The Bat-man first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939.

Batman was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger.

The first drawing of Batman looked very much like Superman with reddish tights, 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.

Early Batman

The first Batman story was "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," The early Batman showed little remorse over killing or maiming criminals and was not above using firearms.

After WWII Batman was instead portrayed as a respectable citizen and paternal figure that inhabited a "bright and colorful" environment

Paired with Superman

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.

Batman, unlike Superman is one of the few Superheros without any supernatural powers instead he relies on wealth; physical prowess; deductive abilities and obsession.

60’s revamping Following a decline in sales The Batmobile was

redesigned and characters of the 1950s such as Batwoman, Ace, and Bat-Mite were retired. Batman's butler Alfred was killed off and replaced with Aunt Harriet.

Starting in 1969 artists 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."

Batman on TV

The Batman television series, starring Adam West, premiered in January 1966 on the ABC television network. Inflected with a camp sense of humor, the show became a pop culture phenomenon.

The series ran for 120 episodes, ending in 1968. In between the first and second season of the Batman television series the cast and crew made the theatrical release Batman (1966).

Modern Batman on the tube

In 1992 Batman returned to television in the critically-acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series, which was produced by Warner Bros. and was broadcast on the Fox television network until 1997. After that it moved to The WB Television Network and was reworked into The New Batman Adventures.

These were followed by the futuristic Batman Beyond and Justice League series.

Batman in Film

Tim Burton's Batman 1989 feature film brought the character back to the public's attention, grossing millions of dollars at the box office, and millions more in merchandising.

In the same year, 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.

More Batman film

Tim Burton’s Batman spawned three sequels: Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), the last two of which were directed by Joel Schumacher instead of Burton, and replaced Keaton with Val Kilmer and George Clooney, respectively.

Batman movies

In 2005 Christopher Nolan directed Batman Begins, a reboot of the film franchise starring Christian Bale as Batman. Its sequel, The Dark Knight (2008), set the record for the highest grossing opening weekend of all time in the U.S., pulling in approximately $158.4 million and became the fastest film to reach the $400 million mark in the history of American cinema (eighteenth day of release). An animated anthology feature set between the Nolan films, Batman: Gotham Knight, was released the same year.

The newest Bat-suit The new Bat-suit for Dark Knight was constructed

from 200 individual pieces of rubber, fiberglass, metallic mesh, and nylon. The new cowl was modeled after a motorcycle helmet and separated from the neck piece, allowing Bale to turn his head left and right and nod up and down. The cowl is equipped to show white lenses over the eyes when the character turns on his sonar detection, which gives Batman the white eyed look from the comics and animation. The gauntlets have retractable razors which can be fired. The gloves also possess hydraulics for Batman to crush objects. The original suit was also worn during part of the film.

Michael Keaton in Batman

Batman: the Animated SeriesBatman’s Debut

Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman TV

First Batman and Superman team

appearance

Batman Beyond

Created by:

Bonnie Sizer, Resident Assistant,

Colorado State University