Note: *I wrote a version of this over at my blog site back in January.*
In honor of Batman Day, here are fourteen facts about the Dark Knight:
1. Batman was created by Bob Kane AND Bill Finger.
2. The first Batman story, “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” was published in Detective Comics #27, in May 1939
3. In early issues during his night patrol, Batman carried a six-gun. Bob Kane soon changed this, stating that Batman wearing a gun didn’t “Feel Right”.
From Detective Comics #35
4. In the early years of the comic, Batman killed criminals. In fact in his first story, “The Chemical Syndicate,” Bats punched a criminal into a vat of acid and says, “A fitting end for his kind.” He’s also thrown criminals off of rooftops and strangled them.
Batman 1940’s Comic
From “The Criminal Syndicate”
5. The first time Batman was ever depicted in a movie was in 1964. Titled “Batman, Dracula” it was directed and produced by Andy Warhol.
Batman movie poster by Andy Warhol
6. Originally, Batman took place is New York City, but later, the writers decided to have Bat’s adventures take place in a fictional city with a fictional history otherwise know as Gotham city.
7. The person who’s played Batman the longest is voice actor Kevin Conroy. He’s voiced the animated dark knight in seven cartoon series, six video games and five animated movies – in total spanning 12 years. Many have named him as “The Voice of Batman”. Conroy’s also the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to voice both Bruce Wayne and Batman, which was his idea.
8. Speaking of Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995), it has spawned the most spin-offs of any animated TV show ever.
9. Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most critically acclaimed superhero video game of all time.
10. Bruce Wayne/Batman possesses a photographic memory, meaning he has the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume.
11. Bruce Wayne/Batman’s IQ has been stated as 192. If Batman was real, he would have been smarter than Albert Einstein who’s IQ was between 160 and 180.
12. In the Batman TV series (1966-1968), Robin uses the phrase “Holy (etc)” a total of 352 times.
13. There have been seven Nightwings, five Robins, five Batgirls, four Batmen, three Huntresses, two Batwomen, but only one Oracle.
14. Finally, Batman has had more stories written about him than any other fictional character in history. This includes approximately 6250 comic books, 321 TV episodes, 43 video games , 14 films and a stage show.
