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September 23, 2022 3:00 am
On this episode of Our American Stories, Batman is a household name. His list of comic issues, let alone live action movies, animated films and tv shows, video games, you name it, is nothing short of astounding… but this wasn’t always the case. Andrew Farago, Curator at the Cartoon Art Museum and author of Batman: The Definitive History of the Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond, is here to tell us the story of the Caped Crusader.
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But this wasn't always the case today and you far ago curator at the cartoon art using an author of Batman the definitive history of the dark Knight and comics and beyond is here to tell us the story of the dark Knight. Is it appropriate for a character's secret identity as a millionaire and later billionaire money was kind of the driving force behind Batman at the beginning so struggling and fairly undistinguished cartoonist named Bob Kane was working for national periodical publications. Think funny animal comics. He was doing adventure comics even doing anything he could to try to make a name for himself trying to just make a living and he heard that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster who worried the prayers of Superman were making a really nice living hundred dollars a week just out of the Great Depression calendar the Great Depression from their creation.
Talk to is an inner and outer said that you bring me another Superman and credit for you and he said he now bounded over a weekend basically went home and try to come up with his version of Superman and initially the character he came up with was really nothing like the Batman that we are now more like a circus acrobat with the domino mask blonde hair. Leonardo da Vinci inspired lack batwing KP is possibly flying superhero thankfully came lives in touch with very talented, very inventive writer named Bill finger and Bill finger saw the raw potential there. He took Cain's ideas. He refined that he gave Batman the Cape and Cowell and outfit really close to what we need to know and love today.
Yet he took Cain's concepts and turned it in the something that's 80 years later still energizes and excites fans everywhere. Batman made his debut and the publication called Detective comics and Detective very much spun out of the pulp magazines that have proceeded so they were raw energy.
Dark stories, the good guys were very good and the bad guys were very bad bad guys often meant very gruesome fates and Detective comics as the title indicates every month had detective stories and Batman.
The earliest stories and and actually threaded history. You know they have been detective stories. He's one of the people who claims the title of the world's greatest detective for each story had to have at least some hint of a mystery to justify Batman's inclusion. The early Batman comics did have stories like that they can have mysteries involving political corruption and gangsters stories one would say were ripped from the headlines and prior to that it had been police officers that had been private investigators a lot of square job guys wearing suits, punching gangsters on the cover so obviously Batman wearing his incredibly dark costume swooping out of the night sky grabbing criminals, energized audiences the same way that Superman the year before. Really energize readers and very soon. Batman became a staple. Every month in that magazine and Detective comics circulation went to the roof and was awarded his own so I magazine in the late 30s. This was this was very forward thinking on the part of the publisher. That's now known as DC comics said Canaan finger new. We need colorful villains. We need eye-catching covers. We need dynamic storytelling. They really were were going that direction very early so within within about a year of Batman's debut. We had the introduction of Robin the boy wonder again right red, yellow, green costume: the laughing young daredevil, I would. I would say that's why were still talking about Batman today in the present tense instead of some interesting pulp inspired character's time came and went immediately. I think for the better change the tone of the stories it may Batman a father figure gave him someone to talk to when he was his way through a case and that gave the readers a surrogate stand and where they could feel like hey I can do that I could take part in these adventures at partnership really pushed Batman even farther into the superhero territory than he'd been before and you know that push the villains that much farther into extremes because right after Robin's debut, the joker who was evil and dangerous of illnesses, as there was cat Catwoman to face in the penguin in the regular are just as iconic as any. Here is from that era. They really tapped into something they knew what would be popular. They knew what would sell. They knew what the kids liked they did pay incredibly close attention to their competition so they they paid attention to what kind of numbers of Superman doing what's going on in Capt. Marvel this month is the big new character understands and if there is a way for them to tap into an audience, even if it was taking way readers from other books that were coming up in the same publisher than they tapped into that and the first year before Robin was introduced.
The stories were very gram there were very dark and very quickly the publisher realized you were reaching hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of kids with these comics. We have a responsibility here to be setting a better example. So they decided early on Batman doesn't carry a gun.
Batman doesn't use lethal force.
He tries to find a better way to solve his problems if he can solve a problem with out violence by using his intellect using his detective skills that's even better than you been listening to Andrew Farah go tell the remarkable story of Batman's history when we come back Batman through the years you on our American story. We hear the hosts of our American stories every day on the show were bringing inspiring stories from across this great country.
