Batman and Catwoman

Look Sexy In Catwoman Costumes

2011-07-02T05:34:00.000-05:00

If you are choosing your female super heroes costumes based on which one is the most powerful or has the best super powers, then you are probably not going to want to get a Cat Woman Halloween costume, after all there are certainly stronger super heroes and villains out there. However, if your choice of outfit is based on which super hero is the hottest, then this costume has got every chance of getting chosen.

There are some great looking female super heroes costumes out there, which you can purchase from specialist fancy dress websites online, including the very sexy Cat Woman Halloween costume. However, although the outfits that you can buy are pretty good as they are, you will probably need to purchase some cool accessories if you would like your costume to look super hot.

Below are five such accessories to help transform your Cat Woman Halloween costume into the sexiest of all female super heroes costumes.

The catwoman costumes are available in different colors, sizes and fabrics. You should have a look at the different costumes available so that you can go for the best quality. Internet sites are a very good option that you can use to find the different styles and designs of costumes available. You will find the costumes in different colors and you can always go for your favorite color. The most common design of the cat costume has got a top with halter straps that form a cross in the front part. There are different accessories that are included in the costume set. Some of the costume sets have got gloves, skirts, g string and hair band.

The good thing about the catwoman costumes is that they bring out your inner power. One thing that you will definitely love about the costume is that it complements your body. If you are the kind of woman who is not heavily endowed on the curves, this is the costume to go for. You can look stunning dressed in the costumes especially when you are attending a dress up party. You will make every head turn with this costume and lure men towards your way. The costume will compliment your slender curves.

The main challenge comes in to finding the right catwoman costumes. It is recommended that you should shop for the costumes online so that you can purchase them at a discounted price and also find the latest unique designs available. There are different online sites where you can purchase the costumes from. Some online sites will even offer you free shipping for the costumes.

Batman and Catwoman

5 Hottest Batman Action Figures

2010-07-14T02:37:00.000-05:00

Batman action figures have always been popular since the year of 1960 when they were launched first time. We all have seen Batman in movies, comics and animated t.v. series. Of all the action figures, there are more figure toys of Batman than any other character.

Toy companies like Hasbro and Kenner produces hundreds of Batman toys every year with so many variation. The Batman statue is liked by millions of people worldwide. People of all ages like Batman and toys.

Every time a new Batman movie or comic book is released, new Batman busts hit the market. The toy lines of Batman figures are named after the Batman movies or comic books. And the toys are dressed the same way as they are in the movie or comic book.

Batman is a favorite of all be it a kid or an office going person as every one admires and needs a hero in their lives.

5 Hottest Toys --

1. Batman Animated --

When 'Batman: The Animated Series' was released, Kenner produced a new line of toys that was based on this movie. With this line of figures, Kenner introduced some new villains like Clay face, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy. The collectible toys of this collection were a hit and they were selling like hot cakes. So, add Batman animated action figures to your collection.

2. Batman Dark Knight --

In the year of 2008, The Batman Dark Knight toy line was launched by toy manufacturer Mattel. The line of Batman dark knight action figures toys has 5 inches toys. You will find a cool Bruce Wayne figure with this range. The figure of the villain 'the Joker' has a cartoon-like face. The toys of this range come with Bat-Mobile and other gadgets.

3. Batman Joker --

The Joker is the main villain opposing Batman. You see him in movies and he is also present in the joker action figures. Action figures toys of the joker are liked above all the other villain figures. The Joker is very popular among the Batman fans as he heads the axis of all evils that opposes Batman.

4. Batman Hush --

'Batman hush' is a must for all the fans of Batman. Every fan should add this line of Batman statue to his collection. The inspiration behind this line of Batman action figures is the 'Hush' comic book story. The Hush is a story of a mysterious stalker 'Hush' and all he wants is to sabotage Batman.

5. Batman Begins --

The busts of toy line 'Batman Begins' are just great. This line was launched when the 'Batman Begins' movie was released in 2005. You can find action figures of 14" armed projectiles and other gadgets. Some figures come with Batarang and Speedbike too. This is really a special toy line.

Make these figures toys a part of your collection today.

Batman and Catwoman

Cats in Ancient Egypt

2010-06-14T05:11:00.003-05:00

Cats played an important role in Ancient Egypt. From protectors of their grain, to pets, to deities, cats' influence on Egyptian life was unmistakable. The popularity of Egyptian cats is reflected in the many Ancient Egyptian paintings and artifacts in which they appear.
Indeed, just the mention of cats and Egypt evokes beauty, mystery and supernatural imagery. Surely, cats and Egypt share a long, interesting history. Many cat experts believe that Ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate cats. At first, it was a practical matter.

Cats were brought in to protect granaries and homes from small vermin. Eventually though, Ancient Egyptians - especially the wealthy - started to adopt cats as pets.

Paintings on tombs and other buildings show spotted, slender cats, which are believed to be the first domestic cats. It is believed that these early Egyptian cats were the ancestors of the Egyptian Mau. Even though this breed is not as known as other cat breeds, its popularity is increasing.

Over time, cats in Ancient Egypt became part of the family. Ancient Egyptians held cats in such a high regard that they went into mourning whenever any of the family cats died. They even had them mummified.
Animals in general - and felines in particular - were so revered in Ancient Egypt that they became deities. However, according to many experts, Egyptians did not worship animals per se. Rather, they thought that animals embodied certain divine qualities and used animals to depict such attributes.
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Cats were believed to be direct representatives of Bastet, the cat goddess of protection, fertility and children. Bastet, also known as Bast, was depicted as a woman with the head of a cat or just as a desert cat. Priests would keep a cat in the temple in honor of the cat goddess.

The other feline goddesses were Sekhmet and Mafdet. Sekhmet was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness. She represented destructive power. Mafdet, the cheetah goddess, represented swift justice and judgment. She was also known as the panther goddess.
Egyptian cats surely conjure up images of ancient magic and mystery. If you or your cat loving friends love both cats and Egypt, you will be glad to know that you may find Egyptian-cat inspired artwork, collectibles and statues, both online and off. These make great cat lover gifts.

There are also books about the role cats played in Ancient Egypt and about the feline goddesses mentioned here. These too make great cat gifts.

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Batman and Catwoman

The Dark Knight DVD - Film Review

2010-06-01T03:45:00.000-05:00

The Dark Knight DVD - Film Review

FILM REVIEW: "The Dark Knight" is one of those exceptional films that makes you believe in the full realisation of the magic that can Hollywood deliver on the silver screen. With a few very minor caveats, this film is perfect. It has powerful storytelling, rich characterisation, strong drama and thrills, sensational sequences, all rolled in to a big budget Hollywood entertainment (and all for under a $200 million budget I might add!). It's hard to believe that such a description would be levelled at a film based on a comic book, and especially one that is as dark thematically as this one is. This is not a film based on smiles, sunshine and pretty rainbows like most Hollywood blockbusters are. This is a gritty, some times harsh crime saga where there are no real happy endings, and in that respect, its success, both critically and commercially, makes for an amazing piece of cinematic history.

Batman has ventured on to the big screen several times before, most recently in the excellent "Batman Begins", also directed by Christopher Nolan. With that film and "The Dark Knight", Nolan has effectively made the best Batman films ever. It's hard to see how it could get any better than this; unless of course Nolan makes a third Batman film, in which case, he has the potential to make one of the best trilogies in cinematic history. All of this is due to Nolan's strict adherence to the rich source material that made Batman such a memorable character in popular culture. Using that as a basis, Nolan and his team have created something truly memorable, and a film that can be watched countless times without losing the dramatic impact it conveys to you every time you watch it.

This film starts tonally where "Batman Begins" left off on the idea of escalation. In attempting to rid Gotham of its seedy underbelly of criminals, billionaire Bruce Wayne, in creating Batman, has raised the stakes. On the one hand, he has become a symbol of hope that people do not have to be afraid when they walk the streets. However, things are not all as they seem; having launched an assault on the criminal underworld, Batman inadvertently lays the groundwork for the emergence of the supervillain, The Joker. Not bound by any rules, The Joker seeks to bring chaos to order, and to show how pathetic and hypocritical the civilised people of Gotham are. With the Joker causing mayhem and destruction, Batman suddenly finds himself fighting an adversary who is not intimidated by him, beginning a heated battle where the soul of Gotham City is at stake.

"The Dark Knight" is complex, rich and satisfying. Much attention has been paid by Nolan and his screenwriters of ensuring that all aspects of the film come back to the major themes of hero versus villain within the context of escalation. As a result, the film delves in to those darker areas of the human psyche and dares to explore themes of how good people can turn bad if the circumstances are right. The Joker, as played so boldly and memorably by the late Heath Ledger, is the ultimate representation of escalation. Batman, played with an insatiable intensity by Christian Bale, finds himself pushed to the limit. In one crucial interrogation scene, Batman gets very rough with the Joker, but with no effect, as the Joker keeps laughing in his face, taunting him to cross the line. In that one scene, we see the look of desperation in Batman's eyes as he realises he has no power to control this homicidal maniac. It is in that creation of heightened drama that this film excels. Batman now has an equal, and he has to re-evaluate how to handle the Joker if he has any hope of defeating him.

Heath Ledger is absolutely brilliant in this film. He has created a villain in the Joker that easily rivals such impressive screen villains such as Hannibal Lecter. He electrifies the screen every time he appears, creating a character that is impossible not to keep watching, or to forget.

The Joker however, is not the only drawcard in this film. Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey Dent, who later becomes the villain Two-Face. His character has the most tragic narrative in the story, as his turn from Gotham's White Knight in to the villainous Two-Face is a result of the Joker's insane, but brilliant schemes to prove that even the best of people can be turned to bad. Much attention has been given to Heath Ledger's performance, but Eckhart deserves just as much praise as his creation of Harvey Dent/Two-Face is just as memorable.

The remainder of the cast are first rate, and they are afforded some great moments and through-lines in the plot. Gary Oldman does well as the straight-main Lt. Gordon. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman add much weight in their supporting roles as Alfred and Fox respectively.

Despite all these powerhouse performances, director Nolan does what Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher failed to do before him by creating a film where such performances do not overwhelm the film itself. The story contains layer after layer of intertwined complexity which completely envelope you as a viewer, leaving you on the edge of your seat all the way through its two and a half hour running time. The film itself is its strongest asset, not any individual component (eg like Jack Nicholson's take on the Joker in Tim Burton's "Batman"). The film has many spectacular set-pieces, and manages to go on location much more than its predecessor, including some great scenes in Hong Kong. "The Dark Knight" did not have a budget as high as some other blockbusters, but it somehow feels as if every cent that was spent on the production actually found its way on to the screen. On this point alone, the film deserves much praise.

The only real issue I had with the film was that Two-Face dies at the end of the film. From a narrative point of view, it has to happen, but it's a shame this character does not have a chance to continue in to the future as his development and execution is quite fascinating in this film. I felt that one of the major mistakes in the Burton/Schumacher Batman films was the idea of killing off the villains. Nolan chose right not to kill the Joker, but it's a shame Two-Face did not make it, even though it makes sense.

"The Dark Knight" is as close to perfect a film as you're going to get. Get it out now on DVD and prepare to be thrilled!

TECHNICAL REVIEW: Given the high profile nature of this film you would expect nothing short of perfection for the transfer and we are not disappointed. The visuals are stunning, sharp, clear and clean with great use of colour. The soundtrack thunders out of the home theatre system, and provides stunning detail, even in the quieter character moments. Overall, this is how films should be transferred to DVD.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The extras package is somewhat disappointing. The film is a masterpiece and it would have been great to see documentaries exploring what went in to the making of the film, but aside from a number of featurettes totally an hour in length which go through the laborious process of explaining the technical aspects of the production, there is nothing here that talks about the inspiration for the film, director's commentary on the story and themes, or even a tribute to the late Heath Ledger. The technical featurettes are okay, but they are a little dry and basically don't really offer anything we haven't seen before in technical featurettes, with the only two exceptions being the sections on IMAX filming and interviews with composer Hans Zimmer as he created the Joker theme.

Rounding out the extras include a series of news segments shot for the film but not used, all the IMAX sequences transferred in the original IMAX aspect ratio (but not all that interesting given you cannot get the IMAX effect on a DVD), all the trailers made for the film and a series of photo galleries which include concept and poster art, and production stills. Overall, there's enough to keep you watching for a while but nothing here gives you a strong insight in the film which is disappointing given the artistic and commercial success this film had and the interest of the cinematic public to know more about the detailed origins of the film and its execution.

Batman and Catwoman

Cat Woman Halloween Costume Look Hot

2010-04-28T09:51:00.001-05:00

Cat Woman Halloween costume, after all there are certainly stronger super heroes and villains out there. However, if your choice of outfit is based on which super hero is the hottest, then this costume has got every chance of getting chosen.
There are some great looking female super heroes costumes out there, which you can purchase from specialist fancy dress websites online, including the very sexy Cat Woman Halloween costume. However, although the outfits that you can buy are pretty good as they are, you will probably need to purchase some cool accessories if you would like your costume to look super hot.

