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Comicbook: Batman
"I am the night."
"Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot."

The Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader.

Defines the Bad Ass Normal Super Hero.

At the age of ten, Bruce Wayne witnessed the murder of his parents at the hands of a mugger. Swearing vengeance against all criminals, Bruce used his parents' vast fortune to travel the world and hone his fighting and detective skills. Once he felt he was ready Bruce returned to his beloved Gotham City, intent on removing the criminal element that had overrun Gotham in his absence. Donning a costume with a bat motif to scare criminals, Batman protects the streets of Gotham at night while pretending to be clueless playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne by day.

Over time, he's swung between a bright, shiny Cape and a dark, nightmarish Shadow Archetype. A number of comic-book writers, most infamously Frank Miller, love the contrast between Batman and Superman — darkness and light - and play it up. In current continuity, it seems to be the latter.

As of 2009, Bruce Wayne is (apparently) dead, or suffering a fate worse than death, or in any event no longer capable of being Batman. The Battle for the Cowl event resulted in a new Batman taking over: Dick Grayson, the first Robin and oldest son.

Batman has had many different TV series over the years:

He's also been a main character in several others:

He's been in movies, as well: Two based on different incarnations of his television shows, Two by Tim Burton, which were Art-Deco stylish and dark; two by Joel Schumacher, which were... something else; and now a widely applauded rebooted series. Also worth mentioning is the video game Batman Arkham Asylum.

And we can't forget the actual comics (listed in order of publication dates).

Publications & Comic Series
  • Detective Comics - DC's longest-running still-published comic series, Batman debuted in issue #27 in 1939, and still headlined it until 2009. Batwoman is the current focus of the series, with a back up feature for The Question. Various supporting characters, including the Martian Manhunter, the Elongated Man, and others have appeared over the years in various backup strips.
  • Batman - Batman's self-named monthly title, which debuted in 1940 (issue #1 featured the first appearances of the Joker and Catwoman).
  • World's Finest Comics - A monthly teamup title co-starring Superman that ran from the early 1940s through 1986. A modern title, Superman/Batman, continues the tradition of World's Finest.
  • The Joker - the Clown Prince of Crime starred in his own short-lived series in the mid-1970s.
  • Legends of the Dark Knight - An anthology series focusing mainly on Batman's early crimefighting career. Its stories are not strictly canon, but are mostly accepted as such.
  • Gotham Central - A series depicting the Gotham City Police Department. Notable for a storyline where Renee Montoya gets outed as a lesbian.
  • Batman Confidential - Another anthology series that replaced Legends of the Dark Knight when it ended. Instead of focusing solely on the Dark Knight's adventures, it focuses more on key moments in Batman's life. Most notable for providing a Joker origin story that probably differs the greatest from the one seen in The Killing Joke.
  • Superman/Batman - Mentioned above, this is a team-up series with Superman that included other supporting characters, but mostly focused on the two lead crime fighters. Most notable for re-introducing Supergirl to The DCU, and spinning off the first story arc into the direct-to-DVD movie Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.
  • Batman and Robin - From the team which brought us All Star Superman, this series deals with the the coming of a new crime family in Gotham, while the new Batman and Robin attempt to get used to their new roles in the immediate aftermath of Battle for the Cowl. May serve to replace ASBAR in the All Star DC Comics line.
  • Streets of Gotham - A series written by Paul Dini that features the new Batman and Robin in the eyes of other characters. Also features a back-up feature starring Kate Spencer, the current Manhunter.
  • Gotham City Sirens - A series, also written by Paul Dini, dealing with the girls of Gotham.

