Changes

Vin Sullivan was the publisher of National Periodical (the forerunner of DC Comics), and during the end of the 1930s was basking in the success of [[Superman]], the first true comic book superhero; Sullivan was looking for another such character to publish.  The ''Detective Comics'' series would soon provide him with one, a costumed hero no less, having great intellect but without Superman's strength.  Bob Kane, influenced by [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[Zorro]], a recent comic character called "The Shadow", the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci, and a film titled ''The Bat'', came up with a character in a gray suit, black boots, and a black cape and cowl; the creation was called ''the Bat-Man''.  The drawings were taken to artist/writer Bill Finger, and by May 1939 an excited Sullivan published the character in a story called "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," part of several stories in ''Detective Comics'' issue number 27, which became an immediate and successful hit.   

Vin Sullivan was the publisher of National Periodical (the forerunner of DC Comics), and during the end of the 1930s was basking in the success of [[Superman]], the first true comic book superhero; Sullivan was looking for another such character to publish.  The ''Detective Comics'' series would soon provide him with one, a costumed hero no less, having great intellect but without Superman's strength.  Bob Kane, influenced by [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[Zorro]], a recent comic character called "The Shadow", the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci, and a film titled ''The Bat'', came up with a character in a gray suit, black boots, and a black cape and cowl; the creation was called ''the Bat-Man''.  The drawings were taken to artist/writer Bill Finger, and by May 1939 an excited Sullivan published the character in a story called "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," part of several stories in ''Detective Comics'' issue number 27, which became an immediate and successful hit.   

By November of that year, Batman's origin story - the murder of his parents - was set; this storyline of a boy growing up to avenge his parents struck a chord with readers, and sales of the comics grew.  The following year he appeared in his own series under the "Batman" name - published alongside ''Detective Comics'' - which also introduced "Robin, the Boy Wonder", a successful attempt to gain younger readers as well as creating the popularity of the "sidekick" in the comics industry; Green Arrow and Speedy, the Human Torch and Toro, and [[Captain America]] and Bucky would be prime examples of this trend.

By November of that year, Batman's origin story - the murder of his parents - was set; this storyline of a boy growing up to avenge his parents struck a chord with readers, and sales of the comics grew.  The following year he appeared in his own series under the "Batman" name - published alongside ''Detective Comics'' - which also introduced "Robin, the Boy Wonder", a successful attempt to gain younger readers as well as creating the popularity of the "sidekick" in the comics industry; Green Arrow and Speedy, the Human Torch and Toro, and [[Captain America]] and Bucky would be prime examples of this trend.  Eventually, Dick Grayson, the original Robin, would become Nightwing, while other characters would assume the mantle of Robin, before becoming other superheroes.

The combination of Bob Kane and Bill Finger (Finger was largely uncredited after Batman's creation) in the early 1940s also introduced to the comics world several of the most recognizable villains in fiction.  Created were "Two-Face", a scarred villain reportedly based upon [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]''; the "Cat", a sensuous woman who became better known as "Catwoman"; and the "[[Joker (comics)|Joker]]" - which Kane based upon the image he saw of actor Conrad Veidt in the silent film ''The Man Who Laughs'' - a nightmarish version of a clown who is the antithesis of everything Batman is, and who became one of the best known villains in fiction.

The combination of Bob Kane and Bill Finger (Finger was largely uncredited after Batman's creation) in the early 1940s also introduced to the comics world several of the most recognizable villains in fiction.  Created were "Two-Face", a scarred villain reportedly based upon [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]''; the "Cat", a sensuous woman who became better known as "Catwoman"; and the "[[Joker (comics)|Joker]]" - which Kane based upon the image he saw of actor Conrad Veidt in the silent film ''The Man Who Laughs'' - a nightmarish version of a clown who is the antithesis of everything Batman is, and who became one of the best known villains in fiction.