Below are five such accessories to help transform your Cat Woman Halloween costume into the sexiest of all female super heroes costumes.

Get A Cat Accessory Kit For Your Outfit

The officially licensed cat accessory kit is certainly a must have purchase for your Cat Woman Halloween costume. The kit includes a great looking cat mask, which is held in place by an elastic string. The accessory kit also comes with a pair of glove-lets and claws.

Get A Whip For Your Outfit

Where would Cat Woman be without her faithful whip? More importantly, where would your Cat Woman Halloween costume be without this cool looking accessory? The 6' black bull whip makes the perfect accessory for your outfit.

Get A Themed Handbag For Your Outfit

A cat themed handbag from the Sophisticat range is just perfect to put all your necessary things, such as lipstick, loose change and mobile phone in. Have everything you need to be comfortable at the party, whilst staying in character.

Get Some Cat Nails And Eyelashes For Your Outfit

This is one costume where the nails and eyelashes are very much a part of the overall look. The cat nails and eyelashes from Sophisticats, which includes the necessary nail adhesive strips, are just perfect for your costume.

Get A Pair Of Sexy Knee High Boots For Your Outfit

As with many types of fancy dress outfits, the right footwear is essential with these particular female super heroes costumes. Strut your stuff with a pair of great looking black leather, knee high boots that will get all the men at the party purring when you walk in the room.

Batman and Cat woman

Batman and Catwoman

Batman Animated Series Cartoon Characters

2010-04-10T02:34:00.000-05:00

Batman Animated Series Cartoon Characters

Bruce adopts the Batman disguise in order to be able to fight crime under a hidden identity. Together with allies such as his butler, Alfred, his sidekick, Robin, his former partner, Nightwing, or the acrobatic Batgirl, Batman manages to fight crime and protect the innocent.

The Batman characters

Batman - although he has no superpowers, like most of the heroic crime fighters, Batman prowls the streets of Gotham City in a bat suit armed with intelligence and technology. The virtually unlimited wealth of Wayne Industries allows Bruce Wayne to purchase and adapt the most modern technological advancements that he can use when he is Batman. Our dark hero dedicates his entire life to striking evil when they least expect it.

Alfred - Batman's trusted friend has been a butler for the Wayne family for decades. Alfred took care of Bruce after his parents were murdered and he helps Batman solve both moral dilemmas and crimes with his sharp intelligence and impressive resourcefulness.

Robin II - when the original Robin decides to become Nightwing, Batman finds a new sidekick in the person of Tim Drake, a 13-year old who has all the skills that are required by this position. Robin is always there to help when Batman finds himself in danger.

Nightwing - Dick Grayson was Batman's first sidekick. He abandoned being Robin and became Nightwing and although he doesn't work together with Batman anymore, they are sometimes seen fighting for a common purpose.

Batgirl - Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon, decides to fight crime just like her father, but she adopts a more subtle approach and becomes Batgirl.

Commissioner Gordon - head of the Gotham City Police Department, Gordon is one of Batman's trusted allies, providing him with information. On the other hand, Commissioner Gordon also asks for Batman's help when the constrains of the law don't allow him to succeed in fighting crime.

Evil characters - the other side of the law is well portrayed in the Batman cartoon. With criminals such as Joker and his Harley Quinn assistant, or the infamous Two-Face, Batman and his allies have their hands full at all times.

Here are the actors that lend their voices to the Batman characters:

Kevin Conroy - Batman - Bruce Wayne

Loren Lester - Robin - Richard 'Dick' Grayson

Clive Revill - Alfred Pennyworth (On Leather Wings, Christmas with the Joker, and Nothing to Fear)

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. - Alfred Pennyworth

Bob Hastings - Commissioner Gordon

Robert Costanzo - Detective Harvey Bullock

Lloyd Bochner - Mayor Hamilton Hill

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Video games of Cat woman

2010-03-05T08:06:00.000-06:00

Video games of Cat woman

Catwoman (Game Boy Color)
In this 1999 side-scroller by Kemco, Catwoman is hired by Talia al Ghul to steal an ancient crystal skull from the Gotham City Museum. Talia's father Ra's al Ghul wants to use the skull to create a powerful weapon that will be capable of destroying an entire city.

LEGO Batman
Catwoman appears in LEGO Batman for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Wii, PC, and Xbox 360 as an enemy of Batman and a 1st deputy of the Penguin. She helped the Penguin steal a jewel but was defeated by Batman and Robin, but not before sharing a kiss with Batman, which Robin found disgusting. She later escaped jail and helped Penguin build a machine but again was defeated. She then went to Arkham again. She is shown as being very cat-like and proficient with a whip, as demonstrated when she snatches a fish from the Penguin's plate.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Catwoman appears as a fighter in the crossover fighting game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. She is played by Brenda Barrie and voiced by P.J. Mattson. She is classified as a villain in the game. Her first fatality has her wrapping her whip around her opponent's throat and dragging them to the ground where she then jumps on their back and pulls back on the whip breaking their neck, whilst her second fatality has her claw out her victims eyes before hurling them to the ground. Though her role in the game is small, her story begins as she is approached by The Flash after stealing from the Gotham Museum. Though he defeats her in combat, she reclaims her purloined jewel after an intervention from Kano, and whilst she makes her escape she gets pulled into a portal that teleports her to The Special Forces base in the Mortal Kombat universe.

Here, she finds Sonya Blade, and requests to use the base's portal to return to Gotham. Sonya defeats her in battle however, and locks her away in a cell. She is eventually set free when Lex Luthor is also captured, and they aid each other in escaping.

The two form an alliance, approaching both Deathstroke and The Joker and recruiting them for the battle against the invading warriors. With their help, she assists Batman and his allies in the battle against Dark Khan. Her game ending features her returning to Gotham City and discovering that due to the magical essence of the worlds merging, she now has the ability to transform into a black panther at will, enhancing her speed and strength. She uses these newfound powers to ensure she will never again be caged.

Cat woman on TV and Film

2010-03-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Television

1966 Batman series

Main article: Batman (TV series)

Catwoman was portrayed by Julie Newmar (in seasons 1 and 2) and Eartha Kitt (in season 3) in the live-action Batman television series of the 1960s, her first portrayal in a medium outside comic books. Lee Meriwether was cast in the 1966 motion picture spinoff that was produced between the series' first and second seasons, after producers learned that Newmar was unavailable.An uncredited fourth actress played Catwoman as part of a cameo villain team-up in "The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra," the penultimate episode of the series.

In the Australian sketch comedy series Fast Forward, Batman was one of the many television series parodied. Newmar's portrayal of Catwoman was parodied by Gina Riley, now famous for Kath & Kim.

Birds of Prey

Selina Kyle appears, through flashbacks depicting her death, in the pilot episode of the 2002 television series Birds of Prey. The show featured Batman and Catwoman's daughter, the Huntress, also known as Helena Kyle.

Maggie Baird portrayed Catwoman; in contrast to the comic book version, she is a metahuman. It is also mentioned that her sudden death (along with the paralyzing of Barbara Gordon at the hands of the Joker) sent Batman into self-imposed isolation.

Film

Batman Returns

Main article: Batman Returns

Catwoman was portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1992 movie Batman Returns. As recreated by Daniel Waters and Tim Burton, The Catwoman origin story is something of a variation on Catwoman (vol.1).

Here, Selina Kyle is depicted as the lonely, frustrated yet dutiful and efficient secretary of corrupt tycoon Max Shreck. After she accidentally discovers his plot to build a power plant that would steal Gotham's electricity, Shreck pushes her out the window of his top story office.

Movie poster for Batman Returns (1992) featuring Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

Mysteriously resuscitated by a group of alley cats after Shreck pushes her out a window, Selina Kyle's repressed rage allows her to transform into the clever supervillain Catwoman. She supposedly gains a super-natural power based on the superstition of cats having nine lives, saving her from death 8 times throughout the film. Shortly following her transformation, she joins forces with The Penguin.

As a masked vigilante operating under the guise of a theatrical public identity, Catwoman finds a reflection of herself in Batman, and around the same time, as Selina, falls in love and begins a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne. In the ballroom scene, to Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Face to Face," the two masked crimefighters, Batman and Catwoman, dressed as their alter egos Bruce and Selina, discover each other's secret identities. In the film's climax, she electrocutes Shreck by kissing him with a taser in her mouth, after being shot multiple times and vanishes in the ensuing explosion after stating that she would still have one more life left for 'next Christmas'. Batman is unable to find her body, and she is presumed dead. She is seen one last time at the end of the film, however, looking at the Bat-Signal in the sky, confirming that she did indeed survive.

Catwoman is briefly mentioned by Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever, stating she has done her homework on Batman, that he likes "strong women", and asks teasingly if "she needs skin-tight vinyl and a whip." Catwoman was to get her own film, where Michelle Pfeiffer was to reprise her role but the film lingered in development limbo for years and then became 2004's Catwoman starring Halle Berry. A reference of Michelle is seen in the Halle Berry film in the scene where Sophia shows Patience the many "CATWOMEN" and throws pictures on the floor, Michelle as Catwoman being one of them.

Catwoman

Halle Berry as Catwoman in the 2004 film.

Main article: Catwoman (film)

In 2004, Catwoman, a movie starring Halle Berry, was released. This film's Catwoman bore little resemblance to the comic book version. Berry portrayed Patience Phillips, a woman who eventually became Catwoman after a near-death experience. Patience gained powers (which she does not have in the comics) from the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet through a gathering of cats led by an Egyptian Mau.

The movie alludes to other women in the past who have been granted such cat-like abilities, particularly in a scene in which Patience finds herself amongst a series of images of prior Catwomen, including Pfeiffer's Batman Returns version of Selina Kyle.

The film's story has nothing to do with Batman or Gotham City.
Berry won the 2005 Razzie award for worst actress in a film for her role as Catwoman, and accepted the prize in person. She was only the third Razzie winner (following director Paul Verhoeven, director of Showgirls; and Tom Green, star of Freddy Got Fingered) ever to do so. She brought her Monster's Ball Oscar with her for her acceptance speech.

Nolan series

After Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, screenwriters David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan said a third film would not include Catwoman; however, some actors have publicly expressed interest. Kate Beckinsale expressed interest in the role in 2007 and Charlize Theron also expressed interest in the part.

Return to the Batcave

In the TV movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt, Julia Rose appeared as Catwoman and the young Julie Newmar. Both Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether appeared in the TV movie as well.

Animation

Catwoman has been a major character in almost all of Batman's animated series.
Her first animated appearance was with Batman in segments of the 1968 series The Batman/Superman Hour wearing her green costume of that time period. In this series, she was voiced by Jane Webb. She also appeared in four episodes of The New Adventures of Batman cartoon in the 1970s, in which she was voiced by Melendy Britt.

DC Animated Universe

Batman: The Animated Series

Main article: Batman: The Animated Series

Catwoman, and Isis, as seen in Batman: The Animated Series.

Catwoman appeared on Batman: The Animated Series wearing an all gray outfit. Voiced by Adrienne Barbeau in both 1992's Batman: The Animated Series, and its revamp in The New Batman Adventures (as well as the 2000s online animated series Gotham Girls), Selina Kyle is shown to be a socialite and animal rights activist, which attracts the attention of Bruce Wayne when he's not contending with her as Batman. Catwoman also flirts with Nightwing in "You Scratch My Back". However, at the end of the episode, it's revealed that she was just using Nightwing in order to steal an artifact.

In many of the episodes featuring Kyle, she is accompanied by her assistant named Maven, who aids both of Kyle's identities. She also is shown to keep many cats, among those is her favorite cat Isis who would appear there and in later series such as The New Batman Adventures. As Catwoman's cat, she even fought the dogs of Superman and Batman, as well as Streaky the Supercat, on Krypto the Superdog, a cartoon made by the same people who made the DCAU.

Initially, Kyle had blonde hair, coinciding with the release of Batman Returns, in which she was portrayed by blonde actress Michelle Pfeiffer. In the revamp, she appears to have shorter black hair. Whether her hair was dyed or her natural color was never made clear in the series itself, however in the episode "Tyger, Tyger", Kyle becomes a cat/woman hybrid and her hair (or rather fur) is blonde, thanks to genetic engineering by Dr. Emile Dorian. In the related comic book series, it is explained that after learning that her hair dye was tested on animals, she drops the brand and tries, unsuccessfully, to change the views of the manager of the company.

Finally, in a seven-minute short film called Chase Me (written by Paul Dini and released with the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman DVD), Batman catches her stealing from one of Bruce Wayne's buildings and apprehends her.

Like all other characters, Catwoman would have a new design during The New Batman Adventures. Her new in-costume animated appearance also changed when the show's animation style did, becoming more like the Michelle Pfeiffer version, with a black costume, slimmer build, and white face makeup (despite her hair now black). Details on her change are explored in Batman: Gotham Adventures #4.