Storylines
  • Year One - The Caped Crusader's first year in duty, which coincides with Gordon's first year in duty. Arguably the most well-received of the Batman stories. Most, but not all, elements of the story were adapted into Batman Begins.
  • A Death In The Family - The Joker teams up with Middle Eastern terrorists and kills Jason Todd, the second Robin. Note that since it was written in the 80's, it was allowed to touch on issues that no comic today would touch with a ten-foot pole. Also, Superman gets involved.
  • Knightfall - Bane comes and breaks Batman's back. Notable for having a guy other than Bruce Wayne being Batman.
  • No Man's Land - As if living in Gotham wasn't bad enough already, an earthquake rips it apart. Most citizens are evacuated, and the city abandoned by the US government. But never fear, it's eventually rebuilt by Lex Luthor, who uses the goodwill generated by his "philanthropic" actions (he was really trying to pull a fast one and acquire all the land in Gotham, but was stopped by Batman, but only Batman knew that) to be elected President.
  • Hush - The newest addition to Batman's core Rogues Gallery in years arrives, manipulating all of his other enemies in a way to give him as much trouble as possible. Also, Superman gets involved. Again.
  • War Games - Spoiler decided to prove to Batman she was worthy of being Robin by taking one of his plans and engaging in a massive Batman Gambit against all of Gotham's gangs that goes horribly wrong. The result? Black Mask becoming the top crime boss in Gotham and Stephanie Brown, AKA the fourth Robin, dying which wasn't due to the actual gambit but after a few years she doesn't stay that way
  • Batman RIP - Exactly What It Says On The Tin. Except that the death itself occurs in Final Crisis rather than in the story arc proper and it turned out to be not death but rather a Fate Worse Than Death.
  • Battle For The Cowl - Batman is dead and a great void has been created in Gotham City. A war on two fronts has started that the Bat-Family must deal with; the recently escaped Rogues Gallery from Arkham along with the various gangs and factions trying to claim Gotham as their own, and the appearance of a mysterious masked 'Batman' who holds no qualms for murder reveals himself as Jason Todd. After attempting to kill both Tim Drake and Damian Wayne, Jason fights Nightwing, and is defeated. Dick takes over the mantle of the Bat, and Damien becomes the new Robin while Tim heals from his injuries.
  • Batman: Reborn - The most recent storyline dealing with the aftermath of Bruce Wayne's death and Dick Grayson taking up his mentor's identity.. The following series Batman and Robin, Streets of Gotham, Gotham City Sirens, and Red Robin have been created for the main plot.

One-Shots & Limited Series
  • The Dark Knight Returns - An old Batman takes up the cowl again to fight mutants. And along with Watchmen, it helped start the Dark Age of comics.
  • The Killing Joke - With the help of Alan Moore, The Joker gets reinvented into the insane sociopath we all know and love. A major influence in recent adaptations of the Joker.
  • Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth - What happens when the Joker gets overdosed on Nightmare Fuel, with a little of Lewis Carroll as well. Written by Grant Morrison, the work portrays the asylum as its most unnerving. We also finally get to see why the place was built... but it definitely wasn't pretty.
  • The Long Halloween: A sequel of sorts to Year One, detailing the origin of Two-Face. The story itself involves a serial killer named "Holiday" bumping off members of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone's mob on various holidays. Much like Year One, many elements were adapted into the Dark Knight Trilogy.
  • Dark Victory - Written and drawn by the guys who did The Long Halloween, this limited series retells the origin of Robin. The story itself has a serial killer named "Hangman" who's killing Gotham cops.
  • The Dark Knight Strikes Again - A sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, once again written by Frank Miller. Involves Batman, Green Arrow, and a whole bunch of other "heroes" overthrowing President Lex Luthor. It was a lot more controversial than its predecessor.
  • The Man Who Laughs - A one-shot issue written by Ed Brubaker and another intended sequel of Year One, detailing the Batman's first encounter with the Joker.
  • All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder - The Goddamn Batman abducts the Goddamn Dick Grayson (age twelve) and goes on some crazy stuff in the Goddamn Gotham City. Your Mileage May Vary on if it's complete crap or just pretty damn funny.
  • Joker - Another one-shot, written by Brian Azzarello, detailing the Joker's release from Arkham and his susequent rise (and fall). The Bat himself makes only a short but effective appearance. Quite a few similarities between the Joker depecited within and Heath Ledger's portrayal in The Dark Knight, but this is coincidental, this being written a good bit before the film was released.
  • Gotham Underground - A limited series that focuses on the effects of the Countdown to Final Crisis on Batman's Rogues Gallery, not to mention the recent death of Black Mask. While the rest of the Bat-family struggle to prevent a gang war from breaking out, Batman himself, undercover as a henchman, winds up in prison. By the end of the series, Penguin finds himself Batman's informant - whether he likes it or not.
  • Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? - A two-parter written by Neil Gaiman, in the same vein of Superman's Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?", this is an epilogue to the Bruce Wayne Batman (in all of his incarnations). The story begins with many of Batman's friends and enemies lamenting the apparent death of Batman. Batman himself is there in spirit, and he is subjected to increasingly inaccurate, outlandish, and contradicting accounts of his life and death while the "ghost" of Martha Wayne guides him. After saying farewell to his former life, Bruce is finally reincarnated... as the new-born baby of Martha Wayne.

This series has a (soon to be very long) Character Sheet.

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