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[[Image:ARoss Batman.png|right|300px|thumb|''Batman'', by Alex Ross]]

[[Image:ARoss Batman.png|right|300px|thumb|''Batman'', by Alex Ross]]

'''Batman''' is a fictional [[superhero]] first appearing in ''Detective Comics'' in May, 1939.  The creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, Batman remains one of the most famous and recognizable of the superhero genre, resulting in the creation of several television series, motion pictures, and graphic novels.  The original comics are highly-prized by collectors and routinely fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the auction block.

'''Batman''' is a fictional [[superhero]] first appearing in ''Detective Comics'' in May, 1939.  The creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, Batman remains one of the most famous and recognizable of the superhero genre, resulting in the creation of several television series, motion pictures, and graphic novels.  The original comics are highly prized by collectors and routinely fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the auction block.

The Batman character is sometimes portrayed as a lapsed [[Catholic]]/[[Episcopalian]].<ref>http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html</ref>

The Batman character is sometimes portrayed as a lapsed [[Catholic]]/[[Episcopalian]].<ref>http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html</ref>

==Publication history==

==Publication history==

[[File:87 4 000027.jpg|right|200px|thumb|''Detective Comics'' number 27, the first appearance of Batman]]

[[File:87 4 000027.jpg|right|200px|thumb|''Detective Comics'' number 27, the first appearance of Batman]]

Vin Sullivan was the publisher of National Periodical (the forerunner of DC Comics), and during the end of the 1930's 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.

The combination of Bob Kane and Bill Finger (Finger was largely uncredited after Batman's creation) in the early 1940's 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 villians 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.

==Film and television==

==Film and television==

====Early animation====

====Early animation====

Batman also found a new home on Saturday mornings, courtesy of the Filmation and Hanna-Barbera studios.  In 1968, Batman appeared with Superman in Filmation's "Batman/Superman Hour", a program divided into individual shorts featuring "Dragnet" character-actor Olan Soule as the voice of Batman, and radio disk jockey Casey Kasem as Robin.  The following year the show would be cut to thirty minutes, with just the Batman shorts in Filmation's newly-titled "Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder", also lasting a year.

Batman also found a new home on Saturday mornings, courtesy of the Filmation and Hanna-Barbera studios.  In 1968, Batman appeared with Superman in Filmation's "Batman/Superman Hour", a program divided into individual shorts featuring "Dragnet" character-actor Olan Soule as the voice of Batman, and radio disk jockey Casey Kasem as Robin.  The following year the show would be cut to thirty minutes, with just the Batman shorts in Filmation's newly titled "Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder", also lasting a year.

Hanna-Barbera created the "Superfriends" in 1973, again using Soule and Kasem for voice work, and placed Batman and Robin alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman in a "hall of justice" as the team fought minor villains around the world with a built-in moral message for children watching it.  The "Superfriends" proved a success, ultimately spinning off several creations through the early-1980s.

Hanna-Barbera created the "Superfriends" in 1973, again using Soule and Kasem for voice work, and placed Batman and Robin alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman in a "hall of justice" as the team fought minor villains around the world with a built-in moral message for children watching it.  The "Superfriends" proved a success, ultimately spinning off several creations through the early-1980s.

====Tim Burton films====

====Tim Burton films====

''Batman'' film took a darker turn in 1989, when the [[Tim Burton]]-directed [[Batman (film, 1989)|film]], starring [[Michael Keaton]], portrayed Bruce Wayne as a reclusive, quirky billionaire who probably was not entirely sane.  While at first wary of an actor known primarily for comedies playing Batman, some fans ended up going to other movies before its release just to see the trailer for the Batman film, and then walked out, not even watching the movie they paid for.  The film was a success, and was widely-lauded for [[Jack Nicholson]]'s portrayal of Batman's nemesis, the Joker.  It was followed up with 1992's ''Batman Returns'', which, while not as well-reviewed or successful, was still accepted by the fans, and brought the iconic figures of Catwoman and the Penguin into the movie universe.

''Batman'' film took a darker turn in 1989, when the [[Tim Burton]]-directed [[Batman (film, 1989)|film]], starring [[Michael Keaton]], portrayed Bruce Wayne as a reclusive, quirky billionaire who probably was not entirely sane.  While at first wary of an actor known primarily for comedies playing Batman, some fans ended up going to other movies before its release just to see the trailer for the Batman film, and then walked out, not even watching the movie they paid for.  The film was a success, and was widely lauded for [[Jack Nicholson]]'s portrayal of Batman's nemesis, the Joker.  It was followed up with 1992's ''Batman Returns'', which, while not as well-reviewed or successful, was still accepted by the fans, and brought the iconic figures of Catwoman and the Penguin into the movie universe.