We are all familiar with Batman whether it is through movies, comic books, television shows, or cartoons. We know the look of the character and the various actors that have portrayed him over the years but the history of the character is not common knowledge. Batman did not start out resembling anything like the costumed hero we all know. Batman was the creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger in 1938 which was published by D.C. Comics. Kane’s original Batman sketches looked more like a Superman type of character with reddish tights, a domino mask, and some stiff wings that resembled those of a bat. Refinements of the character led to giving him a cowl and a cape, removed the red portions, and giving him gloves. The character’s personality was shaped by movies of the day and characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Zorro, and the Shadow. The main difference in costuming is that most other Superheroes have colorful costumes but Batman has a darker more ominous look which was by design. The Bruce Wayne personality was developed by Bill Finger based on a combination of Scottish legend Robert Bruce and U.S. Revolutionary General “Mad Anthony” Wayne.
Kane signed away rights to the character for, among other compensation, a byline on all Batman comic books which eventually had the line “Created by Bob Kane” for all of Batman’s stories. Bill Finger never received credit as a co-creator of Batman and Kane was criticized by some for not sharing the credit, and after Finger’s death in 1974 Kane regretted letting his ego get the best of him and not officially recognizing him as a co-creator of Batman as well as other characters and villains. Finger was credited as the creator of the Riddler by Julius Schwartz in 1965 in an acknowledgement of his work. The character has been recreated of the years as times and audiences change and Frank Miller’s epic 1986 comic series Batman: The Dark Knight Returns redefined the character for a generation and brought the character back into popularity. This is the version of Batman many of us are familiar with and spawned a series of movies which introduced him and many other characters to a new set of fans. Batman has had a long history of ups and downs but the character has had a large resurgence in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down.
History of Superman
Superheroes have gone mainstream over the last few years and are as popular as ever. The characters once confined largely to comic books have reached a global audience with a wide variety of products and movies. One of the most recognizable superheroes in the world is Superman with his trademark costume and high moral compass. He has been in all media from comics and TV to motion pictures and animated shows. Although most people are familiar with the Superman of the past couple of decades the beginnings of the character are not commonly known. Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1932 and was conceived as a newspaper comic strip character. The guys worked on the character for several years with little success. They authored a variety of short stories for comic books such as “Doctor Occult” and “Radio Squad” but they always loved the Superman character they had created which had been shelved after submitting it to National Comics in New York.
A new magazine titled Action Comics was in the works but the publisher could not decide on a cover story and someone thought of the Superman proposal which showed him lifting a car with one hand. The publisher was skeptical about the idea but decided to use it for the cover story and he requested Siegel and Shuster come up with a 13 page story for Action Comics #1. The duo assembled their newspaper strips into a story and it was published in 1938 in the first issue of Action Comics. Sales were not as high as was hoped but by issue #4 sales had skyrocketed well beyond anyone’s expectations. In 1939 the newspaper comic strip version of Superman went into print and ran until 1966. A radio show was developed which first aired in 1940 and ran for over 8 years and 1600 episodes. Superman had become a household name and the next step was television.
The Adventures of Superman began broadcast in 1952 running for 102 episodes and became a wild success with appeal to the whole family. Over the years Superman was a central character in animated shows such as the 1966 title “The New Adventures of Superman”, “The Super Friends” (1973-84). There have been a number of Superman television shows over the years but the Christopher Reeve movies that began in 1978 are among the best known versions of the character. The Smallville series started in 2001 and represents the teen and young adult life of the Clark Kent/Superman persona. Regardless of the media, Superman has become a worldwide phenomenon and his ideals of truth, justice, and the American way have become ingrained in our society as the ideals to which we should all aspire.
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Tags: 1932, 1939, 1940, 1952, 1966, 1978, 2001, Action Comics, American icon, Christopher Reeve, Clark Kent, comic book history, Doctor Occult, history of superman, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Max Fleischer, National Comics, Radio Squad, Smallville, superheroes and history, superman, The New Adventures of Superman, The Super Friends
Forty years after the decline and fall of a publishing empire that once sold millions of magazines each month for more than three decades, former Popular Publications, Inc. President Henry Steeger reflected:
By the 1920s, dozens of imitators and competitors had picked up on that highly lucrative business model, creating magazines like Black Mask, Amazing Stories, Marvel Tales (the forbearer of Marvel Comics) and, most importantly, Weird Tales, in the process. Though the content of the pulps covered every genre imaginable - adventure, western, fantasy, crime, mystery, war, aviation and more – the stories featured in Weird Tales introduced pre-Word War II America to literary titans whose work is still admired (and imitated) today: Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan and Solomon Kane), Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 151, The Martian Chronicles), Isaac Asimov (I, Robot), Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) and Robert Bloch (Psycho), to name but a few of their innumerable contributors.
According to Bloch, the fictional worlds produced by that formidable stable of talent was “the work of writers inspired by the opportunity to create stories on a more literate level than was commonly accepted of the period and transcend the taboos and challenge the smugness of a Norman Rockwell view of America.” And, in truth, the secret cults, blood wielding maniacs and far-flung cosmic utopias of the best pulp stories were most definitely some of the most subversive material available during FDR-era (barring the underground pornography pamphlets known as “Tijuana Bibles,” that is).
Superheroes are a common part of the world’s popular culture from comic books and movies to television shows and all forms of merchandise. There are conventions devoted to the phenomenon and the genre of superheroes shows no signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future. However, a look at the history of superheroes shows that they have been a big part of our culture and consciousness for decades. They have been recreated time and again as society and events shaped the world around us. For example, during World War II heroes such as Captain America, Superman and Captain Marvel were routinely featured triumphing over the evil Axis powers and were an affordable way to keep the spirit of patriotism going even during difficult times.
During the 1950s superhero comics almost ceased to exist due to social backlash after medical doctor and psychiatrist Dr. Frederick Wertham wrote the book ‘Seduction of the Innocent’ in which he blamed comic books for juvenile delinquency and sexual perversion. The book sponsored a senatorial investigation and led to comic books regulating themselves and creating a code that they had to follow to be published. 
The 1960s led to the rebirth of the superhero genre and many of the most popular characters came out of this decade including the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-men, and the Justice League of America. The Civil Rights movement had an impact on comics with the creation of African-American heroes such as Blade, the Black Panther, Luke Cage, and the Falcon to name a few.
From the 1980s until the present time, superheroes have gotten darker and grittier with a more real world feel to them. Batman: The Dark Knight, the Watchmen, Daredevil, and Wolverine are examples of this trend. Superhero movies have become extremely popular with characters such as Spider-Man, the X-men, Iron Man, Hulk, Batman, etc. leading the box office charge. Television shows such as Heroes and Smallville demonstrate the mass appeal and influence of the superhero genre on our society.
