Batman Turns 80

The Caped Crusader. The Dark Knight. The Batman.

One of the greatest masked crime fighters in all of comics turns 80 this month, and his masters at DC Comics have published a ninety-six page comic to commemorate the occasion. Detective Comics #1000 is now for sale at your local comic book shop, and if you're a fan of the character and his world then you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.

I first met Batman through Tim Burton's 1989 film adaptation, which my father purchased on VHS from a grocery store when I was a very little boy. The dark, stylistic setting and the operatic characters of the movie were astounding to me. I eagerly watched from a hunched position in front of the television, memorizing scenes and occasionally trying out my version of the, "Batman voice." Movie tie-in toys followed as holiday and birthday gifts, and I was able to create my own Batman scenarios upon the floor of my bedroom.

I next officially encountered the character, shortly after, on the shelves of the comic book shops to which my Uncle Jeff and grandmother would take me. The comics were magical and immediately felt sacred. There was a power in the images of those books and the stories they told. As far as I'm concerned, Batman began in that four colored world, and he will always be at his best there, no matter how banal and idiotic the ideas and decisions of the writers at his publisher have been or currently seem to be.

After experiencing the comics I would occasionally see the Adam West Batman rerun on cable. The wackiness of the old Bill Dozier series felt off to me from the start, but it was nice to see any version of the character I had come to admire. I couldn't get over the quality issues and the camp, though. I mean, Batman once bested King Tut's brainwashing by drinking copious amounts of buttermilk, if I remember correctly. Even to a kid, the natural reaction was, "What the?!"

Next to the comics, the most powerful interaction I had with the character was through Batman the Animated Series. Bruce Timm, Paul, Dini, Alan Burnett, and so many others expertly crafted a show which was deep, rich, and spellbinding. The city and character designs, the atmosphere, and the average story quality were above anything else on television at the time. To this day, the influence and success of this series drives superhero animation at Warner Brothers, but things have fallen off in terms of quality and direction, it seems. It's too bad they lost sight of where they were so right not that many years ago.

At 80 years old, Batman is still with us, and he's still changing the lives of his fans through various forms of media. The character might not always feel like he's in the best hands, and many mistakes have been made with his handling over the years, but I feel that the core of who and what the character is will always see him through.

Here's to another 80 years of Batman!