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Batman

Specialty Definition: Batman

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This article is about the comic book hero. For alternate meanings, see: John Batman, Batman (city), Batman Province, Batman River, Batman (army)

Batman is a fictional character, a 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.

The character's creation was inspired by a number of different sources, including but not limited to: Zorro, Doc Savage, The Shadow, the Bat, Dracula, Douglas Fairbanks, and Superman.

In most versions of the Batman mythos, Batman (also called the Batman, and originally The Bat-Man) is the alter-ego of Bruce Wayne, a millionaire 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.

To the world at large, Bruce Wayne appears as a superficial playboy. He is known for his contributions to charity, notably through the Wayne Foundation, a charitable organization devoted to helping the victims of crime and preventing people from turning to it. He guards his secret so well that his true identity is known only to a handful of individuals, including Superman. Occasionally, a villain will be struck by the idea that Bruce Wayne is Batman, only to dismiss the possibility because Wayne clearly doesn't have the brains or the nerve to be Batman.

Batman operates in Gotham City, a fictional city modelled after New York City. He operates from the "Batcave", a cavern located beneath Bruce Wayne's manor which contains his vehicles, crime lab, gym, computers and trophies.

Unlike most superheroes, Batman does not possess any superhuman abilities. Instead, he fights with martial arts, high-tech gadgets, custom designed vehicles, esoteric weapons, and (especially) brilliant detective skills and a well-trained mind. The equipment often shares a common design theme of being dark coloured as in black or deep blue and have some element of design to suggest a bat. Examples of this include his car, The batmobile, which often depicted as long, black coloured and having large tail fins to suggest batwings and his chief throwing weapon, the batarang often looks like a bat. He keeps most of his personal field equipment in a signature piece of apparel, a yellow utility belt. It typically contains items such as smoke bombs, batarangs, fingerprint kit, a cutting tool, explosives, a grappling hook gun, breathing device etc. As a rule, Batman has an aversion to carrying a sidearm (being the method of his parents' execution), though some stories forgo this plot element and while other stories have him make an exception to this rule by arming his vehicles (although their use is usually only to disable vehicles or remove obstacles). He is also typically portrayed as a brilliant tactician and detective, but typically flawed with a humourless personality obsessed with seeking justice.

Nicknames for the Batman include The Dark Knight, The Caped Crusader, and The World's Greatest Detective. This last phrase comes from the fact that in addition to his James Bond-styled arsenal of gadgets and weapons, Batman is also a brilliant detective, criminal scientist, tactician, and commander. His best stories have almost without exception been ones where he has displayed intelligence, cunning, and planning to outwit his foes, even more so than merely out-fighting them. His deductive skills put him on par with Sherlock Holmes, and in several stories he has even met the "Great Detective" himself, proving him to be a worthy successor to Holmes. Batman is the mastermind behind the Justice League of America, offering brains and tactical skills to guide the raw power of the other members of the team. He has also been briefly affiliated with other superhero teams, including a short-lived team he founded in the 1980s called "The Outsiders."

Supporting Characters

Bruce Wayne has a butler, Alfred Pennyworth, who knows his secret identity. Alfred typically holds the fort at the Batcave, and does not accompany Batman on his cases. However, he is often in radio contact in order to feed information or carry out instructions. His skill in first aid has proven invaluable on numerous occasions when his master or his companions are injured.

James ("Jim") Gordon, the police commissioner of Gotham City often provides Batman with information to help him solve cases; in return, Batman helps deliver criminals to the police. The main way of summoning Batman for a meeting is with a large searchlight with a bat symbol on the glass which creates a bright beacon called the Batsignal. In most versions of the mythos, Gordon is ignorant of Batman's identity. In the current DC Universe, James Gordon has retired, and been replaced by Atkins. Some writers have a more tenuous relationship between Gordon and Batman.

In 1940, a year after his debut, 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. Nightwing also is leader of a 'superhero' group known as The Teen Titans (similar to the Justice League of America, which Batman was a part of).

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.

In the 1960s, the original Batgirl was introduced: Barbara Gordon, the niece of James Gordon. She was paralysed by The Joker, and eventually became Oracle -- a research assistant for superheros.

In 1999, a second Batgirl was introduced: Cassandra Cain, the daughter of the assassin Cain.

