Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger (although only Kane receives official credit) and published by DC Comics. The character made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to physical and intellectual perfection and don a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his sidekick Robin and his butler Alfred Pennyworth, and fights an assortment of villains influenced by the characters' roots in film and pulp magazines. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.
Batman became a popular character soon after his introduction, and eventually gained his own title, Batman. As the decades wore on, differing takes on the character emerged. The late 1960s Batman television series utilized a camp aesthetic associated with the character for years after the show ended. Various creators worked to return the character to his dark roots, culminating in the 1986 miniseries Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, by writer-artist Frank Miller. That and the success of director Tim Burton's 1989 Batman motion picture helped reignite popular interest in the character. A cultural icon, Batman has been licensed and adapted into a variety of media, from radio to television and film, and appears on a variety of merchandise sold all over the world.
In 1938 DC Comics was profiting excitedly from its new phenomenon: Superman. DC publisher Vin Sullivan would tell anyone and everyone that he wanted to have another superhero for the Detective Comics series. Bob Kane was one of those who heard Sullivan’s talk. Late one night in 1939, Kane set to work and by morning he had created one of the most popular characters in American history: Batman.
Batman is interesting because he is such a combination of people and things. The drawings of Da Vinci, the persona of Zorro, the style of 1930’s horror films and the movie ‘The Bat’ all consciously influenced the look and feel of Kane’s creation. There are also underpinnings of The Shadow and Sherlock Holmes in his actions. Kane took his drawings to Bill Finger (often uncredited but a major force in Batman’s creation) and together they worked out some stories which Sullivan immediately jumped at. In May 1939 Batman made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 and was an immediate hit. The early Batman was a dark, moody creature (and for several issues he even carried a gun).
In Detective Comics 33 (November 1939) his origin was fully fleshed out. The story of a boy who saw his parents murdered and then set out to ‘avenge’ them took hold of comic book readers and Batman’s popularity soared higher. In spring of 1940 he became the star of a second comic title: Batman. That spring also added an important piece of the Batman legend: Detective Comics 38 gave us the first appearance of Robin. Robin was an immediate boost to the title, lightening up the series while giving it added weight among the younger readers.
One of the most popular and important pieces of the Batman myth are the villains. Batman may have more recognizable villains than any other superhero. That first issue of Batman presented the first appearances of two of the most popular: The Joker and The Cat (who over time would become Catwoman). In 1941 a ‘cartooney’ version of the Penguin appeared and in 1942 Two-Face (inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) stole onto the scene.
By the early 1940’s Batman’s popularity was in full swing and the Batmobile, Batsignal and Batplane were all firmly in place. He also became the star of his own newspaper strip and in 1943 jumped onto the silver screen in the 15-part serial ‘Batman’. It was here where Alfred the Butler first appeared. Soon he would make the transition into a comic book regular. Another comic book regular was Vicki Vale who appeared first in 1948. Vicki was Bruce Wayne’s steady girlfriend up through 1963.
Batman did appear on radio during the late forties but it was only as a guest star on Superman’s program. It would be the first time that the two heroes worked together (They first appeared in the comics in Superman 76 (1952)).
The 1950’s saw a slight decline in Batman’s popularity (many comics took a slight downturn) and believability with the introduction of many science fiction and ‘gimmick’ storylines (an idea taken from the Superman series). Among these were the introductions of Batwoman, Batgirl, Ace the Bat-Hound and Bat-Mite.
In the 1960’s Batman roared back, carrying the comic book world with him. On January 12, 1966 ‘Batman’ appeared on ABC. Starring Adam West as Batman, the show opened on a Wednesday and ended the half-hour with a ‘cliff-hanger’. The very next night, the action resumed. The Pop Art influence, campiness, cliffhangers and guest star villains all made the show an immediate smash success. Comic book sales boomed as the show ran for 26 months before fading out as fast as it had started in 1968.