Batman Beyond

In 1999, Selina Kyle was wistfully mentioned in the Batman Beyond episode "Dead Man's Hand" by Bruce Wayne to Terry McGinnis when Terry asks Bruce if he ever fell in love with a female criminal as he did with Ten of the Royal Flush Gang.

Justice League Unlimited

In 2005, Selina Kyle comes up again in a conversation between Terry McGinnis and Bruce Wayne in the television series, Justice League Unlimited within a dream sequence. In "Epilogue", Terry McGinnis tells Bruce Wayne that Selina loved him, but that Bruce gave up on her, due to his persistent devotion to "the mission". Bruce claims it was because she didn't have "the heart" to stick to the mission, which can be interpreted as that at some point Selina had reformed and joined the Bat family. As McGinnis referred Selina by her first name, it is safe to assumed that he met her at some point after the final episode of Batman Beyond offscreen.

The Batman Adventures

In the comic series The Batman Adventures, Selina is featured in issue #10; in the back up story she breaks into a vault at the Wayne Manor during Bruce's New Year's Ball. After she has left the scene, Bruce tells Robin and Alfred that he felt betrayed, stating that he was the only one of Gotham's high society not to shun her after she was unmasked. He is reassured of her friendship, however, when he finds she has stolen nothing and has left him a card stating her New Year's resolution is to stay on the right side of the law. After Robin questions her sincerity, Bruce states that he believes she will keep her promise.

The Batman

Catwoman, as seen in The Batman.

Catwoman has also appeared on The Batman, voiced by Gina Gershon. Her design is slightly altered, having large ears and orange goggles that resemble cat's eyes. Another modification is her hood, which can be pulled up to hide the lower half of her face. Catwoman is also given exaggerated claws on her gloves.

The rest of her suit is black, with the exception of her red "paws". She carries her whip around her waist that hangs like a tail. In her civilian identity of Selina Kyle, she has long black hair and blue eyes, instead of her more traditional green eyes. Selina's day job is as a charity fund raiser, in which capacity she meets Bruce Wayne. She flirts with Batman, and in her first appearance steals his utility belt, accidentally gaining control of a giant bat-robot and wrecking the Batcave. In later episodes, she teams up with the Penguin, fights Rag Doll, and tries to help Batman against the Joker. In her final appearance, she is kidnapped by Rumor, but gets away.

Krypto the Superdog

As stated above, in the animated cartoon series Krypto the Superdog, Catwoman's pet cat Isis is a recurring foe of Krypto, Streaky the Supercat, and Ace the Bat-Hound. However, unlike her DCAU counterpart, Isis is portrayed as a siamese cat rather than a black cat.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Catwoman appears in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Nika Futterman. In "Legends of the Dark-Mite", she makes a cameo as one of the villains in Bat-Mite's imagination. In "Hail of the Tornado Tyrant", she makes a silent appearance in the teaser after Batman and Green Arrow chase Joker, and robs a museum while escaping in a panther airplane. Prior to the sequel teaser, they get knocked out.

The episode "Inside the Outsiders" is a sequel to this teaser, where Batman and Green Arrow are trapped by Catwoman and her henchmen. Catwoman flirts with Batman, while he hopes to rehabilitate her, and Green Arrow watches in disgust. They both escape and defeat her and the henchmen, but Catwoman escapes, though leaves her number with Batman, telling him to "call her." She reappears in "Death Race To Oblivion" as one of the heroes and villains kidnapped by Mongul and forced into his race across the desert.

Utilizing a high-tech "Catmobile" equipped with various weapons and gadgets, Catwoman attempts to knock the Huntress out of the race by destroying her motorcycle. Unfortunately for her, Huntress outsmarts her and Catwoman ends up being taken out herself when her car is forced off a cliff. At the end of the episode, she and the rest of the villains are shown captured in a sphere created by Guy Gardner's power ring.

Catwoman, the series

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Catwoman, the series

In 1993, following the success of Batman Returns, Catwoman was given her first ongoing comic book series. This series, written by an assortment of writers but primarily penciled by Jim Balent, generally depicted the character as an international thief (and occasional bounty hunter) with an ambiguous moral code.
Storylines include her adoption of teenage runaway, and erstwhile sidekick, Arizona; aiding Bane, whom she later betrays to Azrael; and a stint as a reluctant government operative. The series also fleshes out more of her origin, revealing her beginnings as a young thief, her difficult period in juvenile incarceration, and her training with Ted "Wildcat" Grant.

Moving to New York, Selina becomes corporate vice president then CEO of Randolf Industries, a mafia-influenced company, through blackmail. She plans to use this position to run for Mayor of New York City, but her hopes are dashed when the Trickster inadvertently connects her to her criminal alter ego.
Selina then returns to Gotham City, which at this time is in the midst of the No Man's Land storyline.

As Catwoman, she assists Batman against Lex Luthor in the reconstruction of the city. After being arrested by Commissioner Gordon, she escapes from prison. Later that year during the Officer Down storyline in the Batman titles, Catwoman is initially the chief suspect. Although later cleared, she displays increasingly erratic behavior throughout the story. Soon afterward, she disappears and is believed to have been killed by the assassin Deathstroke the Terminator (this storyline also appears in The New Teen Titans Vol #2 and can also be found in the animated series Teen Titans), ending her series at #94.

Catwoman then appears in a series of backup stories in Detective Comics #759-#762. In a backup storyline Trail of the Catwoman, by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke, private detective Slam Bradley attempts to find out what really happened to Selina Kyle. This storyline leads in to the newest Catwoman series in late 2001 (written by Brubaker initially with Cooke, later joined by artist Cameron Stewart). In this series, Selina Kyle, joined by new supporting cast members Holly and Slam Bradley (a character from the early Golden Age DC Comics), becomes protector of the residents of Gotham's East End, while still carrying out an ambitious career as a cat burglar.

During the Hush storyline (Batman #608-#619), Batman and Catwoman briefly work together and have a romantic relationship, during which he reveals his true identity to her. At the end, he breaks off their relationship when he suspects it has been manipulated by the Riddler and Hush. This is the second story to establish that she knows Batman's true identity. In an early '80s story line, Selina and Bruce develop a relationship. The concluding story features a closing panel in which she refers to Batman as "Bruce". A change in editorial team at that point, however, brought a swift end to that storyline and, apparently, all that transpired during the arc. When Catwoman appears again, no mention whatsoever is ever made of the notion that she knows who Batman actually is.

In the Justice League story arc Crisis of Conscience, Catwoman fights alongside Batman and the League against the old Secret Society, of which she had once briefly been a member.

Mindwiping revelations

Catwoman appears to be completely reformed, and her love for Batman true (although brash and unpredictable). However, she has learned her reformation was the result of a mindwipe by Zatanna, a procedure known to deeply affect and, in at least one case, physically incapacitate its victims. Zatanna gives no reason for her actions, but in a flashback, it is shown that she had acted with the consent and aid of five of the seven JLA members who had helped her mindwipe Dr. Light and Batman. Catwoman's response to this revelation is unequivocal: she duct-tapes Zatanna's mouth shut and pitches her out a window (Zatanna survives the fall).

Afterwards, she is seen covering her bed with past versions of her Catwoman costume.
Still unbalanced and uncertain of herself in issue #52, Selina is forced to decide whether to kill a supervillain. The Black Mask, in an attempt to "improve himself," threatens the most important people in Selina's life, from Slam Bradley to Holly. The villain had also previously tortured Selina's sister Maggie into a catatonic state and murdered Maggie's husband, earning Catwoman's ire. Black Mask learns Selina's identity through his earlier alliance with Selina's childhood friend Sylvia, who still harbors a grudge against Selina. Still thinking that Selina adheres to a strict no-kill rule, Black Mask is caught by surprise when Selina shoots him in the head.

This action continues to haunt her throughout the One Year Later storyline, and it is suggested that this might have been the first time she had ever directly taken a life.

As a mother

Selina Kyle with her child, Helena (2006). Pencils by David Lopez.

Following the events of Infinite Crisis, the DC Universe jumps forward in time. "One Year Later" Selina Kyle is no longer Catwoman, has left the East End, and has given birth to a daughter named Helena. The father of her new daughter is initially unknown, however Batman demonstrates great concern for the child and at one point asks to have Helena stay at his mansion. Selina attempts to live a safe and somewhat normal life, and gives up her more dangerous ways of living as Catwoman. Holly Robinson takes over as the new Catwoman while Selina, living under the alias Irena Dubrovna, turns her attention to caring for her daughter (Selina's alias was inspired by the name of the main character in the 1942 film Cat People).

Though she takes her role as a new mother quite seriously, Selina dons the costume for a run through the East End some days after Helena's birth. Having understandably gained a few pounds, Selina finds that her costume is now a tighter fit. In addition, she is easily distracted by a common criminal. Although the situation is defused through Holly's opportune arrival, the sight of two Catwomen active simultaneously in the city is caught on video. Selina returns home from her adventure to find that the mysterious movie aficionado Film Freak has deduced her alias, joined with Angle Man, and grabbed Helena. After rescuing her daughter, Selina convinces Zatanna to mind-wipe Film Freak and Angle Man in order to preserve her secret identity. Following the procedure, Angle Man turns himself in to the authorities; Film Freak, however, embarks upon a murderous rampage.

A twist occurs when Ted Grant informs Selina that Holly has been arrested for the murder of Black Mask; Selina infiltrates the police station and frees Holly. Finally defeating Film Freak, Selina returns home to find that Bradley has deduced that Helena is the daughter of his son Sam Bradley Jr., and therefore his granddaughter.

Batman asks Catwoman to infiltrate the violent tribe of Bana Amazons during the Amazons Attack! crossover. Posing as a criminal, Selina gains the Bana's trust and thwarts a terror attack aimed at causing mass casualties in Gotham City.

Selina questions whether she should be raising a daughter when her life as Catwoman has already proven to be such a danger to the child. After enlisting Batman's help in faking the death of both herself and her daughter, Selina puts Helena up for adoption. A month after Helena is placed with a new family, Catwoman asks Zatanna to erase her memories of Helena and change her mind back to a criminal mentality.

Zatanna refuses, judging that such an act would be cruel to both mother and daughter. She tells Selina that she could never reverse Selina's mindset, since she was on the path to becoming a hero on her own. Believing she can no longer function as a criminal, Selina decided to become one of Batman's Outsiders.
She quickly quits, however, and was replaced by Batgirl.

Salvation Run

In Salvation Run #2, Catwoman is sent to the Prison Planet. She allies herself with Lex Luthor in an attempt to return to Earth, and mistakenly ends up on an alternate universe-Earth where Catwoman is a notorious villain. It is later revealed that this Earth is a creation of her own mind, and she has not left Prison Planet. When accused of being a traitor by Luthor, she reveals Martian Manhunter is posing as Blockbuster, which would soon lead to the hero's death.

Using the trust she regained in Luthor's eyes, she earns a passage to the "real" Earth, in a jury-rigged teleport machine built by Luthor for letting the villains escape. On Earth, she resumes being a hero, with occasional lapses into thievery by commission, simply for the thrill of it.
The current volume of Catwoman concluded with issue #82, and details a cat-and-mouse chase between Batman and Catwoman across Gotham city rooftops, ending with Selina stealing the Batmobile.

Heart of Hush

Later, in "Detective Comics", uncertain if she should pursue her "relationship" with Batman, Selina talks with Bruce about Jezebel Jet, his current girlfriend, and then has a pep talk with Zatanna, whom she believes is also courting Bruce. Zatanna confirms and admits her feelings, adding that she has since chosen to forgo them, but encourages Selina to open her heart to Bruce before Jet is able to "seal the deal".

Hush eavesdrops on the conversation, targeting both women as a way to hurt his enemy, Bruce Wayne.
In Detective Comics #848, Hush attacks Selina, surgically removing her heart. She is delivered anonymously to a Gotham hospital. Batman receives word of her situation, and while he goes in search of Hush, he leaves Selina in the care of Doctor Mid-Nite, who is considered the superhero community's chief doctor.

Batman recovers her heart, and Dr Mid-Nite restores it to her body; however, the doctor also makes a prognosis on whether she can still return to her former life swinging through rooftops. While Selina is still in a coma, she encounters Zatanna, who apologizes for not warning her about Hush. She tells Selina that she was so happy about her relationship with Bruce that she ignored the other warnings in the cards. Zatanna gives her a little bottle supposedly containing aloe vera for her post-op scars.

It is hinted that there is a little magic in there to help Selina with her recovery. Selina is sad that she might end up alone again. In the meantime, Bruce enters the recovery room and, believing her unconscious, launches into a soliloquy. He goes as far as declaring that she was the only woman who has ever held his heart. He ends by telling Selina that he will always love her, when she opens her eyes and reveals to him that she was awake all the time and heard his confession.

Batman R.I.P.

As for the events of Batman R.I.P., their romance lasts only for a night because Bruce must continue to pose as Jezebel's lover to bring down the Black Glove. While still recuperating, Selina pulls off one more heist and exacts her revenge on Hush. With the help of a few allies on both sides — Oracle, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Slam Bradley — she taps into Thomas Elliot's assets, leaving him penniless and suffering from the wounds suffered at Batman's hand.