Batman has one of the most distinctive rogues' galleries in comics, including supervillains such as:

• The Joker: a homicidal maniac with a clownlike appearance who takes comedic delight in violent crime and challenging Batman
• The Penguin: a short rotound man with a long pointed nose who fancies himself a gentleman of crime usually wearing a tuxedo, top hat, monocle and carries any variety of umbrellas that have various hidden functions like vehicles or weapons
• Catwoman: a female criminal who operates with a cat theme and costume and has a love/hate relationship with Batman
• Two-Face: formerly District Attorney Harvey Dent until his latent case of multiple personality disorder took fully hold when half his face was horrifically scarred and he became obsessed with committing crimes themed around duality and opposites with all major decisions being determined by a two-headed coin.
• The Riddler: a professional criminal who has a strange compulsion to challenge his opponents by presenting clues to his crimes in the forms of riddles and puzzles.
• Mr. Freeze: a criminal scientist who is a master of cryonics and related technologies who cannot physicially tolerate temperatures above freezing and so wears a special self contained refrigeration suit and uses similar technology for weapons and other devices of his own design.
• Ras Al Ghul: ("Demon's Head" in Arabic), a centuries-old would be world conqueror who knows Batman's secret identity; Ras Al Ghul desires for Batman to marry his daughter Talia Head and become his successor.
• The Scarecrow: A renegade scientist specializing in the nature of fear, who employs special equipment and techniques designed to use it to his advantage.
• Poison Ivy: A female criminal who employs plants of all varieties and their derivatives in her crimes.
• Professor Hugo Strange: An insane psychologist who knows Batman secret identity and lusts to take the identity for himself.
• Man-Bat: A scientist, Kirk Langstrom who is cursed to periodically turn into an animalistic humanoid bat and often causes as much trouble for Batman as he is as an ally.

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.

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 television series of the 1960s), it evaporates into camp and even comedy. In fact, during the 1950s (when the popularity of superhero comics had declined considerably), Batman and Robin engaged in a number of science fiction adventures that resembled the comic book stories of Superman of the time. They had a number of time travel adventures, travelled into outer space regularly, and Batman even acquired a crime-fighting Batdog mascot and an annoying extra-dimensional imp named "Batmite," who had powers similar to Superman's own Mr. Mxyzptlk.

In 1953, the book Seduction of the Innocent by psychologist Frederic 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.

The Silver Age of comic books is generally marked by comic book historians to have begun when DC comics re-created a number of its superhero titles during the late 1950s. Editor Julius Schwartz presided over the drastic changes made to a number of DC's comic book characters, including Batman. After a decade of colorful, campy adventures, Batman was returned to his dark and mysterious roots, giving rise to the character that most fans are familiar with. For the next twenty-five years, Batman was the mysterious, dark avenger of the night; though the popularity of the Batman TV series of the 1960s overshadowed the comic books considerably. A plethora of writers and artists took the Caped Crusader on a number of interesting adventures; high points of the comic book series include the R'as Al Ghul storyline, written by Dennis O'Neill; and a brief eight-issue series of Detective Comics written by Steve Englehart that many fans considered to be the definitive Batman. (The classic Joker story "The Laughing Fish" was written by Englehart.)

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 commissioner, 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. Dark Knight gave a shot in the arm to the entire mainstream comic book industry, as its popularity was nothing short of phenomenal. It allowed Batman to finally shed the image of a campy, clownish character that he was still known for; and it also helped to raise the image of comic books so that they were no longer known solely as a form of children's entertainment.

The Miller series have set the tone for the franchise, including Tim Burton's Batman movies, Warner Bros' 1990s animated series (created by Bruce Timm), and the ongoing comic book series.

Vital Statistics of Batman

• Name: Bruce Wayne
• Occupation: Philanthropist, crime fighter, scientist
• Height: 6' 2"
• Weight: 210 lbs.
• Eyes: Blue
• Hair: Black
  • Intelligence Level: Extraordinary Genius
  • Strength Level: Peak human
  • Endurance Level: Peak human (enhanced by body armor)
  • Speed Level: Peak human
  • Agility Level: Peak human
  • Stamina Level: Peak human
  • Reflexes Level: Peak human
• Special Abilities: Aside from the abilities listed above, Batman is master of many forms of armed and unarmed combat, and probably the creator of his own style of fighting based on his vast experience and training. Batman is extremely knowledgeable of science both theoretical and applied.
• Special Weapons and Paraphernalia: Too numerous too list. Essentially, Batman can obtain and use expertly any weapon or technological advancement.

Batman in other media

Two Batman serials were released to theaters in the 1940s, introducing Batman and Robin to many viewers for the first time.