Comic book sales declined also and Batman relaxed into a period of ‘non-excitement’. He continued his capers in the comics and on television as a member of the animated ‘Superfriends’ in the 1970’s. But his work in the 70’s was pretty status quo (his appearance with Robin on ‘Scooby Doo’ is seen by many as a testament to this ‘blandness’).
1986 was a pivotal year in the saga. First, Frank Miller created the limited series ‘The Dark Knight Returns’. Set in the future, it told the story of an older Bruce Wayne and a Batman who had become a ‘God of Vengeance’. It was a much-needed link from Batman’s beginnings to his future.
Later that year, Batman and Robin took part in a 4-issue story in which they fought the Joker. In the midst of their battles, the Joker exploded a bomb that left Robin lying in Batman’s arms. The next page contained a 900 number which allowed readers to choose whether Robin lived or died. In the next issue we learn of Robin’s death. The audacity of the gimmick and the death of a major character pushed Batman back into the spotlight, a light that would grow even brighter with the 1989 movie ‘Batman’ (directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton). The film proved to be immensely popular and turned out to be the first of four live action Batman movies. The Nineties also saw the rebirth of Batman on television. In 1992 ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ debuted on Fox. Like the previous Batman incarnations on TV, it was immediately recognizable thanks to its design. This time though the look was very stylized, very moody, evoking the work of Bob Kane on the early Batman comics as well as the Fleischer Superman cartoons. The series featured all of the old villains, plus a few new favorites. In 1993 one of these appeared with Batman on the big screen in ‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’.
Batman has continued to grow and expand, there are theme-park rides named after him, new movies being planned and ever involving comic book stories. What direction will Batman take next? It’s a question that even the World’s Greatest Detective may not be able to answer, we are sure though it will be thrilling.
Creation
In early 1938, the success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at the comic book division of National Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane created "the Bat-Man". Collaborator Bill Finger recalled Kane “ I had an idea for a character called 'Batman', and he'd like me to see the drawings. I went over to Kane's, and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of, reddish tights, I believe, with boots, no gloves, no gauntlets, with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope. He had two stiff wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings. Under it was a big sign, BATMAN.”
Finger offered such suggestions as giving the character a cowl instead of a simple domino mask, a cape instead of wings, and gloves, and removing the red sections from the original costume. Finger said he devised the name Bruce Wayne for the character's secret identity: "Bruce Wayne's first name came from Robert Bruce, the Scottish patriot. Wayne, being a playboy, was a man of gentry. I searched for a name that would suggest colonialism. I tried Adams, Hancock ... then I thought of Mad Anthony Wayne". Various aspects of Batman's personality, character history, visual design and equipment were inspired by contemporary popular culture of the 1930s, including movies, pulp magazines, comic strips, newspaper headlines, and even aspects of Kane himself. Kane noted especially the influence of the films The Mark of Zorro (1920) and The Bat Whispers (1930) in the creation of the iconography associated with the character, while Finger drew inspiration from literary characters Doc Savage, The Shadow, and Sherlock Holmes in his depiction of Batman as a master sleuth and scientist.
Kane himself, in his 1989 autobiography, detailed Finger's contributions to Batman creation: “ One day I called Bill and said, 'I have a new character called the Bat-Man and I've made some crude, elementary sketches I'd like you to look at'. He came over and I showed him the drawings. At the time, I only had a small domino mask, like the one Robin later wore, on Batman's face. Bill said, 'Why not make him look more like a bat and put a hood on him, and take the eyeballs out and just put slits for eyes to make him look more mysterious?' At this point, the Bat-Man wore a red union suit; the wings, trunks, and mask were black. I thought that red and black would be a good combination. Bill said that the costume was too bright: 'Color it dark gray to make it look more ominous'. The cape looked like two stiff bat wings attached to his arms. As Bill and I talked, we realized that these wings would get cumbersome when Bat-Man was in action, and changed them into a cape, scalloped to look like bat wings when he was fighting or swinging down on a rope. Also, he didn't have any gloves on, and we added them so that he wouldn't leave fingerprints. ”
Kane signed away ownership in the character in exchange for, among other compensation, a mandatory byline on all Batman comics. This byline did not, originally, say "Batman created by Bob Kane"; his name was simply written on the title page of each story. The name disappeared from the comic book in the mid-1960s, replaced by credits for each story's actual writer and artists. In the late 1970s, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster began receiving a "created by" credit on the Superman titles, along with William Moulton Marston being given the byline for creating Wonder Woman, Batman stories began saying "Created by Bob Kane" in addition to the other credits.