Battle for the Cowl

In Batman: Battle for the Cowl, Selina is seen as one of the members of Nightwing and Robin's contingency team known as "The Network", where she is seen taking down a gang of thugs before seeing someone, presumably Tim Drake, dressed in a Batman uniform and is initially taken by surprise.

Batman Reborn/Gotham City Sirens

In the first issue of Gotham City Sirens Selina runs into Bonebuster, a new villain trying to make a name for himself, and is saved by Poison Ivy. Selina, fearing the many dangers of a post-Batman Gotham, proposes that she, Ivy, and Harley Quinn team up, living together at a single base.

Ivy agrees under one condition: using home-grown drugs to weaken Kyle's resistance, Ivy demands the identity of the true Batman. In it she flashes back 3 years when Talia requested her presence in Tibet. There she made it so Selina would not relinquish the true ID of Batman under any circumstances. After the interrogation is over and Selina sees Harley with Bruce Wayne on TV Catwoman says to Poison Ivy she knows it is Hush in disguise.

Blackest Night

During the events of Blackest Night, Selina is attacked by Black Mask after he has been reborn as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. After he tells her that he plans on getting an emotional response before killing her, Selina steals a car and heads to the mental institution where Maggie is held, believing Black Mask is coming for her. Black Mask attacks the institution, and somehow awakens Maggie from her coma. Selina arrives in time to help her sister flee into the sewers.

While on the run, Maggie angrily tells Selina that she ruined both of their lives the day she decided to become Catwoman. Devastated by her sister's statement, Selina fails to realize they have both been heading for a trap. Just as Black Mask is about to gouge Maggie's eyes out and shove them down Selina's throat, Harley and Ivy arrive and defeat the Black Lantern by trapping him in the stomach of a man-eating plant. Selina is helped to her feet by her friends, who tell her that Maggie has fled the scene.

The next day, the staff members of the mental institution are shown discussing Maggie's escape, also mentioning that a nun that works at the hospital had been found beaten and stripped of her uniform. Maggie is then shown in the depths of the Gotham City sewers clad in the bloodied nun robes, muttering about her plan to kill Catwoman in order to free Selina's soul.

Equipment

Weapons

During the Silver Age, Catwoman, like most Batman villains, used a variety of themed weapons, vehicles, and equipment, such as a custom cat-themed car called the "Cat-illac". This usage also appeared in the 1960s Batman TV series. In her post-Crisis appearances, Catwoman's favored weapon is a whip. She wields both a standard bullwhip and the cat o' nine tails with expert proficiency.

She uses the whip because it is a weapon that the user must be trained to use, and therefore it can not be taken from her and used against her in a confrontation. She can also be seen using a pistol against people if her whip is taken from her. In addition, Catwoman has been shown to have various items to restrain her victims, such as a set of plastic ties for binding hands and feet, and a roll of duct tape used to gag her targets, like she did with Angle Man, Film Freak, Zatanna, and various others during her robberies over the years.

Costume

Catwoman, in her first appearance, wore no costume or disguise at all, and it was not until her next appearance that she donned a mask, which was a theatrically face-covering cat-mask that had the appearance of a real cat, rather than a more stylized face mask seen in her later incarnations. Later, she wore a dress with a hood that came with ears, and still later, a catsuit with attached boots and either a domino or glasses-mask. In the 1960s, Catwoman's catsuit was green in color, which was typical of villains of that era. In the 1990s, she usually wore a skintight purple catsuit, before switching to a black PVC catsuit that recalls Michelle Pfeiffer's costume in Batman Returns (except not stitched together).

In recent years, artists' depictions have usually alternated between those two costumes. Ed Brubaker, the writer behind the 2001 revamp of the character, has stated that Selina's current costume was inspired by Emma Peel's iconic leather catsuit in The Avengers TV series. It has a more high tech look, with domino-shaped infrared goggles on her cowl.

Many of her costumes have incorporated retractable metal claws on the fingertips of her gloves and sometimes on the toes of her boots. On rare occasions, she has also sported a cat's tail.
Holly Robinson uses the same costume Selina used prior to Infinite Crisis.

Modern Age version of Catwoman

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Modern Age version of Cat woman

Tangled origins

Catwoman's origin — and, to an extent, her character — was revised in 1986 when writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli published Batman: Year One, a revision of Batman's origin. In this version, Selina Kyle is reintroduced as an independent and more modern minded woman.

She is a prostitute in order to survive and wants to break away from her abusive pimp (and former boyfriend). She witnesses his crimes and because of an event which occurs to her (nun) sister, fears for her sisters' life and begins to study self defense and martial arts.

Her teacher inspires Selina to become more than what she has been and she realizes that prostitution is no life for her or for "Holly". Holly Robinson is a young runaway who idolizes Selina, but is much too young to be on the streets as far as Selina is concerned.

Selina shares her home with Holly after she takes her in. As the story progresses Selina is led to a bit of burglary, she dons a catsuit costume that her now former pimp gave to her the day that she told him she was out of the business.

After costuming herself so as not to be revealed, she gets a taste for burglary and begins to do it in more of a Robin Hood way than an actual thief. This is, however, how she runs into Batman. After a small confrontation, she begins to be inspired to stay in her costume and become the "catwoman" after seeing Batman in action with others.

Selina gets the idea that if there is a "bat" why can't there be a "cat"?
The 1989 Catwoman limited series (collected in trade paperback form as Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper) by writer Mindy Newell and artist J.J. Birch expanded on Miller's Year One origin. Her Sister's Keeper explores Selina's early life as a prostitute and the start of her career as Catwoman.

The story culminates with Selina's former pimp Stan abducting and violently abusing her sister Maggie who, in contrast to Selina, is a nun. Selina kills Stan to save her sister, and gets away with it. Most of this is revealed in the former series but is expanded in "Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper".

Portions of Her Sister's Keeper and the Year One origin conceived by Miller remain canonical to Catwoman’s origin, while other portions have been dropped over the years. It has been implied that Her Sister's Keeper was rendered non-canonical by the events of Zero Hour, and subsequent writers have rejected Miller's choice to make the post-Crisis Catwoman a prostitute. In an attempt to harmonize the various versions, some writers have posited that Catwoman, early in her career, pretended to be a prostitute in order to scam lonely men and rob them.

However, characters associated with Catwoman's past as a prostitute have remained a part of her supporting cast. Holly, from Batman: Year One, and her sister Maggie (from Her Sister's Keeper) have appeared regularly in the Catwoman series. Some elements of Her Sister's Keeper remain clearly non-canonical, however, such as references to her father only recently dying.

In this version, she has gymnastic and martial arts training, which is perfect when it comes to leaping roof to roof, or taking down whoever stands in her way. With her gymnastic background, Selina quickly learns martial arts at the instruction of the "Armless Master" who clearly inspires her greatly. Her mother, Maria, shows great interest and approval, as well as support, in the gymnastic phase of Selina's life.

Catwoman (vol. 1) #0, which provides details about Selina's childhood, neglects Maggie's existence. Maria Kyle is a distant parent who preferred to spend her time with cats, and commits suicide when Selina is very young. Her alcoholic father, Brian, is cold to Selina for resembling her mother (whom he resents for dying), and eventually drinks himself to death.

To survive, Selina takes to the streets for a time before being caught and sent first to an orphanage, then juvenile hall (Catwoman (vol. 1) #0), "where Selina began to see how hard the world could really be" (Catwoman Secret Files and Origins). Maggie's fate at this point in the time-line is not alluded to. However, when Ed Brubaker reintroduces her into the comic, he implies that Maggie may have directly entered an orphanage and promptly been adopted.

When she is 13, Selina discovers that the hall's administrator has been embezzling funds, and confronts her. In an attempt to cover up his crime, the administrator puts Selina in a bag and drops her in a river to drown (like a cat). Selina escapes and returns to the orphanage, where she steals documents exposing the administrator's corruption. She uses this information to blackmail the administrator into erasing "Selina Kyle" from the city's records, then steals the administrator's diamond necklace, and escapes the orphanage.

Selina eventually finds herself in "Alleytown - a network of cobblestone streets that form a small borough between the East End and Old Gotham".Selina is taken in by "Mama Fortuna", the elderly leader of a gang of young thieves, and is taught how to steal. Fortuna treats her students like slaves, keeping their earnings for herself. Selina eventually runs away, accompanied by her friend Sylvia. However, the two have difficulty surviving on their own, and in desperation try to support themselves by working as prostitutes.

Sylvia attracts at least one client; Selina apparently never does. The two drift apart afterward, with Sylvia coming to resent Selina for not inquiring about what had happened to her at the hands of her abusive first client.

In the Catwoman: Year One story, Selina (now an adult) achieves some success as a thief. Following a disastrous burglary, however, she accepts an offer to "lay low" by posing as a dominatrix in the employ of a pimp named Stan. They plan to trick men into divulging information that might be used in future crimes.

According to this storyline, Selina trains under the Armless Master of Gotham City, receiving education in martial arts and culture. During this time, a client gives her a cat o' nine tails, which Selina kept as a trophy of her time posing as a hooker.

Batman: Dark Victory, the sequel to The Long Halloween, implies that Catwoman suspects she is the illegitimate daughter of Mafia boss Carmine Falcone, although she finds no definitive proof. Selina's connection to the Falcone family is further explored in the miniseries Catwoman: When in Rome. Though the story adds more circumstantial evidence to the theory of Selina's Falcone heritage, it supplies no definitive proof.

Catwoman also appears in the Knightfall saga, where she is approached by Bane's henchmen while robbing a house. Bane asks her to work for him, but she refuses, as she is repulsed by the criminal who "broke" Batman. Later in the story, she boards a plane with Bruce Wayne to fly to Santa Prisca.
She next appears in the Knightquest saga.

Golden and Silver Age versions of Cat woman

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Golden and Silver Age versions of Cat woman

Selina Kyle's first appearance as The Cat in Batman #1 (Spring 1940).

Catwoman — then called "

The Cat" — first appears in Batman #1 as a mysterious burglar and jewel thief, revealed at the end of the story to be a young, attractive woman (unnamed in the first story). Although the story does not have her wearing her iconic catsuit, it establishes her core personality as a femme fatale who both antagonizes and attracts Batman.

Batman #62 revealed that Catwoman (after a blow to the head jogged her memory) is an amnesiac flight attendant who had turned to crime after suffering a prior blow to the head during a plane crash she survived (although in the one of the last issues of The Brave and the Bold, she admits that she made up the amnesia story because she wanted a way out of the past life of crime).

She reforms for several years, helping out Batman in Batman #65 and #69, until she decides to return to a life of crime in Detective Comics #203. Selina appears again as a criminal in Batman #84 (June 1954) and Detective Comics #211 (September 1954) for her final appearance until 1966. This was mostly due to her possible violation of the developing Comics Code Authority's rules for portrayal of female characters that started in 1954.

In the 1970s comics, a series of stories taking place on Earth-Two (the parallel Earth that was retroactively declared as the home of DC's Golden Age characters) reveal that on that world, Selina reformed in the 1950s (after the events of Batman #69) and had married Bruce Wayne; soon afterwards, she gave birth to the couple's only child, Helena Wayne (the Huntress).

The Brave and the Bold #197 elaborates upon the Golden Age origin of Catwoman given in Batman #62, after Selina reveals that she never actually had amnesia. It is revealed that Selina Kyle had been in an abusive marriage, and eventually decides to leave her husband. However, her husband keeps her jewelry in his private vault, and she has to break into it to retrieve it. Selina enjoys this experience so much she decides to become a professional costumed cat burglar, and thus begins a career that repeatedly leads to her encountering Batman.

The Earth-Two/Golden Age Selina Kyle eventually dies in the late 1970s after being blackmailed by a criminal into going into action again as Catwoman (as shown in DC Super-Stars #17).
Catwoman made her first Silver Age appearance in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #70
(November 1966); afterwards, she continued to make appearances across the various Batman comics.

Several stories in the 1970s featured Catwoman committing murder, something that neither the Earth-One nor Earth-Two versions of her would ever do; this version of Catwoman was assigned to the alternate world of Earth-B, an alternate Earth that included stories that couldn't be considered canonical on Earth-One or Earth-Two.

Character and publication history of Cat woman

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Character and publication history of Cat woman

There have been many versions of Catwoman's origins and backstory seen in the comic books over the decades. Overall, Catwoman or Selina Kyle still remains as the most popular female character in the Batman Universe.

Creation

Batman's creator, Bob Kane, was a great movie fan and his love for film provided the impetus for several Batman characters, among them, Catwoman. She was partially inspired by 1930's film star Jean Harlow who at Kane's then-early and "impressionable age ... seemed to personify feminine pulchritude at its most sensuous." Wanting to give his Batman comic books sex appeal and someone who could appeal to female readers as a female Batman, Kane and writer Bill Finger created a "friendly foe who committed crimes but was also a romantic interest in Batman's rather sterile life."

