How Batman Has Changed over the Past 70 Years

The portrayal of superheroes in films has changed in terms of their character, appearance, style and strength. Superheroes has been a popular theme in hollywood films since its inception. They are what peoples imagination can only think of. A perfect human being who saves the world .The first time superhero appeared on T.V was “The Adventures of Captain Marvel” in 1941. Superheroes was on the rise within popular comic books in 1930′s to the 1940’s as well in which they were considered the ‘Golden Age of Comic Books’ . Comic books became widespread and popular which translated into making films about them.

During the significant changes in American history, comic books contributed information that described what was happening during a specific event. Starting with Superman, battling against the corrupted ceo’s and government politicians to Batman being a juvenile delinquent who eventually became one with the law. Yet with these comic book characters relating to everything around a human beings life, changed the American youth culture in a great way.

Comic book industries have been the main establishers for the new American youth culture. This has also been well used to settle a cultural representation for communism, wartime-propaganda, and, to those adults who thought their child acting rude was caused by comics, a sign of the decline of comic books, thus making the industry fall into consensus and conformity. Ever since the first comic book was created in the 1930’s, Americans have been greatly influenced because of its vast enjoyment. Whether from romance to war or justice to crime, comic books have forever changed popular culture and can definitely portray how, at different times in U.S. history, people understood and interpreted events around the globe. This becomes apparent in the film Comic Book Superheroes: Unmasked when the

However, despite Pitkethly’s ad Busiek’s effort to define a superhero the endeavor is impossible. Superheroes have been around for a long time through storytelling and myths. Throughout history, superheroes have changed overtime due to the different cultures and morals set at that time. Overtime superheroes have appeared in all different shape and sizes with and without powers. They have unique characteristics that make them who they are, these make their stories more extraordinary and help them become more relatable. Superheroes today have impacted people because of their stories and mission which means their are superheroes for everyone. Superheroes has changed drastically over time and cannot be so tied down to just one definition.

Since the beginning of time (particularly beginning in the 1920’s), comic books have always been a creative reflection of what’s going on in popular culture. Comic books tend to perfectly depict animations that relate to current politics, historical events, and current social issues that we face every day in the United States. Comic books cover a wide range of pop culture genres such as: adventure, horror, crime, mystery, romance, westerns, and humor (just to name a few). However, comic books also discuss serious American popular culture issues but utilize superheroes (such as Spiderman, Batman, and Superman) and villains (such as The Joker, Dr. Doom, and Lex Luthor) as the main characters; which fascinated the youth and thus resulted in a popular, successful, and booming comic book industry.

The artistic representation of the Batman myth is an important cultural artifact of our time because it represents modern society's thirst for heroic ideals in popular entertainment. Since his creation, readers and viewers have admired Batman's unique ability to battle villainy, transcend the law and administer justice. As cultivators of the noir genre in film as well as in literature, Americans have always identified with this enigmatic hero, who exists on the margins of society and yet represents one of the largest corporations in the world. The evolution of Batman in particular and the superhero genre in general (from comic book to television to film and back again) has seen in the latest adaptation from Christopher Nolan's Batman revamp a veritable tilting point for the character once known as the World's Greatest Detective. This paper will analyze why Batman is an important cultural artifact of our day, how he came into being, what he means for society, and how he will be treated in the future.

Batman is one of the many fictional superheroes which appears in the “American comic books” that is published by the DC comics. The character is a secret identity for Bruce Wayne, the only heir to Wayne Enterprises. Bruce Wayne swore an oath of vengeance when he witnessed the death of his parents;Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne (Diamond, 2015). Bat man combats criminals in Gotham: a fictional city, with assistance from various characters, for example, his butler Alfred and Gordon; Gotham city police commissioner. Unlike many of the superheroes characters, Batman possesses no powers .Bruce Wayne trained himself intellectually and physically .it is from dedication to training he possessed the useful traits of physical prowess, martial arts skills, detective skills and indomitable will to fight for justice. Though his motive is to combat crime and protect people of Gotham city from criminals, the justice system in most of the times views Batman as a villain and vigilante. He can inflict fear to Gotham city criminals thereby bringing calmness to the city. I identify myself with the Batman character through his selfless will for justice, his strong determination to do good

Over the past 70 years, the story of good versus evil has been an attention grabber for young and old audiences. DC Comics has been one of the primary sources of comic book characters and during that time, several characters have been introduced and modernized to restore the reader's’ interest.When a character’s origin does not match with another character’s in the timeline, DC will reintroduce that character with a story that differs from the original. Even some of the more well known characters seem to return with similar but different backstories or abilities.

