Batman: 80 Years of the Iconic DC Comics Superhero (Video)

Back in the year 1939, it was the month of May, they issued the issue number 27 of the Detective Comics comic book titled “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate”And a mysterious hooded figure would appear. Thus, one of them would enter our lives. the most iconic superheroes of DC Comics, Batman.

In said comics, A mysterious attacker is murdering the owners of Apex Chemical Corporation, leaving only Stryker and Rogers, who is then ambushed and locked in a laboratory.

Meanwhile, The Bat-Man As was his initial name, with his audacity he manages to determine where he is being held captive. Thus he succeeds, to stop the ambitious Stryker in his plans to take over the company.

Eighty years later, Batman remains as relevant as he was in 1939, having become an icon of the 20th century. He is even the comic book character who has appeared in a feature film the most times. 

Creation of the superhero

The character of Batman It arose from the ideas of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, after the great success achieved by Superman in Action Comics. Taking advantage of the boom, Kane imagined the superhero, so he made the sketch and showed it to Finger to add the final touches.

Initially he looked very similar to Superman, It had wings sticking out, like a bat, with the Batman logo underneath. It also had a kind of red tights and a small mask. So Finger suggested changing the mask for a hood, the wings for a cape, and adding gloves.. Besides all this, he also recommended removing the bright color and red tones from the suit, leaving them dark gray for a more sinister touch.

This way, Kane would develop the concept and design, Finger would define its personality and storylines. They were basically inspired by superheroes and popular characters from the 1930s.

Its Beginnings

Without a doubt, superheroes hide their identity, in the case of Batman, is Bruce Wayne (Bruno Díaz (for Spanish speakers). A billionaire and philanthropist who owns Wayne Corporation in Gotham City.

After the murder of his parents in his presence, being just a child. He vows revenge and to fight crime.. Therefore, he prepares himself mentally and physically throughout his adolescence.

Furthermore, Bruce Wayne decides to create a nocturnal, dark, and even terrifying creature to intimidate criminals. Thus, he begins to use his secret identity to deliver justice, as the vigilante of Gotham City.

Their Skills and Equipment

The Batman, He's just a mere mortal without superpowers, but with a lot of money.. This has allowed him to always use cutting-edge technology, both for his clothing and equipment. He also possesses scientific and detective knowledge that helps him solve cases. In addition, he has great physical prowess acquired through rigorous training.

He has one rule: he doesn't kill, but he knows how to do a lot of damage. For that simple reason, he is greatly feared by criminals.. Even Superman once said that he was the most dangerous man on Earth.

In this way, he has always been at the forefront of technology, which is why we see him with a utility belt. Furthermore, his suit, depending on the era, can be blue and gray, black and gray, or all black with a bat logo on the chest. This is complemented by a cape and a mask with bat-shaped ears.

To this we must add a Cave, where he keeps the latest computers for his research, located beneath his luxurious mansion. He also has the Batmobile, a plane, a speedboat, and a motorcycle among all his gadgets; of course, the word "Bat" must be added to all of them when referring to them.

Comics

With the success of Detective Comics 27, The superhero's popularity grew rapidly, so they decided to create his own comic books. Thus, in 1940, the first issue was released, featuring the young Robin.

Initially They were published quarterly, for the In the 1950s, it became bimonthly.. Then it began to be published monthly, and remained so. At the same time, they produced special issues called Annuals for a few years.

It's worth noting that a good number of villains appear, some worse than others. For example, The Joker, Catwoman, the Mad Hatter, Deadshot, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Ra's al Ghul, just to mention a few.

Series

As time passed since its creation, it was inevitable that it would reach the small screen. This time, it was portrayed by the famous actor. Lewis Wilson, in a short 15-episode series in 1943, produced by Columbia Pictures.

Then, a few years later in January 1966, A new series starring the actor premiered. Adam West. It was a huge popular success, made with a sense of ostentatious humor with a total of 120 episodes to end in 1968. It features most of his enemies, with very good performances that captivated more than one fan at the time.

More recently, in 2014, Gotham premiered, showcasing the origins of some of Batman's most famous villains. It follows a young Bruce Wayne, guided by his butler Alfred and Gordon, as he begins his career in the police department, while Gotham City is mired in corruption. This five-season series, with 100 episodes, depicts a period in the Batman story prior to his rise to fame.

Batman movies

A superhero Having already made a name for itself among its fans, it had comics, series, toys, and every kind of collectible item. But it still had one place left to reach: the movies.

Batman

In this way, 1989 arrives in theaters, the first feature film where the dialogue between the thug asking, Who are you? and the paladin saying “I'm Batman”"In a deep voice, it was etched into history.".

With this first installment we see Michael Keaton embodying the bat-man in a masterful performance, under the direction of Tim Burton. We can't leave out Jack Nicholson as the Joker, In one of his best performances as a villain, it goes without saying how successful it was; it was among the highest-grossing films of that year and led to the production of sequels.

Batman Returns

Later, in 1992, a second installment arrived, also very successful. This time the superhero faces the Penguin and Catwoman to prevent them from taking over Gotham City.

Batman Forever

Then, they produced Batman Forever in 1995, with a new director and lead actor. It was directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Val Kilmer. This time the superhero faces off against the hilarious The Riddler, played by Jim Carrey, and Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones.. They join forces with a plan to drain the brains of Gotham City's inhabitants. The result is a less dark, more lighthearted film, reminiscent of the 1960s TV series.

Batman and Robin

Then in 1997, they premiered Batman and Robin, now GGeorge Clooney in the role of Batman. In this way, the two paladins face off. Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze, To prevent them from freezing all of humanity and then repopulating our world with toxic plants. However, they hadn't counted on a new ally: Batgirl.