She was meant to give a love interest and to engage Batman in a chess game with him trying to reform her. At the same time this character was meant to be different from other Batman villains like the Joker in that she was never a killer or completely evil.
As for using cat imagery with their Catwoman, Kane states he and Bill Finger saw cats "were kind of the antithesis of bats."

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I felt that women were feline creatures and men were more like dogs. While dogs are faithful and friendly, cats are cool, detached, and unreliable. I felt much warmer with dogs around me--cats are as hard to understand as women are. Men feel more sure of themselves with a male friend than a woman. You always need to keep women at arm's length. We don't want anyone taking over our souls, and women have a habit of doing that. So there's a love-resentment thing with women. I guess women will feel that I'm being chauvinistic to speak this way, but I do feel that I've had better relationships with male friends than women. With women, once the romance is over, somehow they never remain my friends.

Catwoman Review

2010-03-05T07:34:00.000-06:00

Catwoman Review

Catwoman
Cover to Catwoman: Nine Lives of a Feline Fatale (June 2004), depicting various Catwoman costumes from the character's history. Art by Brian Bolland.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman #1

Cat Woman

    Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. The supervillain was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's second cousin by marriage, Ruth Steel .^[

   The original and most widely known Catwoman, Selina Kyle, first appears in Batman #1 (Spring 1940) in which she is known as The Cat. As an adversary of Batman, she was a whip-carrying burglar with a taste for high-stake thefts.

For many years Catwoman thrived but from September 1954 to November 1966 she took an extended hiatus due to the newly developing Comics Code Authority in 1954.

These issues involved the rules regarding the development and portrayal of female characters that were in violation with the Comic Code.

   Since the 1990s, Catwoman has been featured in an eponymous series that cast her as an antihero rather than a supervillain. The character has been one of Batman's most enduring love interests, and is almost always depicted as his one true love. Many modern writers have also interpreted her activities and costumed identity as a response to a history of abuse.

A popular figure, Catwoman has been featured in most media adaptations related to Batman. Actresses Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, and Eartha Kitt introduced her to a large audience on the 1960s Batman television series and the 1966 Batman motion picture. Michelle Pfeiffer portrayed the character in 1992's Batman Returns. Halle Berry starred in a stand-alone Catwoman film in 2004, which was a complete box-office flop, although only loosely based on the Batman character.

Catwoman was ranked #11 in IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains Of All Time List. She was also ranked #51 on Wizard magazine's "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list.

Homosexual interpretations on Batman Story

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Homosexual interpretations on Batman Story

Homosexual interpretations

Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Panel from Batman #84 (June 1954), page 24.

Further information: Homosexuality in the Batman franchise

Controversy has arisen over various sexual interpretations made regarding the content of Batman comics. Homosexual interpretations have been part of the academic study of Batman since psychologist Fredric Wertham asserted in his Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 that "Batman stories are psychologically homosexual." He claimed, "The Batman type of story may stimulate children to homosexual fantasies, of the nature of which they may be unconscious." Wertham wrote, "Only someone ignorant of the fundamentals of psychiatry and of the psychopathology of sex can fail to realize a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism which pervades the adventures of the mature 'Batman' and his young friend 'Robin.'"

Andy Medhurst wrote in his 1991 essay "Batman, Deviance, and Camp" that Batman is interesting to gay audiences because "he was one of the first fictional characters to be attacked on the grounds of his presumed homosexuality," "the 1960s TV series remains a touchstone of camp," and "[he] merits analysis as a notably successful construction of masculinity."

Creators associated with the character have expressed their own opinions. Writer Alan Grant has stated, "The Batman I wrote for 13 years isn't gay. Denny O'Neil's Batman, Marv Wolfman's Batman, everybody's Batman all the way back to Bob Kane... none of them wrote him as a gay character. Only Joel Schumacher might have had an opposing view." Writer Devin Grayson has commented, "It depends who you ask, doesn't it? Since you're asking me, I'll say no, I don't think he is ... I certainly understand the gay readings, though."

While Frank Miller has described the relationship between Batman and the Joker as a "homophobic nightmare," he views the character as sublimating his sexual urges into crime fighting, concluding, "He'd be much healthier if he were gay." Burt Ward, who portrayed Robin in the 1960s television show, has also remarked upon this interpretation in his autobiography Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights; He writes that the relationship could be interpreted as a sexual one, with the show's double entendres and lavish camp also possibly offering ambiguous interpretation.

Such homosexual interpretations continue to attract attention. One notable example occurred in 2000, when DC Comics refused to allow permission for the reprinting of four panels (from Batman #79, 92, 105 and 139) to illustrate Christopher York's paper All in the Family: Homophobia and Batman Comics in the 1950s.

Another happened in the summer of 2005, when painter Mark Chamberlain displayed a number of watercolors depicting both Batman and Robin in suggestive and sexually explicit poses. DC threatened both artist and the Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts gallery with legal action if they did not cease selling the works and demanded all remaining art, as well as any profits derived from them.

Characterization of Batman and friends

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Characterization of Batman and friends

Characterization

Batman's primary character traits can be summarized as "wealth; physical prowess; deductive abilities and obsession." The details and tone of Batman comic books have varied over the years due to different creative teams. Dennis O'Neil noted that character consistency was not a major concern during early editorial regimes: "Julie Schwartz did a Batman in Batman and Detective and Murray Boltinoff did a Batman in the Brave and the Bold and apart from the costume they bore very little resemblance to each other. Julie and Murray did not coordinate their efforts, did not pretend to, did not want to, were not asked to. Continuity was not important in those days."

The driving force behind Batman's character is from his childhood. Bob Kane and Bill Finger discussed Batman's background and decided that "there's nothing more traumatic than having your parents murdered before your eyes." Despite his trauma, he is driven to train to become a brilliant scientist and train his body into absolute physical perfection to fight crime in Gotham City as Batman, an inspired idea from Wayne's insight into the cowardly mind.

Another of Batman's characterizations is a vigilante; in order to stop evil that started with the death of his parents he must sometimes break laws himself. Although manifested differently by being re-told by different artists it is nevertheless that the details and the prime components of the Batman's origin have never varied at all in the comic books, the "reiteration of the basic origin events holds together otherwise divergent expressions". The origin is the source of the character's traits and attributes, which play out in many of the character's adventures.

Batman is often treated as a vigilante by other characters in his stories. Frank Miller views the character as "a dionysian figure, a force for anarchy that imposes an individual order." Dressed as a bat, Batman deliberately cultivates a frightening persona in order to aid him in crime fighting, a fear that originates from the criminals' own guilty conscience.

Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne as Batman. Art by Jim Lee.

In his secret identity, Batman is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy businessman who lives in Gotham City. To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is often seen as an irresponsible, superficial playboy who lives off his family's personal fortune (amassed when Bruce's family invested in Gotham real estate before the city was a bustling metropolis) and the profits of Wayne Enterprises, a major private technology firm that he inherits. However, Wayne is also known for his contributions to charity, notably through his Wayne Foundation.

Bruce creates the playboy public persona to aid in throwing off suspicion of his secret identity, often acting dim-witted and self-absorbed to further the act.

Writers of both Batman and Superman stories have often compared the two within the context of various stories, to varying conclusions. Like Superman, the prominent persona of Batman's dual identities varies with time. Modern-age comics have tended to portray "Bruce Wayne" as the facade, with "Batman" as the truer representation of his personality (in counterpoint to the post-Crisis Superman, whose "Clark Kent" persona is the 'real' personality, and "Superman" is the 'mask').

In Batman Unmasked, a television documentary about the psychology of the character, Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an adjunct behavioral scientist at the Rand Corporation Benjamin Karney, notes that the Batman's personality is driven by Bruce Wayne's inherent humanity; that "Batman, for all its benefits and for all of the time Bruce Wayne devotes to it, is ultimately a tool for Bruce Wayne's efforts to make the world better".

As noted in the the Will Brooker book, Batman Unmasked, "the confirmation of Batman's identity lies with the young audience...he doesn't have to be Bruce Wayne; he just needs the suit and gadgets, the abilities, and most importantly the morality, the humanity. There's just a sense about him: 'they trust him... and they're never wrong."

Dick Grayson

Dick Grayson as Batman. Promotional art of Batman & Robin #1 (June 2009). Art by Frank Quitely

Main article: Dick Grayson

With Wayne apparently "dead", Dick Grayson has become the new Batman. This is the second time he has taken on the mantle in Bruce Wayne's absence, albeit the first time (when Wayne was recovering from his broken back) reluctantly. After Wayne's "death", Dick stated that he has no problem becoming Batman, but Wayne had left a prerecorded message telling him not to take up the mantle and to continue fighting crime as Nightwing with Robin at his side. Realizing that Gotham still needed the Dark Knight, Dick retired his Nightwing mantle to become the new Batman.

In an interview with IGN, Morrison details that having Grayson as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin will be a "reverse" of the normal dynamic between Batman and Robin, with, "a more light-hearted and spontaneous Batman and a scowling, badass Robin." Morrison explains his intentions for the new characterization of Batman: "Dick Grayson is kind of this consummate superhero.

The guy has been Batman's partner since he was a kid, he's led the Teen Titans, and he's trained with everybody in the DC Universe. So he's a very different kind of Batman. He's a lot easier; He's a lot looser and more relaxed.

Skills, abilities, and resources

There are a plethora of superheroes without superpowers but of them all the Batman character relies on "his own scientific knowledge, detective skills, and athletic prowess."In the stories Batman is regarded as one of the world's greatest detectives. In Grant Morrison's first storyline in JLA, Superman describes Batman as "the most dangerous man on Earth," able to defeat a team of superpowered aliens all by himself in order to rescue his imprisoned teammates. He is also a master of disguise, often gathering information under the identity of Matches Malone, a notorious gangster.

Costume

Main article: Batsuit

Batman's costume incorporates the imagery of a bat in order to frighten criminals. The details of the Batman costume change repeatedly through various stories and media, but the most distinctive elements remain consistent: a scallop-hem cape, a cowl covering most of the face featuring a pair of batlike ears, and a stylized bat emblem on the chest, and the ever-present utility belt. The costumes' colors are traditionally blue and grey,although this colorization arose due to the way comic book art is colored. Finger and Kane conceptualized Batman as having a black cape and cowl and grey suit, but conventions in coloring called for black to be highlighted with blue.

This coloring has been claimed by Larry Ford, in Place, Power, Situation, and Spectacle: A Geography of Film, to be a reversion of conventional color-coding symbolism, which sees "bad guys" wearing dark colors.Batman's gloves typically feature three scallops that protrude from long, gauntlet-like cuffs, although in his earliest appearances he wore short, plain gloves without the scallops. A yellow ellipse around the bat logo on the character's chest was added in 1964, and became the hero's trademark symbol, akin to the red and yellow "S" symbol of Superman.

The overall look of the character, particularly the length of the cowl's ears and of the cape, varies greatly depending on the artist. Dennis O'Neil said, "We now say that Batman has two hundred suits hanging in the Batcave so they don't have to look the same . . . Everybody loves to draw Batman, and everybody wants to put their own spin on it."

Equipment

Bat-Signal

Main article: Bat-Signal

When Batman is needed, the Gotham City police activate a searchlight with a bat-shaped insignia over the lens called the Bat-signal which shines into the night sky, creating a bat-symbol on a passing cloud which can be seen from any point in Gotham. The origin of the signal varies, depending on the continuity and medium.
In various incarnations, most notably the 1960s Batman TV series, Commissioner Gordon also has a dedicated phone line, dubbed the Bat-Phone, connected to a bright red telephone (in the TV series) which sits on a wooden base and has a transparent cake cover on top. The line connects directly to Batman's residence, Wayne Manor, specifically both to a similar phone sitting on the desk in Bruce Wayne's study and the extension phone in the Batcave.

Batcave

Main article: Batcave

The Batcave is Batman's secret headquarters, consisting of a series of subterranean caves beneath his mansion, Wayne Manor. It serves as his command center for both local and global surveillance, as well as housing his vehicles and equipment for his war on crime. It also is a storeroom for Batman's memorabilia. In both the comic Batman: Shadow of the Bat (issue #45) and the 2005 film Batman Begins, the cave is said to have been part of the Underground Railroad. Of the heroes and villains who see the Batcave, few know where it is located.

Supporting characters

Main article: List of Batman supporting characters

Batman with his sidekick Robin. Painting by Alex Ross, based on the cover of Batman #9 by Jack Burnley.

Batman's interactions with the characters around him, both heroes and villains, help to define the character. Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon, Batman's ally in the Gotham City police, debuted along with Batman in Detective Comics #27 and has been a consistent presence since then. Later on, Batman gained Alfred as his butler and Lucius Fox as his business manager and apparently unwitting armorer.

