batman

the DC comics character created in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. a response to the success of Superman, he was the opposite of the powerful and cheery Kryptonian. he had no powers and was dark and brooding. originally, he had no problem with killing and even carried around a gun. over time the gun was dropped and he stopped killing. this was for the fact that his parents were killed with a gun, so he vowed never to use them. as the years went by, it would be revealed that he traveled the world and became a master of all forms of martial arts, detective skills and forensics. by late 1940, to attract younger viewers, Robin was introduced and became the first teen sidekick. the stories became lighter and drew away from the gritty crime stories, and became more about sci-fi and fantasy. this all came to a head when in 1966, the Batman tv show was made with a heavy campy style. this changed how Batman was precieved in the public's eye from a serious creature of the night to a silly character worth nothing more than comic value. after the show ended, an attempt was made to revive the character to his dark roots. Robin was sent to college making Batman a loner once more and a yellow oval appeared around the bat emblem on the costume. the stories once again were darker and focused on Batman as a detective, and a formidable hero. the character was once again re-invented in 1986 when Frank Millar wrote and drew THE DARK NIGHT RETURNS, a gritty and mature take on an aging Bruce Wayne forced out of retirement to don the cape and cowl once more. Millar also released BATMAN YEAR ONE, the definitive origin story. the 80's also saw the release of the movie BATMAN, starring Michael Keaton. this launched the character into the public spoltlight once again and was praised for bringing the darkness back to the character. the big deal in the 90's was the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday, and Batman had a similar ordeal of his own. a mercenary known as Bane successfully deduced Batman's secret identity and broke his back. Bruce passed the mantle over to John Paul Valley otherwise known as Azrael who changed the costume to a huge suit of armor and became increasingly more violent. Bruce Wayne having been healed, came back and sripped John Paul of the title and became Batman once more. now in the 2000's, the character has seen a record sales breaking run on the comics called BATMAN HUSH by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, a wildly successful re-boot movie BATMAN BEGINS and now has a son named Damien with Talia al Ghul. having been in publication for nearly 70 years, Batman is a true part of American pop culture and is one of the most recognizable characters around the world.