Batman Begins

After almost a decade, in In 2005, the reboot of the story premiered; a new saga began.. We revisit the origin of Bruce Wayne and his journey to becoming a superhero. Masterfully portrayed by Christian Bale, facing off against Falcone and Jonathan Crane, known as The Scarecrow and rescue the Gotham City of a corruption network.

The Dark Night

Also called Batman: The Dark Knight, I arrived in 2008. In this way, we saw one of the best superhero movies. Both for the acting Christian Bale, as the macabre villain Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger, which was so good that it received an Oscar.

Thus, in the plot, the vigilante champion sets out to end organized crime. Meanwhile, the Joker appears to terrorize the citizens, unleashing total chaos in the city.

Equally important, this film marked a turning point in the superhero genre. Without a doubt, it's an epic film from beginning to end. It's much more realistic, with a well-crafted story and excellent dialogue, where the Joker completely won over moviegoers.

The Dark Night Rises

In Latin America, it was released under the name of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises and completes the trilogy in 2012. With this, the role ends in the hands of Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan as director.

This way The ruthless terrorist Bane and a very cunning criminal force our hooded hero out of exile.. Full of brutal confrontations, it leads us to believe that the paladin is no match for his malevolent opponent.

The following films would be shared with other superheroes in the DC Extended Universe. This is surely due to the competition with Marvel, and just as Marvel has the Avengers, they want to take the Justice League to its fullest potential.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

In a colossal clash between Batman and Superman, This arose from the hooded paladin's distrust of the Man of Steel, stemming from the events in Metropolis during the Kryptonian clashes that resulted in dozens of deaths.

But Then a greater threat appears, where they must join and in a Justice League preamble, Wonder Woman makes one of her most epic entrances. Together they enter an epic battle against the terrifying threat.

He also made a brief appearance in 2016 in Suicide Squad, where unscrupulous criminals in prison are armed. The purpose of this was for them to fight against an entity and save the world from the apocalypse.

Justice League

One of the most anticipated in 2017, where the The most famous superheroes unite to face a great threat. Here we see Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg, Flash, Superman and the amazing Wonder Woman united against Steppenwolf and his parademons.

Cartoon

Obviously, a superhero without a cartoon isn't a superhero at all. In the case of Batman, there are several cartoons and movies. Some are better than others.

Super Friends

From From 1973 to 1986 he was one of the main characters in the Super Friends series issued by the ABC network and produced by Hanna-Barbera, with a total of 109 episodes. It was a pretty fun series with various situations where they took action in the name of justice. We also see the Legion of Doom, led by Superman's archenemy, Lex Luthor. As we can see, perhaps the films are heading towards a meeting of the evildoers.

Batman: The Animated Series

A new series followed, very similar to the first films. The thematic development was somewhat complex, but it was praised for its aesthetics and artistic quality. It looks like a rather dark Batman with designs in its lines that continued to be used in DC animations.. It aired from 1992 to 1995 with a total of 85 episodes.

Then, in 1997 came The New Adventures of Batman, with 24 chapters, ending in 1999. In it we see more of Batgirl and Robin fighting hand-to-hand with the paladin to defeat the enemies.

Batman Beyond

It began in the same year as the previous series, In this one, an aging Batman searches for his replacement.. Who is rigorously trained to fight against old and new enemies for 52 chapters, ending in 2001.

The Batman

Since it was revived in film, they couldn't be left without animated series. With this, they restarted the superhero's story in 2004 with 65 episodes. It's worth noting that the drawing style was somewhat radical, with many aspects modified compared to the comics. It's also worth mentioning that the The main theme of the soundtrack was created by The Edge, guitarist of the famous group U2..

Batman the Brave and the Bold

Continuing with the different animated series, we come to this one, which aired from 2008 to 2011, also with 65 episodes. This series is quite striking, since Batman teams up with another superhero to solve cases and defeat villains, in each of the episodes.

Justice League

In this new edition we see the Super Friends united, with a very well-crafted plot, magnificent graphics, and amazing battles. All of this keeps you watching the 52 episodes, which began in 2001 and ended in 2004.

Furthermore, it was so successful that it led to a sequel called Justice League Unlimited. with 39 episodes, broadcast from 2004 to 2006. It tells a parallel story highlighting a conflict with a government agency called Project Cadmus.

In this Justice League Unlimited, in addition to the seven superheroes, there's practically an army of them. And along with a large number of villains, they'll keep us entertained throughout the series.

The Lego Batman Movie

A really fun movie, where our superhero lives in a world of Lego bricks. They dared to take it and had an excellent result; it was released in 2017.

Soundtrack

Although the different soundtracks of the films of Batman, They haven't been as epic. Like the one composed by John Williams for the legendary 1978 Superman with Christopher Reeve. For our consolation, we have the one produced by Prince in 1989 called Batdance.

On the other hand, there is also the one about the sA series from the sixties, composed by Neal Hefti, which is quite catchy. Now, we could also add the animated series to this list. The Batman by the rock band U2.

Video games

Are Numerous video games have been developed for this franchise, counted from 1986 by Ocean Software for various types of computers such as the Sinclair, Amstrad, and Spectrum. Later in In 1989, Sunsoft developed another game that was distributed by Nintendo. and a year later, Sega.

In 1990, Atari He released his arcade video game, very similar to the first Batman movie. From then on, the number of video games has been large., encompassing a considerable number of consoles, such as PlayStation, Xbox, Super Nintendo, just to mention a few.

To conclude this post, we can say that the years go by and Batman's legacy as a cultural icon will continue to grow. Because superhero adventures have a lot to offer. A superhero who resonated with us and will continue to surprise us. Thus, this May 2019, Batman turns 80..

Now, tell us: Which movie, comic, animated series, or video game did you find the best? What do you think will happen next with this superhero?

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