Batman is among the best-known superheroes in the world. Batman comic books have been around for over 50 years (see Q1b), though his appearances in movies and television (see Q2g) have probably done more to make him famous. Bruce Wayne is a normal human who decided to become a super-hero. Taking the theme of the bat, he has good fighting skills and is an expert detective. During the day, Bruce keeps up the image of being a millionaire playboy, but at night he fights crime as the Batman.

Young Bruce Wayne watched a gunman murder his parents as they returned home from watching "The Mark of Zorro" at the theatre. He was cared for by the family butler Alfred (see Q4e) and a doctor he met on the night of the murder, Dr Leslie Thomkins. He was obsessed by his failure to prevent his parents' murder, and thereafter dedicated his life to fighting crime, with the intent of never failing again. He learned the various skills he needed by seeking out experts in their fields (see Q1c).

Batman was created by Bob Kane. The first appearance of Batman was in DETECTIVE COMICS #27 (5/39). The name "DC" itself is derived from DETECTIVE COMICS, which shows the importance of the title to the company. The title has been published continuously in one form or another since then, and is DC's longest running title. (ACTION COMICS has had more issues due to being published weekly for close to a year in the late eighties.)

There are currently five monthly Batman comics (BATMAN, DETECTIVE COMICS, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT, and THE BATMAN ADVENTURES), as well as three monthly comics starring supporting characters (ROBIN, CATWOMAN, and AZRAEL). Each also has its own annual issue, appearing once each year. In May 1995 a new quarterly title was released: THE BATMAN CHRONICLES. All of these are published by DC Comics.

Many comic-book stores will hold incoming comics each week for customers in what they call a "subscription service." In addition, you can order a mail subscription from the publisher. Write to DC Comics, P. O. Box 0528, Dept. DC-7, Baldwin NY 11510, or check current comics for subscription advertisements.

Although comic books are the first and foremost medium for Batman stories, the Darknight Detective has appeared in several others over the years. Examples include animated cartoons, a television program, novels, feature films, and a syndicated newspaper strip. Details are too numerous to list here, and this FAQ deals primarily with the comic series. For the most part, the stories in these other media do not fit into the continuity of the regular comic books.

various times, Batman is also known as the Dark Knight, the Darknight Detective, and the Caped Crusader. Other, less dignified names by which he is called include Bats.

Batman lives in Gotham City (see Q5e). He usually fights crime only in Gotham and leaves the city only for important reasons. Bruce lives in "stately Wayne Manor" in Gotham and uses the Batcave (see Q5f) for his headquarters.

JB: I do Batman as infrequently as I do for a couple of reasons, but the main one is detective stories (good ones, anyway) are just to darned hard to write! I could not begin to imagine doing so on a monthly basis. (Blow up a couple of planets? Sure! No sweat! Solve a locked room mystery? My head hurts!!) (5/7/1998) That's OK, when was the last time Batman functioned as a detective? I mean, obsessive compulsives with a revenge complex don't need no magnifying glass.

Batman has no super-human powers but has trained himself to learn many skills. He is an excellent fighter and knows several martial arts styles. He is also skilled in acrobatics and has highly-trained reflexes. Batman is a world-class detective and a smart thinker. In addition to his personal abilities, Batman has developed several tools (e.g., the Batarang, Batmobile, and various weapons and defensive tools) that help him fight crime.

Alas, this is not that easy anymore. With the growing trend of multi-part story arcs crossing over into all titles, it is very difficult to only read one book. In between these story arcs, however, it is possible to have continuing storylines within the one book. Each title has a slightly different flavour. BATMAN and DETECTIVE are the more mainstream titles, and tend to keep to a standard style.

Many comic-book dealers will sell old comics. Comic-book conventions feature many new and used comics for sale. Furthermore, many current comics will include advertisements for dealers who sell old comics by mail order. Finally, DC reprints some collections of Batman stories in books. Do not try to contact the publisher for old issues of comics.

The crude answer is that they are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them. In general, the value depends on the importance of the story, the number of copies printed, the physical quality of the book, and whether it is the first printing or a reprint. For example, the first issue of Knightfall (BATMAN #492) is valuable because fans consider the story important and the demand exceeded the supply.

This is a summary of the full version which appears in the Batman Stories list, by the same author. It is available in the same locations as this file.) Batman never got a full rewrite from the start, the process was slow and gradual, with several additions and alterations over the years. Due to this process, there is no 'official' cutoff point between the 'old' and 'new' continuities.

While the events of Zero Hour did not have a major effect on Batman's present character, Zero Hour was used by the Batman Group Editor Dennis O'Neil to "correct" some issues in Batman's history. (Zero Hour gave writers/editors the right to make one retcon - retroactive continuity change - per title.) These issues are: Batman never found out who murdered his parents. This invalidates the BATMAN: YEAR TWO storyline among others. Batman never slept with Talia (daughter of Ra's Al Ghul).

Several people know Batman's real identity. Present and former Robins (see Q4a) clearly know, as do Alfred (see Q4e) and Harold (see Q4f). Superman also discovered Batman was Bruce Wayne, while Batman knows that Superman is Clark Kent (ADVENTURES #440, May 88). Others who know the truth include Azrael (Jean Paul Valley - see Q4d), and Bane (see Q4b). It is uncertain whether James Gordon knows the truth since various stories have implied that he may have found out.

Further discussion of the Batman comics can be found in the Internet newsgroups rec.arts.comics.dc.universe and alt.comics.batman. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES is also covered in rec.arts.comics.misc later group. The Batman FAQ is regularly posted to alt.comics.batman and rec.arts.comics.info.

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