By Cole Whist

THE BATMAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS• INTRO• BIRTH OF BATMAN• DETECTIVE COMICS• THE COMIC WORLD• MOVIE AND FILM• TODAY• TIMELINE• SELF REFLECT• BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE BEGINNING

INTROThe 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.

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.

DETECTIVE COMICSBob 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.

DID YOU KNOW?

Batman was created as a combination of Zorro, Dracula, and the Shadow.

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.

THE COMIC WORLDThe 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.

DID YOU KNOW?

One of the first personality ideas for Batman was for him to be homosexual? It was later changed by Fredric Wertham.

MOVIE AND FILM

MOVIE AND FILM 1/3In 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.

MOVIE AND FILM 2/3As 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.

DID YOU KNOW?Arnold Schwarzenegger who starred in The Terminator played Mr. Freeze in the film, Batman and Robin?

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.

DID YOU KNOW?

The DC Universe of superheroes or DC, stands for Detective Comics, the comic series that started the Batman phenomenon?

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.

TIMELINE

1938Batman is created

1938Bat-Man starts series inDetective comics

1950Gets own series

1964Batman gets many changes

1966Batman movie comes out

1989Batman: Rise of the Joker released

1966Batman TV series begins

1968Batman TV series ends

1992Batman returns released

1995Batman Forever released

1997Batman and Robin released

2005Batman Begins released

2008The Dark Knight released

2012The Dark Knight returns released

1998Bob Kane's death

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.

Thanks for Watching!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2015