However, the most important supporting role in the Batman mythos is filled by the hero's young sidekick Robin.The first Robin, Dick Grayson, eventually leaves his mentor and becomes the hero Nightwing, though he and Batman would still continue to work together. The second Robin, Jason Todd, is badly beaten and then killed in an explosion set by the Joker, but later returns as an adversary. Tim Drake, the third Robin, first appeared in 1989 and went on to star in his own comic series. Alfred, Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, father figure, and one of the few to know his secret identity, "[lends] a homey touch to Batman's environs and [is] ever ready to provide a steadying and reassuring hand" to the hero and his sidekick.

Batman is at times a member of superhero teams such as the Justice League of America and the Outsiders. Batman has often been paired in adventure with his Justice League teammate Superman, notably as the co-stars of World's Finest and Superman/Batman series. In pre-Crisis continuity, the two are depicted as close friends; however, in current continuity, they have a mutually respectful but uneasy relationship, with an emphasis on their differing views on crime fighting and justice.

Batman is involved romantically with many women throughout his various incarnations. These range from society women such as Julie Madison, Vicki Vale and Silver St. Cloud, to allies like Wonder Woman and Sasha Bordeaux, to even villainesses such as Catwoman and Talia al Ghul, with the latter of whom he sired a son, Damian, and with the former of whom sired a daughter, Helena.

While these relationships tend to be short, Batman's attraction to Catwoman is present in nearly every version and medium in which the characters appear. Authors have gone back and forth over the years as to how Batman manages the 'playboy' aspect of Bruce Wayne's personality; at different times he embraces or flees from the women interested in attracting "Gotham's most eligible bachelor."

Other supporting characters in Batman's world include former Batgirl Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon's daughter who, now using a wheelchair due to a gunshot wound inflicted by the Joker, serves the superhero community at large as the computer hacker Oracle; Azrael, a would-be assassin who replaces Bruce Wayne as Batman for a time; Cassandra Cain, an assassin's daughter who became the new Batgirl, Huntress, the sole surviving member of a mob family turned Gotham vigilante who has worked with Batman on occasion, Stephanie Brown, the daughter of a criminal who operated as the Spoiler and temporarily as Robin, Ace the Bat-Hound, Batman's Canine partner; and Bat-Mite, an extra-dimensional imp who idolizes Batman.

Enemies

A gathering of Batman's villains. Art by Jim Lee.

Main article: List of Batman enemies

Batman faces a variety of foes ranging from common criminals to outlandish super-villains. The list is one of the most recognizable in popular culture, many of them mirror aspects of the Batman's character and development, often having tragic origin stories that lead them to a life of crime. Batman's "most implacable foe" is the Joker, an insane, clown-like criminal who, as a "personification of the irrational", represents "everything Batman [opposes]." Other long time recurring antagonists include Catwoman, the Scarecrow, the Penguin, Two-Face, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Ra's al Ghul, among many others.

Cultural impact

Batman has become a pop culture icon, recognized around the world. The character's presence has extended beyond his comic book origins; events such as the release of the 1989 Batman film and its accompanying merchandising "brought the Batman to the forefront of public consciousness." In an article commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the character, The Guardian wrote, "Batman is a figure blurred by the endless reinvention that is modern mass culture. He is at once an icon and a commodity: the perfect cultural artefact for the 21st century."

In addition, media outlets have often used the character in trivial and comprehensive surveys — Forbes magazine estimated Bruce Wayne to be the 9th-richest fictional character with his $5.8 billion fortune, several places after Iron Man, who is at 6. BusinessWeek listed the character as one of the ten most intelligent superheroes appearing in American comics.

In other media

Main article: Batman franchise media

The character of Batman has appeared in various media aside from comic books. The character has been developed as a vehicle for newspaper syndicated comic strips, books, radio dramas, television and several theatrical feature films. The first adaptation of Batman was as a daily newspaper comic strip which premiered on October 25, 1943.

That same year the character was adapted in the 15-part serial Batman, with Lewis Wilson becoming the first actor to portray Batman on screen. While Batman never had a radio series of his own, the character made occasional guest appearance in The Adventures of Superman starting in 1945 on occasions when Superman voice actor Bud Collyer needed time off.

A second movie serial, Batman and Robin, followed in 1949, with Robert Lowery taking over the role of Batman. The exposure provided by these adaptations during the 1940s "helped make [Batman] a household name for millions who never bought a comic book."

In the 1964 publication of Donald Barthelme's collection of short stories "Come Back, Dr. Caligari", Barthelme wrote "The Joker's Greatest Triumph." Batman is portrayed for purposes of spoof as a pretentious French-speaking rich man.

Michael Keaton as Batman in Batman (1989)

The Batman television series, starring Adam West, premiered in January 1966 on the ABC television network. Inflected with a camp sense of humor, the show became a pop culture phenomenon. In his memoir, Back to the Batcave, West notes his dislike for the term 'camp' as it was applied to the 1960s series, opining that the show was instead a farce or lampoon, and a deliberate one, at that.

The series ran for 120 episodes, ending in 1968. In between the first and second season of the Batman television series the cast and crew made the theatrical release Batman (1966). The popularity of the Batman TV series also resulted in the first animated adaptation of Batman in the series The Batman/Superman Hour; the Batman segments of the series were repackaged as Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder which produced thirty-three episodes between 1968 and 1977.

From 1973 until 1986, Batman had a starring role in ABC's Super Friends series, which was animated by Hanna-Barbera. Olan Soule was the voice of Batman in all these series, but was eventually replaced during Super Friends by Adam West, who voiced the character in Filmation's 1977 series The New Adventures of Batman.

In 1989, Batman returned to movie theaters in director Tim Burton's Batman starring Michael Keaton as the title character. The film was a huge success; not only was it the top-grossing film of the year, but at the time was the fifth highest-grossing film in history.

The film spawned three sequels: Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), the last two of which were directed by Joel Schumacher instead of Burton, and replaced Keaton as Batman with Val Kilmer and George Clooney, respectively.

Batman as he was depicted in Batman: The Animated Series.

In 1992, Batman returned to television in Batman: The Animated Series, which was produced by Warner Bros. and broadcast on the Fox television network. Author Les Daniels described the series as "[coming] as close as any artistic statement has to defining the look of Batman for the 1990s."

The success of Batman: The Animated Series led to the animated spin-off film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), as well as various other animated series set in the same continuity, including The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, and Justice League.

As with Batman: The Animated Series, each of these productions featured Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman. In 2004, a new animated series titled The Batman made its debut with Rino Romano as the title character. In 2008, this show was replaced by another animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, with Diedrich Bader as Batman.

In 2005, Christopher Nolan directed Batman Begins, a reboot of the film franchise starring Christian Bale as Batman. Its sequel, The Dark Knight (2008), set the record for the highest grossing opening weekend of all time in the U.S., earning approximately $158 million,and became the fastest film to reach the $400 million mark in the history of American cinema (eighteenth day of release).

These record breaking attendances saw The Dark Knight listed as the third-highest domestic grossing film of all time with $533 million, bested by Titanic and Avatar. An animated anthology feature set between the Nolan films, Batman: Gotham Knight, was also released in 2008.

Fictional character biography

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Fictional character biography

Batman's history has undergone various revisions, both minor and major. Few elements of the character's history have remained constant. Scholars William Uricchio and Roberta E. Pearson noted in the early 1990s, "Unlike some fictional characters, the Batman has no primary urtext set in a specific period, but has rather existed in a plethora of equally valid texts constantly appearing over more than five decades."
The central fixed event in the Batman stories is the character's origin story.

As a little boy, Bruce Wayne is horrified and traumatized to see his parents, the physician Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, being murdered by a mugger in front of his very eyes. This drives him to fight crime in Gotham City as Batman. Pearson and Uricchio also noted beyond the origin story and such events as the introduction of Robin, "Until recently, the fixed and accruing and hence, canonized, events have been few in number," a situation altered by an increased effort by later Batman editors such as Dennis O'Neil to ensure consistency and continuity between stories.

Golden Age

Bruce Wayne is inspired to become Batman. Detective Comics #33 (Nov. 1939). Art by Bob Kane.

In Batman's first appearance in Detective Comics #27, he is already operating as a crime fighter.
Batman's origin is first presented in Detective Comics #33 (Nov. 1939), and is later fleshed out in Batman #47. As these comics state, Bruce Wayne is born to Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, two very wealthy and charitable Gotham City socialites. Bruce is brought up in Wayne Manor, with its wealthy splendor, and leads a happy and privileged existence until the age of eight, when his parents are killed by a small-time criminal named Joe Chill while on their way home from a movie theater.

Bruce Wayne swears an oath to rid the city of the evil that had taken his parents' lives. He engages in intense intellectual and physical training; however, he realizes that these skills alone would not be enough. "Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot," Wayne remarks, "so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible..." As if responding to his desires, a bat suddenly flies through the window, inspiring Bruce to assume the persona of Batman.

In early strips, Batman's career as a vigilante earns him the ire of the police. During this period Wayne has a fiancée named Julie Madison. Wayne takes in an orphaned circus acrobat, Dick Grayson, who becomes his sidekick, Robin. Batman also becomes a founding member of the Justice Society of America, although he, like Superman, is an honorary member,and thus only participates occasionally.

Batman's relationship with the law thaws quickly, and he is made an honorary member of Gotham City's police department. During this time, butler Alfred Pennyworth arrives at Wayne Manor, and after deducing the Dynamic Duo's secret identities joins their service.

Silver Age

Modern Batman

After the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics retconned the histories of some major characters in an attempt at updating them for contemporary audiences. Frank Miller retold Batman's origin in the storyline "Year One" from Batman #404-407, which emphasizes a grittier tone in the character.

Though the Earth-Two Batman is erased from history, many stories of Batman's Silver Age/Earth-One career (along with an amount of Golden Age ones) remain canonical in the post-Crisis universe, with his origins remaining the same in essence, despite alteration. For example, Gotham's police are mostly corrupt, setting up further need for Batman's existence. While Dick Grayson's past remains much the same, the history of Jason Todd, the second Robin, is altered, turning the boy into the orphan son of a petty crook, who tries to steal the tires from the Batmobile.

Also removed is the guardian Phillip Wayne is gay leaving young Bruce to be raised by george west. Additionally, Batman is no longer a founding member of the Justice League of America, although he becomes leader for a short time of a new incarnation of the team launched in 1987. To help fill in the revised backstory for Batman following Crisis, DC launched a new Batman title called Legends of the Dark Knight in 1989 and has published various miniseries and one-shot stories since then that largely take place during the "Year One" period. Various stories from Jeph Loeb and Matt Wagner also touch upon this era.

Bane breaks Batman's back in a splash page from Batman #497 (July 1993). Art by Jim Aparo.

In 1988's "Batman: A Death in the Family" storyline from Batman #426-429 Jason Todd, the second Robin, is killed by the Joker.Subsequently Batman begins exhibiting an excessive, reckless approach to his crime fighting, a result of the pain of losing Jason Todd. Batman works solo until the decade's close, when Tim Drake becomes the new Robin. In 2005, writers resurrected the Jason Todd character and have pitted him against his former mentor.

Many of the major Batman storylines since the 1990s have been inter-title crossovers that run for a number of issues. In 1993, DC published both the "Death of Superman" storyline and "Knightfall" . In the Knightfall storyline's first phase, the new villain Bane paralyzes Batman, leading Wayne to ask Azrael to take on the role. After the end of "Knightfall," the storylines split in two directions, following both the Azrael-Batman's adventures, and Bruce Wayne's quest to become Batman once more.

The story arcs realign in "KnightsEnd," as Azrael becomes increasingly violent and is defeated by a healed Bruce Wayne. Wayne hands the Batman mantle to Dick Grayson (then Nightwing) for an interim period, while Wayne trains to return to the role.

The 1994 company-wide crossover Zero Hour changes aspects of DC continuity again, including those of Batman. Noteworthy among these changes is that the general populace and the criminal element now considers Batman an urban legend rather than a known force. Similarly, the Waynes' killer is never caught or identified, effectively removing Joe Chill from the new continuity, rendering stories such as "Year Two" non-canon.

Batman once again becomes a member of the Justice League during Grant Morrison's 1996 relaunch of the series, titled JLA. While Batman contributes greatly to many of the team's successes, the Justice League is largely uninvolved as Batman and Gotham City face catastrophe in the decade's closing crossover arc. In 1998's "Cataclysm" storyline, Gotham City is devastated by an earthquake and ultimately cut off from the United States Government afterwards. Deprived of many of his technological resources, Batman fights to reclaim the city from legions of gangs during 1999's "No Man's Land."

Meanwhile, Batman's relationship with the Gotham City Police Department changed for the worse with the events of "Batman: Officer Down" and "Batman: War Games/War Crimes"; Batman's long-time law enforcement allies Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock are forced out of the police department in "Officer Down", while "War Games" and "War Crimes" saw Batman become a wanted fugitive after a contingency plan of his to neutralize Gotham City's criminal underworld is accidentally triggered, resulting a massive gang war that ends with the sadist Black Mask the undisputed ruler of the city's criminal gangs.

