Batmanniversary


I’ve had a few posts about Batman in the works — some by coincidence; some
because of his belated 75th birthday hoopla.


Batman, in an early version of his familiar outfit, on a rooftop as a gangster exclaims 'The Bat-Man!!!'
Panel from “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” in Detective Comics #27 © 1939 DC
Comics. Script: Bill Finger. Pencils, Inks, Letters: Bob Kane. Colors: Unknown.


Which I’m kind-of resisting. Batman debuted (as “The Bat-Man!”) at the hands of
Bob Kane and Bill Finger in Detective Comics #27, dated May 1939 but on sale in April of that year. Given how slow DC Comics was to roll out logos and other celebratory stuff for Superman’s diamond jubilee in 2013 — not to mention the whole company’s a few years before that — I shouldn’t be surprised that today, July 23rd, was designated by DC as Batman Day.

I understand why DC would want to position the event on a Wednesday, since that’s when new releases hit comics shops, and why it would want to draft off the buzz of this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con. There are in fact several Batman panels scheduled for the latter, but that doesn’t preclude (let alone abrogate responsibility to) historical accuracy. Some fun stuff did see the light closer to Batman’s actual birthdate, to be fair, and I really should be willing to cut DC considerable slack given how commemorations of other legends on Adventures in Comicology got punted down the line due to my own never-ending battle against various obstacles to production. I’ve been around for more than half of their existences now, and five years hence feels like it’ll be here before we know it, so maybe we’ll all have more to say when Superman and Batman turn 80.



Related: DC at 75 A Wing and a Prayer Friday
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Leaps and Bounds Gotham City 49 Cents

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