Behind The Scenes: Michael Keaton & Batman Creator Bob Kane On The Set Of BATMAN RETURNS
Since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 in May of 1939, Batman has become not only an iconic comic book character, but also a major character on television, radio, novels and of course, the big screen. Created by a young artist named Bob Kane (with a little help from Bill Finger, who was finally given a co-creation credit in 2015) and following the success of Superman in 1938, Batman was an instant sensation, and although he has remained comparable to the original Batman that solved “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” quite a lot has altered over the last 70 years.
Kane’s genesis of Batman came from an eclectic assortment of sources including heroes such as Zorro; pulp character The Shadow; the work of Leonardo Da Vinci; historical characters such as Robert the Bruce; and even a villain from the 1930s film The Bat Whispers. Merely a few months after Batman had achieved his own comic book title, he also gained a sidekick in the form of Robin: The Boy Wonder. It was Robin’s appearance that first softened the edge of The Dark Knight. When he initially burst onto the comic book scene, Batman had no qualms about killing the bad guys. However DC soon acknowledged that it was imperative that he was much more in line with the Truth, Justice and the American way of his comic stable-mate Superman.
Furthermore, Batman developed a rouges gallery that has become as illustrious as The Dark Knight himself over the past several decades: The Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Two-Face and The Riddler are all iconic in their own right and they have helped the Batman mythology to develop and evolve.The raison d’être for such an extensive and deadly group of villains was that Batman was such a formidable character; it soon became quite problematic to pit him against “normal” criminals from the streets of Gotham City.
This image of Bob Kane with Michael Keaton was probably taken sometime 1991 during the production of Batman Returns.
