Origins of the Bat

People ask me why I love him so much.  Is it the cool costume?  Is it the car?  Granted, he and I have a mutual affection for capes and women in cat-suits, but it’s more than that.  I identify with him.  Are we exactly the same?  No. I’m not a billionaire.  Are we similar?  Well, I consider myself one hell of a detective.  It’s just… A mentor of mine told me many years ago that, when you love something and you can’t describe why, it’s because it’s special.  And that’s it exactly.  Why do I love him so much?  Because he is him.  Because he is Batman.

It was March 30^th, 1939 (just two days before my birthday, albeit half a century early) when Detective Comics #27 was released to newsstands.

Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, The Bat-Man was introduced into Americana in a seven-page story inside Detective Comics, an anthology book that had featured “pulp” detective stories with characters such as Slam Bradley and the Crimson Avenger until that point.

2014 is the 75^th anniversary of Batman’s debut in that book, so to commemorate that (and because I’ve said I was going to do a blog for like seven years, so…), I’m starting a 75-part series detailing, praising, criticizing, and adulating the man, character, and concept that has been a part of my life for, no exaggeration, a quarter of a century.

Re-reading that first story was equal parts awesome and surprising.  I mean, you’d think over 75 years the character would have changed drastically, when, in reality, he hasn’t.  Sure, the dialogue was dated.  But not as much as some stuff I’ve read from the 60’s (or even the 90’s). And the art was simple, but it was contemporary.  Bruce Wayne was there, obviously, but so was Jim Gordon, police commissioner of then-unnamed Gotham City.  The story itself plays out quickly and efficiently: Gordon, who is entertaining “his young socialite friend, Bruce Wayne”, is called away to investigate a murder.  Bruce excuses himself, The Bat-Man arrives on the scene and rather efficiently solves the murder, and apprehends the killers.  Later, Commissioner Gordon recounts the events to his friend, Bruce Wayne (who Gordon later describes as someone who “must lead a boring life”).  It is in the final panel of the story that The Bat-Man is revealed to the reader to be Bruce Wayne.  All very straightforward stuff.

The first few issues continue in this fashion.  Batman’s origin story was told in Detective Comics #33 (November, ’39) with the death of his parents at the hands of a lowly mugger named Joe Chill and he would encounter his first real villain, Professor Hugo Strange, in #36 (February, ’40). It was Detective Comics #38 (April, ’40) that introduced a young man named Richard “Dick” Grayson, who you might know better as Robin, the Boy Wonder.  This character was introduced to accomplish two goals.  To attract younger readers to the book and to give the writer of the comic, Bill Finger, an avenue to advance the plot (having Batman describe things to Robin would work better than constantly using internal monologue).

My second reading to prep for this entry was the more interesting of the two.  In the Spring of 1940, the popularity of the Caped Crusader had grown enough to warrant a second ongoing series.

Simply titled Batman #1, the first issue featured a reprinting of the origin story (from Detective Comics #33), and the first appearance of, not only Catwoman (called “The Cat” in that first story), but also a character that grew to be the greatest enemy of Batman, The Joker.  Artist Jerry Robinson based the look of The Joker on actor Conrad Veidt’s portrayal in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs (also the title of a 2005 comic featuring the origin of The Joker) which tells the story of a man whose face is disfigured into a permanent grin.

“Wanna know how I got these scars?”, sound familiar?

More so than the first story, this one served as inspiration for many later works in Batman media, not just comics.  Quick version, Joker announces that he’s going to kill people and Batman has to stop him.  While this is a simple plot, it was the basis of the 2008 film, The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger as Batman and Joker, respectively.  There are complete concepts that are pulled straight from this story.  Joker posing as a cop?

Check.  Batman saving Joker from falling from a building in the climax?

Check.

Despite originally appearing seven decades ago, these elements of the character have remained true.  Sure, things have fallen off the wayside (he carried and used a gun for the first year or so and wore purple gloves), but the things that define this legend are all there: bat costume, dead parents, lifelong devotion to justice.

In this series, I will cover the stories and topics that are not only my favorites, but also those that are most important to the mythos of the Dark Knight.  I’m not going to post a list (mainly I’m making it up as I go), but I will give this small preview of some of the names that will be highlighted on this blog:

Adam West

Bill Finger

Bruce Timm

Christopher Nolan

Denny O’Neil

Frank Miller

Grant Morrison

Jeph Loeb

Kevin Conroy

Kevin Smith

Neal Adams

Paul Dini

Scott Synder

Scooby-Doo (yes, seriously)

Tim Burton

Check back on Friday for a look at what sparked this ardent admiration for the character more than anything else: Batman: The Animated Series.

Thanks for reading!

 

-Josh


Sources: United States Library of Congress; Bleeding Cool; Wikipedia

Batman, related characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division or Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.