Batman (comic strip)
1943–1991 comic strip in newspapers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Batman comic strip began on October 25, 1943, a few years after the creation of the comic book Batman.[1] At first titled Batman and Robin, and briefly lengthened to Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder as a tie-in with the 1966 Batman television series, a later incarnation was ultimately shortened to Batman. The comic strip had three major and two minor runs in American newspapers.
Walter B. Gibson (1953), William Messner-Loebs (1989–1991)
| Batman | |
|---|---|
| Author | Bob Kane (1943–1946) Walter B. Gibson (1953), William Messner-Loebs (1989–1991) |
| Illustrator(s) | Carmine Infantino and John Nyberg (1989–1991) |
| Current status/schedule | Daily and Sunday; concluded |
| Launch date | October 25, 1943 |
| End date | August 3, 1991 |
| Alternate name(s) | Batman and Robin (1943–1946, 1953) Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder (1966–1972) |
| Syndicate(s) | McClure Newspaper Syndicate (1943–1946) Ledger Syndicate (1966–1972) Creators Syndicate (1989–1991) |
| Genre(s) | superhero; adventure |
Batman and Robin (1943–1946)
The first series was written by Bob Kane and others. It was published as both a daily strip and a Sunday strip. This series has been reprinted by DC Comics and Kitchen Sink Press in one paperback volume of Sunday strips and three paperback volumes of daily strips. It was distributed by the McClure Syndicate. The strip ended on November 2, 1946.[1]
From Joe Desris's introduction to the first book of daily reprints: "...this newspaper strip, Batman and Robin,...has important historical significance: It is the last large body of work that Batman creator Bob Kane penciled completely solo...and it contains stories by all of the significant writers from the first five, formative years of the feature’s history: Don Cameron, Bill Finger, Jack Schiff and Alvin Schwartz.”[2]
Episode guide
| Title | date | Writer | Pencils | Inking | Lettering | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Bill Finger | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | DC bullpen | Jack Schiff | |
| Sentinels of the Law | October 25, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Trained Crime-Fighters! | October 26, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| Meet Alfred! | October 27, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| The Bat Signal! | October 28, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Tha Bat Cave! | October 29, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| The Batmobile and the Batplane! | October 30, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Chapter I: What a Sweet Racket! | Bill Finger | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | DC bullpen | Jack Schiff | |
| Call to Action! | November 1, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Starling News | November 2, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| Missing: Conviet 56890 | November 3, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| Stymied! | November 4, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Music Master | November 5, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| New Threat! | November 6, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Forced Exchange! | November 8, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| A Sudden Disappearance! | November 9, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| Uninvited Guest | November 10, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| The Cat's Meow! | November 11, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| "Cat-Bird" in Action | November 12, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Captive! | November 13, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Narrow Escape | November 15, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Robin's Funeral? | November 16, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| A Hot Spot | November 17, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| Blackie's Plans | November 18, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Dan Tack's Promise | November 19, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Searching For Robin | November 20, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Message From Robin | November 22, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| A Trap! | November 23, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| No Surprise | November 24, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| Noisy Entrance | November 25, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Hidden Hero | November 26, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Two Down | November 24, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Batman's Boomerang | November 29, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Slugged By A Sandbag | November 30, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| Over And Out | December 1, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| Rude Awakening | December 2, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Lucky Break? | December 3, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Perfect Pitch | December 4, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Prisoners | December 6, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Unknown Visitor | December 7, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| A Tack Attack | December 8, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| Blackout | December 9, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Free At Last | December 10, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Captured Convict | December 11, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Counterfeit Charity | December 13, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Racket Revealed | December 14, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| What Next! | December 15, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| Blackie's Pals | December 16, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Repeat Performance | December 17, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Odd Coincidence | December 18, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Important Question | December 20, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Strange Behavior | December 21, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| Back To The Backery | December 22, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| Hoodwinked Witnesses | December 23, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| Break-In | December 24, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Too Many Dummies | December 25, 1943 - Saturday | |||||
| Semi-Pro Crook | December 27, 1943 - Monday | |||||
| Blackie Strikes Again! | December 28, 1943 - Tuesday | |||||
| Revised Gameplan | December 29, 1943 - Wednesday | |||||
| A Hot Tip | December 30, 1943 - Thursday | |||||
| New Track-ties | December 31, 1943 - Friday | |||||
| Uncoverred Hideout | January 1, 1944 - Saturday | |||||
| Another Blackie | January 3, 1944 - Monday | |||||
| Bad Disguise? | January 4, 1944 - Tuesday | |||||
| Last Chance | January 5, 1944 - Wednesday | |||||
| Fake Felon | January 6, 1944 - Thursday | |||||
| Quick Thinking | January 7, 1944 - Friday | |||||
| Three-In-One | January 8, 1944 - Saturday | |||||
| Chapter II: The Phantom Terrorist | Bill Finger | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | DC bullpen | Jack Schiff | |
| Chapter III: The Joker's Syumbol Crimes | Bill Finger | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | DC bullpen | Jack Schiff | |
| Chapter IV: The Secret of Triangle Farm | Bill Finger | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | DC bullpen | Jack Schiff | |
| Chapter V: The Missing Heir Dilemma | Bill Finger | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | DC bullpen | Jack Schiff | |
| Chapter VI: The Two-Bit Dictator of Twin Mills | Al Schwartz | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | Jack Schiff | |
| Chapter VII: Bilss House Ain't the Same | Jack Schiff | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
| Chapter VIII: The Karen Drew Mystery | Jack Schiff | Jack Burnley | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
| Chapter IX: Their Toughest Assignment | Al Schwartz | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
| Chapter X: The Warning of the Lamp! | Al Schwartz | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
| Chapter XI: An Affai fo Death | Al Schwartz | Jack Burnley, Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | Jack Schiff | |
| Chapter XII: A Change of Costume | Jack Schiff | Dick Sprang | Stan Kaye | Dick Sprang | - | |
| Chapter XIII: The News That Makes the News | Al Schwartz | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
| Chapter XIV: Ten Days to Live! | Al Schwartz | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
| Chapter XV: Acquitted by Iceberg | Al Schwartz | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
| Chapter XVI: Deadly Professor RAdium | Al Schwartz | Bob Kane | Charles Paris | Ira Schnapp | - | |
Batman and Robin (1953)
The second series was written by Walter B. Gibson and was published on Sunday only, in September 1953.[1] This short-lived attempt to revive the Batman comic strip ran only in Arrow, the Family Comic Weekly, which was edited by Gibson. A few of these very rare strips are reprinted in the book Batman: The Sunday Classics 1943–46.
Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder (1966–1973)
Although it was credited to "Bob Kane", this series was actually ghostwritten, as noted below. The strip ran on Sunday from May 29, 1966, to July 13, 1969, and daily from May 30, 1966, to 1973.[1] At first, this series was a campy revival drawing on the popularity of the Batman TV show, as exemplified by the guest appearance of celebrities like Jack Benny and public figures like Conrad Hilton. Later, it told more serious Batman stories and featured guest appearances by Batgirl, Superman and Aquaman. A 1970 sequence featuring the Green Arrow and the Man-Bat was reprinted in Amazing World of DC Comics #4-5 (1975). It was syndicated by the Ledger Syndicate.
Episode guide
| Episode # | Fan title | Writer | Artist(s) | Start date | End date | Inc. dailies? | Inc. Sundays? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01D | Catwoman | Whitney Ellsworth | Shelly Moldoff | 1966-05-30 | 1966-07-09 | yes | no |
| 01S | A Penguin with Shark Teeth | Whitney Ellsworth | Shelly Moldoff | 1966-05-29 | 1966-07-10 | no | yes |
| 02D | Joker on Parole | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1966-07-11 | 1966-09-24 | yes | no |
| 02S | The Nasty Napoleon | Whitney Ellsworth | S. Moldoff/J. Giella/C. Infantino | 1966-07-17 | 1966-10-16 | no | yes |
| 03D | Jolly Roger | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1966-09-26 | 1966-12-10 | yes | no |
| 03S | Batchap and Bobbin | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1966-10-23 | 1966-12-11 | no | yes |
| 04 | Poison Ivy | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1966-12-12 | 1967-03-18 | yes | yes |
| 05 | Batman Meets Benny | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1967-03-19 | 1967-04-30 | yes | yes |
| 06 | Batgirl Begins | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1967-05-01 | 1967-07-09 | yes | yes |
| 07 | Amnesia | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1967-07-10 | 1967-11-12 | yes | yes |
| 08 | Zodiac | Whitney Ellsworth | Joe Giella | 1967-11-13 | 1968-04-07 | yes | yes |
| 09 | Superman's Missing Powers | Whitney Ellsworth | Al Plastino | 1968-04-08 | 1968-08-12 | yes | yes |
| 10 | Aqua-Batman | Whitney Ellsworth | Al Plastino | 1968-08-14 | 1968-12-16 | yes | yes |
| 11 | Plastic Surgery | Whitney Ellsworth | Al Plastino | 1968-12-17 | 1969-05-30 | yes | yes |
The Sunday strips ended July 13, 1969. The daily strips continued and were drawn by Plastino through Jan. 1, 1972, with Nick Cardy assisting on the art toward the end. They were written by Ellsworth until July 1970 and then by E. Nelson Bridwell. E. M. Stout took over the strip on January 3, 1972.[1] Batman and Robin failed to appear regularly in the strip, supposedly teamed up with a new hero called Galexo, who eventually took over until it ended in 1973.[3]
This series was reprinted by The Library of American Comics in a three-volume collection which began in 2014 and was titled Batman - Silver Age Newspaper Comics.[4]
The World's Greatest Superheroes (1978–1985)
From April 3, 1978, to February 10, 1985, Batman appeared in a strip variously titled The World's Greatest Superheroes, The World's Greatest Superheroes Present Superman, and The Superman Sunday Special.[5] It was syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate. For information on writers and artists, see Batman: the Sunday Classics 1943–46.
Batman (1989–1991)
The most recent revival of the strip, titled simply Batman, ran Sunday and daily from November 6, 1989, to August 3, 1991. The first story was written by Max Allan Collins and drawn by Marshall Rogers. All of the other stories were written by William Messner-Loebs and drawn by Carmine Infantino and John Nyberg.[6] It was syndicated by Creators Syndicate. All of these strips were reprinted in Comics Revue.
Episode guide
- "Catwoman"
- "The Penguin"
- "The Joker"
- "Two-Face"
- "Robin"
- "The Riddler"
- "The Mad Hatter"
