100 Fun Facts About Batman

In which comic book did Batman first make his debut?

Detective Comics #27 went on sale March 30, 1939, cover-dated May, about a year after Superman's debut.

What were the first names of Bruce Wayne's murdered parents?

Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne were Bruce Wayne's wealthy and philanthropic parents, whose murder in Crime Alley left him orphaned and fueled his lifelong war on crime.

Which fictional city does Batman primarily protect?

Gotham City is the dark, crime-ridden urban landscape that Batman has sworn to protect, often depicted as a character in itself within the DC Universe.

The Joker, the Dark Knight's most iconic archnemesis, first appeared in which 1940 comic book issue?

The Joker made his chilling debut in the very first issue of Batman's solo comic series, Batman #1, in Spring 1940, quickly establishing himself as a formidable and iconic villain.

Who serves as Bruce Wayne's loyal butler, confidante, and surrogate father figure?

Alfred Pennyworth is much more than a butler; he raised Bruce Wayne after his parents' deaths, becoming his closest ally, medical expert, and moral compass in his fight against crime.

Which orphaned circus acrobat became the first Robin, Batman's vigilante partner, in 1940?

Dick Grayson, the orphaned circus acrobat Bruce Wayne took in, debuted as Robin in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940 and later became Nightwing.

Which writer was officially recognized in 2015 alongside Bob Kane as Batman's co-creator?

Bill Finger made substantial contributions to Batman's design, personality, and early stories, though he went uncredited for decades until DC Comics recognized his co-creator status in 2015.

What is the name of the Dark Knight's ancestral home, which also houses the Batcave?

Wayne Manor is the sprawling estate on the outskirts of the city that serves as Bruce Wayne's home and sits directly above his secret headquarters, the Batcave.

Who played the Caped Crusader in the 1966–68 live-action Batman television series?

Adam West's campy series ran 1966–68 with Burt Ward as Robin; Keaton and Kilmer came later, in the 1989 and 1995 films.

What is the psychiatric hospital that houses many of Gotham City's criminally insane villains?

Arkham Asylum is Gotham's notorious institution for the criminally insane, serving as a recurring setting and home to many of Batman's most dangerous foes.

Bob Kane conceived Batman in early 1939 to capitalise on the popularity of which character?

Superman's success in Action Comics (1938) had National's editors asking for more heroes; Bob Kane sketched Batman over a weekend in early 1939, and Bill Finger reworked the costume and wrote the first stories.

Which alias does Bruce Wayne use when posing as a gangster in Gotham's underworld?

Matches Malone is the pinstriped small-time hood Bruce Wayne impersonates to gather underworld intelligence; the alias debuted in Batman #242 (1972), written by Denny O'Neil.

The Joker's grinning look was inspired by Conrad Veidt's character in which 1928 film?

Conrad Veidt's rictus-grinning Gwynplaine in the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs was the image Bill Finger showed Bob Kane; Jerry Robinson also produced a joker playing-card sketch, and credit was disputed for decades.

In 1988 DC let readers decide by phone poll whether the Joker would kill which Robin?

Jason Todd, the second Robin, died after the 1-900 vote in 'A Death in the Family' went 5,343 to 5,271 for his death; he returned in 2005 as the Red Hood.

Which Robin succeeded Tim Drake in the 2009 storyline 'Battle for the Cowl'?

Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne's son with Talia al Ghul, became Robin beside Dick Grayson's Batman in Batman and Robin #1 (2009) after 'Battle for the Cowl'; Tim Drake became Red Robin.

Alfred the butler first appeared in 1943 in which comic?

Alfred debuted in Batman #16 (April 1943), created by writer Don Cameron and artist Bob Kane as a portly, clean-shaven comic-relief butler; he was redrawn slim with a moustache within a year.

Which character was introduced in the very first panel of Batman's debut story, his first supporting character?

Commissioner James Gordon appears in the first panel of Detective Comics #27 (1939), chatting with Bruce Wayne before Batman does, making him Batman's oldest supporting character; he is Barbara Gordon's father.

Under what name did Catwoman debut in Batman #1 in 1940?

In Batman #1 (Spring 1940) the future Catwoman debuted simply as 'The Cat', a jewel thief unmasked by Batman; she was Cat-Woman from Batman #2 and only got the name Selina Kyle in 1950.

What is the Penguin's real name?

The Penguin's real name is Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot; he debuted in Detective Comics #58 (December 1941), and his trick umbrellas hide guns, gas sprayers and even a mini-helicopter.

The Riddler was created by Bill Finger and which artist, debuting in Detective Comics #140 in 1948?

Artist Dick Sprang co-created the Riddler with writer Bill Finger in Detective Comics #140 (October 1948); Sprang was the defining Batman artist of the 1940s-50s, ghosting for Bob Kane.

Which mob boss threw the acid that scarred district attorney Harvey Dent into Two-Face?

Mob boss Sal 'Boss' Maroni hurled acid at the district attorney in court in Detective Comics #66 (1942), creating Two-Face, who decides his crimes by flipping a scarred coin.

Bane, who broke Batman's back in the 1993 'Knightfall' saga, gets his strength from which super-steroid?

Bane's strength comes from Venom, a super-steroid pumped into his skull through tubes; he was raised in the Peña Duro prison on Santa Prisca, serving his father's life sentence.

Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for which medium?

Harley Quinn debuted in the Batman: The Animated Series episode 'Joker's Favor' (1992) as a one-off henchwoman voiced by Arleen Sorkin; she only joined mainstream comics continuity in 1999.

The Scarecrow's lanky look and civilian surname were inspired by which Washington Irving character?

Jonathan Crane's gangly frame and surname nod to Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster of Washington Irving's 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'; the Scarecrow debuted in World's Finest Comics #3 (1941) and gained fear toxin in 1967.

Ra's al Ghul has extended his life for centuries using what?

Ra's al Ghul bathes in Lazarus Pits, chemical pools that restore youth and revive the dead; created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams in Batman #232 (1971), he is Talia's father and Damian Wayne's grandfather.

The 1966 TV Batmobile was built by George Barris from which decade-old concept car?

George Barris rebuilt the one-off 1955 Lincoln Futura show car into the TV Batmobile in 1965; in the comics the name Batmobile first appeared in Detective Comics #48 (1941), after a plain red car in Batman's debut.

The Batcave first appeared not in the comics but in which medium in 1943?

The Bat's Cave debuted in Columbia's 1943 Batman film serial; Bob Kane, who visited the set, drew it into the newspaper strip that October as 'The Bat Cave!', and it reached Detective Comics #83 in 1944.

Bill Finger said he found the name Gotham where?

Bill Finger said he flipped through the New York City phone book and saw 'Gotham Jewelers', having rejected Civic City, Capital City and Coast City; Gotham is usually placed in New Jersey.

Arkham Asylum takes its name from the fictional Massachusetts town created by which horror writer?

Arkham is H. P. Lovecraft's fictional, witch-haunted Massachusetts town; Dennis O'Neil introduced the asylum in Batman #258 (1974), and in-story it was named for founder Amadeus Arkham's mother Elizabeth.

How many episodes of the 1960s Batman TV series aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968?

The series ran 120 episodes: two a week in seasons one and two, then weekly in a third season that added Yvonne Craig as Batgirl, ending in March 1968.

Which musician wrote the songs for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, while Danny Elfman composed the score?

Prince recorded the Batman soundtrack album, including the No. 1 hit 'Batdance', while Danny Elfman wrote the orchestral score; the film won the Oscar for Best Art Direction.

The Dark Knight (2008) was the first major film shot with which type of camera?

Nolan flipped a real 18-wheeler and blew up a real factory rather than use CGI; the film shot in Chicago and Hong Kong.

Heath Ledger posthumously won which Academy Award for playing the Joker?

Heath Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in February 2009, accepted by his family; he had died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose in January 2008, months before the film's release.

In Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, how old is the Bruce Wayne who comes out of retirement?

In the 1986 miniseries Bruce Wayne is 55 and ten years retired when he returns; it introduced Carrie Kelley as Robin and ended with a showdown against a government-controlled Superman.

