What a beautiful story! And I can see many words that were left unsaid. Words like, "Hello. I love you, just like I've always loved you. I did this all because I love you."

Elisabeth
who is mumbling about stupid hormones as I wipe the stupid tears from my eyes.

Very interesting premise. I wonder if Herb provided a body for the police to find and identify as Martha Wayne and for the funeral home to bury? And whether Martha was ever tempted to disclose the whole truth to Jonathan? Or if Clark will ever realize that he's a lot closer to Bruce than he thought he was? Or whether or not Jonathan will notice any resemblance between Martha and Bruce?

Doesn't really matter. This is a sweet story of great sacrifice for a far higher cause. And making Batman a part of the foundation of Utopia is a very nice touch, too. I never made the connection that Bruce and Clark had mothers with the same first name.

This is a nice comment on the fact that Clark Kent's and Bruce Wayne's mothers have the same name. I have long noticed it, and I used to think that this was another rip-off of the Superman mythos and of Siegel and Shuster's success from 1938. So many comic book girl friends are rip-offs of Lois Lane, for example. There is Lana Lang (Lois Lane), Iris West - girlfriend of Barry Allen, the Flash - (Lois Lane) and Mary Jane - rhymes with Lois Lane. (So don't you ever tell me that Lana Lang was Clark Kent's first love or even crush, because Superman existed before Superboy and he knew Lois Lane before Superboy knew Lana Lang!)

Other things are rip-offs of Superman, too. The most obvious example is Captain Marvel, a product of Marvel Comics, who according to a court decision infringed on the copyright of Superman, owned by DC comics, so much that the court actually declared Captain Marvel to be the property of DC Comics! Fancy that!



Batman is, in his own way, a bit of a rip-off of Superman, too. After all, he has a double identity, he wears a cape, he wears a symbol on his chest, his boots resembles Superman's and he wears his underwear over the rest of his clothes (or he used to).

Underwear Batman

So when I noticed that Clark Kent's and Bruce Wayne's mothers had the same name, I assumed that this was another rip-off of Superman. But maybe not. When Siegel and Shuster first created Superman, they named his foster parents Mary and Ebenezer Kent. I've tried to find out when Mary Kent became Martha Kent, but I haven't been successful. Apparently Ebenezer became John or Jonathan before Mary became Martha, however. So maybe Martha Wayne is the original Martha?

Anyway, this was a nice and original way to make use of the fact that the current Superman and Batman mythologies do say that the mothers of these two heroes have the same name!

Ann

An interesting page , related to Ann's post above: the Kent Family history. Can't say how much of it is accurate.

Another page with more details about the comics.

malu

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, I am *so* sorry that I didn't see your post earlier! Then again, this makes for a wonderful birthday present, so I think it works out pretty well that I saw it tonight.

Thank you SO much for this! I totally fell off my chair when I saw it - I wasn't expecting a second story at all, and then when I saw Bruce show up, well darn...that made my day!

This would make for such a great AU. I love the idea that in a certain way Clark and Bruce are brothers (I wrote something like that recently, which makes this kind of ironic - but cool!) and that Batman has some sort of a role to play in the creation of Utopia. If you decide you want to play in this AU a little bit more, I'll gladly answer Batman-related questions.

Thank you so, so much for this story!! *squishy hugs*

This was a neat story. I never knew that Martha was the name of Batman's mom.

As much as I enjoyed the story (and I did!) I can't help but think that most versions of Martha that come to mind would be a bit upset that her biological son had become the dark vigilante that Batman usually represents.

Of course, many variants of Batman are not so dark. But poor Martha, she can't tell him who she is. That would be so hard.

Bob

Had no idea about this either. Nice way to tie these verses together

Michael

PS: There's a story on the archives (by Lara?), where Vicki Vale left Bruce and Gotham, died her hair brown, and moved to Metropolis. Now, to tie those two stories together...

Nope, not by me... though if you find it, I wanna read that!

Okay, had to look, and btw, just how many ways are there to spell Ms. Vale's first name

A Clean Break by Queenie

Michael

I did but only because when I wrote 'He Didn't Have to Be' [before it became part of the backstory for OTOH], I named Christopher Davis Tom and someone [Queenie?] was like 'hey - did you mean for them to have the same first names as Batman's parents?' So I changed it .

I do still love the story though and would love to see more .

The Martha Kent story is actually more complicated than you might think because Clark's parents weren't originally called Jonathan and Martha (which Wiki comics doesn't make clear).

