The success of Batman’s appearances in Detective Comics led to an eponymous spin-off title that debuted in the spring of 1940. Ghost artists such as Jerry Robinson and Sheldon Moldoff illustrated the additional material, but, due to the terms of his contract with DC, Kane would receive the credit for such work. Finger, who was responsible for some of the most-recognizable elements of the Batman mythos, would not be acknowledged as a cocreator of the character for more than 75 years. Batman no. 1 introduced two villains who would become integral components of the character’s history: the sneering clown prince of crime, the Joker, and the sultry princess of plunder, the Catwoman (although she was called “the Cat” during her initial appearance). Batman and Robin were soon challenged by a growing contingent of odd antagonists: the Scarecrow, Penguin, and Riddler were just some of the rogues who repeatedly took on the “Dynamic Duo.”
Batman and Robin’s synchronized acrobatics and deductive mastery dazzled readers, as did their arsenal: they each sported utility belts containing the tools of their trade, including Batarangs (bat-winged boomerangs), Batropes (for climbing and swinging), and an assortment of other devices. For transportation, the Dynamic Duo used a variety of bat-themed vehicles warehoused in the secret Batcave beneath the heroes’ grand home, Wayne Manor. By 1942 Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon—in a reversal from the early days of the comic, when he had ordered his officers to fire upon Batman—was summoning the hero into action by illuminating the nighttime skies of Gotham City with the Bat-Signal.
The Dynamic Duo’s burgeoning popularity could not be contained in two magazines alone. They soon appeared in DC’s World’s Best (later World’s Finest) Comics and in 1943 swung into their own newspaper strip. In addition to their comics appearances, they segued into movie theatres in two serials, Batman (1943) and The New Adventures of Batman and Robin (1949), and guest-starred on several episodes of the radio program The Adventures of Superman in the mid-1940s.
Superhero
Superhero comics declined in popularity after World War II, and Batman was one of three DC Comics characters to maintain his own series, the others being Superman and Wonder Woman. Despite Batman’s resiliency (and the emergence of artist Dick Sprang, whose interpretation of the Joker remains one of the classic renditions of the character), the 1950s were unkind to the cowled crime fighter and his sidekick. The challenge came not from a costumed nemesis, however, as the biggest threat facing Batman—indeed, all comics—was psychiatrist Frederic Wertham. In his polemic against the industry, Seduction of the Innocent (1954), Wertham charged that comics morally corrupt their impressionable young readers, impeaching Batman and Robin in particular for supposedly flaunting a gay lifestyle. Wertham wrote, “They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases, and have a butler.
Batman in the Silver Age
Editor Julius Schwartz, who had resuscitated other DC superheroes, was tasked with revitalizing the ailing franchise in 1964. He commissioned artist Carmine Infantino, whose distinctive work on the Flash had helped usher in the Silver Age, to update the appearance of the hero. Infantino’s “New Look” added a yellow oval to Batman’s chest insignia, and his sharp, stylish penciling marked such a break with the past that Infantino was not forced to share credit with Kane. With the exception of Robin, Schwartz and writer John Broome evicted the codependent Batman Family. Detective mysteries became the norm, and Batman’s rogues’ gallery reappeared.
The modern era
The increased comic book sales DC enjoyed as a result of the television show quickly deflated once it left the air. This slump was overcome through the efforts of writers such as Denny O’Neil, Steve Englehart, and Len Wein and dynamic artists including Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, and Marshall Rogers. In the 1980s Batman explored still grimmer themes, a trend that reached its apex with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), a four-issue miniseries by writer and artist Frank Miller that has come to be regarded as one of the first American graphic novels. Set in the near future, The Dark Knight portrayed an aging Bruce Wayne crawling out of retirement to restore order to a chaotic Gotham City. Miller’s gritty take on Batman established a template for other writers and artists to follow.