Doors for big cities and small towns, but we truly can't do the show without our stories are free to listen to what they're not free to me if you love what you hear go to L American stories.com click the donate button give a little give a lot go to L American stories.com and give all the material family friendly modern overhaul the pendulum to make your home phone lunch. No Ashley.com attention. Medicare beneficiaries are you getting all the benefits you need. If you have Medicare you may now be able to get new benefits. Benefits may include eyeglasses, wellness visits, gym membership, meal delivery and hearing aids with low co-pay will even find plans with zero monthly plan premiums zero co-pays on many services and zero deductible.
Call 800-832-7597. That's 800-832-7597 800-832-7597 to get away but still listen to your favorite radio stations and podcasts then listen up my car radio is now the onboard music partner on select Southwest flights. That means you can jam out your favorite local radio station even for flying coast-to-coast check out expertly curated stations that are perfect for kids and adults available on most domestic Southwest flights in perfect for a full nonstop for those pesky minutes between a movie ending playing touching down so grab your headphones razor tray table and relax with iHeartRadio and Southwest Airlines back with our American stories and the story of Batman Andrew Farah go curator of the cartoon Art Museum, which is telling us how Bob came and Bill finger not only created the character but paid close attention to what the audience wanted with the idea of the children with her primary audience, the publisher, as well as the creators made it clear early Batman didn't use lethal force, but rather his intellect to feed his foes back to Andrew so Batman was fighting murderers. He was fighting killers he was fighting really the lowest of oil is first on plant then as as more children reading this box as she comics was increasingly concerned about setting a good example. They realized when we tone down a little bit when we have them do funny crimes and zany crimes, and by World War II, especially when kids wanted lighthearted entertainment. These adventures were becoming outrageous. Moreover, the top another artists by the late 40s early 50s come on really redefined Batman an artist named Dick spring.
He had a more cartoony art style and Batman big barrel chested smiling insurer Robin started cracking funds and when wacky checks have crazy adventures that involved things like giant oversized prop typewriters or cases for time travel bad guys that he's fighting during that time included aliens think that scientists may have a criminal. Batman is trying to uncover his identity and still realize that the criminal spelling out his name.
One claim at a time from being, let's be just a little bit different than the real world to go totally nuts and have a crazy fun adventure story. I would imagine anybody who read the first issues in 1939 and then took a break and came back around 1952 would not recognize the character and actually this was totally fine with the audiences because up until that point there was constant audience turnover comic book readership did have some diehard fans who started reading in the 30s and Reading but generally speaking, kids would read from about eight until maybe 12 or so dropout and then a new batch of 8 to 12-year-olds would come in so stories didn't have to be particularly sophisticated.
They didn't really need continuity that carried over from one month to the next stories could repeat themselves every few years because they assume that the readers were new and hadn't seen that before. Characters like Batman and Superman were seen as very safe, very respectable books that any kid could read you near getting a good reliable adventure story every month.
By the early 60s Batman was actually in danger of cancellation may have been that they weren't challenging their audiences they had competition from publishers like Marvel who were really winning the hearts and minds of younger readers. They were seen as more dynamic, more fun, more challenging stories that this point actually turned to some creators who had recently revitalized one of their comics. The flash character from World War II era and came up with a new version of him that it's really engaged readers that was exciting as more modern. It was more dynamic. Whereas, that in the early 60s throwback relic so they had creators like writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino, line, and this is this is really what ultimately say Batman they didn't era called the new book they modernized them. He was not barrel chested, grinning, kinda Superman knockoff character that he was made more streamlined the minimum modern detective gave him computer equipment and modernized everything about the character and that was that. You know that was a signal to readers that hey, take a look were changing things. We are aware that Marvel comics exists in the guts the comic of choice for young readers and teens right now that we can be cool. We can be weekly with it and around that time.
Executives at ABC were looking at bringing they wanted to bring a comic strip to television they want to take advantage of things like Technicolor and they wanted to take advantage of nostalgia. The people had for popular characters producers including amending builders here were determined to bring comics to television somehow that was gonna be at that was can be the kind of thing that they conflict with shows like the Addams family and the monsters that were winning over young audiences. This really coveted young audiences and their families and they all grown up reading Batman. They had fond memories of him and they thought we can do this we can make this a fun television show the TV show and it debuted in 1966 was an immediate sensation that was a huge hit in the ratings and really nothing would be the same for the character is just a smash in every sense you have Adam West as Batman on the cover of Time magazine life magazine TV Guide you had fashions inspired by Batman catchphrases you have every possible kind of merchandise under the sun coming out with the comic books back toward the top of the sales charts you know even that this show was campy.
