Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
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Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
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Kane, Finger, and other creators accompanied Batman with supporting characters, including his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl; allies Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, and Catwoman; and foes such as the Penguin, the Riddler, and his archenemy the Joker.
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Batman was originally introduced as a ruthless vigilante who frequently killed or maimed criminals, but evolved into a character with a stringent moral code and strong sense of justice.
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Batman is frequently depicted alongside other DC superheroes, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, as a member of organizations such as the Justice League and the Outsiders.
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DC has published comics featuring alternate versions of Batman, including the incarnation seen in The Dark Knight Returns and its successors, the incarnation from the Flashpoint event, and numerous interpretations from Elseworlds stories.
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One of the most iconic characters in popular culture, Batman has been listed among the greatest comic book superheroes and fictional characters ever created.
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Batman had two stiff wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings.
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Batman felt that he had not used his creative potential to its fullest and that success had passed him by.
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Batman recalled Finger resenting his position, stating in a 2005 interview with The Comics Journal:.
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Finger said, "Batman was originally written in the style of the pulps", and this influence was evident with Batman showing little remorse over killing or maiming criminals.
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Batman proved a hit character, and he received his own solo title in 1940 while continuing to star in Detective Comics.
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Batman was one of the few superhero characters to be continuously published as interest in the genre waned during the 1950s.
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Batman comics were among those criticized when the comic book industry came under scrutiny with the publication of psychologist Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954.
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Batman brought in artist Carmine Infantino to help overhaul the character.
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The Batmobile was redesigned, and Batman's costume was modified to incorporate a yellow ellipse behind the bat-insignia.
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The comic book, which tells the story of a 55-year-old Batman coming out of retirement in a possible future, reinvigorated interest in the character.
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Batman comics garnered major attention in 1988 when DC Comics created a 900 number for readers to call to vote on whether Jason Todd, the second Robin, lived or died.
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Bruce Wayne discovers the truth that he was Batman and after talking to a stranger who smiles a lot he forces Alfred to implant his memories as Batman, but at the cost of his memories as the reborn Bruce Wayne.
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The third volume of Batman was written by Tom King, and artwork was provided by David Finch and Mikel Janin.
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The Batman series introduced two vigilantes, Gotham and Gotham Girl.
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Batman is often treated as a vigilante by other characters in his stories.
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Miller's Batman was closer to the original pre-Robin version, who was willing to kill criminals if necessary.
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The guy has been Batman's partner since he was a kid, he's led the Teen Titans, and he's trained with everybody in the DC Universe.
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Additionally, members of the group Batman Incorporated, Bruce Wayne's experiment at franchising his brand of vigilantism, have at times stood in as the official Batman in cities around the world.
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Many of Batman's adversaries are often psychiatric patients at Arkham Asylum.
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Batman serves as Bruce Wayne's loyal father figure and is one of the few persons to know his secret identity.
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Batman is sometimes portrayed as a sidekick to Batman and the only other resident of Wayne Manor aside from Bruce.
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Batman is at times a member of superhero teams such as the Justice League of America and the Outsiders.
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Batman used the Joker's old persona, the Red Hood, and became an antihero vigilante with no qualms about using firearms or deadly force.
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Carrie Kelley, the first female Robin to appear in Batman stories, was the final Robin in the continuity of Frank Miller's graphic novels The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again, fighting alongside an aging Batman in stories set out of the mainstream continuity.
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Batman went on to star in his own comic series, and currently goes by the Red Robin, a variation on the traditional Robin persona.
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Batman has been romantically involved with allies, such as Kathy Kane, Sasha Bordeaux, and Wonder Woman, and with villains, such as Selina Kyle, Jezebel Jet, Pamela Isley, and Talia al Ghul.
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Batman has no inherent superhuman powers; he relies on "his own scientific knowledge, detective skills, and athletic prowess".
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Batman has been repeatedly described as having a genius-level intellect, being one of the greatest martial artists in the DC Universe, and having peak human physical conditioning.
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Batman has traveled the world acquiring the skills needed to aid him in his endeavors as Batman.
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Batman has trained extensively in various different fighting styles, making him one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the DC Universe.
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Batman has fully utilized his photographic memory to master a total of 127 different forms of martial arts including, but not limited to, Aikido, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Capoeira, Eskrima, fencing, Gatka, Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do, Judo, Kalaripayattu, Karate, Kenjutsu, Kenpo, kickboxing, Kobudo, Krav Maga, Kyudo, Muay Thai, Ninjutsu, Pankration, Sambo, Savate, Silat, Taekwondo, wrestling, numerous different styles of Wushu, and Yaw-Yan.
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In terms of his physical condition, Batman is in peak, Olympic-athlete-level condition, easily-able to run-across rooftops in a Parkour-esque fashion.
