Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in american comic books published by dc comics. Batman, american comic book superhero created for dc comics by writer bill finger and artist bob kane. Batman, american comic book superhero created for dc comics by writer bill. He is also the fifth most published comic book character, behind superman, batman, spiderman, and wolverine. More importantly, comic books begin to be acknowledged as a legitimate art form. If we dont, add it to your want list and well notify you when its in stock. Because of different artists interpretations of what the car should be, it changed size, shape, and features frequently. Werthams thesis was that children imitated crimes committed in comic books, and that these works corrupted the morals of. Batmans secret identity is bruce wayne, a wealthy american playboy, philanthropist, and owner of wayne enterprises.
Editor vin sullivan turned to what then appeared to be an unlikely creative source, gag cartoonist bob kane, and asked him to design a new hero. History talk 0 this category is for everything related to all of the batman comic book series. The animated series fans celebrate release of new comic book. Comic book superheroes unmasked documentary the origin. Batman and the companys other major hero, superman, were the cornerstones of the companys success. The history of the gay subtext of batman and robin. Batman s many film and tv incarnations are given a lot of attention as well.
In todays video i am investigating the history of the one and only batman. Hottest comics key issues comics by letter cgc cert lookup investment speculation new comics this week sell my comics. Perhaps the only gripe about this visual history is the size of the font when reading the caption of the comic books listed about batman s history. Taking his idea to writer bill finger, they further developed the concept. This is a great book that really delves into the history of batman. Batman a history character biography, comic book history. Batman is an ongoing american comic book series featuring the dc comics superhero batman as its main protagonist. Batman earned his own selftitled comic book in 1940, while continuing to be featured in detective comics. Batman meets commissioner gordon face to face for the first time. In 1939, dc comics was looking for a new superheroa character who could build on the wild success of their earlier comic book phenomenon, superman. Rather, the history of dc comics is the history of the comic book industry as a whole, layered with intrigue, greed, great stories, politics, financial hell holes, but ultimately an innate desire in all of us for a great story. The boom of licensed superhero products began and hollywood turned to comic books as inspiration for future blockbuster movies. In this article, all dates given for various ages are approximate.
In this vlog, sagu history professor david onyon discusses how comic books were used as propaganda to target american children during world war ii. This category is for everything related to all of the batman comic book series. Inspired by sherlock holmes, zorro, a leonardo da vinci sketch of a batwinged flying machine, and his own imagination, kane sketched an early version of the character. For each sale discovered, we match it to the specific comic in our massive database which also includes variant covers and printings.
Comics might be the epitome of diversity today but some of your favorite superheroesfrom superman and batman to captaim americahad extremely racist storylines back in the day. While detective comics focuses on mysteries and the bats detective work, batman is designed as the. An indepth documentary on the comic book history of the dark knight. Accessible guide on where to start and how to read batman comics. Heralding the outrageousness of the batman television series in the mid1960s, batman comic books introduced ridiculous characters such as batbaby, batape, batmite, and ace the bat hound. Following the adventures of gothams dark knight, batman is one of comics longestrunning monthly comic books. Uncover the caped crusaders mysterious realworld origin and his evolution into a hugely successful tv and movie franchise in batman. The complete history of the joker, from comic books to the. In 1939, dc comics was looking for a new superheroa character who could build on the wild success of their earlier comic book.
The success of batman s appearances in detective comics led to an eponymous spinoff title that debuted in the spring of 1940. Sothebys selling most complete dc comics collection ever featuring rare batman and superman comics. Batman has had his origin story retold differently several times over his many years of publication, with significant variations in continuity golden age. Major moments from the comics are covered as well as the various shifts in storytelling tones over the decades. Sixty years of the worlds favorite comic book heroes. The origin of batman, which was not revealed to readers until the characters.
Relive the adventures of kryptons favorite son inside and outside the comic book world in superman. Comic book facts 33 interesting facts about comic books. Originally named the batman, the character is also referred to by such epithets as the caped crusader, the dark knight, and the worlds greatest detective. We monitor the fire hose of online comic book sales across various marketplaces and report on the sales of cgc and cbcs graded books in our comics price guide.
Batman comics were among those criticized when the comic book industry. Batman 1940 comic read batman 1940 comic online in. The political influence of comics in america during wwii. Is there an official reading order to the batman books. This batman comics price guide will help you to value all the early issues of batman comics. 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. When not writing comics themselves, manning often writes books about the comic book medium and its rich history. The original concept of batman was developed by writerartist bob kane. A brief history of comic books the pioneer 15001828, victorian 18281883 and platinum 18831938 ages please note. Also during this time, taking the place of serious villains to battle superman, numerous forms of kryptonite were brought forthgold, blue, jewel, redgreen, magno, redgold kryptonite and kryptonite plus. The disney character who has appeared in the most films is donald duck.
We offer modern, bronze age, silver age, and golden age comics. Dc direct, dc direct statues, dc designer series, dc designer series statues, batman, batman by rafael grampa, rafael grampa, rafael grampa profile, rafael grampa artist, rafael grampa batman, rafael grampa batman statue, dark knight returns. In this era, elaborate ruses and misdirection were the twin engines of comic book storytelling, which meant many a comic began with batman performatively rejecting robin as his partner, an act. While many batman spinoffs come and go, the selftitled series and detective comics are the two mainstays that will never fade away. The new york world, owned by joseph pulitzer, begins publishing a series of comics by richard outcault taking place in hogans alley, and featuring a boy in a yellow nightshirt who becomes known as the yellow kid. In the name of his murdered parents, bruce wayne wages eternal war on the criminals of gotham city. Batman comics were among those criticized when the comic book industry came under scrutiny with the publication of psychologist fredric werthams book seduction of the innocent 1954. Batman reading order and timeline modern age gotham. The golden age of comics comics have been in existence since the end of the 19th century, but it was after the depression that the popularity of newspaper cartoons expanded into a major industry. Although they had previously appeared together in 1941s allstar comics. The yellow kid becomes very popular in new york city, and, in 1897, william hearsts new york journal hires oucault to draw the cartoon. Modern age comic books are swathed in realism, rather than in earlier themes, such as patriotism and morality.
Maybe making the book a half inch taller would have benefited those of us may not wear glasses, but can struggle at times with fonts this size. The complete history of the joker, from his first appearance as batman s nemesis in comic books to his reinvention in the new movie joker. Bruce waynebatman is one of the most popular comic book. Well, there isnt an official one but i have found a couple of unofficial ones people have collected in the comic book community. One of dcs most profitable and enduring characters, batman debuted in may 1939 in detective comics no. Batman is one of the comic book characters with the largest history in comic books. Universe, reinstituting much of classic dc history that the new 52 ostensibly disposed of. A brief comic book history of the worlds finest super bros. Weve been selling comics since 1961 our first sale. With the exception of the beginning of the golden age and the beginning of the silver age, little consensus exists on startingending dates. If youre looking for a hard to find back issue, we probably have it. When i first wanted to get into reading the batman books my first issue was where do i start. By that time, national publications the comic book division that would become dc comics was the topselling and most influential publisher in the industry.
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