Batman: Encyclopedia II - Batman - Publication history

Batman - Publication history

In early 1939, the success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at the comic book division of National Publications (later DC Comics, D.C. is short for Detective Comics, now a subsidiary of Time Warner) to request more superheroes for their titles. In response, Bob Kane created a character called "the Bat-Man". His collaborator Bill Finger offered such suggestions as giving the character a cowl instead of a simple domino mask, wearing a cape instead of wings, wearing gloves, and removing the red sections from the original costume. Finger wrote the first Batman story and Kane provided the art. The Batman was a breakout hit, with sales on Detective Comics soaring to the point that National's comic book division was renamed "Detective Comics, Inc."

Kane signed away any ownership that he might have in the character in exchange for, among other compensation, a mandatory byline on all Batman comics stating "Batman created by Bob Kane". At the time, no comic books and few company-owned comic strips were explicitly credited to their creative teams. Bill Finger's contract, by comparison, left him with little money and without a byline, even on comics he had written. Finger, like Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel, and many other creators during and after the Golden Age of Comic Books, would resent National for denying him money and credit he felt he was owed for his creations. By the time Finger died in 1974, he had never been officially credited for his work. Kane himself, however, willingly acknowledged Finger's contributions to the character.

Batman - Evolution of the character

Inspirations for Batman's personality, character history, visual design and equipment include movies such as Douglas Fairbanks' The Mark of Zorro, The Bat, and Dracula; characters such as The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy, The Green Hornet, and Spring Heeled Jack; and even the technical drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Early Batman stories were often presented in the grim tone of the film noir and gothic horror films of the day; a few stories even present Batman making use of firearms, and the vigilante showed little remorse over his enemies' deaths. Unsurprisingly, the body count in the first dozen or so published Batman stories was quite high.

This interpretation of Batman began to soften in Detective Comics #38 in 1940. Dick Grayson/Robin (named after Robin Hood) was introduced based on Finger's suggestion to Kane that Batman needed a "Watson". In Batman #7, (1941) Batman was made an honorary member of Gotham City's police department, moving him even further from his dark, vigilante roots. Batman's tone continued to stay lighter for the next several decades.

In Superman #76 (1952), Batman first teamed up with Superman and learned his secret identity; following the success of this story, the separate Batman and Superman features that had been running in World's Finest Comics instead featured both together; this series of stories ran until the book's cancellation in 1986. The stories featured the two as close friends and allies, tackling threats that required both of their talents.

Starting in the mid-1950s, Batman's stories gradually became more science fiction oriented in tone, an attempt at mimicking the success of the top-selling Superman comics of the time. New characters such as Batwoman, Ace the Bat-Hound, and Bat-Mite (the latter two paralleling Krypto the Superdog and Mr. Mxyzptlk of the Superman titles) appeared. Batman also began having various adventures involving either odd transformations or dealing with bizarre space aliens. Batman was a highly public figure during the stories of the 1950s as well, regularly appearing at such events as charity functions, and also frequently appearing in broad daylight. In 1960, Batman also became a member of the Justice League of America, which debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28.

Editor Julius Schwartz presided over drastic changes made to a number of DC's comic book characters, including Batman in 1964's Detective Comics #327. Schwartz introduced changes designed to make Batman more contemporary and return him to more detective 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. This makeover soon became known as the "New Look" Batman. Julius Schwartz also created Aunt Harriet to live with Bruce and Dick. This influenced the campy Adam West Batman parody TV series in 1966, which ran until 1968.

Writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams made additional changes to Batman when they started working on the comic, reintroducing some of Batman's earlier grimmer elements, starting with Detective Comics #395 "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" (1970). Dick Grayson was sent off to college the previous year, which also made Batman once again a loner. O'Neil's tone influenced Batman's comics through the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s; 1977 and 1978's stories in Detective Comics written by Steve Englehart (with art by Marshall Rogers) are held by many as a high point of this era.

Writer Frank Miller grounded Batman further in his grim and gritty roots with the comic book limited series The Dark Knight Returns (1986), which takes place in a possible future, and 1987's four-issue storyline Batman: Year One. The Dark Knight Returns's popularity was nothing short of phenomenal, and raised sales for comics across the board. Alan Moore and Brian Bolland continued this dark trend with 1988's Batman: The Killing Joke, in which the Joker crippled Batgirl Barbara Gordon, kidnapped Commissioner Gordon (her father) and attempted to drive him insane through physical torture and showing him nude photos of his critically injured daughter. These stories and others like them helped to raise the image of comic books beyond mere children's entertainment. The Dark Knight Returns and stories following it (such as John Byrne's Superman revamp) also severed the close friendship of Batman and Superman, replacing it with a more antagonistic relationship.

Stories like these, in turn, have set the tone for the last two decades of Batman comics. Tim Burton's Batman movies, Warner Bros' Batman and Batman Returns also featured a darker, more Gothic Batman; the popularity of those movies in turn led to the noir-ish Batman: The Animated Series. The ongoing comic book series, meanwhile, has continued in this gritty trend and this tone has served to inspire imitators in other comic books and films.

Batman: Year One was also significant in that it was set in, and significantly revised, Batman's early days. Since the original publication of Year One, many creators have set their stories in Batman's formative years, and the Batman title Legends of the Dark Knight in particular often features stories that take place in Batman's early days. Many of the stylistic notes of Year One, specifically text captions designed to look handwritten on note paper, have also been used quite successfully by other authors. In addition the general concept of a Year One book, taking a fresh look at the origins of an older character, as well as showing their learning process, has been embraced by the comics industry as a whole. Other comics which have since gotten the 'Year One' treatment include Spider-Man and the Justice League.

Batman's evolution continued through the late 1980's and into the 1990s and 2000s. 1988 saw Jason Todd, the second Robin, killed by the Joker, and in the years following this, Batman took an even darker, often excessive approach to his crimefighting. 1993's Knightfall series introduced a new villain named Bane, who critically injured Batman. Jean-Paul Valley, also known as Azrael, was called upon to wear the costume of Batman during Bruce's convalescence. 1994's Zero Hour storyline, the ideas of Batman as not having caught his parent's killer and of being an urban legend were first introduced.

In 1998, Gotham City was destroyed during the Cataclysm storyline, and Batman becomes deprived of many of his technological resources, forcing him to reconnect with the more mythical side of his persona. DC's 2005 crossover event Identity Crisis, had Batman discovering that JLA member Zatanna had edited his memories, which led to Batman losing trust in the rest of the superhero community.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Publication history", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki