Batman is one of the most famous superheroes in comic-book history. Between movies, animation, TV, and, of course, comics books, nearly everyone has an idea of who Bruce Wayne is. But Batman's status quo has significantly evolved over the decades, and Bruce wasn't always the Dark Knight that he is today.
Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939, the original version of Batman took inspiration from characters like Zorro, the Phantom, and the Shadow, and his design actually looks quite similar to the Batman people know today — but for a few minor differences, such as eye-catching purple gloves. While the original character design isn't too far from what people know Batman to look like, his original personality was wildly different from the man Bruce Wayne would become.
Batman Was Very Different In The Golden Age
Batman's very first appearance was in 1939's Detective Comics #27 in the story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. In the short story, a young Bruce Wayne helps Commissioner Gordon solve the death of a chemical manufacturer. This early version of Batman has absolutely no issue using lethal force, but despite popular opinion, Batman still didn't really use guns. Back when Batman first appeared, his character history wasn't set in stone, and why he did what he did wasn't really clear. At this point, Bruce was just a man who dressed as a bat to fight criminals, and those criminals were mostly generic.
The first concept of Batman's rogues gallery can be seen in Detective Comics #29 by Gardner Fox and Bob Kane, in which Batman's first recurring villain, a man named Doctor Death, first appears. This issue also includes the first appearance of Bruce's utility belt. The next appearance of note takes place in Detective Comics #31 and #32 by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane, and Sheldon Moldoff. These issues introduced Batman's very first supernatural enemy: the vampiric Mad Monk. This storyline was huge for Batman's mythos, as it also established his base in New York City, showed his first vehicle (the bat-gyro), introduced the iconics batarangs, and also depicted the first time Batman used a gun to shoot someone — even if it was an undead monster.
Robin Changed Everything about Batman Comics
Eventually, Bill Finger and Bob Kane started to explore Bruce's origins and motivations. In Detective Comics #33, the iconic creative team introduced the classic origin that readers still know to this day: Thomas and Martha Wayne are shot to death in an alleyway, leaving Bruce traumatized and looking for justice. But it wasn't until a decade later in Batman #47 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane that Martha and Joe Chill would finally be named. Finally, in Detective Comics #38 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson the Boy Wonder was introduced, and Robin changed everything. The first comic-book sidekick, Robin set off an entire wave of sidekicks in the industry. After Robin's introduction, every superhero needed a kid sidekick.
After Robin appeared, the Batman comics moved towards more family-friendly stories. Previously, Batman had no issue killing people if he felt it was necessary; he would use guns, albeit extremely rarely, and he never actually shot a regular human being. To explain the differences in Batman's mentality on lethal force, his legendary No-Kill and No-Gun rules were introduced in Batman #4. The same issue also featured Batman and Robin moving from New York City to Gotham City. Meanwhile, both the Joker and Catwoman, then known as "the Cat," were introduced in Batman #1, the first issue of the character's first solo series, by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Jerry Robinson also redesigned Batman, making him significantly more intimidating and much closer to the gothic character readers now recognize.
The First Batman TV Show Invented the Batcave
After Batman recruited Robin and relocated to Gotham City, he really started to take the form of what fans would now recognize as Batman — but there were still a few iconic gadgets, characters, and locales missing. There was no Batsignal, no Alfred, and most importantly no Batcave. The first inkling of the Batcave can be seen in Batman #3 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane: in this issue, Bruce Wayne has a tunnel that leads from the Wayne Mansion to a nearby Barn that would eventually store the Batmobile (which was introduced in Batman #5 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane). After moving to Gotham, Batman's ing characters list practically explore. The likes of the Penguin, Harvey Kent — who would later be renamed Harvey Dent — and the Scarecrow were all introduced shortly after Bruce's move.
Batman #16 introduced the character of Alfred Pennyworth, a bumbling wannabe-detective who only recently became Bruce's employee by request of Alfred's father. The absolute biggest boon to Batman's mythology didn't actually come from the comics, though — it came from the 1943 Batman theatrical serial. While Batman #12 by Don Cameron and Jerry Robinson introduced the idea of a trophy room, the actual Batcave didn't come until 1943, when the Batman serial introduced a grandfather clock that led to a secret underground cave. Alfred was also later redesigned in Detective Comics #83 to better match the original actor, William Austin, which is how Alfred has continued to look ever since.
The Golden Age Cemented Batman's Future
When Batman first started out, he was a mysterious man with barely any backstory. He had no problems killing, and he had no issue using guns — although he still rarely actually used them. Over the course of a decade, the idea of Batman was continually refined by people like Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson. The Batcave, Robin, Alfred, even the rest of the Bat-Family, as fans would eventually come to know them — all of it was nowhere to be seen in Batman's first year after Detective Comics #27.
But over time, just like in the classic comic-book stories to come over the decades, Bruce was refined into the Dark Knight who currently watches over Gotham City. After the Golden Age, first Batman starred in more fantastical supernatural storylines. and then in the gritty noir-like stories of the late 20th century. But the majority of Batman's villains, gadgets, and origins — everything that makes Bruce Wayne who he is — all debuted in the Golden Age of comics.
Check out Detective Comics #27 and other Golden Age Batman stories, available digitally and in collected editions from DC Comics!
