For seventy-five years, DC Comics has hinged on the reputation of one man, one hero. A changing element of pop culture, this media sensation swept the imaginations of children and adults alike from the night he appeared from the shadows. Allow me to take you on a tour of the many shades of the Dark Knight in honor of "Batman Day".
40's (Dark Conception)
Born from the lore of Dracula, Sherlock Holmes and The Shadow, Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger to be everything Superman wasn't. To be human, to be dark, to strike fear into hearts rather than hope. When Bruce Wayne wasn't the wealthy man about town, he was Gotham's gun-slinging vigilante, The Batman. Back then, Batman carried a pistol and openly killed his opponents, but this changed quickly into the character's lifespan and remained the only element of the character to stay discarded.
50's & 60's (The Brave & The Bold)
After The Comic's Code of Authority ridded darker influence from comic books, Batman became the blue, gray and yellow-clad Caped Crusader of Gotham. He fought colorful new villains like The Riddler, The Penguin, and-of course-The Joker. Along his side was Robin The Boy Wonder-comic book's first sidekick-and Batgirl-a plucky young female superhero. With more comedic and bizarre stories, this lighter take on the hero only furthered him more from Kane's vision when Adam West's TV serial gave a new look to Batman and Robin.
70's-80's (Return of The Knight)
With Comics Code of Authority lifted, Batman was able to return to his darker tales while keeping his colorful look. This era of Batman sought the evolution of Robin into Nightwing, as well as two new Robins: Jason Todd who was one of most significant deaths in comic books and Tim Drake who was the longest standing Robin in history. Barbara Gordon/Batgirl became crippled in a shockingly horrific Alan Moore story called "Batman: The Killing Joke". Characters like The Scarecrow, Bane, and Black Mask took the fold as challenges for the Dark Knight to overcome and Batman's role in the DCU became much more apparent.
90's (Not Your Batman)
Frank Millar's "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" revitalized Batman by showing a version of the character who was older, harsher and hidden from his city. This story redefined the mythos and inspired an age of darker, edgier and morally unbalanced stories from DC, Marvel, and other companies like Wildstorm and Image. In order to save Batman from the over-exaggeration of this radical era, the story "Knightfall" saw Bane break Batman's back and put him out of commission, while the newer, more violent Batman Jean-Paul Valley reinvented the identity of Batman, claws and metal included. This era also saw the creation "Batman The Animated Series", regarded as the greatest comic book cartoon of all time.
2000-2008 (Back To Bat-Bases)
In the new era, Batman evolved further as a hero. Becoming more prominent on The Justice League, Batman was made both a loyal friend and a deadly foe to fellow superheroes. Within this time frame characters like Barbara Gordon/Oracle, Cassandra Cain/Batgirl, Steph Brown/Spoiler, and Helena Bertinelli/Huntress would appear to assist The Batman Family, but we also saw new personal villains like Hush and The Red Hood would try their hand at killing Batman. Batman's skills advanced too, now allowing Batman to tap morse code on the brink of a coma, psychologically block insanity with trigger words and mental back-up drives. Batman's abilities truly set his position as DC's most powerful human. It was a bold new age for Batman.
2009-2010 (Next of Kin)
Batman was apparently killed by the villain Darkseid, shaking the DC Universe up once again. While we learned that Bruce Wayne wasn't dead and was instead traveling through time, the next Batman of Gotham City was the eldest son of The Dark Knight, Dick Grayson. But as every Batman needs a Robin, a recently created character known as Damian Wayne appeared. The child of Talia al Ghul, grandson of Ra's al Ghul, and son of Bruce Wayne, Damian was a egotistical child assassin. This new status quo of a cheerier Batman and deadlier Robin shook the readership of Batman, but provided interesting new character discoveries. The "death" of Bruce Wayne also caused Tim Drake to become Red Robin, Steph Brown became the new Batgirl as Cass Cain became Black Bat, and Red Hood (the revived Jason Todd) to try and go good. Short lived it might have been, Bruce Wayne returned from his death/travels and got a new idea for the Batman mantle.
2010-2011 (Alive & International)
The return of Batman brought Grant Morrison's creation of Batman Incorporated, a legion of Batmen from all over the world. Man of Bats from Mexico, Batman-San of Japan, Nightrunner of Italy, The Knight of Britain, and many more international crime fighters fought under the symbol of The Bat. While Bruce Wayne ran this international army, Dick Grayson would continue to work alongside Damian as Batman & Robin in Gotham City. Another short setup for the Batman comics, the world of DC Comics would see the Dark Knight change once again with The New 52.
2011-2015 (The New Knight)
In an attempt to gain new readership, DC Comics rebooted their universe and condensed the essentials of Batman's history into a five year in-universe history. That's seventy-five actual years of history, called five years within the DC Universe, implied for four real world years. When the New 52 reboot began, DC Comics tried their damnedest to make sure Batman remained their greatest character, giving him top-billing over Superman who he had played 2nd place to for seventy-five years. Under the writing of Scott Synder, Batman's new stories have given new breath to The Dark Knight and haven't failed to entertain his fans. This universe reboot put Dick Grayson back as Nightwing, Barbara Gordon recovering from spinal injuries and becoming Batgirl again, Jason Todd now as an anti-hero Red Hood, Tim Drake as Red Robin among the poorly written Teen Titans, Damian Wayne as the main Robin, and characters like Cass Cain, Steph Brown and Helena Bertinelli swept under the rug to accommodate new allies like Lucas Fox/Batwing, Calvin Rose/Talon, and Harper Row/Bluebird. Currently, Bruce Wayne became an amnesiac after nearly dying and former police commissioner Jim Gordon was assigned by Powers Corp to be the new Batman of Gotham City. Donning a Samus Aran-like Batman mech-suit, Gordon became a Batman the world has never seen.
I hope this post has caught you up on Batman's history. His many eras truly tell a lot about comic book history as whole, and the directions the character has taken repeat a pattern that has become a trope with popular superheroes: The standard, something new and different, back to the standard. I can only hope more interesting stories and angles on Batman are written in the years to come.
Thanks for reading and Happy Celebration September.
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