The Bat-Man

Here I come to save the day! Oh wait, that's Mighty Mouse.

The Bat-Man has been with us since his first appearance in Detective Comics # 27, released in May of 1939 (a copy of which sold for over one million dollars at auction in 2010.) Since that time he has appeared in comic books, cartoons and live action features, the most recent of which, "The Dark Knight Rises," has as of this writing topped $550 million in ticket sales worldwide.

In those myriad appearances the look and style of the character remains fairly consistent-- the cowl, the cape, the insignia on his chest, the utility belt. Would it surprise you to learn that The Bat-Man, as originally conceived by Bob Kane had more in common with this flighty fellow

Up in the air Junior Bird-men, flying high into the...uh...ground!

than with the familiar figure we all know and love? It wasn't until writer Bill Finger took a hand (no pun intended) in the creation of the character that Batman was given his iconic appearance. Kane's early conception was for a cape-less crusader who sported stiff bat-like wings and instead of a cowl wore a simple domino mask. His costume did not reflect the dark, menacing figure we expect. He wore red tights instead.

I hope these things fold up or I can forget chasing criminals into buildings!

According to Finger:

I got Webster's Dictionary off the shelf and was hoping they had a drawing of a bat, and sure enough it did. I said, 'notice the ears, why don't we duplicate the ears?' I suggested he draw what looked like a cowl... I had suggested he bring the nosepiece down and make him mysterious and not show any eyes at all... I didn't like the wings, so I suggested he make a cape and scallop the edges so it would flow out behind him when he ran and would look like bat wings. He didn't have any gloves on. We gave him gloves because naturally he'd leave fingerprints.

 Bill Finger's contribution to the evolution of  Batman goes beyond mere appearance, it was Finger who named Batman's alter-ego Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting sidekick Robin. He also named the setting for Batman's escapades Gotham City. Finger also had his hand in (Really, no pun intended) the creation of the most popular Batman villains and wrote the first Joker storyline.

Even after Finger put the kibosh on Canes stiff bat wing concept they still had a decided impact on the design of Batman's cape. Cane drew on the designs of Leonardo Da Vinci for his inspiration.

As you can see:

And the bat-winged glider even shows up in much later comics:

Even as we laud Bob Cane for the inception of such a great comic book hero we cannot forget to acknowledge Bill Finger as the originator of the icon we know as Batman. Thank you Mr. Finger. I give you two thumbs up! (Okay, for that one, I'm sorry.)

Bonus Material:

ComicbookMovie.com: "Is The Batman Just An Updated Zorro?"

The Mark of Zorro (1920)

"Squadron of ‘Bat-Men’ defended 1940s California"

Detective Comics #27: "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate."