Batman's Legacy
Batman's Influence and Contributions to the Generations

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Batman has been a super-hero in comic book series since 1939. Understandably, Batman has been a comic book character for the past 3 or 4 generations and has always maintained super-hero status. Many children, all over the world, regard Batman as a super-hero for numerous reasons - he protects those who can't protect themselves, he has a super-cool car and fun and fancy gadgets, his alter-ego Bruce Wayne is filthy rich, and there are many who can relate to Batman because he grew up an orphan.

Batman stars/appears in numerous comic book series - Batman, Detective Comics, Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman: Gotham Knights, Superman/Batman, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Catwoman, Gotham Central, Justice League Unlimited, Nightwing, Robin - to name a few.

Batman's character gained a bigger audience with the introduction of the TV series Batman on ABC in 1966. The half-hour series starred Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin and aired for 3 seasons, producing 120 episodes. This series introduced the comic character to a whole new generation and created a loyal fan base for Batman. There have also been numerous cartoons and animated series featuring Batman.

Batman appealed to a new generation with the release of Warner Bros. movies in the late 1980s and the 1990s. The first Batman movie Batman (1989) introduced the character to a much broader audience since it was shown in theaters worldwide. This movie very briefly showed how Bruce Wayne became Batman and pursued the criminals of Gotham City. The subsequent movies - Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997) - showed Batman battle and defeat enemies such as the Penguin, the Riddler, Two Face, and Mr. Freeze. Each movie truly showed Batman's strengths, vulnerabilities and why he deserves the status of super-hero, not just in a fictional sense, but as a role model for all children as well. The new movie Batman Begins, which is scheduled to release on June 4th, 2005 will go deeper into the evolution of Batman and will be a great boon for fans after the 8 year hiatus from the last Batman movie.

In addition to all the comics, TV shows and cartoons and movies, there are many merchandise available that feature Batman such as - T-shirts, caps, action figures, toy batmobile cars, Batman toy gadgets and many more.

References

TVTOME (n.d). Batman (1966). Retrieved from http://www.tvtome.com/Batman/

Internet Movie Database Inc. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/

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Last Update: May 10, 2005
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