Batman

Batman, my favorite superhero by far, is going to get a 2-part blog. Not just because he is my favorite character, but also because there is so much to him that it can't all be fit into one blog post. Batman has been in many comics, shows and movies. The most recent movie, The Dark Knight, has been by far the most popular. This is partially due to actor Heath Ledger's unfortunate death and partially due to the widespread opinion that the movie itself is spectacular.

Batman first appeared in the year 1939, in the twenty-seventh issue of Detective Comics. Batman appears strange in his first appearance when compared to modern incarnations. His bat-ears were longer and curved, and he often killed the criminals he went after. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, a rich businessman of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne decided to become Batman after his parents were killed right in front of him. Wayne vowed to stop crime in Gotham, and eventually became the vigilante known as Batman. Dressed in a body suit with a bat emblem on his chest, a cape, and a cowl, Batman set out to stop crime in Gotham City. Batman is unlike Superman in the aspect that Batman does not have a strict moral code. Batman will harm the criminals he meets; in Batman's first few appearances, he goes as far as killing criminals. Eventually, Batman's morals were tightened and he merely harms those who he catches committing crimes. Batman's loose moral code is seen throughout many of his movie incarnations, most notabley The Dark Knight. In The Dark Knight, Batman is seen breaking limbs of those he fights with no regards to what he is doing. His limit, however, is murder. Batman will not commit murders, even if it seems like it would stop crime.

Batman has been in multiple television shows. The first show was titled Batman, and it first aired in 1966 on ABC. This television show was full of camp humor and has been criticized for not being dark enough. Batman was played by Adam West. The next show featuring Batman was Batman: The Animated Series, which is a fan favorite. The show ran for 85 episodes, spanning from 1992 to 1995. Batman TAS, as it is called by fans, used a style called Dark Deco. This style was created by putting everything against a black background. Dark Deco made all of the colors seem more realistic and added to the effect that most of Batman's adventures took place during the night time. The show reinvented the costume and look of Robin, Batman's helper. The new look made Robin seem more like an adult; the addition of pant legs made Robin look much less awkward. The villains Batman and Robin faced included some newly invented characters, as well as smaller and less important characters. The Joker was given an iconic look, one that has been noted as a classic look. Other villains, such as the Scarecrow, were brought out and made more known. One villain created by the show and has since been inducted into the DC Universe is Harley Quinn, the Joker's helper and on-and-off girlfriend. After the show ended in 1995, it seemed that the use of the character designs in Batman TAS would never be seen again.
To be continued...