From Wikipedia <additions by me>

Originally "Mary Kent" was the only parent given a name <in 1939>. The Kents' first names vary in stories from the 1940s. A 1942 Superman novel, The Adventures of Superman by George Lowther, gave the names "Eben and Sarah Kent", which were also used in the Adventures of Superman television series, but the first extensive retelling of Superman's origin in Superman #53 (July-August 1948, billed inaccurately as a "10th Anniversary Issue!") names them "John and Mary Kent". <cut a few lines>
This story also establishes that "Clark" is Mary Kent's maiden name. Mary and John Kent (in that order) die of natural causes as "Clark grew to manhood" <cut a few lines>
Pa Kent is first named Jonathan in Adventure Comics #149 (1950). Ma Kent is first named Marthe in Superboy #12 (1951) and Martha in subsequent appearances. Later stories, after the early 1960s introduction of DC's Multiverse system, declare that the early version of the Kents are named "John and Mary Kent" and live on the world of "Earth-Two", home of the Golden Age DC superheroes, while the more modern Jonathan and Martha Kent live on the world of "Earth-One", home of the Silver Age DC superheroes.

So in fact the original Martha was in Batman (from 1939 onwards), not Superman!

Now if we could have only got the 10th Doctor and Martha Jones in there too...

The Vicki Vale story was so funny! (Of course it was, it's by Queenie!) But it serves as a reminder that so many girlfriends are versions of Superman's girlfriend, and in Vicki's case she's a take on Lois Lane even before she, well, you've got to read Queenie's story for yourselves. But how about that name, Vicki Vale? Note the alliteration, with the first and last name starting on the same letter. And there's the usual two-syllable first name and one-syllable last name creating that familiar rhythm: Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Iris West, Vicki Vale. And Vicki is even a reporter, too!

But hey, I found this picture, which suggests that Vicki is smarter than she looks (or maybe that she had the same "secret identity obsession" that comic book Lois used to have:

Vicki Vale figures it out

Ann

It's so much fun when a small detail that I've heard before, but never noticed gets into the hands of another storyteller. I never would have made the connection of the two women both being named Martha, but it seems so obvious now that you've done it.

There were so many tantalizing details that you sprinkled throughout the story that cry for a sequel. Martha's strange tone of voice, which Jonathan and Clark both notice, makes me want to see alternate POVs. However, it was lovely as a stand-alone.

Everyone else has much better feedback, but just to let you know - wonderful story.

Wow! I didn’t expect to start such a long discussion. Obviously, many people here know a lot more about Batman than I do.

Thanks, Elisabeth! Yes, the words left unsaid part was easy with this fic, as was keeping Lois and Clark apart &#61514; It was actually sort of interesting how the very different premise from the other piece made different parts of Lara’s request easier/harder.

Thanks, Terry! I hadn’t thought that much about the logistics, but I’m going to say that no, Herb didn’t leave a body. According to Herb’s story, Martha Wayne and Martha Kent are almost always the same person, this is just the first time she was aware of it. So, in general, there hasn’t been a body to find. Martha Wayne has essentially been lost. I’m banking on the fact that without computers, records were much less reliable in those days for this. (I mean, the general idea that her body could move between hospitals with no record is already based on that and is pretty flimsy regardless. But I’m adding to that the fact that with Thomas Wayne dead, the person most likely to demand information on her body isn’t doing so.)

Ann – I have never noticed how many parallel’s there between Superman and other comic book heroes (this is probably because I haven’t read many, if any, comics). I also have to admit that until you pointed it out, I never even realized that Batman’s costume, too, has the underwear on the outside. How weird!

Lara – I’m so glad you liked it! I have to admit, it’s a bit overwhelming trying to include something you know so much more about than I do. I was sure I was going to go somewhere dreadfully wrong in the telling.

I have to say, I had originally said I didn’t plan any more stories in this AU, but then I read BJ’s comment on seeing this from another point of view and… Well, suffice it to say that while I don’t really think there’ll be more than one more, and it may be awhile before the next one is posted, there is one more coming.

I hope you had a happy birthday!

Thanks, Bob! I had the same problem re: Martha and Batman. I wasn’t sure what to do about it, and my knowledge of Batman is limited enough that I wasn’t sure just how dark he is, so I decided maybe he wasn’t too bad.

Thanks, Michael! Now that would be weird and a little awkward, too. Would Bruce and Clark be able to be friends if Clark had unintentionally ended up with both Bruce’s mother and girlfriend (I’m not sure of the exact status of Bruce and Vicki, but something like that I’m guessing.)

I know, Carol. And I had no intention of you seeing any more, but darn it… Give me about a week maybe (depending on work) and expect to see it in your inbox.

Thanks, BJ! As you can see above, you’ve sparked an idea now – and I was committed to no more writing for a little while, so I don’t thank you for that. &#61514;

Thanks, IooIantheAlias!

Just read this one on the archive.

WOW! What a brilliant story!!!

Loved how you worked it out that Martha Kent is really Bruce Wayne's mother in every universe.

Brilliant, simply brilliant.

James

Wow! Thanks, James!

Having fallen behind in writing at all, this was great to see - it reminds me that I really need to get back into the swing of things.

I just ran across this story on the archive. A truly original and well-written piece - I like it very much! Thank you for sharing it with us.

Thanks so much, Lisa!