in a chair watching TV with a bowl of presumably oatmeal, I know what he, I know who he is, and yet this old man is doing the exact opposite of all that.

Although I'm sure his actual time spent was a happy medium in between the two. For example, don't forget "The Winning Edge," from Batman Beyond season 1. He was keeping tabs on Bane ever since Bane got out of prison. I'm sure he still kept a general eye on things, because the Batman in him KNOWS for a fact that only HE can. Literally.

Should something come up I'm sure an anonymous tip was received by the proper good cop authorities from a certain unidenifiable source, wink wink.

[Alex Weitzman]

But with who? I was under the impression that poker wasn't a one-man game.

Clark Kent, Wally West, Dinah Lance, and Vic Sage. J'onn deals, and Booster Gold stands around and says, "Shuffle up and deal!" Wally's always the first one in the Loser's Lounge.



.....I've been watching too much Celebrity Poker Showdown. I'm sorry.

[M.O.D.O.K.]

Do you also think Bruce spent some of his time watching The Gray Ghost episodes?

[adoptedBatpuppy]

I imagine Bruce calling the Commissioner (I think I spelled it wrong) every time the bad guy got out of jail. :sweat: Other suggestions are very good too!and What about his lady friends?

[Anarky]

i'm certain he did a bit of traveling, visited the Master (from JLU "Dead Reckoning"), but more than likely he focused much of his time on current events...particularly criminals new & old. I wonder if he ever supplied info to GCPD as an anonymous source. I bet he attended many criminal trials downtown.

[Paul_Cousins]

The closest thing we know to compare with what Bruce might have done during that time was at the beginning of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns where we find out that years after Bruce quit being Batman, he was finding "a good way to die".

[Revelator]

Clark Kent, Wally West, Dinah Lance, and Vic Sage. J'onn deals...

That's the scariest poker line-up imaginable. Only a billionaire could afford to play cards with the world's fastest man, a guy with x-ray vision, a shapeshifter, and a paranoiac who'd accuse everyone else of cheating every five minutes.

[Alex Weitzman]

That's the scariest poker line-up imaginable. Only a billionaire could afford to play cards with the world's fastest man, a guy with x-ray vision, a shapeshifter, and a paranoiac who'd accuse everyone else of cheating every five minutes.

See, that's why Bruce would be doing it. He can afford it.

EDIT: Oh, and don't forget the kick-ass eardrum breaker with the impressive decolletage.

[Revelator]

EDIT: Oh, and don't forget the kick-ass eardrum breaker with the impressive decolletage.
I left out Dinah because I wasn't sure how her powers would giver her an unfair advantage in playing cards. I guess she could issue random screams or distract everyone with her cleavage. Throw all that in and you've got the most anarchic card game since Animal Crackers.

[Alex Weitzman]

I left out Dinah because I wasn't sure how her powers would giver her an unfair advantage in playing cards. I guess she could issue random screams or distract everyone with her cleavage. Throw all that in and you've got the most anarchic card game since Animal Crackers.

And now it's something I really want to see. :D

[Wounded_Dragon]

Although I'm sure his actual time spent was a happy medium in between the two. For example, don't forget "The Winning Edge," from Batman Beyond season 1. He was keeping tabs on Bane ever since Bane got out of prison. I'm sure he still kept a general eye on things, because the Batman in him KNOWS for a fact that only HE can. Literally.


Since Barbara was never shot and never had to become Oracle, perhaps Bruce did?

[The Old Maid]

The first fifteen years are harder. (Presumed age of dog = probably 5 years old, possibly <10.)

What did Bruce do for 20 years?

Realist's answer: Slept a lot. Depressed people do that sometimes.

Comic-book answer: Read Jim Gordon's book ("Triumph of the Pygmies: Why we killed Batman"). Corrected it in margins. Recorrected margin notes. Repeat until out of ink or dead. (Note: applies to Miller's alternate boozer universe only).

Then Ace the dog came along. The last five years are easy.

Let dog in.
Let dog out.
Let dog in.
Let dog out.
Let dog in.
Let dog out.
(repeat)

[Revelator]

What did Bruce do for 20 years?
Realist's answer: Slept a lot. Depressed people do that sometimes.