Batman: Year One was originally serialised in 1987 in which issues of Batman?

Year One ran in Batman #404-407 (February-May 1987), retelling Batman's origin alongside Jim Gordon's arrival in Gotham; Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli had just finished Daredevil: Born Again at Marvel.

What did the producers of the 1992 animated Batman show call its noir-meets-1940s look?

Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski called the look 'Dark Deco', painting backgrounds on black paper; the series ran 85 episodes on Fox from 1992 and won a Primetime Emmy for 'Robin's Reckoning'.

Kevin Conroy based his contrasting Batman and Bruce Wayne voices on Leslie Howard in which 1934 film?

Conroy modelled the split on Leslie Howard's Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), a foppish aristocrat hiding a hero; he voiced Batman from 1992 until his death in 2022.

Christian Bale, star of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, was born in which country?

Bale was born in Haverfordwest, Wales, in 1974 to English parents and has said 'I'm not Welsh, I'm English'; he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Fighter.

Michael Keaton returned as Batman in which 2023 film?

The Flash brought Keaton back as Batman; born Michael Douglas, he had played the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming in between, and returned to Beetlejuice in 2024.

In The Batman (2022), Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne is in which year of his crime-fighting career?

The film opens in Batman's second year, 'two years of nights' into his war on crime; Matt Reeves drew on Year One and The Long Halloween and cast Pattinson after Ben Affleck left the role in 2019.

Which actor did Joel Schumacher want for Batman & Robin before George Clooney won the role?

Schumacher pushed for William Baldwin after Val Kilmer declined to return, before Warner Bros. cast George Clooney; the studio wanted the 1997 film more 'toyetic' than Batman Forever.

Which studio developed the acclaimed 2009 game Batman: Arkham Asylum?

London's Rocksteady Studios developed Arkham Asylum, written by Paul Dini and voiced by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill; it held a Guinness record as the most critically acclaimed superhero game.

Barbara Gordon became Batgirl in 1967, replacing which earlier Bat-Girl?

Betty Kane, Batwoman Kathy Kane's niece, had been Bat-Girl from 1961; Barbara debuted as Batgirl in Detective Comics #359 (1967) and, after being paralysed in The Killing Joke, became Oracle.

Dick Grayson first adopted the Nightwing identity in 1984 in which comic?

Grayson debuted as Nightwing in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984) during 'The Judas Contract'; the name came from a Kryptonian vigilante identity Superman once used in the bottle city of Kandor.

In which year did the Bat-Signal first appear in the comics?

The Bat-Signal debuted in Detective Comics #60 (February 1942), projected from police headquarters; for Batman's 80th anniversary in 2019 it was lit in thirteen cities from Melbourne to Los Angeles.

Batman's alter ego was named after Robert the Bruce and which American Revolutionary general?

Bill Finger took 'Bruce' from Scottish king Robert the Bruce and 'Wayne' from Revolutionary War general 'Mad' Anthony Wayne, wanting a name that suggested colonial aristocracy.

Mr. Freeze debuted in Batman #121 in 1959 under what original name?

Batman #121 (1959) introduced him as Mr. Zero; the 1966 TV series renamed him Mr. Freeze, which the comics adopted, and Paul Dini's animated episode 'Heart of Ice' reinvented him as a tragic figure.

What colour were the tights in Bob Kane's very first sketch of Batman, before Bill Finger darkened the costume?

Kane's sketch showed a red union suit with rigid bat wings and a domino mask; Bill Finger suggested the cowl, a scalloped cape, gloves and a darker grey-and-black palette.

After Batman: Endgame, which Gotham figure served as Batman in a mecha-suit through 2015 and 2016?

Jim Gordon wore the mecha-suit; he is one of several stand-ins, and Jace Fox, son of Lucius, later took the cowl in the 2021 series I Am Batman.

Which Gotham crime boss is nicknamed 'The Roman' in Batman: Year One?

Carmine Falcone, 'The Roman', rules Gotham's underworld in Batman: Year One (1987) and The Long Halloween, where the Holiday killer targets his family; Tom Wilkinson played him in Batman Begins.

