- For other uses, see Batman (disambiguation).
Batman, more properly known as The Batman and occasionally as The Bat-Man, is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Detective
Comics #27 in 1939. Most accounts suggest that he was co-created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, but only Kane
receives official credit for the character. Batman was at first just one of several characters featured in Detective
Comics, but has since become the lead or co-lead character of a number of comic
book series, in addition to a "family" of titles featuring related characters (e.g. Robin, Batgirl). Batman and Superman are DC Comics' two most popular
and recognizable characters.
Overview and history
Batman was inspired by a number of different sources, including but not limited to: Zorro, Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Bat, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Douglas
Fairbanks, Superman and Dick
Tracy.
In the Batman mythos, Batman is the alter-ego of Bruce Wayne, a billionaire industrialist who
was driven to fight crime after his parents were murdered by a mugger when he was a
child. To that end, he spent his youth learning criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics, disguise, and other relevant
skills. He wears a bat-like costume to frighten his enemies, based on his observation that criminals are a "cowardly, superstitious lot". He is also typically portrayed as a brilliant tactician, but
flawed with a humorless personality obsessed with seeking justice.
To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is an irresponsible superficial playboy who lives off his family's personal fortune and the
profits of Wayne Enterprises, a major private technological firm that he owns. However, he is known for his contributions to
charity, notably through the Wayne Foundation, a foundation devoted to helping the victims of crime and
preventing people from turning to it. He guards his secret so well that his true identity is known only to a handful of
individuals, including Superman. Occasionally, a villain will be struck by the idea
that Bruce Wayne is Batman, only to dismiss the possibility because Wayne clearly doesn't have the brains or the nerve to be
Batman.
Batman operates in Gotham City, a fictional city modeled after New York City -- specifically altered to emphasize a "dark side," in
contrast to Metropolis. In keeping with the "dark"
theme, Batman is usually presented as operating only at night. Whenever he is needed, the police activate a "Bat-Signal" that
shines into the sky. He operates out of the Batcave, a cavern located beneath Wayne
Manor, which contains all of his gadgets, weapons, and other paraphernalia.
An important part of the mythos is that Batman – unlike Superman and most other costumed heroes – is a normal
human being who does not possess superhuman ability. However, he has elevated himself to near-superhuman status through years of
rigorous training.
Bruce designs and builds the costumes, equipment, and vehicles he uses as Batman. Over the years he has accumulated a large
arsenal of specialized gadgets (compare with the later James Bond). The designs of most of Batman's equipment share a common theme of being dark-colored and
suggest a bat. A prime example is Batman's car, the Batmobile, often
depicted as an imposing black car with large tail fins that suggest a bat's wings; another is his chief throwing weapon, the
batarang, a bat-shaped boomerang. In proper practice, the "bat" prefix (as
in batmobile or batarang) is no longer used by Batman himself when referring to his equipment, especially as this has been
stretched to camp in some versions (namely the '60s TV show and the Super
Friends series). The 60's TV show arsenal included such ridiculous "bat-" names as a bat-computer, bat-rope, bat-scanner,
bat-radar, bat-handcuffs, bat-phone, bat-bat, bat-drinking water dispenser, bat-camera with polarized bat-filter, and a shark
repellent bat-spray.
The details of the Batman costume have changed repeatedly through the character's evolution, but the most distinctive elements
have remained consistent: a dark scalloped cape, with a cowl covering most of his face, with a pair of pointed ears suggestive of
those of a bat, and a stylized bat emblem on his chest. The most noticeable costume variations include a "yellow oval" bat-emblem
vs. no oval, lighter colors (medium blue and light gray) vs. darker (black and dark gray), a bulky utility belt vs. a streamlined
belt, and a long-eared cowl vs. short-eared. The development of Kevlar and other types
of body armor has prompted some modern creators to make Batman's costume or parts of the
costume bullet-proof. This use of armor has been used to explain why Batman once wore the yellow oval on his costume since it
would attract enemy fire where he could wear the heaviest armor.
He keeps most of his personal field equipment in a signature piece of apparel, a yellow utility belt. It has contained items
such as smoke bombs, batarangs, a fingerprint kit, a cutting tool, explosives, a grappling hook gun, a breathing device, etc. In some of his early appearances, Batman used sidearms, but for the past several decades he has eschewed the use of firearms (that being
the method of his parents' murder). Some stories have relaxed this rule to allow exceptions such as arming his vehicles, for the
purpose of disabling vehicles or removing inanimate obstacles.
Nicknames for Batman include the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader, and the World's Greatest Detective.
