Biographic - Sunday June 29, 2008 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Created by artist Bob Kane in the wake of the success of Superman, Batman debuted in 1939 in Detective Comics and quickly caught on with the comic-buying public. The newspaper comic strip began in 1943, the same year that Lewis Wilson became the first actor to portray the "Caped Crusader" in a 13-part movie serial. A second serial, with Robert Lowery in the title role, appeared in 1949. The campy 1966 tv series "Batman" became a cultural phenomenon worldwide and made a star of Adam West, a former Dee Jay and children's TV presenter whose previous credits ranged from "Petticoat Junction" to "Laramie". The series ran for 120 episodes over two years and included a full-length movie. The first animated adaptations appeared in 1968, and Batman became a cartoon staple in the 1980s. In 1989, director Tim Burton cast Michael Keaton in the "Cape and Cowl" and crated one of the top-grossing movies of all time. Burton and Keaton teamed again for "Batman Returns" in 1992, the same year that the character returned to the small screen in "Batman: The Animated Series" some well-known names voiced the characters, including Ed Asner, Roddy McDowall, and Mark Hamill of "Star Wars" fame, who voiced The Joker. Joel Schumacher directed two Batman movies in the 1990s. 1995's "Batman Forever" starred Val Kilmer, and two years later, George Clooney took the lead in "Batman & Robin." It was eight years before the character returned to the silver screen. "Batman Begins" saw Christian Bale don the costume in a much darker interpretation that earned critical acclaim and box office gold, and ensured that the sequel, "The Dark Knight" was guaranteed to be one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of 2008.

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