Other troubles come for Batman in the form of Lex Luthor (secretly behind the events of "No Man's Land"), who seeks revenge for Bruce Wayne cancelling all of his company's government contracts upon Luthor being elected President of the United States. Luthor arranges for the murder of Batman's on-again, off-again love interest Vesper (introduced in the mid-1990s) during the "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?" and "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" story arcs. Though Batman is able to clear his name, he loses another ally in the form of his new chauffer Sasha, who is recruited into the organization known as "Checkmate" while stuck in prison due to her refusal to turn states evidence against her employer. While he was unable to prove that Luthor was behind the murder of Vesper, Batman does get his revenge with help from Talia Al' Ghul in Superman/Batman #1-6: not only does he bring down Lex Luthor's Presidency but also engages in a hostile take-over of Luthor's corporate holdings, bankrupting the villain in the process.

DC's 2005 limited series Identity Crisis reveals that JLA member Zatanna had edited Batman's memories to prevent him from stopping the League from lobotomizing Dr. Light after he raped Sue Dibney. This served as a retcon for Batman's complete distrust for his fellow super-heroes, which, under writers such as Mark Waid in the "Tower of Babel" arc in JLA, manifested itself in the form of Batman keeping extensive files on how to kill his fellow super-heroes. Batman later creates the Brother I satellite surveillance system to watch over and if necessary, kill the other heroes.

It is eventually co-opted by Maxwell Lord, who then kills super-hero Blue Beetle to keep him from alerting the Justice League of the existence of Batman's murderous creation. The revelation of Batman's creation and his tacit responsibility for Blue Beetle's death becomes a driving force in the lead-up to the Infinite Crisis miniseries, which again restructures DC continuity. In Infinite Crisis #7, Alexander Luthor, Jr. mentions that in the newly rewritten history of the "New Earth," created in the previous issue, the murderer of Martha and Thomas Wayne – again, Joe Chill – was captured, thus undoing the retcon created after Zero Hour.

Batman and a team of superheroes destroy Brother Eye and the OMACs, though at the very end of the Batman reaches his apparent breaking point when Alexander Luthor Jr. mortally wounds Nightwing. Picking up a gun, Batman nearly shoots Luthor in order to avenge his former sidekick, until Wonder Woman convinces him to not pull the trigger.

Following Infinite Crisis, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson (having recovered from his wounds), and Tim Drake retrace the steps Bruce had taken when he originally left Gotham City, to "rebuild Batman." In the Face the Face storyline, Batman and Robin return to Gotham City after their year-long absence. Part of this absence is captured in during Week 30 of the 52 series, which shows Batman fighting his inner demons.

Later on in 52, Batman is shown undergoing an intense meditation ritual in Nanda Parbat. This becomes an important part of the regular Batman title, which reveals that Batman was reborn as a more effective crime fighter while undergoing this ritual, having "hunted down and ate" the last traces of fear in his mind.

At the end of the "Face the Face" story arc, Bruce officially adopts Tim (who had lost both of his parents at various points in the character's history) as his son. The follow-up story arc in Batman, Batman and Son, introduces Damian Wayne, who is Batman's son with Talia al Ghul. Batman, along with Superman and Wonder Woman, reforms the Justice League in the new Justice League of America series, and is leading the newest incarnation of the Outsiders.

Grant Morrison's 2008 storyline, Batman R.I.P., featuring Batman being physically and mentally broken by the enigmatic "Black Glove," garnered much news coverage in advance of its highly-promoted conclusion, which would supposedly feature the death of Bruce Wayne.

The original intention was, in fact, not for Batman to die in the pages of "R.I.P.," but for the story to continue with the current DC event Final Crisis and have the death occur there. As such, a two-issue bridge arc was designed called "Last Rites" that showed Batman survive his helicopter crash into the Gotham City River and return to his Batcave, only to be summoned to the Hall of Justice by the JLA to help investigate Orion's death. This in turn led into the events of "Final Crisis" (which began publication while Batman RIP was concluding), where Batman is kidnapped by Granny Goodness.

"Last Rites" told the tale of Batman being mentally probed by Darkseid's minions Mokkari and Simyon, in an attempt to cull the personality traits that make Batman the successful super-hero that he is in order to transplant them into cloned bodies. The plan fails due to the clones, imparted with Batman's sense of justice, killing themselves rather than serve Darkseid. The two-parter concludes with a major "Final Crisis" plot point, as it is revealed that Batman kept the bullet used to kill Orion in his utility belt.

The Batman's apparent death occurs in Final Crisis #6 when he confronts Darkseid. Batman announces that he will break his "no gun" rule while facing Darkseid. Wielding a sidearm made by Apokolips, Batman shoots Darkseid in the chest with a bullet made of Radion (the same bullet used to kill Orion), just as Darkseid unleashes his Omega Sanction, or the "death that is life", upon Batman. However, the Omega Sanction does not actually kill its target, but sends its consciousness into parallel worlds. Although the presence of Batman's corpse would suggest that he is dead, at the conclusion of Final Crisis it is revealed that Batman has been sent to the distant past where he is able to watch the passing of Anthro.

The three-issue Battle for the Cowl miniseries, ('cowl' referring to Batman's mask) saw those who were closest to Wayne compete for the "right" to assume the role of Batman. Eventually, Grayson reluctantly assumes the role.Tim Drake takes from himself of Red Robin questing around the world looking for Bruce Wayne, who he believes is still alive.

A Black Lantern Batman, from Blackest Night #5. Art by Ivan Reis

In Blackest Night, the villain Black Hand is seen digging up Bruce Wayne's body, stealing his skull, and recruiting it into the Black Lantern Corps. Deadman, whose body has also become a Black Lantern, rushes to aid the new Batman and Robin, along with Red Robin against the Gotham villains who have been reanimated as Black Lanterns, as well as their own family members.

The skull was briefly reanimated as a Black Lantern, reconstructing a body in the process by Black Hand's lord, Nekron, to move against the Justice League and the Titans. After the Black Lantern Batman created several black power rings to attach to and kill the majority of the Justice League, the skull was returned to normal after Nekron explained it served its purpose as an emotional tether. Nekron also referred to the skull as "Bruce Wayne", knowing that the body was not authentic.

In Batman and Robin's third storyline, "Blackest Knight," it is revealed that the body left behind at the end of Final Crisis #6 was actually a clone created from a failed attempt by Darkseid to amass an army of Batmen. Because of this, the skull that was used by the Black Lantern Corps and reanimated by Nekron was a fake. Dick Grayson, thinking it was Bruce Wayne's real body, attempted to resurrect it in a Lazarus Pit only to be met with a fierce, mindless combatant. He then realized the truth about the body.

USA Today has reported that Bruce Wayne will return in 2010 in the six issue miniseries, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. The miniseries will be written by Grant Morrison.

The Dark Knight Returns and later

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The Dark Knight Returns and later

The first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which redefined Batman in the 1980s. Cover art by Frank Miller.

Frank Miller's limited series

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Feb.-June 1986), which tells the story of a 50-year old Batman coming out of retirement in a possible future, reinvigorated the character. The Dark Knight Returns was a financial success and has since become one of the medium's most noted touchstones.

The series also sparked a major resurgence in the character's popularity.
That year Dennis O'Neil took over as editor of the Batman titles and set the template for the portrayal of Batman following DC's status quo-altering miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. O'Neil operated under the assumption that he was hired to revamp the character and as a result tried to instill a different tone in the books than had gone before.

One outcome of this new approach was the "Year One" storyline in Batman #404-407 (Feb.-May 1987), in which Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli redefined the character's origins.

Writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland continued this dark trend with 1988's 48-page one-shot Batman: The Killing Joke, in which the Joker, attempting to drive Commissioner Gordon insane, cripples Gordon's daughter Barbara, and then kidnaps and tortures the commissioner, physically and psychologically.

The Batman comics garnered major attention in 1988 when DC Comics created a 900 number for readers to call to vote on whether Jason Todd, the second Robin, lived or died. Voters decided in favor of Jason's death by a narrow margin of 28 votes (see Batman: A Death in the Family).

The following year saw the release of Tim Burton's Batman feature film, which firmly brought the character back to the public's attention, grossing millions of dollars at the box office, and millions more in merchandising. However, the three sequels, Tim Burton's Batman Returns and director Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, did not perform as well at the box office.

The Batman movie franchise was rebooted with director and co-writer Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins in 2005 and The Dark Knight in 2008. In 1989, the first issue of Legends of the Dark Knight, the first new solo Batman title in nearly fifty years, sold close to a million copies.

The 1993 "Knightfall" story arc introduced a new villain, Bane, who critically injures Bruce Wayne. Jean-Paul Valley, known as Azrael, is called upon to wear the Batsuit during Wayne's convalescence.
Writers Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant worked on the Batman titles during "Knightfall," and would also contribute to other Batman crossovers throughout the 1990s. 1998's "Cataclysm" storyline served as the precursor to 1999's "No Man's Land", a year-long storyline that ran through all the Batman-related titles dealing with the effects of an earthquake-ravaged Gotham City. At the conclusion of "No Man's Land", O'Neil stepped down as editor and was replaced by Bob Schreck.

Another writer who rose to prominence on the Batman comic series, was Jeph Loeb. Along with longtime collaborator Tim Sale, they wrote two mini-series ("The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory") that pit an early in his career version of Batman against his entire rogue's gallery (most notably Two-Face, whose origin was re-envisioned by Loeb) while dealing with various mysteries involving serial killers Holiday and the Hangman, of which the former was the subject of intense debate and speculation amongst Batman fans.

In 2003, Loeb teamed with artist Jim Lee to work on another mystery arc: "Batman: Hush" for the main Batman book. The twelve issue storyline saw Batman and Catwoman running the gauntlet against Batman's entire rogue's gallery, including an apparently resurrected Jason Todd, while seeking to find the identity of the mysterious super-villain Hush. While the character of Hush failed to catch on with readers, the arc was a sales success for DC.

As the storyline was Jim Lee's first regular comic book work in nearly a decade, the series became #1 on the Diamond Comic Distributors sales chart for the first time since Batman #500 (October 1993) and Jason Todd's appearance laid the groundwork for writer Judd Winick's subsequent run as writer on Batman, with another multi-issue epic, "Under the Hood," which ran from Batman #637-650.

In 2005, DC launched All-Star Batman and Robin, a stand-alone comic series set outside the existing DC Universe. Written by Frank Miller and drawn by Jim Lee, the series was a commercial success for DC Comics though widely panned by critics for its writing.

Starting in 2006, the regular writers on Batman and Detective Comics were Grant Morrison and Paul Dini, with Grant Morrison reincorporating controversial elements of Batman lore (most notably, the science fiction themed storylines of the 1950s Batman comics, which Morrison revised as hallucinations Batman suffered under the influence of various mind-bending gases and extensive sensory deprivation training) into the character. Morrison's run climaxed with "Batman R.I.P.", which brought Batman up against the villainous "Black Glove" organization, which sought to drive Batman into madness. "Batman R.I.P." segued into Final Crisis (also written by Morrison), which saw the apparent death of Batman at the hands of Darkseid.

In the 2009 miniseries Batman: Battle for the Cowl, Wayne's former protégé Dick Grayson becomes the new Batman, and Wayne's son Damian becomes the new Robin. In June 2009, Judd Winick returned to writing Batman, while Grant Morrison was given his own series, titled Batman and Robin.

Another Batman tale once more starring Bruce as Batman titled Batman: Unseen deals with Bruce Wayne's early career and him fighting the invisible man.

Batman in 1950's and early 1960 's

2010-03-05T06:46:00.000-06:00

Batman in 1950's and early 1960's

Batman was one of the few superhero characters to be continuously published as interest in the genre waned during the 1950s. In the story "The Mightiest Team in the World" in Superman #76 (June 1952), Batman teams up with Superman for the first time and the pair discovers each other's secret identity.Following the success of this story, World's Finest Comics was revamped so it featured stories starring both heroes together, instead of the separate Batman and Superman features that had been running before.

The team-up of the characters was "a financial success in an era when those were few and far between;"this series of stories ran until the book's cancellation in 1986.

Batman comics were among those criticized when the comic book industry came under scrutiny with the publication of psychologist Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954. Wertham's thesis was that children imitated crimes committed in comic books, and that these works corrupt the morals of the youth.

Wertham criticized Batman comics for their supposed homosexual overtones and argued that Batman and Robin were portrayed as lovers.Wertham's criticisms raised a public outcry during the 1950s, eventually leading to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. The tendency towards a "sunnier Batman" in the postwar years intensified after the introduction of the Comics Code.

It has also been suggested by scholars that the characters of Batwoman (in 1956) and Bat-Girl (in 1961) were introduced in part to refute the allegation that Batman and Robin were gay, and the stories took on a campier, lighter feel.

In the late 1950s, Batman stories gradually became more science fiction-oriented, an attempt at mimicking the success of other DC characters that had dabbled in the genre. New characters such as Batwoman,
Ace the Bat-Hound, and Bat-Mite were introduced. Batman's adventures often involved odd transformations or bizarre space aliens. In 1960, Batman debuted as a member of the Justice League of America in
The Brave and the Bold #28 (February 1960), and went on to appear in several Justice League comic series starting later that same year.