Who played the Penguin in Batman Returns (1992)?

Danny DeVito's deformed crime boss shares the film with Christopher Walken's Max Shreck, a tycoon invented for the film and named after the actor who played Nosferatu.

Who played Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin (1997)?

Uma Thurman played Poison Ivy, the botanist turned eco-terrorist, sharing villain duties with Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze, whose dialogue was built almost entirely from ice puns.

Which actor played Bruce's mentor Henri Ducard in Batman Begins (2005)?

Liam Neeson played Henri Ducard, who trains Bruce in the League of Shadows and is revealed in the climax to be Ra's al Ghul himself; Ken Watanabe played the decoy Ra's.

Who played Selina Kyle opposite Robert Pattinson in The Batman (2022)?

Her Selina is a nightclub waitress and cat burglar hunting for a missing roommate; Kravitz had earlier voiced the character in The Lego Batman Movie.

Who won the Best Actor Oscar for playing Arthur Fleck in Joker (2019)?

Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor at the 2020 ceremony for Arthur Fleck; the film took eleven nominations, the most of any that year, and also won Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir.

Who played Harleen 'Lee' Quinzel in Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)?

Lady Gaga played Lee Quinzel, an Arkham patient who becomes Arthur Fleck's lover, in the 2024 musical sequel, which flopped at the box office despite her duets with Joaquin Phoenix.

In the 1966 Batman film, a can of Bat-repellent spray saves Batman from which creature?

A rubber shark clamps onto Batman's leg as he dangles from the Batcopter's ladder; Robin hands him the Shark Repellent Bat-Spray, and the shark explodes when it drops back into the sea.

What is Poison Ivy's real name in the comics?

Poison Ivy is Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, a botanist who debuted in Batman #181 (1966), created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff; her plant toxins and pheromones make her an eco-terrorist.

Who wrote the 1988 one-shot graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke?

Alan Moore wrote The Killing Joke with artist Brian Bolland, who recoloured the whole book himself for the 2008 deluxe edition, muting John Higgins's garish original palette.

Players from which NFL team appear as the Gotham Rogues in The Dark Knight Rises?

Pittsburgh Steelers players, including Hines Ward, whose kickoff return outruns the collapsing field, filled the Gotham Rogues' roster at Heinz Field, with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher on the sideline.

Which star of Catwoman (2004) turned up in person to accept her Worst Actress Razzie?

Halle Berry walked on stage clutching her Oscar for Monster's Ball and thanked Warner Bros. for putting her in a 'god-awful movie', joking it was 'just what my career needed'.

Which 1960s TV Joker refused to shave his moustache, so makeup was smeared over it?

Cesar Romero refused to shave, so his moustache shows through the white greasepaint in all his 1966-68 episodes and the 1966 feature film; he had played the Cisco Kid in the 1930s.

In most versions of the origin, what is the name of the mugger who kills Bruce's parents?

The 1939 origin left the gunman nameless; Batman #47 (1948) named him Joe Chill, a petty stick-up man whom Batman confronts and unmasks himself to.

What is the tank-like Batmobile of Batman Begins called?

The Tumbler was pitched in-universe as a military bridging vehicle from Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division; the working prop could reach 60 mph in about five seconds.

Who replaced Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight (2008)?

Maggie Gyllenhaal took over as Rachel Dawes after Katie Holmes turned the sequel down to make the comedy Mad Money, which earned Holmes a Razzie nomination.

Which actor's John Blake is revealed to be legally named Robin in The Dark Knight Rises?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John Blake learns from a clerk that his legal first name is Robin; the film ends with him quitting the police and following coordinates into the Batcave.

Joker (2019) won the Golden Lion, the top prize at which film festival?

Joker took the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, the first comic-book film to win it; its premiere drew an eight-minute standing ovation before the controversy over its violence began.

What is the Joker's civilian name in Tim Burton's 1989 film?

Jack Napier is Carl Grissom's lieutenant, set up at Axis Chemicals because Grissom has learned he is sleeping with his mistress Alicia; the chemical bath turns him into the Joker.

