Batman Overview And History Supporting Characters

Batman, more properly known as The Batman and occasionally as The Bat-Man, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero, first appearing 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.

1 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, Douglas FairbanksDouglas Fairbanks ( May 23, 1883 December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He became noted for his swashbuckling roles in such movies as The Mark of Zorro ( 1920), The Three Musketeers ( 1921), Robin Hood ( 1922), The, and Superman.

In the Batman mythosMythos can mean: A collection of myths A brand of Greek beer; see Mythos (beer ., Batman is the alter-ego of Bruce Wayne, a millionaire industrialistIndustrialist mainly refers to a person who takes a leading or visionary role in the process of building up an industry over a long time. Often an industrialist invests his own capital and thus has some degree of capitalist ownership control. Still the in who was driven to fight crimeSee crime fiction for a survey of the fictional treatment of crimes and their detection and criminals and their motives. Crime Lake is a lake between Ashton-under-Lyne and Failsworth in Greater Manchester in England. A crime is an act which violates a law after his parents were murdered by a mugger when he was a child. To that end, he spent his youth learning criminologyCriminology is a sub-field of sociology dealing with matters related to crime and criminal behavior. It includes fields such as crime statistics, criminal psychology, forensic science, law enforcement, and detective methods. Naturally, criminology must ta, forensics, martial arts, 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". The details of the costume have changed over the years and with different adaptations of the character, except for its most distinctive element: a dark scalloped cape, with a cowl covering most of his face, with a pair of pointed ears suggestive of those of a bat. He also wears a stylized bat emblem on his chest. In some adaptation, Batman wears bullet-proof armor under his suit.

To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is an irresponsible superficial playboy. He is known for his contributions to charity, notably through the Wayne Foundation, a charitable 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 modelled 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. Hence, whenever he is needed, the police send up a Bat Signal into the sky. He operates out of the Batcave, a cavern located beneath Wayne Manor, which contains all of the Batman paraphernalia , gadgets and weapons.

An important part of the mythos is that Batman – unlike Superman – 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 his equipment, from his suits to his vehicles, to the James Bond-style arsenal of gadgets and weaponry. His designs often share a common theme of being dark-colored and suggest a bat. A prime example of this is the Batmobile, often depicted as long, black-colored and having large tail fins to suggest a bat's wings; another is his chief throwing weapon, the batarang, a boomerang which often looks like a bat. 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) where his arsenal included a bat-computer, bat-rope, bat-scanner, bat-radar, bat-handcuffs, even a bat-phone – down to his trademark line "To the Batmobile!"

He keeps most of his personal field equipment in a signature piece of apparel, a yellow utility belt. It contains 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. He is also typically portrayed as a brilliant tactician, but flawed with a humorless personality obsessed with seeking justice.

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, even more so 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 him 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".

2 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: In 1940, a year after Batman's debut, DC Comics introduced the original Robin, Dick Grayson, an orphaned circus acrobat who was Bruce Wayne's ward in Detective Comics #38. In the current comic book continuity, Grayson grew up and switched to the identity of " Nightwing," continuing as an assistant and ally to Batman. Nightwing has also been the leader of the superhero group The Teen Titans and a newly formed Outsiders group. Many writers have portrayed his current relationship with Batman as strained.
- Jason Todd: In 1986, DC introduced the second Robin, Jason Todd. Originally a virtual copy of the Dick Grayson character (orphaned circus acrobat trained by the Batman), Todd's origin was later changed so that he was a juvenile delinquent Batman took into his care. In 1989, DC polled Batman readers regarding whether or not to kill off Todd. They voted "yes" by a small margin (5,343 to 5,271) and Todd was subsequently murdered by the Joker.
- Tim Drake: In 1990, a teenager named Tim Drake became the third Robin. As a child, Tim obsessed on Batman and Robin and spent the next several years tracking their careers, honing his detective skills. After Jason Todd's death, Tim tracked down Dick Grayson and urged him to take up the mantle of Robin once again, because Batman was growing increasingly violent and unstable. When Dick refused, Tim himself volunteered for the job - arguing that "Batman needs a Robin" - and after extensive training took to the streets as Batman's new partner. Although Tim temporarily retired from the role (during which time he was replaced by Stephanie Brown), he has since returned to it.
- Stephanie Brown: In 2004, Tim's girlfriend, Stephanie Brown (the heroine formerly known as the Spoiler), became the fourth Robin and the only female Robin of the regular DC continuity. Attempting to prove her worthiness for the job, she launched a plan that Batman had devised for subverting organized crime in Gotham, but the situation got out of hand. She was captured and fatally tortured by Black Mask, becoming the second Robin to perish.
- Carrie Kelly: Although not technically part of current DC continuity, Carrie Kelly became the the first female Robin (in real world chronology) in 1986's The Dark Knight Returns. She aids the Batman in a new war on crime when he comes out of retirement in this alternate future.
James ("Jim") Gordon: the police commissioner of Gotham City, often helps Batman solve cases; in return, Batman helps deliver criminals to the police. Initially, Gordon thought Batman a rogue operating outside the law, bent on dealing out his own form of justice, and actually pursued him as a criminal, but Batman has since proven himself a trustworthy ally. The main way of summoning Batman is with a large searchlight, featuring a bat symbol on the glass, which creates a bright beacon called the Batsignal. In most versions of the mythos, Gordon is ignorant of Batman's identity, though some fans and writers feel that Gordon is smart enough and has enough evidence to solve the puzzle, but chooses not to put the pieces together, to preserve Batman's effectiveness. Some writers have a more tenuous relationship between Gordon and Batman. In the current DC Universe, James Gordon has retired and been replaced by Michael Atkins .
- In addition, other members of the Gotham City Police Department have played prominent roles, such as Harvey Bullock who was introduced in the comics 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 has a loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, who knows his secret identity. Alfred typically holds down the fort at the Batcave, and does not accompany Batman on his cases. However, he is often in radio contact in order to feed information or carry out instructions. His skill in first aid has proven invaluable on numerous occasions when his master or his companions are injured.
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). Betty Kane appeared in a few stories and was romantically interested in the Dick Grayson Robin.
- In 1967, the Silver Age Batgirl was introduced: Barbara Gordon, the niece of James Gordon. Gordon is the most well known Batgirl in comics and television. She continued in the role until the late 1989, when an attack by the Joker left her paraplegic. She later reinvented herself as Oracle, a research assistant for superheroes.
- 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 has often been a member of the superhero team the Justice League of America, although he 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 years 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 Wayne'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 in 2003.

