Batman knew quite a bit about Martha Wayne yet somehow insufficient. He merely knew that his mother used to be the eldest daughter of the Kane family, receiving top traditional elite schooling, and became a good wife and mother who managed both her career and family after marriage.
However, after delving into the history of the Kane family, Batman realized that Martha Kane had actually married below her station.
Perhaps many DC fans have only heard of the Wayne Family, only heard that Batman is unbelievably wealthy, but this was after Batman was born. According to several comic settings, for an extended period of time, Gotham was under the rule of four major families.
The Kane family was actually, for the longest time, the richest and most powerful family in Gotham. They were the leading family among the four, with the Wayne family being relatively the rising nobility.
The alliance of the Kane and Wayne families could be interpreted as a powerful coalition or a partnership between the old and the new. Since then, no one in Gotham could resist them.
One of the reasons for the decline of the Kane family was that the previous generation's single daughter, Martha, married into the Wayne family. The other descendents of the Kane family were somewhat lacking, unable to support the family, leading to the gradual decline of the Kane Family and the rise of the Wayne family.
Furthermore, with the Wayne family producing a unique genius like Bruce, they evolved into their current state of worldwide commercial dominance.
In the gangster era of Gotham, no family could be considered innocent, especially those of Bruce's grandfather's generation. In such a city, who could avoid having some form of dealings with the dark side?
Old Kane put considerable thought into the education of his only daughter. Martha turning into the Joker after the Flash Universe's Thomas became Batman shows the similarity and rivalry between the two.
In most comic depictions, Thomas and Martha jointly ran the Wayne family business, instead of Thomas shouldering all the burden while Martha took care of the family and raised their son. They were not a traditional family where the husband worked outside and the wife stayed home, but rather a strong partnership.
When Martha was alive, the Kane family might have declined slightly but it remained a commercial titan in Gotham City. The Wayne family didn't surpass them by much. However, upon her return to the Kane family, Martha saw the once powerful family on the verge of obscurity.
Twenty hours was enough to shatter a large commercial empire, and in twenty years, times had significantly changed and the society had shuffled. Although the Kane family was still regarded as a key family in Gotham, compared to their splendid heyday, they had fallen into decline.
They now occupied a small part of the midtown outskirts. The current head of the Kane family was Martha's cousin. He was slow to respond when the war started and slow to move out when they had to. As a result, the family estate was not even situated in the most prosperous area of the Kane family's commercial territory, but had rather been pushed to the surrounding streets.
Martha, having just quarreled with her husband, was in a bad mood. The sight at home only fueled her anger. She was more tactful when arguing with Thomas as they had shared joys and sorrows for many years, and now that they were reunited, she couldn't say anything harsh.
However, as the only daughter and successor of a top-tier family, how good could her temper be? It was impossible for Martha, considering her status, to be the type of woman who married into a rich family and silently endured everything. She was not the type to care about her younger relatives' feelings, especially when they were so foolish.
With only a few words, Martha left her foolish cousin beet-red in the face. She then quickly moved on, taking headcounts, checking supplies, inspecting armories, and reorganizing the estate's defenses to hold off potential looters.
The more Martha investigated, the more anxious and angry she became. How could the Kane family have declined this much, in her mere twenty year absence?
Martha immediately decided that this had to stop. The question was no longer about reviving the Kane family, instead, it was about preserving the family's name and legacy and preventing it from being discarded by time.
In contrast to the disordered state of the current leader of the family, Martha's upbringing was rooted in the gangster era. She was educated in issues like turf wars, forced merger, and street fights.
Simply put, the times had reverted.
Martha and Thomas originated from the gangster era and they conveniently died when the times in Gotham changed.
During the era when Falcone was battling for dominance over Gotham, they witnessed enough fireworks. Seeing the city once again enveloped in warfare, didn't it feel like the beautiful scenery of their childhood had returned?
So, Martha confidently organized the manpower, distributed equipment, and strategized tactics, preparing to strike at the heart.
Martha's cousin was still planning to retake the streets that housed most of the Kane family's business, but Martha held nothing but contempt for this strategy and demonstrated a truly gangster route in her decision-making.
What is a gangster? A gangster believes that any territory that could be seized becomes theirs. Why would they care about the territory's original ownership?
What is a gangster? A gangster is about achieving the largest gain with the smallest expenditure. Always seizing a hundred instead of fifty, always going for the best instead of the worst.
Who owns the finest and highest-quality industries in the entire midtown?