In DC continuity, which film had the Waynes just watched when they were murdered?

In DC continuity the Waynes had just seen The Mark of Zorro, a detail Frank Miller added in The Dark Knight Returns (1986); the masked caballero Zorro was one of Bob Kane's acknowledged inspirations for Batman.

Helena Wayne, daughter of Earth-Two's Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, fights crime under which name?

Huntress is Helena Wayne's identity; Earth-Two was the parallel world where DC's Golden Age stories were said to have happened, which let its Batman marry and grow old.

Which secret society of Gotham's elite was introduced in Scott Snyder's 2011 Batman run?

The Court of Owls debuted in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman #1 (2011); its assassins are called Talons, and a Gotham nursery rhyme warned children about it long before Batman proved it was real.

In The Long Halloween, what do the media nickname the killer who strikes on holidays?

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's 13-issue series runs Halloween to Halloween and was a key influence on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

What disaster, in the Cataclysm story arc, leads the US to cut Gotham off in the 1999 crossover No Man's Land?

An earthquake hits Gotham in Cataclysm; the bridges are blown and the city declared no longer part of the United States, leaving Batman's allies and villains carving it into territories.

In which 2011 DC event is Bruce's father the Batman and his mother the Joker?

In Flashpoint (2011) the mugger's bullet kills young Bruce instead, driving Thomas Wayne to become Batman and Martha to become the Joker; the event's ending rebooted DC's line into the New 52.

What is the name of the crime-fighting dog who joined Batman in 1955?

Ace the Bat-Hound debuted in Batman #92 (June 1955), three months after Krypto the Superdog, as DC leaned into a 1950s fad for heroic pets; he wore a mask to hide his identifying forehead star.

What is the name of the nightclub the Penguin runs as a front for his crimes?

Batman tolerates the place because it doubles as his best source of underworld gossip; it features in the Arkham games and The Batman (2022).

In Batman Beyond, which teenager takes over the cowl from an aged Bruce Wayne?

Terry McGinnis first meets Bruce after a gang chases him onto the Wayne estate's grounds; fighting beside him, the old man's heart gives out, and Terry later takes the high-tech Batsuit.

Which Nirvana song is heard twice in The Batman (2022)?

'Something in the Way' plays over Bruce's opening diary narration and again near the end; Matt Reeves saw Pattinson's Bruce as a Kurt Cobain-like recluse and built the first teaser around the track.

In what year did the yellow oval around Batman's chest emblem debut in the 'New Look'?

The yellow oval arrived with Julius Schwartz and Carmine Infantino's 'New Look' in Detective Comics #327 (May 1964); The Dark Knight Returns later rationalised it as an armoured target drawing gunfire from his unprotected head.

Which psychiatrist's 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent called Batman and Robin gay?

Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent (1954) read Batman and Robin as a homosexual 'wish dream'; the panic it fed produced the Comics Code Authority, and DC answered by adding love interest Batwoman in 1956.

Which Dark Multiverse villain from Metal (2017) became the main antagonist of Death Metal (2020)?

The Batman Who Laughs, a Bruce Wayne who killed the Joker and was infected by his toxin, wears a spiked visor and keeps chained, Jokerised 'Rabid Robins'; he debuted in Teen Titans #12 (2017).

In Mask of the Phantasm (1993), the Phantasm turns out to be which ex-fiancée of Bruce?

The Phantasm is Andrea Beaumont, whose engagement to Bruce ended when her father's mob debts forced them to flee; the 1993 film was the first Batman animated feature released in cinemas.

Who played Sofia Falcone in HBO's 2024 series The Penguin?

Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone, freshly released from Arkham State Hospital, fights Oz Cobb for control of Gotham's underworld; the show drew 24 Emmy nominations, and Milioti won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series.

Batman: The Ride, opened at Six Flags Great America in 1992, was the world's first what?

Batman: The Ride was the world's first inverted roller coaster, with riders hanging beneath the track, feet dangling; Bolliger & Mabillard built it to a concept from park general manager Jim Wintrode.

Who starred in the Batgirl film that Warner Bros. Discovery shelved in 2022?

