B A T M A N, Continued.

Bob Kane's inspiration for the character grew out of the pulp magazines, comic strips, and movies of the 1930s. He also noted the influence of Zorro, and on the night Bruce's parents are murdered, the family attends the 1920 Douglas Fairbanks film The Mark of Zorro. Bill Finger drew his ideas from Sherlock Holmes (detective), The Shadow (masked, caped avenger), and Doc Savage (scientist). The original pulp-influenced Batman has no qualms about killing, seriously wounding criminals or using firearms.

Left: Detective Comics #38; Batman and the introduction of Robin, DC Comics; Bob Kane/Jerry Robinson cover illustration. Right: 1943 Columbia Pictures Batman serial starring Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin.

This changes in 1940 after the introduction of Robin, The Boy Wonder. Based on the Robin Hood character, Finger thought Batman needed a 'Watson' (Sherlock Holmes's collaborator), and the duo becomes a sort of father/son, big brother/kid brother team. By then, National was the most influential and best-selling publisher in the industry, Batman and Superman the cornerstones of the company's success. The two Super Heroes and Robin starred in World's Finest Comics, originally titled World's Best Comics when it debuted in 1940. Besides a super laboratory in the four-story Batcave, Batman is equipped with a Batmobile, Batplane, Batboat, Batrocket, jet-pack and wings for flight, and a utility belt containing a variety of weapons and devices. The motif of the 'super scientist and his gadgets' became a sub-genre of its own, popularized by Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu, and the Doc Savage saga. Batman was the next mass media example. Years later, the motif was symbolized as a spider-like mastermind, weaving insidious plots into the movie versions of James Bond.

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