Batman is also a brilliant detective, criminal scientist, tactician, and commander. His most lasting and popular stories have
almost without exception been ones where he has displayed intelligence, cunning, and planning to outwit his foes, rather than
merely out-fighting them. His deductive skills put him on par with Sherlock Holmes, and in several stories he has even met the "Great Detective" himself, proving himself to
be a worthy successor to Holmes. Batman is the mastermind behind the Justice League of America, offering brains and tactical skills to guide the raw power of the other members
of the team. He has also been briefly affiliated with other superhero teams, including a short-lived team he founded in the
1980s called "The Outsiders".
Supporting characters
- Robin: Perhaps Batman's most important allies have been
several teenage sidekicks, all of whom had the title Robin (some of them advertised
with the nickname "The Boy Wonder" or "The Teen Wonder").
- Dick Grayson (1940): The original Robin, Dick Grayson has since grown up and has
become "Nightwing," continuing as an assistant and ally to Batman. Many writers
have portrayed his current relationship with Batman as strained.
- Jason Todd (1983): Originally a virtual copy of Dick Grayson (orphaned circus
acrobat trained by the Batman), Todd's origin was later retconned so that he was a
juvenile delinquent Batman took into his care. In 1989, Todd was murdered by the Joker in the controversial A Death in the Family storyline.
- Tim Drake (1990): After Jason Todd's death, Tim tracked down Grayson and urged
him to become Robin once again, because Batman was growing unstable. When Dick refused, Tim volunteered for the job - arguing
that "Batman needs a Robin". Although Tim retired, he has since returned.
- Stephanie Brown (2004): Formerly the Spoiler; became the fourth Robin and the
only female Robin in current DC continuity. Stephanie was captured and fatally
tortured by Black Mask, becoming the second Robin to perish.
- Carrie Kelly (1986): Although not technically part of current DC continuity,
Carrie Kelly became the first female Robin (in real world chronology) in 1986's The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark
Knight Strikes Back.
- James ("Jim") Gordon: the police commissioner of Gotham City, with whom Batman has a strong (though secret and
unofficial) working relationship. In the current DC Universe, James Gordon has retired and been replaced by Michael Akins, a hand-picked successor.
- In addition, other members of the Gotham City Police Department have played prominent roles, such as Harvey Bullock who was introduced as a
subordinate secretly assigned to spy and discredit Gordon. However, Bullock soon changed his mind and became loyal to the
commissioner while having a deep suspicion of Batman. The 1990s comics added Detective
Renee Montoya as a character
adapted from the animated series. The Gotham Police are currently featured in their own series, Gotham Central, in which they investigate the unusual crimes that plague the city, in a personal
effort to minimize Batman's involvement.
- Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne's loyal butler (in effect, Batman's batman), who knows his secret identity.
- Batgirl: Several female crime-fighters have taken the name "Batgirl".
Unlike Robin, Batgirl has rarely debuted as a sanctioned member of the "Batman Family," although they have all come to be
accepted by the Batman to some extent (depending on continuity).
- In 1961, the original Bat-Girl was introduced as the sidekick to Batwoman (Kathy Kane).
- In 1967, the Silver Age Batgirl was introduced: Barbara Gordon, the daughter of James Gordon. She continued
the role until an attack by the Joker left her a paraplegic. She later
reinvented herself as Oracle, a research assistant for
superheroes and the leader of the Birds of Prey female superhero
team.
- In 1999, a third Batgirl was introduced: Cassandra Cain, the daughter of the assassin
Cain.
- Huntress: Originally the daughter of the Batman
and Catwoman of Earth-Two, Helena Wayne followed in her late father's footsteps.
In current DC continuity, Helena Bertinelli, a daughter of the Bertinelli mafia family, has become a crime-fighter. She has a
difficult relationship with Batman, who feels that she is too rash and violent, and she works closely with Oracle/Barbara
Gordon.
- Lucius Fox: Although far less privy to his life, Lucius Fox is a
close associate of Wayne as his business manager responsible for both Wayne Enterprises and The Wayne Foundation.
- The Justice League of America: Batman
is a member of the superhero group, although is sometimes skeptical of the League's more powerful and idealistic members. In
particular, Superman has been an uneasy ally for Batman because both characters approach costumed adventuring in radically
different ways.
- Ace, The Bat-Hound: In 1955, a few months after the Superman mythos saw the introduction of
Krypto, the Batman mythos saw the introduction and short duration of Ace, the
Bat-hound, a German shepherd with a black mask covering most
of his head. Ace reappears as Bruce's guard dog and companion in the television series Batman Beyond.
- Batwoman: In 1958, Kathy Kane was
introduced as Batwoman, but the character was mostly dropped from the series by the appearance of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in
1967. A different Batwoman appeared in the direct-to-video animated
movie Batman: Mystery of the
Batwoman in 2003.
