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Introduction Comic Books NO WHERE IN twentieth-century media was myth more pervasive than in the form of comic books. Since the 1930's when the comic industry boomed, the stories and elements featured have born more than a passing resemblance to fairy tales, Greek gods, fables, and tribal tales. Filled with archetypal protagonists and villains both supernatural and heroically human, comics continue to offer cautionary stories about surviving the urban jungle of modern cities. Whether serving as an analogy for the issues we face, or dreaming of an utopian future, comics always represent and reflect the psyche of the decade in which they were written. Origin of Batman SINCE THE PUBLISHING of Detective Comics' twenty-seventh issue in 1939, Bob Kane's and Bill Finger's creation of Batman has become the comic character with the most media representation. He has been a pop culture staple for sixty years, yet his powerful influence is acknowledged by mainstream gatekeepers. Batman was named the "Number One Most Important Figure in Comics" by the January 1, 2000 issue of the Washington, D.C. Times. DC Comics' "Urban Renewal" of Gotham City was recently featured in the Hackensack, New Jersey Record as well as the Baltimore Sun (Porter 1). DC Comics is number one in their industry, largely due to the publishing each month of a dozen Batman family titles. The appeal of this anti-hero is as widespread as the protagonist himself is complicated. A regular kid who witnessed his parents' murders by a common thug, Bruce Wayne grew up to become the Batman; a mysterious figure who fights criminals anonymously using intellect, surprise, and the totem of the bat to frighten his prey. The dual character of Batman/Bruce Wayne has become a figment of our collective conscious. Unique from supernatural superheroes, Bruce Wayne represents the level of perfection we can all attain if we focus and study. Bruce chose a life of crime fighting as a solution to his tragic childhood, and uses this positive act as both penance and therapy. Through sheer tenacity, Bruce trained himself to fight the urban terrorism that destroyed his family by studying science, martial arts, psychology, and becoming a master detective. Like Zorro and Sherlock Holmes, the two characters Batman was based on (Kane 37, 44, 46), Batman relies on his intellect rather than his strength to outwit criminals and bring them to justice. Unlike the warriors of mythologies past, the Batman figure represents a delicate balance of morality: a vigilante outside the law who upholds its rulings, a crime fighter who will not kill, an outlaw who returns his prey to the law enforcers he evades.
Batmedia THE MYTHOS OF Batman pervades a multitude of media forms beyond comics. It all began with a World War II radio show starring Batman and Superman. Now there have been three live action serials, one syndicated comic strip, three separate movie franchises producing eight movies, seven cartoon television series (including Superfriends, Batman Beyond and its spin-off Zeta, Batman and Robin, The New Batman and Superman Adventures ), five regular monthly comic titles, countless one time comics, graphic novels, crossovers, and at least ten current monthly titles featuring spin off characters of the Batman family. In addition, there are web sites, video and computer games, action figures, breakfast cereal, soundtracks, novels, theme parks, Halloween costumes, and on and on (Van Hise). The caped crusader satisfies the fantasies of the American psyche. According to Bob Kane, "he has become an integral part of our culture, an American folk hero who is as immortal as Paul Bunyan or George Washington" (Kane vii). The DC universe has become so developed that other characters have emerged from the shadow of the Batman's cape to claim their own pop cultural status. The most successful female is the enigma of Catwoman.
Copyright © 1999-2001 by Elisabeth Fies All comic characters and their likeness are the intellectual property of DC Comics. | |||||||||||||||||||
