With over 75 years as one of the most popular superheroes in the world, there have been
Batman stories about virtually every situation you could imagine.
We’ve seen comics where Batman is also Green Lantern, or where Batman fought crime as a
toddler, or where he was sent to Earth from the planet Krypton.
There’s even one where Batman is actually Wolverine!
But even with all the takes, there are still a few things people think they know about
the Caped Crusader that just aren’t accurate.
Here are a few things you might be getting wrong about the Dark Knight.
The Ultimate Loner
Batman is often depicted as a lone wolf who embraced darkness to fight a solitary war
on crime, a model of determination and self-reliance who can’t afford things like friendships
to distract him from his mission.
Thinking of the Dark Knight as a loner, however is contradicted by the fact that the Batman
Family boasts a truly massive roster of sidekicks and teammates.
In addition to the five canonical Robins don’t forget Stephanie Brown there’s Batgirl,
Batwoman, Batwing, Nightwing, Azrael, the Huntress, and even Ace the Bat-Hound — and
that’s before you get to teams like the Justice League, the Outsiders, and Batman
Incorporated.
Even when you strip Batman back to basics, he still has allies.
Commissioner Gordon made his debut appearance in the very first Batman story, and Robin
showed up less than a year later.
Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy may have presented a more isolated Batman,
but he still had Gordon, Lucius Fox, and Alfred, whose presence has been tied to Batman’s
origins since 1943.
While Bruce Wayne might be the driving force, building a legend like "the Batman" could
never be a one-man operation.
Created by Bob Kane
Every time you've ever experienced a Batman story in any medium, you've seen the words
“Batman created by Bob Kane,” a sentence that is one of the biggest lies in comics
history.
What actually happened in the late 1930s was that Bob Kane had an idea for a superhero
named "the Bat-Man," and drew a sketch of a blonde dude in a red suit with giant bat-wings
and a little domino mask.
Kane showed his drawing to fellow creator Bill Finger, who wrote the stories Kane drew.
It was Finger who added almost everything we associate with Batman today, including
the cool costume, the tragic origin, the Batmobile, Robin, the Joker, Catwoman… you get the
idea.
So while Kane certainly deserves credit for getting the ball rolling, it's a horrendous
injustice that Bill Finger has been left out of the history books.
Unfortunately for Finger, Kane managed to push the publisher into signing a contract
which named him as the sole creator, in perpetuity.
In 2015, however, Warner Bros. finally added Bill Finger’s name to the official credit
with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Frank Miller made the Dark Knight Dark
Frank Miller is easily one of the most important creators in Batman's history.
Every modern Batman movie has been highly influenced by the moody aesthetic that Miller
introduced in both The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, and Miller is often
credited with re-creating Batman as a dark and gritty character, who finally broke free
of the campy image of the ‘60s.
Really, though, Miller wasn't the one who made Batman dark again.
That credit goes to the one true dynamic duo, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams.
As early as 1969, O'Neil and Adams made the conscious decision to bring Batman back to
his pulpy, gothic roots.
The stories sharpened, the shadows darkened, and the scale became epic with the introduction
of the mysterious global terrorist mastermind Ra's al Ghul.
The tortured, moody, but still heroic Bruce Wayne that we know today stems from O'Neil's
portrayal, which laid the groundwork for what Miller would do in the ‘80s.
The 1966 show ruined Batman!
Holy puns, Batman!
A cheesy theme song!
Ridiculous traps!
Fullscreen "BANG!" and "ZAP!" sound effects!
Could anything have ruined the Dark Knight more than having such a brightly colored spectacle
in his name?
“Well it was a good plot while it lasted.
Yes!
Catwoman one of your very best”
For a long time, it was trendy to bash the ‘60s show for its silly camp, but in addition
to being an accurate reflection of the comics in the ‘60s, it actually saved Batman from
obscurity.
Back when the TV series first came out, Batman's comic book sales were slipping.
The show not only introduced a new generation of kids to Batman, it reminded adults of the
characters they'd enjoyed when they were younger.
The show also made a minor bad guy named the Riddler into a big-name villain thanks to
actor Frank Gorshin, and its success brought superheroes into the mainstream in a big way.
Batman’s status as a pop culture hit paved the way for a wave of superhero films that
started with Superman in 1978 and continues today.
So basically, if you love The Dark Knight trilogy or the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
you can thank Adam West for doing the Batusi.
Batman doesn’t kill
Batman's dedication to never taking a life and his hatred for guns have become a huge
part of the character.
In the early days, however, Batman was inspired by the murderous, gun-toting pulp hero The
Shadow, and his first year of stories involved him punching an enemy into a vat of acid,
snapping necks, and gunning down criminals with his own pistol.
Even the modern version of Batman has gone through some bad days, though, and one of
the most notable came in a story called Ten Nights of the Beast.
Back in the late 1980s, Batman tried to stop a Soviet assassin named the KGBeast from assassinating
President Reagan.
At the climax of the story, knowing that the Beast will be let free if he’s brought in
to the authorities, Batman simply locks the bad guy up in the sewers, presumably to starve
to death.
Everything cool came from the comics
Every time a new Batman movie comes out, you'll always hear that one guy in the back row complaining
that this isn’t how it happened in the comics.
The truth is, though, a good number of Batman's most iconic elements were created in film,
TV, and radio before they ever appeared in on the page.
The famous Batcave, for example, actually debuted in the 1943 theatrical serial.
Back then it was just a creepy cave with a desk and a file cabinet, but it was cool enough
to make it to the comics.
Maybe the most successful element to make the leap from the screen was the wildly popular
character of Harley Quinn.
She was originally created for Batman: The Animated Series, and thanks to stories like
Mad Love, she proved to be so popular with fans that she was introduced into the comics
universe in 1999.
The cartoon is also credited with almost completely recreating Mr. Freeze, with an iconic costume
design from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, and so much pathos and depth that he’s now
one of Batman's most popular bad guys.