- Azrael: Trained from birth to be the assassin and
enforcer of a sinister secret society, Jean-Paul Valley was trying to forge a new destiny for himself with Bruce Wayne's help
when Wayne was crippled by Bane. Valley took up the Bat-mantle until
Wayne recovered, but his Azrael conditioning began to take over, and he became violent and dangerous, and Bruce Wayne was forced
to fight him to reclaim his identity as Batman. Valley went his own way, returning for the occasional guest appearance.
Enemies of Batman
see Enemies of Batman article.
Batman in popular culture
Since his introduction, Batman has become one of the most famous comic book characters, and is known even to people who do not
read the comics. In addition to DC's comic books, he has appeared in movies, television shows, and novels.
Batman is known as being an unusually (though not uniquely) grim superhero, particularly for a Golden Age character. He is driven by vengeance, and
wears a frightening costume to scare criminals. The contrast to characters like Superman is stark. The grimness is not a constant; in some incarnations of the character (notably the television series of the 1960s, and many of the comic
books from the 1950s and 60s), it evaporates into camp and even comedy. In fact, during the 1950s (when the popularity of superhero comics had declined considerably), Batman and Robin engaged in a number of
science fiction adventures that resembled the comic book stories of
Superman of the time. They had a number of time travel adventures, traveling into
outer space regularly; and Batman even acquired a crime-fighting mascot (Ace, The Bat-Hound) and an annoying extra-dimensional imp named Bat-Mite, who had powers similar to Superman's own Mr.
Mxyzptlk.
In 1953, the book Seduction of the Innocent by psychologist Frederic Wertham was published, in which Wertham used Batman and Robin, among several examples, to attack
the comic book medium. He insinuated that Batman and Robin had a pedophilic
relationship, and asserted that the bare legs in Robin's costume encouraged homosexuality. He also criticized the dark and violent portrayals of crime in comic books as promoting
juvenile delinquency. He succeeded in raising a public outcry, eventually leading to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. The outcry particularly affected Batman
comics; the characters of Batgirl and Batwoman were introduced to "prove" that Batman and Robin were not gay, and the stories took on a campier, lighter
feel. Characters such as the Joker, who had previously been murderers, became characterized by odd themed crime sprees, such as
committing robbery while dressed as famous jester characters from literature. Most current comic book readers regard Wertham's
accusations, particularly those about Batman being gay, as utterly baseless; though Batman continues to be a fairly popular
figure in gay culture.
The Silver Age of comic books is generally
marked by comic book historians to have begun when DC comics re-created a number of its superhero titles during the late 1950s. Editor Julius Schwartz
presided over the drastic changes made to a number of DC's comic book characters, including Batman. After a decade of colorful,
campy adventures, Batman was returned to his dark and mysterious roots, giving rise to the character that most fans are familiar
with. For the next twenty-five years, Batman was the mysterious, dark avenger of the night; though the popularity of the
Batman TV series of the 1960s overshadowed the comic books considerably. A
plethora of writers and artists took the Caped Crusader on a number of interesting adventures; high points of the comic book
series include the Ra's Al Ghul storyline, written by Dennis
O'Neil and drawn by Neal Adams who established the modern look of the
character; and a brief eight-issue run of Detective Comics written by Steve Englehart that many fans considered to be the definitive Batman. (The classic Joker story "The Laughing Fish" was written by Englehart.)
Writer Frank Miller grounded Batman firmly in his grim and gritty roots
with the comic book miniseries The Dark Knight
Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One. In both, Batman's story runs parallel to that of Jim Gordon. In Year One,
Gordon has not yet become the police commissioner, and is instead a middle-aged cop with a shady past working to redeem himself
amidst Gotham's corrupt police force, while Bruce Wayne learns the ropes as a costumed avenger. In The Dark Knight
Returns, Gordon is seventy, and is forced into mandatory retirement from his post as police commissioner while Bruce returns from retirement as
Batman. These stories gave Gordon's character a depth he had seldom achieved before. The Dark Knight Returns gave a shot
in the arm to the entire mainstream comic book industry, as its popularity was nothing short of phenomenal. It allowed Batman to
finally shed the image of a campy, clownish character for which he was still known; and it also helped to raise the image of
comic books so that they were no longer known solely as a form of children's entertainment.
Miller's stories have set the tone for the franchise, including Tim Burton's
Batman movies, Warner Bros' 1990s animated series (created by Bruce Timm), and the
ongoing comic book series.
Comics that feature Batman
Current comics starring Batman:
Current comics where Batman does not star, but appears regularly or from time to time as a guest character:
Previous comics with long runs featuring Batman:
Batman has also been featured in numerous miniseries and guest starred in
many other comics.
