Batman made
his first appearance as a comic book superhero in DC Comics “Detective
Comics No. 27, May 1939”. Bob Kane has been credited with the original
creation of Batman. Kane was a twenty-two year old comic book artist
creating fill-in cartoons about dogs and cats for DC Comics when he was
selected to create a hero as powerful and appealing as Superman, DC
Comic’s year old phenomenal success. Kane’s inspiration for Batman
reportedly came from three sources—a Leonardo da Vinci sketch of a man
trying to fly with attached bat-like wings, a 1930’s silent mystery
movie titled “The Bat Whisperer” about a bat faced villain, and the
masked heroes from “The Shadow and Zorro”. Although Kane had skills
as both a cartoon artist and writer, Kane indicated that he “didn’t
have the time to literally write and draw the (Batman) strip at the same
time.” As a result, Kane worked with writer Bill Finger, who wrote the
scripts from ideas Kane and Finger collaborated on.
For those unfamiliar with the Batman story, Batman is Bruce Wayne.
Teenager Bruce Wayne was traumatized by witnessing his parent’s murder
and vowed to avenge their deaths by bringing the criminals to justice.
Bruce Wayne used his vast fortune to study criminology, to train his
body to athletic perfection, and to acquire high tech vehicles and
weapons to fight crime in his hometown of Gotham. One night Bruce Wayne
was startled by a bat outside his window and decided to dress himself as
a “bat man” to strike fear in the “cowardly and superstitious”
hearts of criminals. From that moment forward, Bruce Wayne became
“Batman” in his altered state.
Kane introduced Batman’s young sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder in 1940
to give Batman someone to talk to. Together, Batman and Robin hit new
highs in popularity ratings. Kane also created several of Batman’s
arch enemies, including the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, Two-Face
and Catwoman. The Joker was inspired by a 1928 movie “The Man Who
Laughs” and a playing card, the Penguin from the advertising mascot of
Kool cigarettes, and Two-Face was inspired by characters in the movie
classic, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.
Batman was an immediate hit, not only in comic books but also in every
medium he appeared. Batman moved from comic books and his own newspaper
strip-- on to radio in 1943, and to a hit live-action television show in
1966. The live-action “Batman” show was aired by ABC Network in
1966. ABC was in last place in the ratings and needed a boost. ABC
producer, William Dozier, liked the idea of a hero with comic book
origins since most adults in the 60’s had recollections of reading
comic books in their youth. At the time, Batman was third in comic book
popularity, behind Superman and Dick Tracy. Since the latter were not
available, ABC bought the television rights to Batman. ABC spent huge
sums of money producing the show. One report quotes $800,000 to build
the Batcave set alone. Unfortunately, the show went over budget by over
a million dollars a year and ABC did not realize any profit during the
original production of Batman. After three seasons and 120 episodes, ABC
ended production of the show and put the show into syndication. After
ABC canceled the Batman show, NBC showed an interest in purchasing the
rights to the show. Unfortunately, the Batman set had already been torn
down to regain needed space at ABC’s studio lot. When NBC found out
they would have to rebuild the costly set, they declined the offer to
buy the show.
Batman made his next appearance on television as a member of the
animated “Superfriends” series in the 1970’s. In 1986, a new
Batman series called “The Dark Knight Returns” aired. Set in the
future, the story depicts an older Bruce Wayne and a Batman who had
become a “God of Vengeance”. Batman made his first movie debut in
the 1989 movie “Batman”, which fueled renewed popularity. By year
2000, Batman had provided Warner Brothers with four top grossing feature
films as well as an several ongoing children’s animation series,
namely “The New Batman/Superman” and “Batman Beyond” on Kids
Warner Brothers and “Batman” on Cartoon Network.
Batman also continued to star in DC comics throughout the years. Along
with Superman and Wonder Woman, Batman is the only other character in
continuous publication since 1940. Batman has gained popularity across
the world and has appeared in almost every country in print, television,
film and every form of merchandising known. Some say Batman is one of
the seven fictional characters known globally, along with Superman,
Mickey Mouse, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Tarzan, and Sherlock Holmes.
Other Interesting Batman Trivia:
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attorney relative of Kane reportedly gave Kane some smart advice
when he sold the original Batman story and drawings to DC Comics.
The advice was to insist on owning a copyrighted interest in Batman.
As a result, Kane was able to reap substantial income from
Batman’s popularity for years.
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Kane was asked to analyze Batman’s continuing popularity in 1995.
Kane replied, “ Batman is associated more with the average man
than Superman. He doesn’t have super powers, but that’s part of
the longevity of him. He’s Mr. Average Guy; he could bleed and
die...Couple that with the fact that he fights for the oppressed. He
battles for everybody.”
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Buyer’s Guide conducted a survey to determine the best of what the
last hundred years of comic books had to offer. Batman was voted the
most popular comic book character of the last century, beating out
Superman, Spider-Man and many more.
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