There was a 1960s Batman television series broadcast by ABC, with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The series debuted on January 12, 1966 and 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. Despite the abhorrence of the TV series by Batman's fans of the 1970s through the present day, the live-action TV show was extraordinarily popular; at the height of its popularity, it was the only prime-time TV show broadcast twice in one week as part of its regular schedule.

There have also been several TV animated series starring Batman, produced by at least three different TV animation studios. These cartoons include:

• 1960s - Batman/Superman Adventure Hour by Filmation
• 1970s - Super Friends by Hanna-Barbera Productions
• 1970s - Batman and Robin by Filmation
• 1980s - Super Powers: Galactic Guardians by Hanna-Barbera
• 1990s - Batman: The Animated Series by Warner Bros
• 2000s - Batman Beyond by Warner Bros.
• 2000s = Justice League Animated Series by Warner Bros.

A number of Batman movies have also been made:

• Two serials in the 1940s: The Batman (1943) and Batman and Robin (1948)
• Batman (1966 movie)
• Batman (1989 movie)
• Batman Returns (1992)
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993 feature length version of Batman: The Animated Series)
• Batman Forever (1995)
• Batman and Robin (1997 movie)
• Batman: Year one (planned by DC for the near future)

Several low-budget, "unofficial" Batman movies have also been made, including Batman Dracula (1964) by Andy Warhol; Batman Fights Dracula (1967), made in the Philippines; and a second Filipino movie called Alyas Batman en Robin (1993). (Critics who have seen this movie say it is very poor quality.)

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Batman."

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Batman (1960s TV series)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Batman was the title of an exceptionally popular TV series that aired on ABC TV from 1966 through 1968. It starred Adam West as the title character Batman, and Burt Ward as Robin the Boy Wonder. A long list of guest star actors and actresses played the villains on the show — many of whom went on to have prestigious acting careers, or were already well known when they appeared on the show.

The series debuted on January 12, 1966 and 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.

Along with such popular TV series as The Monkees and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, the Batman series set a standard that identifies it as a product of the 1960s. Its use of outrageous, psychedelic sets and costumes, along with wild camera angles (with the villains' lairs always being filmed with the camera at an angle to emphasize the "crooked" nature of the bad guys) and bright colors, were meant to evoke the four-color, campy world of the comic books of the 1950s and 1960s. The fight scenes between the good guys (Batman and Robin) were interlaced with titles that reflected "comic book" sound effects: WHAM! POW! SOCK!

The Batman series has not aged well since the 1970s, however. Comic book fans who know Batman as a grim "masked avenger of the night" speak of the TV series with a near-universal revulsion and hatred. The series is seen by fans as a black mark on the medium of comic books, as it cast comics as silly, light-weight entertainment meant strictly for young children — an image that comic books have never completely rid themselves of, though the publication of The Dark Knight Returns in 1985 (and the movie Batman in 1989) did finally succeed in reshaping Batman's image outside of comic books. The fact that the TV series typically depicted women in a highly stereotypical fashion, with a few noted exceptions like Batgirl, dates it further.

Despite the abhorrence of the TV series by Batman's fans of the 1970s through the present day, the live-action TV show was extraordinarily popular; at the height of its popularity, it was the only prime-time TV show broadcast twice in one week as part of its regular schedule, airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Episodes of the show were often filmed as two-part cliffhangers, with each storyline beginning on Wednesday and ending on the Thursday night episode. The first episode of a storyline would typically end with Batman and Robin being trapped in a ridiculous death-trap, while the narrator would tell viewers to watch the next night with the repeated phrase: "Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!" This catch-phrase was a long-running punchline in popular culture for many years after the show ceased was production.

TV critics and historians note that the real appeal of the show lay in its array of oddball, outrageous, and often charismatic villains. The hippie counterculture of the 1960s enjoyed the fact that even though they would eventually win and put the bad guys in jail, Batman and Robin portrayed the forces of "law and order" as being woefully humorless, "square", and unaware of the fact that the world was laughing at them. The villains, on the other hand, had the chance to rebel against society, wear gaudy, flashy costumes, and have all the fun... until they were required to lose and be captured by Batman and Robin. The series had the advantage of appealing to two major age groups for entirely different reasons; adults viewed it as a humourous spoof while children enjoyed it as a flashy adventure show.