See also List of Batman comics
Batman in other media
Newspaper
From 1943 to 1946, Batman and Robin appeared in a syndicated daily and Sunday newspaper comic strip distributed by the McClure Syndicate. Other newspaper comic versions appeared in 1953, 1966, and
1989.
Radio
Beginning in March 1945, Batman and Robin made regular appearances on the Superman radio drama on the Mutual
Broadcasting Network. Efforts were made to launch a Batman radio series in 1943 and again in 1950, but neither came to
fruition.
Television
In the late 1960s, the ABC Network aired a Batman television series with Adam West as Batman
and Burt Ward as Robin. The series aired for 120 episodes from January 12, 1966 to
March 14, 1968
and was marked for its high camp. It continues to be the version many associate with the
Batman character, despite its being perhaps the least representative of his depiction in comics although some comic book stories
were adapted to the TV series. Although it has been disliked and denounced by serious Batman fans ever since, the live-action TV
show was extraordinarily popular; at the height of its popularity, it was the only prime-time TV show besides Peyton Place to be broadcast twice each week as part of its regular schedule.
(This was, however, inherent in its format, typically splitting full-hour stories into two half-hour episodes to be aired
different nights of the same week).
There have also been several TV animated series starring Batman,
produced by at least three different TV animation studios. The treatment of the character has varied with the decade; the
1990s and later series have had a darker, more sincere tone which has appealed to adult
viewers, while still being accessible and entertaining to children. These cartoons include:
Movies
A number of Batman theatrical films have also been made.
- Columbia Pictures released two 15-chapter, live-action movie serials, Batman
(1943) and The Adventures of Batman
and Robin (1949).
- Batman (1966), the first feature-length
adaptation, based on the TV series with Adam West and Burt Ward.
- Batman (1989), directed by Tim Burton, and starring Michael
Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Many regard this
as the definitive superhero movie.
- Batman Returns (1992), also directed by Burton and starring
Keaton, with Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman and Danny DeVito as the Penguin.
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
(1993) feature length spinoff of Batman: The Animated Series
- Batman Forever (1995), produced by Burton, directed by
Joel Schumacher, and starring Val Kilmer as Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Robin,
Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, and Jim Carrey as the Riddler. The decision to continue the franchise without Burton or Keaton was controversial and
opinions of the movie's quality were mixed.
- Batman and Robin (1997),
starring George Clooney as Batman, O'Donnell as Robin, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. A huge critical and box office flop, many believe it weakened the Batman franchise
and superhero films in general.
- Batman Begins (To be released in USA in June 2005), directed
by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as Batman, an origin story that reboots the film franchise and independent from the previous Burton/Shumacher films.
A Catwoman movie starring Halle Berry was released in 2004, but it was unconnected to the Batman franchise, featuring a character
markedly different from the Catwoman of Batman Returns.
Several low-budget, unauthorized Batman movies have also been made, including Batman Dracula (1964) by Andy Warhol; Batman Fights Dracula (1967), made in the Philippines; and a
second Filipino movie called Alyas Batman en Robin (1993). (Critics who have seen this movie say it is very poor quality.)
Additionally, an independently funded self-promo film titled "Batman: Dead End" was produced by Sandy Collora in 2003, starring Clark Bartram as Batman. The film featured not only Batman but also Aliens and Predators from the popular 20th Century Fox film franchises,
and generated considerable buzz. Another self-promo by Collora, a "trailer" for a "World's Finest" film and also featuring Superman, followed in
2004.
Since 1997 Warner Bros. has released a number of episodes of Batman: The Animated
Series on video (both VHS and DVD), including a
season one set of DVDs in 2004. One three-part episode involving a team-up with Superman ("World's Finest") is available on video
as The Batman/Superman Movie. In addition to Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, a number of movies based on the animated
series have been released direct-to-video: SubZero, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman.
Video Games
Several Batman video games were created:
- Batman: The Caped Crusader for various 8-bit and
16-bit platforms
- Batman for Sega Genesis, Atari Lynx, Commodore Amiga, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and other
platforms. (In October 1989, the Amiga 500 was bundled with this game as part of the
Batman Pack [1] (http://amiga.emugaming.com/a500batman.html), which was sold in the United Kingdom and was a phenomenal success.)
- Batman Returns for Nintendo Entertainment System
- Batman and Robin for the Tiger Game.com
- Batman Beyond: Return of the
Joker for the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation
- Batman
Vengeance for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and the Xbox
- Batman:
Rise of Sin Tzu for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the GameCube
- Batman Begins for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and PSP (2005)
External links
Comics
Animated Cartoons
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