"New Look" Batman and camp

By 1964, sales on Batman titles had fallen drastically. Bob Kane noted that, as a result, DC was "planning to kill Batman off altogether." In response to this, editor Julius Schwartz was assigned to the Batman titles. He presided over drastic changes, beginning with 1964's Detective Comics #327 (May 1964), which was cover-billed as the "New Look". Schwartz introduced changes designed to make Batman more contemporary, and to return him to more detective-oriented stories. He brought in artist
Carmine Infantino to help overhaul the character.

The Batmobile was redesigned, and Batman's costume was modified to incorporate a yellow ellipse behind the bat-insignia. The space aliens and characters of the 1950s such as Batwoman, Ace, and Bat-Mite were retired. Batman's butler Alfred was killed off (though his death was quickly reversed due to fan response) while a new female relative for the Wayne family, Aunt Harriet, came to live with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

Batman #227 (Dec. 1970). An example of Batman's return to a Gothic atmosphere, in an homage to the cover of 1939's Detective Comics #31. Art by Neal Adams.

       The debut of the Batman television series in 1966 had a profound influence on the character. The success of the series increased sales throughout the comic book industry, and Batman reached a circulation of close to 900,000 copies.Elements such as the character of Batgirl and the show's campy nature were introduced into the comics; the series also initiated the return of Alfred. Although both the comics and TV show were successful for a time, the camp approach eventually wore thin and the show was canceled in 1968. In the aftermath, the Batman comics themselves lost popularity once again. As Julius Schwartz noted, "When the television show was a success, I was asked to be campy, and of course when the show faded, so did the comic books."

      Starting in 1969, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams made a deliberate effort to distance Batman from the campy portrayal of the 1960s TV series and to return the character to his roots as a "grim avenger of the night."O'Neil said his idea was "simply to take it back to where it started. I went to the DC library and read some of the early stories. I tried to get a sense of what Kane and Finger were after."

       O'Neil and Adams first collaborated on the story "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" (Detective Comics #395, January 1970). Few stories were true collaborations between O'Neil, Adams, Schwartz, and inker Dick Giordano, and in actuality these men were mixed and matched with various other creators during the 1970s; nevertheless the influence of their work was "tremendous."

Giordano said: "We went back to a grimmer, darker Batman, and I think that's why these stories did so well... Even today we're still using Neal's Batman with the long flowing cape and the pointy ears."While the work of O'Neil and Adams was popular with fans, the acclaim did little to help declining sales; the same held true with a similarly acclaimed run by writer Steve Englehart and penciler Marshall Rogers in Detective Comics #471-476 (August 1977 - April 1978), which went on to influence the 1989 movie Batman and be adapted for Batman: The Animated Series, which debuted in 1992. Regardless, circulation continued to drop through the 1970s and 1980s, hitting an all-time low in 1985.

Batman on Early years

2010-03-05T06:39:00.000-06:00

Batman on Early years

Early years

Batman made his debut in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Cover art by Bob Kane

The first Batman story, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," was published in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Finger said, "Batman was originally written in the style of the pulps," and this influence was evident with Batman showing little remorse over killing or maiming criminals. Batman proved a hit character, and he received his own solo title in 1940, while continuing to star in Detective Comics. By that time, National was the top-selling and most influential publisher in the industry;

Batman and the company's other major hero, Superman, were the cornerstones of the company's success.The two characters were featured side-by-side as the stars of World's Finest Comics, which was originally titled World's Best Comics when it debuted in fall 1940. Creators including Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang also worked on the strips during this period.

Over the course of the first few Batman strips elements were added to the character and the artistic depiction of Batman evolved. Kane noted that within six issues he drew the character's jawline more pronounced, and lengthened the ears on the costume. "About a year later he was almost the full figure, my mature Batman," Kane said.

Batman's characteristic utility belt was introduced in Detective Comics #29 (July 1939), followed by the boomerang-like batarang and the first bat-themed vehicle, the Batplane, in #31 (September 1939). The character's origin was revealed in #33 (November 1939), unfolding in a two-page story that establishes the brooding persona of Batman, a character driven by the loss of his parents. Written by Finger, it depicts a young Bruce Wayne witnessing the death of his parents as part of a street robbery. Days later, at their grave, the child vows that "by the spirits of my parents [I will] avenge their deaths by spending the rest of my life warring on all criminals."

The early, pulp-inflected portrayal of Batman started to soften in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) with the introduction of Robin, Batman's kid sidekick.Robin was introduced, based on Finger's suggestion Batman needed a "Watson" with whom Batman could talk.Sales nearly doubled, despite Kane's preference for a solo Batman, and it sparked a proliferation of "kid sidekicks."

The first issue of the solo spin-off series Batman was notable not only for introducing two of his most persistent antagonists, the Joker and Catwoman, but for a story in which Batman shoots some monstrous giants to death. That story prompted editor Whitney Ellsworth to decree that the character could no longer kill or use a gun.

By 1942, the writers and artists behind the Batman comics had established most of the basic elements of the Batman mythos.In the years following World War II, DC Comics "adopted a postwar editorial direction that increasingly de-emphasized social commentary in favor of lighthearted juvenile fantasy." The impact of this editorial approach was evident in Batman comics of the postwar period; removed from the "bleak and menacing world" of the strips of the early 1940s, Batman was instead portrayed as a respectable citizen and paternal figure that inhabited a "bright and colorful" environment.

Batman comics and friends Review

2010-03-05T06:31:00.000-06:00

Creation of Batman and Friends

In early 1937, the success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at the comic book division of National Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane created "the Bat-Man." Collaborator Bill Finger recalled "Kane had an idea for a character called 'Batman', and he'd like me to see the drawings. I went over to Kane's, and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of … reddish tights, I believe, with boots … no gloves, no gauntlets … with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope. He had two stiff wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings. And under it was a big sign … BATMAN."

Finger offered such suggestions as giving the character a cowl instead of a simple domino mask, a cape instead of wings, and gloves, and removing the red sections from the original costume.Finger said he devised the name Bruce Wayne for the character's secret identity: "Bruce Wayne's first name came from Robert Bruce, the Scottish patriot. Bruce, being a playboy, was a man of gentry. I searched for a name that would suggest colonialism. I tried Adams, Hancock … then I thought of Mad Anthony Wayne."

He later said his suggestions were influenced by Lee Falk's popular The Phantom, a syndicated newspaper comic strip character with which Kane was familiar as well.
Various aspects of Batman's personality, character history, visual design and equipment were inspired by contemporary popular culture of the 1930s, including movies, pulp magazines, comic strips, newspaper headlines, and even aspects of Kane himself.

Kane noted especially the influence of the films The Mark of Zorro (1920) and The Bat Whispers (1930) in the creation of the iconography associated with the character, while Finger drew inspiration from literary characters Doc Savage, The Shadow, and Sherlock Holmes in his depiction of Batman as a master sleuth and scientist.

Kane, in his 1989 autobiography, detailed Finger's contributions to Batman's creation One day I called Bill and said, 'I have a new character called the Bat-Man and I've made some crude, elementary sketches I'd like you to look at'. He came over and I showed him the drawings. At the time, I only had a small domino mask, like the one Robin later wore, on Batman's face. Bill said, 'Why not make him look more like a bat and put a hood on him, and take the eyeballs out and just put slits for eyes to make him look more mysterious?' At this point, the Bat-Man wore a red union suit; the wings, trunks, and mask were black.

I thought that red and black would be a good combination. Bill said that the costume was too bright: 'Color it dark gray to make it look more ominous'. The cape looked like two stiff bat wings attached to his arms. As Bill and I talked, we realized that these wings would get cumbersome when Bat-Man was in action, and changed them into a cape, scalloped to look like bat wings when he was fighting or swinging down on a rope. Also, he didn't have any gloves on, and we added them so that he wouldn't leave fingerprints.

Kane signed away ownership in the character in exchange for, among other compensation, a mandatory byline on all Batman comics. This byline did not, originally, say "Batman created by Bob Kane"; his name was simply written on the title page of each story. The name disappeared from the comic book in the mid-1960s, replaced by credits for each story's actual writer and artists. In the late 1970s, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster began receiving a "created by" credit on the Superman titles, along with William Moulton Marston being given the byline for creating Wonder Woman, Batman stories began saying "Created by Bob Kane" in addition to the other credits.

Finger did not receive the same recognition. While he had received credit for other DC work since the 1940s, he began, in the 1960s, to receive limited acknowledgment for his Batman writing; in the letters page of Batman #169 (February 1965) for example, editor Julius Schwartz names him as the creator of the Riddler, one of Batman's recurring villains. However, Finger's contract left him only with his writing page rate and no byline. Kane wrote, "Bill was disheartened by the lack of major accomplishments in his career. He felt that he had not used his creative potential to its fullest and that success had passed him by."

At the time of Finger's death in 1974, DC had not officially credited Finger as Batman co-creator.
Jerry Robinson, who also worked with Finger and Kane on the strip at this time, has criticized Kane for failing to share the credit. He recalled Finger resenting his position, stating in a 2005 interview with The Comics Journal:

Bob made him more insecure, because while he slaved working on Batman, he wasn't sharing in any of the glory or the money that Bob began to make, which is why… [he was] going to leave [Kane's employ]. … [Kane] should have credited Bill as co-creator, because I know; I was there. … That was one thing I would never forgive Bob for, was not to take care of Bill or recognize his vital role in the creation of Batman. As with Siegel and Shuster, it should have been the same, the same co-creator credit in the strip, writer and artist.

Although Kane initially rebutted Finger's claims at having created the character, writing in a 1965 open letter to fans that "it seemed to me that Bill Finger has given out the impression that he and not myself created the ''Batman, t' as well as Robin and all the other leading villains and characters. This statement is fraudulent and entirely untrue." Kane himself also commented on Finger's lack of credit. "The trouble with being a 'ghost' writer or artist is that you must remain rather anonymously without 'credit'. However, if one wants the 'credit', then one has to cease being a 'ghost' or follower and become a leader or innovator."
In 1989, Kane revisited Finger's situation, recalling in an interview,

In those days it was like, one artist and he had his name over it [the comic strip] — the policy of DC in the comic books was, if you can't write it, obtain other writers, but their names would never appear on the comic book in the finished version. So Bill never asked me for it [the byline] and I never volunteered — I guess my ego at that time. And I felt badly, really, when he [Finger] died.

Batman Review

2010-03-05T06:11:00.000-06:00

"The Batman" redirects here. For the animated series, see The Batman (TV series).

This article is about the superhero. For related topics, see List of Batman related topics.

For other uses, see Batman (disambiguation).

Batman
Pencils by Jim Lee and inks by Scott Williams
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)
Created by	Bob Kane (concept) Bill Finger^[1] (developer, uncredited)
In-story information
Alter ego	Bruce Wayne
Team affiliations	Batman Family Justice League Wayne Enterprises Outsiders
Partnerships	Robin Batgirl Superman
Notable aliases	Matches Malone Sir Hemingford Grey

Batman, originally referred to as "the Bat-Man" and still referred to at times as "the Batman", is a fictional character, a comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger (although only Kane receives official credit), appearing in publications by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939.

He is additionally known as "the Caped Crusader", "the Dark Knight", "the World's Greatest Detective", or simply "the Bat"; in the original version of the story and the vast majority of subsequent retellings, Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne (named for the historical figures Robert the Bruce and "Mad" Anthony Wayne), a playboy, industrialist, and philanthropist. Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, he swore revenge on crime, an oath tempered with the greater ideal of justice.

Bruce trains himself both physically and intellectually and dons a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime.Batman operates in the fictional American Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his main sidekick Robin, his butler Alfred Pennyworth, the police commissioner Jim Gordon, and occasional assistance from the heroine Batgirl. He fights an assortment of villains influenced by the characters' roots in film and pulp magazines. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime. In 2009, following Wayne's apparent death, the role of Batman has been taken up by his former ward and the first Robin, Dick Grayson

.
Batman became a popular character soon after his introduction and gained his own comic book title, Batman, in 1940. As the decades wore on, differing interpretations of the character emerged. The late 1960s Batman television series used a camp aesthetic which continued to be associated with the character for years after the show ended. Various creators worked to return the character to his dark roots, culminating in the 1986 miniseries Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, by writer-artist Frank Miller, while the success of film director Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman helped to reignite popular interest in the character.

A cultural icon, Batman has been licensed and adapted into a variety of media, from radio to television and film, and appears on a variety of merchandise sold all over the world.

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Animation

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Creation

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In other media

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Golden Age

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Modern Batman

The Dark Knight Returns and later

The Dark Knight Returns and later

Batman in 1950's and early 1960 's

Batman in 1950's and early 1960's

"New Look" Batman and camp

Batman on Early years

Early years

Batman comics and friends Review

Creation of Batman and Friends

Batman Review

Characterization