It was comedy. It was humor but really wasn't far off from the source material Adam West as perfect as it is a stoic squared very sincere hero and crimefighter mortgages plucky inquisitive excitable sidekick, you know, if you look at if you look at the roster. The cast list in the second and third season, you'll see that Hollywood A-list or were fighting. They were begging to be on the show because they wanted the Batman villain or cameo appearance cool thing to do at the time in all good things must come to an end and the ratings came tumbling back down to earth very quickly in the third season, but the damage had been undone and Batman would have his ups and downs in the years since, but there is never any danger of him going away once the television show hit the Batman TV show came to define the character for a long time for a good a good 20 years.
As far as the public was concerned and in a way it came to define comics, so you could not see a newspaper headline from 1966 through maybe even the early 2000 didn't have them. How superheroes in the headline and not too long after that final episode aired the show started up again in syndications much like Star Trek had this incredible shelf life after its cancellation. So to Batman because almost the minute the new episode stopped UHF stations picked it up and kids could still watch Batman every day after school so is it as a kid in the 80s. That's how I was introduced to Batman so this really loomed large.
This was as far as the public was concerned this was Batman but that actually didn't sit well with some of the comic book creators name is Campinas that looked out the silliness and they realized if we try to do this if we try to translate this exactly how it is on the screen to the comics where can it were to look like dinosaurs. The TV show have had a chance it came it went when you do modern comics to do things again can go toe to toe with Marvel comics and with the other comics that are on the rock, listening to a remarkable story about Batman and it all started with money is the driving force Bob Janet found out that the people making Superman were making a couple hundred bucks a week in the Great Depression. We thought, I can come up with my own character and his partner Bill finger just that.
But in the 1930s. They had their own book World War II came people looking for an escape and a different version of Batman formed. Then came the early 60s Batman's popularity was waiting in came the TV show and soon every A-list or want to be a part of it Burgess Meredith Frank portion perfect fit. Jerry Lewis, Otto Preminger, Sammy Davis Junior, the list goes on.
When we come back more of the story of Batman through the years here on our American story material family friendly conversation over half the essentials to make your home phone lunch. Not Ashley.com attention. Medicare beneficiaries are you getting all the benefits you need. If you have Medicare you may now be able to get new benefits. Benefits may include eyeglasses, wellness visits, gym membership, meal delivery and hearing aids with low co-pay will even find plans with zero monthly plan premiums zero co-pays on many services and zero deductible.
Call 800-832-7597.
That's 800-832-7597 800-832-7597 to get away but still listen to your favorite radio stations and podcasts then listen up my car radio is now the onboard music partner on select Southwest flights.
That means you can jam out your favorite local radio station even for flying coast-to-coast check out expertly curated stations that are perfect for kids and adults available on most domestic Southwest flights in perfect for a full nonstop for those pesky minutes between the movie and thinking you're playing touching down so grab your headphones razor tray table and relax with iHeartRadio and Southwest Airlines back with our American stories and the story of Batman despite the widespread praise of the 1960s, live action Batman show during Adam West book writers felt the show was to campy. They didn't want that reflected in the print version because they would rather compete with what was going on over Marvel and other competitors. Andrew Farragut tells us how.
Instead, the writer sought to pursue a darker tone prior to the 60s comic books were either stereotypically or just traditionally, they were there or something that a reader outgrew the crochet. Is it something that boys are into until they discover girl spent with Marvel comics in the early 60s.
They had stories that were more geared toward that slightly older audience. They were geared toward teenagers. They had storylines that continued from one month to the next and they encourage readers to back with creators like Jack Kirby and Steve Dick Allen Stanley Marvel felt like a clubhouse and Stan wrote columns and he answered letters in the books that encourage the dialogue between the readers, so the Marvel comics creators instead of being faceless, uncredited people behind the scenes they were upfront they had Stanley's name that Jack Kirby and Steve Dick. His name prominently displayed in the box and readers responded to that in a huge way DC as they lost more and more their market share to Marvel. They realized they needed to catch up realized if the audiences are sticking around. If we want them to stick around. This is how it Taylor storytelling. This is what we have to do to keep these readers here keep coming back so I give I give a lot of credit to Denny O'Neil. He was very smart. He is very well read as formal training and actually been in journalism before getting in the comic books. He actually got into them kind by accident because he was interviewing Roy Thomas, who was a writer and editor Marvel comics. Roy suggested hey we need we need more. We need smart guys like you writing comic books and Denny went that direction as a hippies.
He brought more adults, mature sensibility to the comics. Compare, especially compared to what a gun before they brought that sensibility over to Batman their signature villain was a shadowy ancient criminal mastermind Rozell goal plan to actually exterminate up to 90% of the Earth's population because he felt that it's eco-terrorism was was necessary to restore balance to the earth, so this was this was very heady stuff compared to to face robbing the second national Bank at 2 PM on Tuesday. They also had Robin grow up and start going to college.
