4. INTRO
The Batman phenomenon started in the 1930s when America was preparing for
war, and all the people needed something to get there minds off of everything and
get distracted from the violence of war. Certain things could help with just that.
Some of things were banjo playing, musical comedy, mystery stories, Jazz music,
and finally, comic books. Comic books were a mix of funny, colorful, characters
that kids and adults loved. In 1938, Superman made his first appearance as the
very first comic book superhero. This new hero coming to life excited everyone.
Superman was such a big success, yet publishers wanted another character for
their superhero comic books. They did not know that that character would become
one of the best and most popular comic book sellers of all time.
5. BIRTH OF
BATMAN
In the early 1930's, Robert Kane was only a teenager when he got the idea of Batman.
This happened just when the comic industry was being introduced to the world, with
Superman leading the introduction of superheroes. Robert got the idea of making an
character opposite of the Man of Steel; a mysterious vigilante who was also based in
humanity. Robert had been inspired by a book by Leonardo da Vinci which was about
cool inventions and ideas. One of those ideas showed a man in a sled with huge wings
spreading out of it like a glider. Bob noticed how the wings looked like bat wings, which
inspired him to create Batman with a bat-like costume.
It was Bob's dream to live in a castle in Italy while being catered to by a butler. This
dream was incorporated into the Batman character. Batman and his alter ego Bruce
Wayne, lived in a mansion and has a butler by the name of Alfred Pennyworth.
6. DETECTIVE COMICS
Bob was the person who put pencil to paper and created the first image of Batman in 1939.
With inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings, he created a character with wings and a
domino mask. It was Bill Finger who later collaborated with him and made changes to
Batman's costume, changing the original wings to a cape, adding gloves and finally adding the
iconic half mask with bat ears. Bill was also the one who thought of the name Bruce Wayne for
Batman's secret identity. This character was presented to the executives at DC Comics and
they liked their idea. Issue 27 of Detective Comics was the introduction of the Bat-Man, a
caped crusader who would solve mysteries and fight criminals. When the issue was released
it sold more than any other Detective Comics issue. It was then that Bat-Man began his
career.
7. DID YOU KNOW?
Batman was created as a
combination of Zorro, Dracula,
and the Shadow.
8. A MAKEOVER
In the 1950s, Batman was becoming less popular.
Comic books weren't selling. his popularity fell so
much, that they were planning to get rid of Batman
altogether. So National Comics industry hired Julius
Schwartz to modernize The Batman. Batman's
costume was redesigned and the Bat-mobile was
given a whole new look. When these changes to
The Batman were made, his popularity slowly
started to rise once again.
9. THE COMIC WORLD
The Bat-Man issues continued in the Detective Comics for
another 100 issues. During the series, many characters were
introduced. Such as the Joker, Catwoman, Two-face, Bat-girl,
and Robin, the Boy Wonder. Since the Batman series was
doing so well, Bob insisted that the Bat-Man was to get his
own series. DC Comics agreed, and in 1946, The Bat-Man got
his own comic book series Called Batman. In his own series,
Batman became even more popular.
10. DID YOU KNOW?
One of the first personality
ideas for Batman was for
him to be homosexual? It
was later changed by
Fredric Wertham.
12. MOVIE AND FILM 1/3
In 1966, the Batman movie and TV series, which starred Adam
West and Burt Ward, was introduced to the public. The Batman's
popularity didn’t last long as the TV series only ran for two years.
Batman resurfaced in the late 80s, winning a new fan base due
to his new look in the film, Batman: Rise of the Joker. Fans loved
the new Batman, and it was a big success for Twentieth Century
Fox. In fact, it did so well, they prepared for the second movie.
13. MOVIE AND FILM 2/3
As the latest Batman movie was a big success, PolyGram Filmed
Entertainment Studios were already working on the next Batman
sequel: The Batman Returns, which starred the Penguin and
Catwoman. Batman Forever was then added as the third
installment of the movie series. The final movie, Batman and
Robin, was in theatres just years later. Batman fans were so
excited about the movie because it starred Robin the boy wonder,
who was able to fight crime alongside Batman for the final Batman
movie.
14. DID YOU KNOW?
Arnold Schwarzenegger
who starred in The
Terminator played Mr.
Freeze in the film,
Batman and Robin?
15. MOVIE AND FILM 3/3
The latest Trilogy
In 2005, Warner Bros. decided that it was time to start a new franchise with release of a new
Batman trilogy, starting with the film, Batman Begins. The movie starred Christian Bale as
Batman/Bruce Wayne and Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow. The movie grossed 372 million
dollars worldwide. Due to the success, Twentieth Century Fox decided to make the second
movie in 2008, and it was called The Dark Knight. The movie got even better ratings then the
first, so Warner Bros. knew they had finalize the trilogy with the 2012 film, The Dark Knight
Rises.
16. DID YOU KNOW?
The DC Universe of
superheroes or DC, stands
for Detective Comics, the
comic series that started the
Batman phenomenon?
17. TODAY
In the present, Batman is seen everywhere. In comic books,
movies, and even has his picture on a lunchbox. Batman still
continues in his own comic series, his own animated TV shows,
video games, and even new movies such as Man of steel 2/Batman
vs. Superman, which my father is working on right now in Detroit.
To this day, Batman continues to be one of the greatest and most
popular fictional superheroes of all time.
18. TIMELINE
1964
Batman gets many changes
1950
Gets own series
1998
Bob Kane's death
2012
The Dark Knight returns
released
1989
Batman: Rise of the Joker released
1938
Bat-Man starts series in
Detective comics
1938
Batman is created
2005
Batman Begins released
1995
Batman Forever released
1992
Batman returns released
1966
Batman movie comes out
1966
Batman TV series begins
1968
Batman TV series ends
2008
The Dark Knight released
1997
Batman and Robin released
19. SELF REFLECT
For this Passion Project, I believe I deserve a fully meeting
expectations because I have good visuals, with good transitions,
and lots of detailed writing in my work. One thing I might have to
work on is focusing on getting the writing done first instead of the
visuals. But otherwise I think I did really well. Plus, I think my
interest for The Dark Knight has grown ever since I started this
project, because of all the interesting facts I have discovered. One
of the facts I found the most interesting was that Bob Kane wasn't
the one who made up everything about Batman, but many more
people as well and that surprised me.