Many popular TV personalities, and a number of Hollywood actors, looked forward to and enjoyed their appearances as villains on the Batman show. They were generally allowed to overact and enjoy themselves on a high-rated TV series, guaranteeing them considerable exposure (and thus boosting their careers). The most popular villains on the show included Cesar Romero as The Joker; Burgess Meredith as The Penguin; and Julie Newmar as Catwoman. Although other famous names from the "rogues gallery" in the comic book series made appearances on the show (notably The Riddler and Mr. Freeze), many other villains were created especially for the TV show, and never did appear in the comic books (such as "King Tut", "Lord Fogg", and "Louie the Lilac".)

The popularity of the show even contributed to careers of two real-life New York City policemen, David Greenberg and Robert Hantz. This pair had a remarkable career as police officers, so much so that they were given street nicknames of "Batman and Robin". Their careers were fictionalized in the 1974 movie The Super Cops.

The popularity of the TV show did not translate well to the silver screen, however. A movie version of the TV show was released to theaters (see Batman (1966 movie)), but it did not become a large box office hit.

The series' stars, Adam West and Burt Ward, were typecast for decades afterwards, with West especially finding himself unable to escape the reputation the series gave him as a hammy, campy actor. However, years after the series' impact faded, West found fame and respect among comic book and animation fans, who appreciated his work on the TV series. One of the more popular episodes of Batman: The Animated Series paid tribute to West with an episode entitled "The Grey Ghost." In this episode, West played the role of an aging star of a campy superhero TV series, who found new popularity with the next generation of fans.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Batman (1960s TV series)."

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Batman (1966 movie)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Batman was released in 1966, and was later to acquire the video-box title Batman: The Movie. It starred Adam West as Batman, and Burt Ward as Robin. It featured many of the criminals seen in the Batman TV series from the 1960s, including Cesar Romero as The Joker, Frank Gorshin as The Riddler, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin and Lee Merriwether as Catwoman. It was directed by Leslie H. Martinson who won a Golden Gryphon for his efforts.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Batman (1966 movie)."

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Batman (1989 movie)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Batman was released in theaters in the summer of 1989 and soon became the highest grossing movie of the year. It was directed by Tim Burton and starred Michael Keaton as Batman, Kim Basinger as reporter Vicky Vale and Jack Nicholson as The Joker.

This movie ushered a return to the "dark" roots of the Batman of the comics and away from the campy 1960s Batman television series and cartoon Super Friends.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Batman (1989 movie)."

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Batman (army)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A batman is a soldier assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant.

Duties often include:

• acting as a "runner" to convey orders from the officer to subordinates
• maintaining the officer's uniform and personal equipment as a valet
• driving the officer's vehicle, sometimes under combat conditions
• other miscellaneous tasks the officer does not himself (or herself) have time to do

External link

• Recollections from memory about batmen - http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/july/batmen.htm

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Batman (army)."

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Batman (city)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Batman is a city on the Batman River in southeast Turkey. In 2003 the city had about 266,100 inhabitants. There is also a Batman Province. It is an important oil producing area. There is a railway track at Kurtalan, near this city, which runs all the way to Istanbul. There is also an airport near Batman.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Batman (city)."

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Batman Province

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Batman is a Turkish province in the south east of Anatolia. It was named after the Batman river, which flows though this area. The province is important because of its oil reserves and production. The oil refinery was founded in 1955. There is a 494 kilometers long oil pipeline from Batman to the Turkish town of Iskenderun. The province is also of interest from an archaeological point of view.

See also Batman (city) and Batman river.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Batman Province."

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Abbreviations & Acronyms: Batman

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Synonyms within Context: Batman

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Modern Usage: Batman

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Commercial Usage: Batman

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Image Slideshow: Batman

Computer Images: Batman More pictures...

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Photo Album: Batman

Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Comic book illustration showing the Joker standing over a Batman voodoo doll; in the background, a sledgehammer has smashed through a TV showing the World Trade Center towers on fire in New York City during the September 11th terrorist attack] / Pascual. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Batman
 

"Roller coaster - theme park" by Bobbie Osborne Commentary: "Location: Batman Ride. 6 flags theme park., St. Louis Missouri. Since I don't ride roller coasters often, I had the day to enjoy photographing them while waiting for the family to finish the rides. Camera: Sony DSC-F717."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Batman

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Usage Frequency: Batman

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Batman

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Expressions: Batman

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Batman

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Modern Translation: Batman

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Misspellings: Batman

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Rhyming with "Batman"

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Anagrams: Batman

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