Another work by Crutcher emphasizes that ‘Many Lives of the Batman’ and ‘Batman Unmasked’ are bought in three areas: popular culture studies, popular culture as it relates to marketing and consumerism, and the nature of the comic publishing industry. Most writers have examined the impact of Dark Knight Returns on cultural consciousness, politics, and so on. This antihero construction sparks centuries old dialogues on ethics, the kind of business that comprises the bulk of Batman. “The complexities and graphics in the novel and comic of Batman have been defined as his duality with his villains” (Crutcher 66). Due to popularity and the existence of Batman, people began using the Batman symbol as paraphernalia on personal belongings such as clothing, equipment, and supplies.

Movie adaptations. Two words that make video game and anime fans cry a bit inside. Comics have it great nowadays what with all those Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy and (hopefully) Supermans VS Batmans , but what do gamers get? Phoenix Wrights and Needs for Speed, which was too little Speed and too many "Needs" if you catch my drift.

The other day I was watching the movie Batman with Adam West. He’s my favorite Batman of all time. It was fun watching the original movie. When watching the movie, I’ve noticed a difference between the old and new movie.

In the essay “Batman, The Unexpected Cultural Revolution” Chris Gould sheds light on Batman, and how the comics are described as dismal yet the show was made to be laughable with a main character described as gentle. The main point of Gould’s essay is that the show has become a “pop art utopia” (pg. 268) and how it shaped the morals of a young generation. “The Batman TV show thus became a depiction of pop art utopia, where bright colors forever defeated darkness, where creativity forever defeated logic and Good forever triumphed over Evil.” (Gould 1). The author of “Batman, the unexpected Cultural Revolution” made the argument that Batman left a lasting impact on society and he uses valid information to prove his point.

Activity 5 There are many comparisons and differences between Superman 1 and Man of Steel. We see this through the evolution of technology and the influence of society on the evolution of Superman. This will be examined with reference to the Superman posters. The posters reflect the evolution of Superman as it is more dark and gloomy and there is a much more serious ambience to the poster of Man of Steel as compared to Superman 1, where it is more animated and very bright and cheerful almost over exaggerated to show us how extraordinary superman really is.

Now in these days everyone one likes to read comic books since they became part of our society. What makes them interesting is how entertaining they could get giving us different points of views on different stories of superheroes. Many of us believe that “Classic superheroes stories are wildly fun, suspenseful and exciting” (Tom and Matt Morris) forgetting the idea of what really makes a hero. Different perceptions of superheroes are considered based on their wrong actions and way of thinking. Frank’s Miller Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is one of the comic books that make us “rethink the conception of the superhero and press each of us to reconsider some of the fundamental moral principles

The superhero genre is classified by a fight of good vs. evil. The heroes and the villains are complex characters driven by motives that are not always black and white. Besides dealing with fictional characters, superhero comic books often incorporate real life difficulties, such as racism, sexism, and drug use. The storylines are driven by the superheroes fight against the forces of evil, but the underlying story often deals with conflicting moral dilemmas and self-doubt. The superheroes have secret identities and strut around in colorful costumes, but behind these personas, lay a story of triumph and defeat. The true appeal of comics is not the colorful character who follows it but the dark, gritty storylines that cause the reader to view the world and humanity in a new light. In “Batman #134”, written in 1960 by Bill Finger, a few of these requirements are addressed. This comic follows Batman and Robin’s adventure in an undisclosed South American republic. The major conflict lies with a man named Diaz, who releases a monster known as “The Rainbow Creature.” This creature terrorizes the village until Batman uses his world-class detective skills to defeat the beast. The storyline is quickly wrapped up in a span of nine pages, and the childish tone of the comic causes the intrigue of the story to be lost on the reader. On the other hand, Batman: Ego, written by Darwyn Cooke in 2000, deals with the harsh atmosphere of Gotham. The comic tells the story of a wounded Batman and