The Comics Rack

The Batman Mythos

   There are quite a few characters who were created during the Golden Age of comics that are still with us. Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Sub-Mariner...the list is surprising long and would be longer when you consider the characters who were changed and updated from their original incarnations during the Silver Age. Most all characters have gone through quite a few changes in the last 50+ years, but there is one who has remained nearly intact from the original concept to today. In fact, this character would, except for the difference in art and storytelling styles, be recognizeable to the audiences of the 40s just as he is today. The character I am speaking of is Batman.
   Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27, which was cover dated May 1939. In this initial appearance (where he is referred to as the Bat-Man), we are told nothing about his origins. The only information the reader is given is a block of text that appears at the top of the first page and sets up the story : "The "Bat-Man," a mysterious and adventurous figure fighting for righteousness and apprehending the wrong does, in his lone battle against the evil forces of society...His identity remains unknown."    By the end of the story, the only extra information given about this mysterious figure, is that he is Bruce Wayne. But, where he came from and how he became who he is is not revealed. This revelation would have to wait for Detective Comics #33, which had a cover date of November 1939. In the first 2 pages of the Batman story for this issue (a sequence that has been reprinted umpteen times since) we are shown how, and why, Bruce Wayne became Batman. This is the origin that has remained virtually unchanged since its original appearance and, at least to my reading, is the origin that applies to the Batman of today.
   Granted, there are a number of changes that Batman has gone through over the years. There have been multiple Robins, but the character of Robin had nothing to do with the original origin. Similarly, Alfred appeared first as a rather rotund chap, who later slimmed down, but his character, again, had nothing to do with the Batman's origin. The Batmobile, the Batcave, the yellow chest emblem, Wayne Mansion, Commissioner Gordon; all the trappings of the Batman universe have shifted around, but the basic origin of the character has remained intact. DC has managed, and quite skillfully, I might add, to fill in the holes in the origin and to expand these pieces, but has never tampered with the origin itself. Not only that, but the various film and TV incarnations of the character have followed suit. If only other characters could be so lucky!
   If you think about it, this is why the Batman of today would be recognizeable to the audiences of yesterday. His parents were killed, he devoted his life to fighting crime and was inspired by a bat...everything else has been ret-conned into the mythos without changing the very center of what made the character who he is. No Batboy, no ninja training in the cradle and no super serum or radiation. In the comic book world of today, where the theory seems to be to blow everything up and start again, Batman is the lone holdout.