The film was nearly finished, with Michael Keaton back as Batman, when it was written off for tax purposes, a move widely called unprecedented.

Which mad scientist from Detective Comics #36 (1940) was an early recurring Batman foe?

Professor Hugo Strange debuted in Detective Comics #36 (February 1940), beating both the Joker and Catwoman into print; in 1977 he became one of the first villains to deduce that Batman is Bruce Wayne.

Crime Alley, where the Waynes were shot, was previously known by what name?

Park Row was Gotham's fashionable theatre district before decay earned it the name Crime Alley; Batman returns there each year on the anniversary of the murders, and Dr. Leslie Thompkins runs a clinic nearby.

Which villain, voiced by Matt Oberg in Harley Quinn, headlines the spin-off 'Hell Yeah!'?

Kite Man's 'Hell yeah!' catchphrase came from Tom King's Batman run, which turned a joke villain from 1960 into an unexpectedly tragic figure; Matt Oberg voices him in Harley Quinn and the 2024 spin-off.

Two-Face's surname was changed to Dent to distance him from which hero's alter ego?

In his 1942 debut Two-Face was Harvey 'Apollo' Kent, a handsome district attorney whose wife Gilda was a sculptor; DC renamed him Dent to avoid confusion with Superman's Clark Kent.

Who was originally cast as Catwoman in Batman Returns before withdrawing due to pregnancy?

Annette Bening was cast as Catwoman but withdrew after becoming pregnant with her first child by Warren Beatty; Michelle Pfeiffer replaced her for a reported $3 million plus a share of the gross.

Who replaced Julie Newmar as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman feature film?

Lee Meriwether stepped in when Julie Newmar was unavailable; her Catwoman poses as a Russian journalist, Miss Kitka, to seduce Bruce Wayne, while Eartha Kitt later took the TV role in season three.

Who was first cast as the Joker in the 1992 animated series, but lost the role to illness?

Tim Curry recorded early sessions as the Joker but came down with bronchitis, and producers also found his take too frightening; Mark Hamill took the part and kept it for three decades.

Who wrote the 1989 graphic novel A Serious House on Serious Earth, painted by Dave McKean?

Grant Morrison wrote Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which traps Batman inside the asylum on April Fools' Day and intercuts his night with founder Amadeus Arkham's diary; Dave McKean painted it.

Batman's co-creator Bob Kane was born with which surname?

Bob Kane was born Robert Kahn in New York City in 1915 to Eastern European Jewish parents and changed his name before entering comics; he died in 1998 and is buried in Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills.

Besides Scotland and Chicago, which English city hosted filming for The Batman (2022)?

Liverpool's St George's Hall stood in for Gotham City Hall, with the city's Victorian streets doubling for Gotham; Glasgow's Necropolis supplied the cemetery, and interiors were shot at Leavesden Studios near London.

Who composed the theme song for the 1966 Batman television series?

Neal Hefti's theme, a twelve-bar blues riff under one shouted word, won the 1966 Grammy for Best Instrumental Theme; Nelson Riddle conducted the rest of the show's score.

Batman's first aircraft, introduced in Detective Comics #31 in 1939, was called what?

The Batgyro, an autogyro-like craft, debuted in Detective Comics #31 (September 1939), the year Igor Sikorsky first flew his helicopter; a fixed-wing Batplane replaced it in Batman #1 (1940).

Batman's origin was first told in a two-page story in which 1939 Detective Comics issue?

Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) told the origin in two pages, six issues after Batman's debut: young Bruce swears at his parents' grave to spend his life 'warring on all criminals'.

Which editor overruled plans to kill the Joker in his 1940 debut story?

Editor Whitney Ellsworth vetoed killing the Joker off in Batman #1, so a hastily drawn extra panel showed the clown still breathing, saving the character who became comics' most famous villain.

Who was the first actor to play Batman on screen, in Columbia's 1943 serial?

Lewis Wilson wore the cowl in Columbia's 15-chapter serial against Dr. Daka, a Japanese agent invented for wartime audiences; the serial is notorious for its racist propaganda, and Douglas Croft played Robin.