Today is one of the best days ever in history in our eyes DC fans. On March 30th, 1939 Batman made his grand debut in Detective Comics #27. In 1940 Batman finally got his own comic and the rest is Bat-history. We got our first taste of the Bat-Man and watched a criminal fall into a vat of acid at a chemical plant. Batman has reached new heights with thousands of comics continuing today, toy sales, merchandise, film adaptations, TV shows, cosplays — you name it, it’s been done. We’ve had 78 glorious years of the Dark Knight and his adventures and there will be so many more years to come. We here at DCN decided to do a tribute to the Dark Knight for the 78th anniversary of his arrival.
We all know that Bob Kane and Bill Finger created the Bat-Man back in 1939, and contrary to popular belief, Batman’s first villain was Doctor Death (Detective Comics #29, July 1939), not the Joker as you might have initially believed. Joker, however, proved to become Batman’s greatest foe. He was based off Victor Hugo’s The Man Who Laughs, and we go on from there with the Rogues Gallery. We wouldn’t have TV shows such as the ’66 series, BTAS and Gotham, or films like the Nolan trilogy and Tim Burton’s masterpieces if it wasn’t for their brilliant minds. But more importantly what does Batman mean to you? How did you get started being a fan of the Dark Knight? You can tell us in the comments, but I’m going to tell you my story in this article.
What 78 Years of Batman Means To Me
It was a long time ago. Not 78 years, but more aptly 13 years ago in 2004. I remember the day exactly too. July 24th, a few days before my 13th birthday. I didn’t exactly have a good childhood with an alcoholic step-father, a biological father who wanted nothing to do with me, and a mom who worked all the time, so I was pretty alone at home. At school I kept to myself because I didn’t have many friends, if any really at all. I was always made fun of, everyone called me weird and didn’t like me. To this day I still don’t know why people thought that of me, other than my few mishaps of finger-twitching because I have Fragile X Syndrome. Fragile X is a disease that causes mental retardation and here I am, a carrier. So I zone out and my eyes cross, but I can tell you exactly what you said if I’m asked directly. Due to my lack of friendship and home life I became depressed and anxiety ridden. On that fateful summer day I was planning to commit suicide. I was visiting my grandparents and planned to slit my wrists after dark when everyone went to bed. Well, as you can see, I never ended up doing it.
After our bingo outing we came home and my grandma made me something to eat. My uncle sat on the couch watching TV, so I decided to sit with him and watch while I ate. On TV was Batman (1989) and we were just at the end during the parade scene. I knew it was Batman even though I couldn’t remember ever seeing it before and I used to watch the animated series when I was younger. Something about it caught my attention, more aptly Jack Nicholson’s Joker, and I was never the same again. I made it my life’s mission to learn everything I could about the Clown Prince of Crime, and eventually the entire Batman world itself. I owed it to him for saving my life. There’s a lot more to the story about why I was hooked, but I’ll spare you guys the gritty details. Now here we are, 13 years later of studying and I’m here at DCN and co-host of the DC Films Podcast giving a panel this Saturday at Central PA Comic Con. Happy 78th anniversary Batman.
So tell me, what does Batman’s anniversary mean to you?