Finger did not receive the same recognition. While he had received credit for other DC work since the 1940s, he began, in the 1960s, to receive limited acknowledgement for his Batman writing; in the letters page of Batman #169 (Feb. 1965) for example, editor Julius Schwartz names him as the creator of the Riddler, one of Batman's recurring villains. However, Finger's contract left him only with his writing page rate and no byline. Kane wrote, "Bill was disheartened by the lack of major accomplishments in his career. He felt that he had not used his creative potential to its fullest and that success had passed him by". At the time of Finger's death in 1974, DC had not officially credited Finger as Batman co-creator. This lack of credit has influenced more recent creators entering the field. Ed Brubaker, a recent writer of Detective Comics noted that, "if you're ever in a situation where you're worried that you're not getting proper credit for what you’re doing, you can say to your editor, 'Hey, I’m feeling like Bill Finger over here. And I don't want to get Fingered.' And they'll understand. Everybody gets it."
Jerry Robinson, who also worked with Finger and Kane on the strip at this time, has criticized Kane for failing to share the credit. He recalled Finger resenting his position, stating in a 2005 interview with The Comics Journal, “ Bob made him more insecure, because while he slaved working on Batman, he wasn't sharing in any of the glory or the money that Bob began to make, which is why he was going to leave Kane's employ, Kane should have credited Bill as co-creator, because I know; I was there, that was one thing I would never forgive Bob for, was not to take care of Bill or recognize his vital role in the creation of Batman. As with Siegel and Shuster, it should have been the same, the same co-creator credit in the strip, writer and artist.”
Although Kane initially rebutted Finger's claims at having created the character, writing in a 1965 open letter to fans that "it seemed to me that Bill Finger has given out the impression that he and not myself created the ''Batman, as well as Robin and all the other leading villains and characters. This statement is fraudulent and entirely untrue." Kane himself also commented on Finger's lack of credit. "The trouble with being a 'ghost' writer or artist is that you must remain rather anonymously without 'credit'. However, if one wants the 'credit', then one has to cease being a 'ghost' or follower and become a leader or innovator." In 1989, Kane revisited Finger's situation, recalling in interview, “ In those days it was like, one artist and he had his name over it the comic strip, the policy of DC in the comic books was, if you can't write it, obtain other writers, but their names would never appear on the comic book in the finished version. So Bill never asked me for it [the byline] and I never volunteered, I guess my ego at that time. And I felt badly, really, when he [Finger] died.”
Early Years
The first Batman story, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," was published in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Finger said, "Batman was originally written in the style of the pulps" and this influence was evident with Batman showing little remorse over killing or maiming criminals and was not above using firearms. Batman proved a hit character, and he received his own solo title in 1940, while continuing to star in Detective Comics. By that time, National was the top-selling and most influential publisher in the industry; Batman and the company's other major hero, Superman, were the cornerstones of the company's success. The two characters were featured side-by-side as the stars of World's Finest Comics, which was originally titled World's Best Comics when it debuted in fall 1940. Creators including Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang also worked on the strips during this period.