3 Enemies of Batman

Batman's adversaries form one of the most distinctive rogue galleries in comics, including supervillains such as:

The Joker: A homicidal maniac with a clownlike appearance who takes comedic delight in violent crime and challenging Batman.
Catwoman: Selina Kyle, a female criminal who operates with a cat theme and costume and has a love/hate relationship with Batman.
The Scarecrow: Jonathan Crane, a renegade scientist specializing in the nature of fear, who employs special equipment and techniques designed to use it to his advantage.
The Penguin: Oswald Cobblepot, a short rotund man with a long pointed nose who fancies himself a gentleman of crime. He usually wears a tuxedo, top hat, and monocle, and carries any variety of umbrellas which have various hidden functions such as vehicles or weapons.
The Mad Hatter: a research scientist named Jervis Tetch who is completely smitten with the works of Lewis Carroll. He specializes in neuroscience and developed hardware that can control the brain and induce hypnotic states.
Two-Face: Formerly District Attorney Harvey Dent (a friend of Bruce Wayne's), until his latent case of multiple personality disorder fully took hold when half his face was horrifically scarred, and he became obsessed with committing crimes themed around duality and opposites with all major decisions being determined by a two-headed coin.
The Riddler: Edward Nigma, a professional criminal who has a strange compulsion to challenge his opponents by presenting clues to his crimes in the form of riddles and puzzles.
Poison Ivy: Pamela Isley, a female criminal who employs plants of all varieties and their derivatives in her crimes. She is often described as fanatic about defending plants from human beings, even to the extent of murdering them.
Mr. Freeze: Formerly a scientist expert on cryonics, Victor Fries tried to cryopreserve his striken wife until a cure is found to her disease. An accident in the process caused his body to function only below freezing point and so he wears a special self-contained refrigeration suit and uses similar technology for weapons and other devices of his own design (such as a Freezing gun).
Ra's Al Ghul: ("Demon's Head" in Arabic), a centuries-old would-be world conqueror who knows Batman's secret identity; Ra's Al Ghul desires for Batman to marry his daughter Talia and become his successor.
Clayface: A name for a number of criminals, with the best known being Matt Hagen, a criminal with the power to instantly change his shape and appearance to any form he wants.
Professor Hugo Strange: An insane psychologist who knows Batman's secret identity and lusts to take the identity for himself.
Man-Bat: A scientist, Kirk Langstrom is cursed to periodically turn into an animalistic humanoid bat, and often causes much trouble for Batman despite also being an ally.
The Ventriloquist : a ventriloquist who suffers from a multiple personality disorder in which his other personality, emblemed in his puppet, is a mobster known as Scarface.
Bane: An escaped convict from an island prison in South America, who has abnormal strength as a result of having had experiments with a derivative of the drug Venom performed on him. Bane was responsible for breaking Batman's back, forcing Bruce Wayne to give up the Batman persona whilst he recuperated.

However, some versions of the Batman mythos put him against more ordinary enemies, such as mobsters.

4 Batman in popular culture

Ever since his introduction, Batman has been 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, travelling 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 delinquence. 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 . 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.

The Miller series 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.

5 Comics that feature Batman regularly

Current comics starring Batman:

Current comics where Batman does not star, but appears regularly or from time to time as a guest character:

6 Batman in other media

6.1 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.

6.2 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.

6.3 Television

There was a 1960s Batman television series broadcast by ABC, with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The series debuted on January 12, 1966 and was marked for its high camp. It continues to be the version many associate with the Batman character, despite it being perhaps the least representative of the his depiction in comics. 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 broadcast twice each week as part of its regular schedule.

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:

1960s - Batman/Superman Adventure Hour by Filmation
1970s - Super Friends by Hanna-Barbera Productions
1970s - Batman and Robin by Filmation
1980s - Super Powers: Galactic Guardians by Hanna-Barbera
1990s - by Warner Bros.
2000s - Batman Beyond by Warner Bros.
2000s - Justice League animated series by Warner Bros.
2000s - The Batman by Warner Bros.

6.4 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.
(1993) feature length spinoff of Batman: The Animated Series
Batman Forever (aka 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, a prequel that arguably reboots the film franchise by exploring Batman's origin.

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 , , and .

6.5 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], which was sold in the United Kingdom and was a phenomenal success.)
Batman Returns for Nintendo Entertainment System
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

7 External links

7.1 Comics

7.2 Animated Cartoons

Batman DC Comics titles Fictional detectives Superheroes Justice League members Justice Society members Outsiders members

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