A wealthy philanthropist, Thomas Wayne, his wife, Martha, and their 8 year-old son, Bruce Wayne, were coming out of a movie theater at 10:47 p.m. As they stepped onto Park Row (now called Crime Alley), a thug named Joe Chill armed with a gun approached them from the shadows to steal the pearl necklace Martha was wearing. Thomas, moving in to protect his wife, was shot by Chill, causing Martha to scream. Chill then shot her, while shouting, "this'll shut you up!". Bruce, traumatized by the deaths of his parents, would never be the same again. Afterward, Bruce was raised by his wise and loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and inherited his family's vast fortune as well as his father's company, Wayne Enterprises. Standing at his parents' gravestones, Bruce made a solemn oath to avenge their deaths.
Despite fiscal security, happiness eluded Bruce. Young Bruce was comforted by Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who helped him to mourn his parents and find a purpose in life. At age fourteen, Bruce started a twelve year walkabout around the world seeking experts in many fields, training himself mentally and physically. From an academic standpoint, he studied at Cambridge in England, the Sorbonne in France, and other famous European universities. A Frenchman named Henri Ducard taught him man-hunting, a ninja named Kirigi taught him stealth, an African bushman trained him in the art of the hunt, and Nepalese monks taught him healing.
Bruce returned to Gotham City, where he became a vigilante. But despite all his honed skills, he knew something was missing. Bruce believed criminals to be a "superstitious and cowardly lot," and in order to rid Gotham of evil, he needed to reinvent himself to become a terrifying symbol that would strike fear into the hearts of criminals. While in his father's study, a large bat crashed through the window. Bruce saw this as an omen and recalled his fear of bats as a child. This would be his symbol; the Bat would strike terror into the Gotham underworld. Using his vast wealth, Bruce designed a costume and state of the art equipment, thus beginning a difficult double life: by day, he would be the billionaire playboy and businessman, Bruce Wayne, and by night, he was The Batman.
Creation
Batman, one of the most influential comic book characters to be penned, was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, though Kane, who designed the character, often receives credit as the sole creator. After the success of Superman in early 1939, DC comics started requesting more superheroes for its titles. Bob Kane had an idea for a character called "Bat-Man." There is a large controversy that suggests Kane came up with a "Birdman" and Finger is the one who actually suggested the name "Bat-man." The character's alter-ego's name was influenced by the names of the Scottish patriot Robert the Bruce and revolutionary U.S. Brigadier General Mad Anthony Wayne (who, in the comics, is an ancestor of Bruce). For the character's costume, Kane drew inspiration from a flying device designed by Leonardo da Vinci: the ornithopter, a glider that had bat like wings.
Most of the Bat costume designs were suggested by Bill Finger. Kane initially drew Batman with a red and black costume, a domino mask, and wings. Finger suggested the character's costume be colored gray & black to make the character look more "ominous." He also suggested replacing the domino mask with a cowl and the wings with a cape. Finger also wanted Kane to change the way Batman's eyes appeared behind the mask and urged him to turn them into white spots. Later Finger admitted that he was influenced by the comic character The Phantom, who also wore a mask with no visible pupils. Gloves were also added so that Batman would not leave fingerprints behind.
Like Superman, various aspects of Batman's personality, character history, visual design and equipment were inspired by contemporary popular culture of the 1930's, including movies, pulp magazine, comic strips, newspaper headlines and even aspects of Kane himself. Notable sources of inspiration were two of Kane's favorite movies, The Bat Whispers (1930), the film was a screen adaptation of Mary Robert Rinehart's mystery novel that featured character named The Bat, a detective who has a secret alter ego known as the Bat. The other movie that influenced Kane was The Mark of Zorro (1920). One might point out that in the movies young Bruce Wayne is often shown to have seen a Zorro movie before his parents were murdered. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in 1939, and later became popular enough to spawn his own comics. Along with Superman and Wonder Woman, Batman has provided many of the core story arcs for the DC brand since his creation.
Batman is unique for the simple reason that he has no superhuman powers and is an ordinary human relying on intelligence, money, inventiveness, detective skills, martial arts, and fear to defeat his opponents. He currently makes the most money for a single publishing character and is widely considered to be one of the most popular superheroes in all of comics.
In the original version of the story and the vast majority of re-tellings, Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, an American millionaire (later billionaire) playboy, industrialist, and philanthropist. Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, he swore revenge on criminals, an oath tempered with the greater ideal of justice. Wayne trains himself both physically and intellectually and dons a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in the fictional American Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his crime-fighting partner, Robin, his butler Alfred Pennyworth, the police commissioner Jim Gordon, and occasionally the heroine Batgirl. He fights an assortment of villains such as the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, Ra's al Ghul,Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman, among others. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, martial arts skills, an indomitable will, fear, and intimidation in his continuous war on crime.
Batman became a very popular character soon after his introduction and gained his own comic book title, Batman, in 1940. As the decades wore on, differing interpretations of the character emerged. The late 1960s Batman television series used a camp aesthetic which continued to be associated with the character for years after the show ended. Various creators worked to return the character to his dark roots, with varying results. The comic books of this dark stage culminated in the acclaimed 1986 miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller, as well as Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, among others. The overall success of Warner Bros.' live-action Batman feature films have also helped maintain public interest in the character.
