By Cole Whist

THE BATMAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• INTRO

• BIRTH OF BATMAN

• DETECTIVE COMICS

• THE COMIC WORLD

• TIMELINE

• MOVIE AND FILM

• TODAY

THE

BEGINNING

INTRO

The Batman phenomenon started in the 1930s when America was preparing for

war, and all the people needed something to get there minds off of everything and

get distracted from the violence of war. Certain things could help with just that.

Some of things were banjo playing, musical comedy, mystery stories, Jazz music,

and finally, comic books. Comic books were a mix of funny, colorful, characters

that kids and adults loved. In 1938, Superman made his first appearance as the

very first comic book superhero. This new hero coming to life excited everyone.

Superman was such a big success, yet publishers wanted another character for

their superhero comic books. They did not know that that character would become

one of the best and most popular comic book sellers of all time.

BIRTH OF

BATMAN

In the early 1930's, Robert Kane was only a teenager when he got the idea of Batman.

This happened just when the comic industry was being introduced to the world, with

Superman leading the introduction of superheroes. Robert got the idea of making an

character opposite of the Man of Steel; a mysterious vigilante who was also based in

humanity. Robert had been inspired by a book by Leonardo da Vinci which was about

cool inventions and ideas. One of those ideas showed a man in a sled with huge wings

spreading out of it like a glider. Bob noticed how the wings looked like bat wings, which

inspired him to create Batman with a bat-like costume.

It was Bob's dream to live in a castle in Italy while being catered to by a butler. This

dream was incorporated into the Batman character. Batman and his alter ego Bruce

Wayne, lived in a mansion and has a butler by the name of Alfred Pennyworth.

DETECTIVE COMICS

Bob was the person who put pencil to paper and created the first image of Batman in 1939.

With inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings, he created a character with wings and a

domino mask. It was Bill Finger who later collaborated with him and made changes to

Batman's costume, changing the original wings to a cape, adding gloves and finally adding the

iconic half mask with bat ears. Bill was also the one who thought of the name Bruce Wayne for

Batman's secret identity. This character was presented to the executives at DC Comics and

they liked their idea. Issue 27 of Detective Comics was the introduction of the Bat -Man, a

caped crusader who would solve mysteries and fight criminals. When the issue was released

it sold more than any other Detective Comics issue. It was then that Bat-Man began his

career.

DID YOU KNOW?

Batman was created as a

combination of Zorro, Dracula,

and the Shadow.

A MAKEOVER

In the 1950s, Batman was becoming less popular.

Comic books weren't selling. his popularity fell so

much, that they were planning to get rid of Batman

altogether. So National Comics industry hired Julius

Schwartz to modernize The Batman. Batman's

costume was redesigned and the Bat-mobile was

given a whole new look. When these changes to

The Batman were made, his popularity slowly

started to rise once again.

THE COMIC WORLD

The Bat-Man issues continued in the Detective Comics for

another 100 issues. During the series, many characters were

introduced. Such as the Joker, Catwoman, Two-face, Bat-girl,

and Robin, the Boy Wonder. Since the Batman series was

doing so well, Bob insisted that the Bat-Man was to get his

own series. DC Comics agreed, and in 1946, The Bat-Man got

his own comic book series Called Batman. In his own series,

Batman became even more popular.

DID YOU KNOW?

One of the first personality

ideas for Batman was for

him to be homosexual? It

was later changed by

Fredric Wertham.

MOVIE AND FILM

MOVIE AND FILM 1/3

In 1966, the Batman movie and TV series, which starred Adam

West and Burt Ward, was introduced to the public. The Batman's

popularity didn’t last long as the TV series only ran for two years.

Batman resurfaced in the late 80s, winning a new fan base due

to his new look in the film, Batman: Rise of the Joker. Fans loved

the new Batman, and it was a big success for Twentieth Century

Fox. In fact, it did so well, they prepared for the second movie.

MOVIE AND FILM 2/3

As the latest Batman movie was a big success, PolyGram Filmed

Entertainment Studios were already working on the next Batman

sequel: The Batman Returns, which starred the Penguin and

Catwoman. Batman Forever was then added as the third

installment of the movie series. The final movie, Batman and

Robin, was in theatres just years later. Batman fans were so

excited about the movie because it starred Robin the boy wonder,

who was able to fight crime alongside Batman for the final Batman

movie.

DID YOU KNOW?

Arnold Schwarzenegger

who starred in The

Terminator played Mr.

Freeze in the film,

Batman and Robin?

MOVIE AND FILM 3/3 The latest Trilogy

In 2005, Warner Bros. decided that it was time to start a new franchise with release of a new

Batman trilogy, starting with the film, Batman Begins. The movie starred Christian Bale as

Batman/Bruce Wayne and Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow. The movie grossed 372 million

dollars worldwide. Due to the success, Twentieth Century Fox decided to make the second

movie in 2008, and it was called The Dark Knight. The movie got even better ratings then the

first, so Warner Bros. knew they had finalize the trilogy with the 2012 film, The Dark Knight

Rises.

TODAY

In the present, Batman is seen everywhere. In comic books,

movies, and even has his picture on a lunchbox. Batman still

continues in his own comic series, his own animated TV shows,

video games, and even new movies such as Man of steel 2/Batman

vs. Superman, which my father is working on right now in Detroit.

To this day, Batman continues to be one of the greatest and most

popular fictional superheroes of all time.

TIMELINE

1938

Batman is created

1938

Bat-Man starts series in

Detective comics

1950

Gets own series

1964

Batman gets many changes

1966

Batman movie comes out

1989

Batman: Rise of the Joker released

1966

Batman TV series begins

1968

Batman TV series ends

1992

Batman returns released

1995

Batman Forever released

1997

Batman and Robin released

2005

Batman Begins released

2008

The Dark Knight released

2012

The Dark Knight returns

released

1998

Bob Kane's death

SELF REFLECT

For this Passion Project, I believe I did a good job. I have good

visuals, with good transitions, and lots of detailed writing in my

work. One thing I might have to work on is focusing on getting the

writing done first instead of the visuals. But otherwise I think I did

really well. Plus, I think my interest for The Dark Knight has grown

ever since I started this project, because of all the interesting facts

I have discovered. One of the facts I found the most interesting

was that Bob Kane wasn't the one who made up everything about

Batman, but many more people as well and that surprised me.

Thanks for Watching!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2015