The Batman- Chemistry, Forensics and Cars

  To start, he had set up a small lab so he could run chemistry experiments without stinking up the building’s living quarters. At first he’d pretty much randomly mixed chemicals to see what would happen. Nothing blew up. After reading about potentially deadly gases rising from ill-advised mixtures, Bruce had started carefully reproducing chemical experiments described in textbooks. Even as a hobbyist, Bruce had already become a relatively advanced chemist. He was even starting to successfully push the boundaries of what was in the books. Of course, his fortune and access to the equipment available at Wayne Industries gave him an advantage even as a hobbyist.

  Eventually he had found that the experiments he enjoyed most were forensic—related to identifying substances found at crime scenes. He liked solving the mystery of what some gunk or goo really was. Though he didn’t have access to crime scenes, now and then he’d scrape material off a bench or a sidewalk with a knife, seal it in a plastic bag from his pocket, and bring it back to his lab for analysis. Just for fun. (About nine times out of ten, the mysterious substance turned out to be chewing gum.)

  But last summer, after he’d gotten his driver’s license, he stored a different kind of project under the stairs of the old train stop. Maybe now he’d get back to it. Switching on his work lights, Bruce went straight to a long object and pulled off the dusty tarp he’d covered it with before heading to school in the fall. He smiled at what he saw.

  A vintage sports car, the kind called a muscle car in the 1960s and ’70s.

  It wasn’t in perfect shape. In fact, it looked pretty rough. But that was part of what Bruce liked about it. He saw its potential. He could make it his own.

  Popping the hood, he got right to work, replacing parts, lubricating, tightening, adjusting—working with tools to turn the old car into something faster, sleeker, better. In his lab, he experimented with lubricants and fuels, seeing if he could improve them.

- Before the Batman, Chapter Two