Character Evolution
Golden Age
During the Golden Age of Comics, when he was first introduced, Bruce Wayne was already the vigilante known as Batman. Batman's first appearance was in Detective Comics #27. In Detective Comics #33, the origin of the character was told. Bruce Wayne was the son of Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha Wayne. His parents were wealthy philanthropists in the high society of Gotham City. Bruce grew up in Wayne Manor and experienced a privileged life until one fateful night. Bruce and his parents went to the movies and were walking home when suddenly they were confronted by a small-time crook carrying a gun named Joe Chill. At first, Chill demanded Martha's jewellery, but he ended up shooting both of Bruce’s parents. After the deaths of his parents, Bruce swore to rid Gotham City of evil forever. He began an intense mental and physical training and mastered many skills including martial arts, criminology, and escape artistry.
Upon completing his training Bruce realized that his skills alone were not enough to do the job; he needed the criminals to fear him. That was when a bat flew through the window, scaring Bruce. He was inspired by the symbolism of the bat and used this to become Batman. Batman witnesses the death of the Flying Graysons, high-flying acrobats that were killed by mobsters after the owner of the circus refused to pay "protection money" for the crooks to be their bodyguards. Bruce takes in young Dick Grayson as his ward and trains him as his sidekick, Robin. Bruce and Dick first hunt down and defeat Tony Zucco, the crime boss that was responsible for the deaths of John and Mary Grayson. It is never stated why Bruce took in Dick, but it could be due to how Dick lost his parents at a young age just like Bruce. Together the " Dynamic Duo" face off against many enemies such as the Riddler, Scarecrow, Penguin and the Joker.
Batman eventually becomes one of the founding members of the Justice Society Of America. Batman continued working with the Gotham City Police Department in fighting crime and is later legally deputized as a civilian police agent. Later Alfred Pennyworth is introduced and serves as his butler. Alfred eventually learns the identities of the Dynamic Duo and aids them in keeping their identity safe. Love interest Vicki Vale debuted during the 1940's as one of the numerous "flavors of the month" for Bruce Wayne. Vicki was created as a mirror of Lois Lane of Metropolis, and she often spent her time trying to figure out the identity of Batman. Whenever she got close to figuring out that Batman was Bruce Wayne, Batman would often trick her into believing he was not Bruce Wayne. (Secret identities nearly being found out was a common occurrence in the Golden Age.) Batman was first shown as a cold-blooded vigilante who was willing to use a gun and kill his enemies to rid the city of crime. But this revolted some readers, who made it clear that they hated the idea of their hero going around killing people. At the same time, DC Comics's new editor, Whitney Ellsworth, was already drafting, and eventually implemented, a moral code for Batman that prevented him from ever killing or using a gun.
Silver Age
During the Silver Age DC Comics introduced the Multiverse continuity to its characters. It established the fact that all the Batman stories told during the Golden Age actually took place on Earth-Two. The Earth-Two Batman marries Catwoman and fathered a daughter named Helena Wayne who grows up to be the Huntress. Earth-Two Batman retires to take the job as Commissioner of the GCPD. Dick Grayson of Earth-Two became a lawyer with his own practice and continued his career as the Earth-Two Robin. Eventually he dies during his final adventure against a criminal named Bill Jensen who had acquired superpowers. Batman's back story was expanded upon to include his uncle, Philip Wayne, who raised Bruce for a while after his parents' deaths. He also had an older brother named Thomas Wayne Jr. who had to be institutionalizes after the death of Thomas and Martha. In addition, it was revealed that his parents' killing had not been chance, but an assassination ordered by gangster Lew Moxon.
As a child, Bruce's father had worn a bat costume (similar to Batman's future costume) to a masquerade party, where he encountered and stopped the mobster. Moxon swore revenge against Dr. Wayne, and hired Joe Chill to orchestrate the "mugging" that would result in their deaths. At some point in Bruce's training, he wears a costume similar to the future Robin's and is trained by Harvey Harris, a Gotham City Police detective. During this time Batman would regularly team up with other heroes to fight evil (these adventures were published in World’s Finest Comics from the 1950's through the 1980's), and many of the team-ups featured Batman, Superman and, occasionally, Robin and led to the formation of the Justice League of America.
After Robin (Dick Grayson) sustains an injury, Batman insists on going without a sidekick. Dick leaves to attend college and moves out of Wayne Manor. Batman primarily works solo but occasionally teams up with Robin and Batgirl. It was during this period where Batman starts becoming a bit darker (partly due to the loss of Robin's presence, but mainly because times were changing in the real world). Violent crimes increase in Gotham and the Joker returns with a darker, more sadistic nature (i.e. he was starting to kill his victims).
The Batman also comes face to face with Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head. Ra's has lived for over 600 years and is one of the few people who deduces that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Ra's saw their ideals as being the same, but the two became rivals quickly when Batman realized that Ra's did not value the lives of others as he did. During this time Bruce's older brother, Thomas Wayne, Jr., reappears. Thomas becomes an assassin, but his body was taken over by the anti-hero Deadman. Batman was able to remove Deadman from his brother's body, but Thomas soon dies trying to save his younger brother's life. Batman later quit the Justice League to form his new group called the Outsiders. Batman leads the group for a while, but he eventually quit the Outsiders as well.
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