Holy everything you need to know about Batman in one post

He was originally to be called Birdman but thankfully during development Bob Kane and Bill Finger switched this to Batman Initially Finger received no credit for his part in the character with Batman, for a great many years, being credited as a Bob Kane creation. It was only in later years that Kane acknowledged Finger's contribution to the early development of the character.

"I went over to Kane's, and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of ... reddish tights, I believe, with 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. And under it was a big sign ... BATMAN."  Finger talking about his initial look at Kane's creation.


Indeed it was Finger who suggested giving the character a cowl instead of the domino mask, a cape instead of wings, adding gloves, and removing the red sections from the original costume But Bob Kane's dad was a lawyer which assured that Kane got his byline on each and every Batman story, which was something unheard of during the period.

Batman first saw light in 1939 with issue 27 of Detective Comics. Many of the aspects of the modern day character were in place for this first story - Batman's secret identity as Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon and of course the costume style which although developed over the years is still essentially the same thing.

Over the years we have learned that Batman's cowl contains a transmitter, that the thickest layer of body armour is around the bat symbol on Batman's chest, that the outer layer of the batsuit can be electrified and that the suit is fireproof. The biggest element of the suit is that it scares bad guys. And Batman was initially a vampiric character and this symbolism has been used effectively by many of the writers over the years. The Batman of Tim Burton's Batman the Movie was very much Dracula with morals.

Batman also has a utility belt which over the years has carried grappling hooks, cameras, lights, weapons and communicators.

The trauma of Batman witnessing the murder of his parents as a child left him with an hatred of guns and he vows to never use them in his fight against crime. Though that doesn't stop him using explosive pellets or lethal batarangs.

Batman uses various gadgets from kick ass cars to shark repellent bat spray. The batglider is bloody cool too and Batman keeps all these at the Batcave which exists beneath Wayne Manor.

The origin - Bruce sees his parents killed, vows that he will fight crime, trains , becomes Batman.


"I chose this life. I know what I'm doing. And on any given day, I could stop doing it. Today however isn't that day."

Gotham City is a city where town planning never existed and where a lot of lowlife scum tend to operate. The city houses the Arkham Asylum which is a gothic nightmare.

Robin is Batman's sometimes sidekick. There have been various Robins over the years but personally I prefer my Batman to operate solo. Damien Wayne, Bruce's son, is the current Robin.

Alfred Pennyworth was once a cockney womaniser who fought the Zulus but is now the stereotypical English butler. One of the few anachronisms in popular culture that actually work.

Commissioner Gordon - Batman's buddy in the police.

Batman sometimes works with his super buddies such as Wonder Woman, Green Arrow or Superman. And of course Bats is also a member of the Justice League of America. The caped crusader is often a part of other teams too.

Batman sometimes get his leg over and his birds have included Vicky Vale, Julie Madison, Vesper Fairchild and Catwoman.

Batman fights many enemies but the most iconic are:

The Joker - the most iconic of them all. Joker is to Batman what Lex Luthor is to Superman.

Penguin - next to the Joker he's the tops.

The Riddler - takes third place.

Bane - overrated

Two Face - excellent character

Mr Freeze - Silly

Catwoman - Sexy

Poison Ivy - also sexy

Scarecrow - often a very effective character.

Alongside Superman, Batman defined the superhero age - they were characters for our times. Indeed during the second world war Batman was drafted in for many advertising campaigns.

KEY GRAPHIC NOVELS

Batman Year One

The Dark Knight Returns

The Killing Joke

Death in the Family

Arkham Asylum

Knightfall parts 1 and 2

The Long Halloween

There you have it - that's everything really, because Batman can be picked up and enjoyed at any point in his long continuity. I've only recently started reading the comics, after many years away, thanks to the Titan collectors editions, and I'm enjoying them as much as ever. For there is more than one Batman and the character can, depending on how he is presented, be for the young kiddies as well as the more mature and demanding readers.

Maybe more so than Superman, Batman is the no 1 superhero ever created and this is perhaps because he is not really a superhero, but more an everyman. A symbol of the hero we like to think resides within us all.

Now Explore this:

Fatman on Batman podcast

 The Bat Blog

Batman News

The Dark Knight dies?

Advance screenings of Batman Rises have met with rave reviews and standing ovations, but no one is confirming or denying the rumors that Batman is to die at the end of the movie. More certain is that director Christopher Nolan will never again helm a Batman movie, nor will he direct the rumored Justice league movie.

One lucky critic who has seen the film tweeted - "The Dark Knight Rises has just finished screening for the press and critics, receiving a STANDING OVATION!!"

"The final scene of 'The Dark Knight Rises' is exactly the scene we talked about. It remained completely unchanged. We both knew in our hearts that we were onto something special. I have to tell you, having finally seen everything strung together a little while ago and seeing that scene, I got a complete lump in my throat." Christopher Nolan


So does Batman die? Does Robin appear towards the end of this movie?


There's not long to go and now and the anticipation is growing.

The Dark Knight Crashes

Whoever said physics was a waste of time with no relevance to the real world will have to eat their hats, after a group of British physics students, spent hordes of tax payers money, to prove that Batman could fly but that he'd probably crash and die - 

Dashing the dreams of comic fans across the world, four students from the University of Leicester said that while Batman could glide using his cape as he does in the 2005 film "Batman Begins", his landing would almost certainly prove fatal.

The superhero is back in cinemas later this month in "The Dark Knight Rises" and they suggested Batman should go shopping before trying a similar attempt to become airborne over Gotham City.
"If Batman wanted to survive the flight, he would definitely need a bigger cape," said David Marshall, 22, one of the students in the final year of their four-year Master of Physics degree.
"Or if he preferred to keep his style intact he could opt for using active propulsion, such as jets to keep himself aloft."

In a paper titled "Trajectory of a falling Batman", the group argued that if he jumped from a 150-metre (492-foot) high building, the 4.7 meter (15-foot) wingspan of Batman's cape would allow him to glide 350 meters (1148 feet).

However, he would reach a speed of 68 miles per hour (109 km per hour) before hitting the ground at a life-threatening speed of 50 mph.

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises - new details emerge

Brett Cullen and Chris Ellis join The Dark Knight RisesChristopher Nolan has added veteran character actors Brett Cullen and Chris Ellis to round out the ensemble cast of The Dark Knight Rises for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.

Brett Cullen will play a judge, while Chris Ellis will play a priest.
The duo joins Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Joey King, Daniel Sunjata, Diego Klattenhoff and Burn Gorman as newcomers to the superhero franchise.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

Both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were excellent films, with far more substance than the average run-of-the-mill popcorn blockbuster. But fans of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, featuring an aged and retired Bruce Wayne, have been clamouring for years for a faithful film adaptation of this end of days yarn.

Well the rumours are circulating that the next movie in the franchise will be just that, and none other than Clint Eastwood has been suggested to play the aged Bruce Wayne/Batman. The problem here is that these rumours have been around before, and come to nothing - at one time the Hughes Brothers were being tipped to direct an Eastwood starring Batman but nothing came of it. Another problem would seem to be that Eastwood publicly stated that last years Gran Torino would be his last acting role. Mind you everybody loves a comeback.

Warner's are staying tight lipped on the project but it has been reported in several media sources that Zack Snyder will direct The Dark Knight Returns and that it will be a stand-alone entity from the regular franchise.