That's definitely the most realistic answer. It's a very common sign of depression. Brian Wilson apparently spent years in bed. And I know that when I've been depressed I've spent far too many hours avoiding reality in the land of nod.



Then Ace the dog came along. The last five years are easy.

Let dog in.
Let dog out.
Let dog in.
Let dog out.
Let dog in.
Let dog out.
(repeat)

Ah, but what if in a moment of irritation Bruce installed a doggy door? Then he'd really be screwed.

[maczero]

Thinking back on "Rebirth," I began wondering--there are two to three decades in between Bruce saying "never again" to Batman and Batman's rebirth in the form of Terry McGinnis.
What did Bruce do in the space of 20 to 30 years of inaction, when he was no longer Batman? We know that he ended up a miserable old recluse, but what did he do with his time? Did he spend three decades sitting in an armchair brooding? By the time Bruce gave up being Batman, he presumably had already driven away Tim, Dick and Barbara. By this time he also was no longer part of the Justice League, though perhaps they occasionally consulted him on cases. So at this point Bruce was left with Alfred, and sometime later even Alfred died. Lastly, Bruce also lost control of his company. He seems to have been left with nothing to do.

But surely he must have done something to pass the time. Did he play endless games of solitaire? Write his memoirs? Play around on the internet? Take up macrame? Devote himself to charity work?
I tried visualizing what Bruce's daily diary from these lost years might look like...

The Ultra-Secret Diary of Bruce Wayne.
7am: Woke up. Still getting used to dressing myself. God how I miss Alfred.
8am-9am: Prepared breakfast: burnt toast and ornage juice. Accidentally set the kitchen on fire. God how I really miss Alfred. Took loads of pills.
9:30-10:30: Read newspapers. Careful not to look at crime stories, otherwise I might be tempted to solve them. Look at financial pages instead. That bastard Powers is going to completely own my company someday. Damn these people with their business acumen. If Fox were still around he'd help me out of this.
10:30-12:00pm: Drove into town to check in at the office. Gotham keeps getting worse and worse. I'm almost glad I don't have to look after that sty any longer. I saw a mugging in a far-off alley and ran to help, but got chest pains and had to stop. Watched helplessly as the muggers ran away laughing at me. To hell with this city. Nothing at the office, as usual. I feel like a figurehead.
12:00pm-12:30pm: Drove home, made lunch and took loads of pills, and checked messages. Bum leg gave me trouble walking up the driveway. I curse the Joker and hope he's roasting in hell. Two messages from the league: Kent wants me to give him advice on a case, Diana wants to invite me to a get-together on the satellite. I ignore both, then later erase them.
12:30-2:30pm: Worked on the memoirs. Agonizing. I wish I was a natural writer like Kent. I want the book to be released several years after my death, but I don't know if I can finish it--brings up too many bad memories. When that happens I have to go brood.
2:30-3:30: Brooding time. Sat in the plush chair by the fire and had a good brood. Might brood again later tonight.
3:30-5:30: Short nap. I feel like such an old fart.
5:30-6:30: Dinner. I microwaved a couple of TV dinners. Undercooked. I should really get a cook, but it wouldn't feel right having anyone here after Alfred.
6:30-7:30: Barbara calls, asking if I can send a check for Sam's upcoming campaign. I say yes and get off the phone as soon as possible. Decide to work on my files. Not much to update--most of the Arkham inmates dead or inactive. Wonder how Selina's doing.
8:30-9:00: Daily cemetary visit. More graves to visit every year. There's no reason to go every night, but what else is there to do? Anyway, it's my favorite place in Gotham.
9:00-11:00: Stare into fire. More brooding. Not as good as the afternoon brood.
11:00: Bed. Still getting used to sleeping at night instead of day. Take sleeping pills in hope of not having the dream again. Look forward to another day of tedium--wonder why I bother waking up.

That's one day in what I imagine Bruce's post-Batman, pre-Terry life must have been like. Please feel free to contribute your own guesses at to how he spent those long, lonely years.That's sounds about right. Kinda sad though. Also, I think he would keep tabs on the criminal activities even if he doesn't get directly involved.