They had solid ventures he had Batman throughout almost the whole decade of the 70s yet Batman is this solo adventurer and Robin Saft. After about 10 years of solo adventures. There was kind of a halfhearted attempt to bring him back into the Batman stories. The problem was he was now an older teenager.
So the solution was to have Dick Grayson the original Robin grow up a little bit and take on a new superhero identity say he did that and became character called Nightwing and they introduced a new sidekick for Batman and Jason Todd and then in the mid-80s DC to celebrate their 50th anniversary publishing decided to start everything from scratch. They were worried that new readers may been put off by having 50 years of history. All these characters so they wanted to do a fresh start with her comics and with this fresh start. They decided that Jason Todd instead of having an origin that was directly cribbed from Dick Grayson's. They decided he should have a new origin. They reinvented him as a street cat a tough kid who actually met Batman because he stole the Batmobile's tires.
Readers didn't really like this new version of him.
They thought he was kind of a he was kind of a punk name is not properly deferential to Batman's written special by the next writer of the Batman comics.
Jim Starling is written is kind of a hothead. Yes, darlin' actually did not like Jason Todd or sidekicks and principal say he kind of wrote aversion that he knew would be unlikable that he knew readers would warm to and kinda brought everything to head with storyline called a death in the family. They wanted to do a publicity stunt. Draw attention to their comics and they they wanted to take advantage of done modern telephone technology and they wanted to do a call in Paul. This was in parts inspired by Saturday Night Live call in poll where you determine whether a lobster name Larry the lobster would be boiled on air or set free at the end of the night so they wanted to apply the same thing to a DC comics publication that we need to make a day. We need to make a life or death for readers to care enough to spend $0.50 to call and make this phone call. They decided we got this Jason Todd character. Let's put it to vote. This, he remembered as he died by a narrow, very narrow margin by about 72 votes, readers, salads, and the Joker should kill Jason Todd said they killed them off in this violent storyline. He got national headlines.
Denny O'Neil is the editor those books, I was able to talk to him about this and he said they had the fortune or misfortune of it hitting on a slow news day the comics sold out nationwide. They rush them.
He caught grief from friends and neighbors. The local deli. Everybody was upset at him for allowing this to happen. It really indicated that the public was ready for much darker take on Batman and that's really what we got. But that is darker comics paved the way for Burton Batman movies really was tapping into what this older readership was seeking were now into at least the second generation, maybe third generation of creators who grew up on Batman comics Batman movies and Batman television shows have their own vision for the character they know what kind of stories they want to tell. They know the best way to tell them whether that's comics or movies or television or video games truly incredible stories. It's a testament to the original core concept of Batman that more widely known than ever. You can barely say that about any other character from the 1930s. He can maybe say that about Superman Mickey Mouse doesn't have the cultural relevancy today. Popeye doesn't. Batman is such an ageless time was concept its child suffers an unspeakable tragedy and then transforms himself into a protector or someone who is mission is to make sure no one knew kid anywhere has to go through what he did and that's that's a story that you can tell today at the stories until hundred years from now, Batman is this is a wonderful vehicle for telling all manner of stories until Batman stories about street-level crime fighting Nazis during World War II, fighting for the colonists fighting communist in the 1950s and it's I think that's good to be true.
10 years from now. I think of the 200 years and it is so true. Batman will be around for a very long time. Terrific job by our own Monty Montgomery and Robbie Davidson.
Special thanks to Andrew Federico curator at the cartoon Art Museum and author of Batman the definitive history of the dark Knight comics film and beyond the book at the usual suspects online. My goodness, the major decision made was to stop catering just to young kids who would grow out of the comics and instead choose adult themes than adults to enjoy these remarkable stories and characters that ran through the years here on our American story for 10 years and is providing technology curriculum and connectivity like Christopher and Mr. fire has always loved creating so we learn about the Verizon innovative learning program will making things move like paper models move with the engines and will make you like robusta in his company like I couldn't have written a greater story.
Learning.com attention. Medicare beneficiaries are you getting all the benefits you need. If you have Medicare you may now be able to get new benefits. Benefits may include eyeglasses, wellness visits, gym membership, meal delivery and hearing aids with low co-pay will even find plans with zero monthly plan premiums zero co-pays on many services and zero deductible. Call 800-832-7597. That's 800-832-7597 800-832-7597 and all the material family friendly modern conversation overhaul the pendulum to make your home phone number is not Ashley.com