Batman
Batman is a fictional comic book superhero created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939. He first appeared in the title Detective Comics, and is currently the lead character of a number of comic books published by DC Comics. Batman and Superman are DC Comics' two most popular and recognizable characters.
In most versions of the Batman mythos, Batman (also referred to as "the Batman") is the alter-ego of Bruce Wayne, a millionaire playboy industrialist. Bruce Wayne was driven to fight crime after his parents were murdered by a mugger named Joe Chill when he was a child. He wears a bat-like costume to frighten his enemies, holding the opinion that criminals are a "superstitious lot." The details of the costume have changed with each new incarnation of the character, except for its most distinctive element: a dark cape and cowl with a pair of pointed ears. He also wears a stylized bat emblem on his chest.
Batman operates in Gotham City, a fictional city modelled after New York. He operates from the "Batcave", a cavern located beneath Bruce Wayne's manor.
Unlike most superheroes, Batman does not possess any superhuman abilities. Instead, he fights with martial arts, high-tech gadgets, and esoteric weapons like the batarang (a boomarang shaped like a bat). He is also typically portrayed as a brilliant tactician and detective.
Nicknames for the Batman include The Dark Knight, The Caped Crusader, and The World's Greatest Detective.
Supporting Characters
Bruce Wayne has a butler, Alfred, who knows his secret identity. Alfred typically holds the fort at the Batcave, and does not accompany Batman on his cases.
Batman is aided by James ("Jim") Gordon, the police commissioner of Gotham City. Gordon provides Batman with information to help him solve cases; in return, Batman helps deliver criminals to the police. In most versions of the mythos, Gordon is ignorant of Batman's identity.
The original Batman comic book introduced "Robin, the Boy Wonder", a teenage sidekick. Robin's real name was Dick Grayson, an orphan who was Bruce Wayne's ward. In the current comic book continuity, Grayson grew up and switched to the identity of "Nightwing", continuing as an assistant to Batman.
In late 1989, DC Comics polled Batman readers on whether or not to kill off the second Robin, Jason Todd. They voted "yes" by a small margin, and Todd was subsequently murdered by the Joker in the Death in the Family storyline. In 1991, Batman took in Timothy Drake as the third (and current) Robin.
Batman has one of the most distinctive rogues' galleries in comics, including supervillains such as the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, Two-face, and the Riddler. However, some versions of the Batman mythos pit him against more ordinary enemies, such as mobsters.
Batman in Popular Culture
Since his introduction, Batman has been one of the most famous comic book characters, and is known even to people who do not read the comics. In addition to DC's comic books, he has appeared in movies, TV shows, and novels; see below.
In 1953, the book Seduction of the Innocent by psychologist Fredric Wertham was published. Wertham used Batman and Robin to attack the comic book medium. He insinuated that Batman and Robin had a pedophilic relationship, and asserted that the bare legs in Robin's costume encouraged homosexuality. He succeeded in raising a public outcry, eventually leading to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. Nowadays, most comic book readers regard these accusations as utterly baseless, and a particularly amusing example of homophobia.
Batman has always been an unusually (though not uniquely) grim superhero, particularly for a Golden Age character. He is driven by vengeance, and wears a frightening costume; the contrast to characters like Superman is stark. The grimness is not a constant; in some incarnations of the character (notably the 60's television series), it evaporates into camp and even comedy.
Writer Frank Miller grounded Batman firmly in his grim and gritty roots with the comic book miniseries The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One. In both, Batman's story runs parallel to that of Jim Gordon. In Year One, Gordon has not yet become the police commisioner, and is instead a middle-aged cop with a shady past working to redeem himself amidst Gotham's corrupt police force. In Dark Knight, Gordon is seventy and forced into mandatory retirement from his post as police commissioner. These stories gave Gordon's character a depth he had seldom achieved before.
The Miller series have set the tone for the franchise, including Tim Burton's Batman movies, the 1990s animated series, and the ongoing comic book series.
Batman in other media
There was a 1960s Batman television series, with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The series was marked for its high camp, and continues to be the version many associate with the Batman character despite it perhaps being least representative of the many versions.
In the 1990s, there was an animated series.
A number of Batman films have also been made:
In the British Army, a batman was formerly somebody assigned to look after an officer or his horse.
Batman is a city on the Batman River in southeast Turkey. There is also a district named Batman. It is an important oil producing area.