Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book Detective Comics on March 30, 1939. In the DC Universe continuity, Batman is the alias of Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and industrialist who resides in Gotham City. Batman's origin story features him swearing vengeance against criminals after witnessing the murder of his parents Thomas and Martha as a child, a vendetta tempered with the ideal of justice. He trains himself physically and intellectually, crafts a bat-inspired persona, and monitors the Gotham streets at night. Kane, Finger, and other creators accompanied Batman with supporting characters, including his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl; allies Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, and Catwoman; and foes such as the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, and his archenemy, the Joker.
The Scarecrow is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, he debuted in World's Finest Comics #3. The character has become one of the superhero Batman's most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
James W. "Jim" Gordon is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane as an ally of Batman, the character debuted in the first panel of Detective Comics #27, Batman's first appearance, making him the first Batman supporting character ever to be introduced.
Bane is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Graham Nolan, he made his debut in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1. Bane is usually depicted as a dangerous adversary of the superhero Batman, and belongs to the collective of enemies that make up Batman's rogues gallery. Possessing a mix of brute strength and exceptional intelligence, Bane is often credited as the only villain to have "broken the bat", defeating him both physically and mentally. Bane went on to kill Alfred Pennyworth in 2019 during the City of Bane storyline. He is the son of another Batman enemy, King Snake and has a clone/daughter named Vengeance, introduced in 2021.
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, often simply called Legends of the Dark Knight, is the name of several DC comic books featuring Batman. The original series launched in 1989 as the third major monthly Batman title, following the popularity of Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman. Many of the stories follow the tone of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. The series differed from other Batman titles of the time. The creative team rotated with every story arc and the stories stood alone, unlike the inter-connected nature of other Batman comics. Initially the title ran stories contained to five issues, often with more mature topics and sensibilities than the other Batman titles. After issue #20, the number of issues for each story began to vary and occasionally tied into crossover events.
Hugo Strange is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character is one of Batman's first recurring villains, and was also one of the first to discover his secret identity. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #36.
"Batman: Hush" is an American comic book story arc published by DC Comics featuring the superhero Batman. It was published in monthly installments within the comic book series Batman, running from issue #608–619 in October 2002 until September 2003. The story arc was written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Jim Lee, inked by Scott Williams, and colored by Alex Sinclair, under the editorship of Bob Schreck.
The Bat-Signal is a distress signal device appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, as a means to summon the superhero, Batman. It is a specially modified searchlight with a stylized emblem of a bat affixed to the light, allowing it to project a large bat symbol onto cloudy night skies over Gotham City.
Black Mask is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake, the character debuted in Batman #386. He is commonly depicted as a brutal and ruthless crime lord in Gotham City who has a fixation with masks and derives sadistic pleasure from the act of torture. Black Mask is one of the most enduring enemies of the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
Batman: The Long Halloween is a 13-issue American comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. It was originally published by DC Comics in 1996 and 1997. It was the follow-up to three Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials by the same creative team. The series' success led to Loeb and Sale to reteam for two sequels, Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome, which are set concurrently.
Joe Chill is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #33.
"Knightfall" is a 1993–1994 Batman story arc published by DC Comics. It consists of a trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994, consisting of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd".
"Batman: No Man's Land" is an American comic book crossover storyline that ran for almost all of 1999 through the Batman comic book titles published by DC Comics. The story architecture for "No Man's Land" and the outline of all the Batman continuity titles for 1999 were written by cartoonist Jordan B. Gorfinkel.
"Year Two" is the title of an American four-part, 1987 comics story arc featuring Batman, written by Mike W. Barr and illustrated by Alan Davis, Paul Neary, Alfredo Alcala, Mark Farmer, and Todd McFarlane. It originally appeared in the American comic book Detective Comics #575–578, published by DC Comics.
"War Games" is a 2004-2005 major storyline comic book story arc published by DC Comics that ran in its Batman family of titles, Detective Comics, Legends of the Dark Knight, Nightwing, Batman: Gotham Knights, Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, Batman, and Gotham Central. The storyline, which was published from October 2004 until January 2005, was preceded by a prologue that appeared in Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure.
The Huntress is an antiheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the third DC character to bear the name Huntress. Originally introduced as a new interpretation of Helena Wayne, no longer depicted as the future daughter of Batman and Catwoman as part of DC's post-Crisis on Infinite Earths relaunch, she was later established to be the modern-day equivalent, namesake and predecessor of Helena Wayne.
The Court of Owls is a criminal organization and secret society appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They appear as adversaries of the superhero Batman. Created by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, the Court is described as an organization of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of the city of Gotham, having existed since the city's founding and completely unknown among its general population outside of an urban legend centered around their reputation for grisly assassinations carried out by indoctrinated agents known as Talons. The 2015–2016 "Robin War" story line details their international expansion, with the group renaming itself the Parliament of Owls.
Bruce Wayne, alternately known by the vigilante persona Batman, is a fictional character appearing in the Fox series Gotham, based on the character of the same name who is the secret identity of DC Comics superhero Batman, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, and developed for television by Bruno Heller. Gotham portrays Bruce's teenage years and transition into adapting his Batman personality in later years. The series marks the second time Batman was adapted for live-action television after the 1960 Batman series, though the lead character in Gotham is James Gordon. Bruce is portrayed by David Mazouz, while Mikhai Mudrik portrays him as an adult in the series finale. In October 2022, Heller expressed interest in Mazouz potentially reprising his role as Bruce in a flashforward sequence towards the end of the eventual series finale of the Gotham and V for Vendetta prequel television series Pennyworth.
"Fear State" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in late 2021, featuring Batman and his family. Primarily written by James Tynion IV, the arc is his second and final major arc on Batman in DC Rebirth. The main story was from Batman #112–117, also including multiple tie-in issues.
Batman '89 is a superhero comic book limited series published by DC Comics that serves as an alternative continuation of Tim Burton's first two Batman films, Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), which starred Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman, while ignoring the events of Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). The series is written by the first two films' screenwriter, Sam Hamm, and illustrated by Joe Quinones. It was launched in August 2021 and ran for six issues.