Over the course of the first few Batman strips elements were added to the character and Kane's artistic depiction of Batman evolved. Kane noted within six issues he drew the character's jaw more pronounced and lengthened the ears on the costume; "About a year later he was almost the full figure, my mature Batman," Kane said. Batman's characteristic utility belt was introduced in Detective Comics #29 (July 1939), followed by the batarang and the first bat-themed vehicle in #31 (September 1939), and the character's origin was revealed in #33 (November 1939). The early pulp-influenced portrayal of Batman started to soften in Detective Comics #38 in 1940 with the introduction of Robin, Batman's kid sidekick. Robin was introduced based on Finger's suggestion Batman needed a "Watson" with whom Batman could talk. Sales nearly doubled, despite Kane's preference for a solo Batman, and it sparked a proliferation of "kid sidekicks." The first issue of Batman was notable not only for introducing two of his most persistent antagonists, the Joker and Catwoman, but for one of the stories in the issue where Batman shoots some monstrous giants to death. That story prompted editor Whitney Ellsworth to issue a decree that the character could no longer kill or use a gun. By 1942 the writers and artists behind the Batman comics had established most of the basic elements of the Batman mythos. In the years following World War II, DC Comics "adopted a postwar editorial direction that increasingly de-emphasized social commentary in favor of lighthearted juvenile fantasy." The impact of this editorial approach was evident in Batman comics of the postwar period; removed from the "bleak and menacing world" of the strips of the early 1940s, Batman was instead portrayed as a respectable citizen and paternal figure that inhabited a "bright and colorful" environment.
1950-1963
Batman was one of the few superhero characters to be continuously published as interest in the genre waned during the 1950s. In the story "The Mightiest Team In the World" in Superman #76 (June 1952), Batman teams up with Superman for the first time and the pair discovers each other's secret identity. Following the success of this story, World's Finest Comics was revamped so it featured stories starring both heroes together, instead of the separate Batman and Superman features that had been running before.The team-up of the characters was "a financial success in an era when those were few and far between;" this series of stories ran until the book's cancellation in 1986.
Batman comics were among those criticized when the comic book industry came under scrutiny with the publication of psychologist Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954. Wertham's thesis was that children imitated crimes committed in comic books, and that these works corrupt the morals of the youth. Wertham criticized Batman comics for their supposed homosexual overtones and argued that Batman and Robin were portrayed as lovers. Wertham's criticisms raised a public outcry during the 1950s, eventually leading to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. The tendency towards a "sunnier Batman" in the postwar years intensified after the introduction of the Comics Code. It has also been suggested by scholars that the characters of Batwoman (in 1956) and Bat-Girl (in 1961) were introduced in part to refute the allegation that Batman and Robin were gay, and the stories took on a campier, lighter feel.
In the late 1950 Batman stories gradually become more science fiction-oriented, an attempt at mimicking the success of other DC characters that had dabbled in the genre. New characters such as Batwoman, Ace the Bat-Hound, and Bat-Mite were introduced. Batman has adventures involving either odd transformations or dealing with bizarre space aliens. In 1960, Batman debuted as a member of the Justice League of America in The Brave and the Bold #28 (February 1960) and went on to appear in several Justice League comic series starting later that same year.
"New Look" Batman
By 1964, sales on Batman titles had fallen drastically; Bob Kane noted that as a result "DC was planning to kill Batman off altogether." Editor Julius Schwartz was soon assigned to the Batman titles and presided over drastic changes. Beginning with 1964's Detective Comics #327 (May 1964) — cover-billed as the "New Look" — Schwartz introduced changes designed to make Batman more contemporary and return him to more detective-oriented stories, including a redesign of Batman's equipment, the Batmobile, and his costume (introducing the yellow ellipse behind the costume's bat-insignia), and brought in artist Carmine Infantino to help in this makeover. The space aliens and characters of the 1950s such as Batwoman, Ace, and Bat-Mite were retired. Batman's erstwhile butler Alfred was killed and replaced with Aunt Harriet, who came to live with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.
The debut of the Batman television series in 1966 had a profound influence on the character. The success of the series increased sales throughout the comic book industry, and Batman reached a circulation of close to 900,000 copies. Elements such as the character of Batgirl and the show's campy nature were introduced into the comics; the series also initiated the return of Alfred. Although both the comics and TV show were successful for a time, the camp approach eventually wore thin and the show was canceled in 1968. In the aftermath the Batman comics themselves lost popularity once again. As Julius Schwartz noted, "When the television show was a success, I was asked to be campy, and of course when the show faded, so did the comic books."
(Click Image to Enlarge)Starting in 1969, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams made a deliberate effort to distance Batman from the campy portrayal of the 1960s TV series and to return the character to his roots as a "grim avenger of the night." O'Neil said his idea was "simply to take it back to where it started. I went to the DC library and read some of the early stories. I tried to get a sense of what Kane and Finger were after." O'Neil and Adams first collaborated on the story "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" (Detective Comics #395, Jan. 1970). Few stories were true collaborations between O'Neil, Adams, Schwartz, and inker Dick Giordano, and in actuality these men were mixed and matched with various other creators during the 1970s; nevertheless the influence of their work was "tremendous." Giordano said, "We went back to a grimmer, darker Batman, and I think that's why these stories did so well. Even today we're still using Neal's Batman with the long flowing cape and the pointy ears." While the work of O'Neil and Adams was popular with fans, the acclaim did little to help declining sales; the same held true with a similarly acclaimed run by writer Steve Englehart and penciler Marshall Rogers in Detective Comics #471-476 (Aug. 1977 - April 1978), which went on to influence the 1989 movie Batman and be adapted for the 1990s animated series. Regardless, circulation continued to drop through the 1970s and 1980s, hitting an all-time low in 1985.
The Dark Knight Returns and Modern Batman (1986–Present)
Frank Miller's 1986 limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which tells the story of a 50-year-old Batman coming out of retirement in a possible future, reinvigorated the character. The Dark Knight Returns was a financial success and has since become one of the medium's most noted touchstones. The series also sparked a major resurgence in the character's popularity. That year Dennis O'Neil took 
over as editor of the Batman titles and set the template for the portrayal of Batman following DC's status quo-altering miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. O'Neil operated under the assumption that he was hired to revamp the character and as a result tried to instill a different tone in the books than had gone before. One outcome of this new approach was the "Year One" storyline in Batman #404-407 (Feb.-May 1987), where Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli redefined the character's origins. Writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland continued this dark trend with 1988's 48-page one-shot Batman: The Killing Joke, in which the Joker, attempting to drive Commissioner Gordon insane, cripples Gordon's daughter Barbara, and then kidnaps and tortures the commissioner, physically and psychologically.
The Batman comics garnered major attention in 1988 when DC Comics created a 900 number for readers to call to vote on whether Jason Todd, the second Robin, lived or died. Voters decided in favor of Jason's death by a narrow margin of 28 votes. The following year drew more attention to 
the character, due to the release of the feature 1989 film Batman. In addition to the film's multimillion dollar gross and millions more generated in merchandising, the first issue of Legends of the Dark Knight, the first new solo Batman title in nearly fifty years, sold close to a million copies. 1993's "Knightfall" arc introduces a new villain, Bane, who critically injures Batman. Jean-Paul Valley, known as Azrael, is called upon to wear the Batsuit during Bruce Wayne's convalescence. Writers Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant worked on the Batman titles during "Knightfall" and would also contribute to other Batman crossovers throughout the 1990s. 1998's "Cataclysm" storyline served as the precursor to 1999's "No Man's Land", a year-long storyline that ran through all the Batman-related titles dealing with the effects of an earthquake-ravaged Gotham City. At the conclusion of "No Man's Land" O'Neil stepped down as editor and was replaced by Bob Schreck. In 2003, writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee began a 12-issue run on Batman. Lee's first regular comic book work in nearly a decade, the series became #1 on the Diamond Comic Distributors sales chart for the first time since Batman #500 (Oct. 1993). Lee then teamed with Frank Miller on All-Star Batman and Robin, which debuted with the best-selling issue in 2005, as well as the highest sales in the industry since 2003. Batman was featured in major roles in DC's 2005 company-wide crossover Identity Crisis and 2006's Infinite Crisis. Starting in 2006, the regular writers on Batman and Detective Comics were Grant Morrison and Paul Dini, respectively.