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Batman is strongly disciplined, and he has the ability to function under great physical pain and resist most forms of telepathy and mind control.
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Batman is a master of disguise, multilingual, and an expert in espionage, often gathering information under the identity of a notorious gangster named Matches Malone.
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Batman is highly skilled in stealth movement and escapology, which allows him to appear and disappear at will and to break free of nearly inescapable deathtraps with little to no harm.
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Batman is an expert in interrogation techniques and his intimidating and frightening appearance alone is often all that is needed in getting information from suspects.
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Batman utilizes a vast arsenal of specialized, high-tech vehicles and gadgets in his war against crime, the designs of which usually share a bat motif.
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Finger and Kane originally conceptualized Batman as having a black cape and cowl and grey suit, but conventions in coloring called for black to be highlighted with blue.
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Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy depicted Batman wearing high-tech gear painted completely black with a black bat in the middle.
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Batman has an aircraft called the Batplane, along with various other means of transportation.
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The 1960s television series Batman has an arsenal that includes such "bat-" names as the Bat-computer, Bat-scanner, bat-radar, bat-cuffs, bat-pontoons, bat-drinking water dispenser, bat-camera with polarized bat-filter, bat-shark repellent bat-spray, and Bat-rope.
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Batman keeps most of his field equipment in his utility belt.
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Batman is often depicted as carrying a projectile which shoots a retractable grappling hook attached to a cable.
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An exception to the range of Batman's equipment are hand guns, which he refuses to use on principle, since a gun was used in his parents' murder.
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When Batman is needed, the Gotham City police activate a searchlight with a bat-shaped insignia over the lens called the Bat-Signal, which shines into the night sky, creating a bat-symbol on a passing cloud which can be seen from any point in Gotham.
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Batman's history has undergone many retroactive continuity revisions, both minor and major.
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Batman refuses to utilize any sort of gun on the principle that a gun was used to murder his parents.
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Batman engages in intense intellectual and physical training; however, he realizes that these skills alone would not be enough.
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Batman becomes a founding member of the Justice Society of America, although he, like Superman, is an honorary member, and thus only participates occasionally.
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Batman is not significantly changed by the late 1950s for the continuity which would be later referred to as Earth-One.
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Nevertheless, details of Batman's history were altered or expanded upon through the decades.
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Additionally, Batman is no longer a founding member of the Justice League of America, although he becomes leader for a short time of a new incarnation of the team launched in 1987.
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Subsequently, Batman begins exhibiting an excessive, reckless approach to his crimefighting, a result of the pain of losing Jason Todd.
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Batman becomes a member of the Justice League during Grant Morrison's 1996 relaunch of the series, titled JLA.
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Batman later creates the Brother I satellite surveillance system to watch over and, if necessary, kill the other heroes after he remembered.
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Later on in 52, Batman is shown undergoing an intense meditation ritual in Nanda Parbat.
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However, though Batman is shown to possibly perish at the end of the arc, the two-issue arc "Last Rites", which leads into the crossover storyline "Final Crisis", shows that Batman survives his helicopter crash into the Gotham City River and returns to the Batcave, only to be summoned to the Hall of Justice by the JLA to help investigate the New God Orion's death.
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Jim Gordon temporarily becomes Batman, using a high-tech suit, while it is revealed that an amnesiac Bruce Wayne is still alive.
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Batman meets two new superheroes operating in Gotham named Gotham and Gotham Girl.
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Batman learns of Bane's control over Arkham and teams up with the Penguin to stop him.
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Ghost-Maker, an enemy from Batman's past, appears in Gotham, and, after a battle, becomes a sort of ally to Batman.
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Kingdom Come limited series depicts a Batman who, ravaged by years of fighting crime, uses an exoskeleton to keep himself together and keeps the peace on the streets of Gotham using remote-controlled robots.
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Batman has become a pop culture icon, recognized around the world.
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Batman is at once an icon and a commodity: the perfect cultural artefact for the 21st century.
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Character of Batman has appeared in various media aside from comic books, such as newspaper syndicated comic strips, books, radio dramas, television, a stage show, and several theatrical feature films.
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Batman is portrayed for purposes of spoof as a pretentious French-speaking rich man.
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From 1973 until 1986, Batman had a starring role in ABC's Super Friends series, which was animated by Hanna-Barbera.
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The futuristic series Batman Beyond took place in this same animated continuity and featured a newer, younger Batman voiced by Will Friedle, with the elderly Bruce Wayne as a mentor.
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In 2018, when the series was renewed for its fifth and final season it was announced that Batman would make an appearance in the series finale's flash-forward.
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Since 2008, Batman has starred in various direct-to-video films under the DC Universe Animated Original Movies label.
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Since 1986, Batman has starred in multiple video games, most of which were adaptations of the various cinematic or animated incarnations of the character.
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Mayfair Games published the DC Heroes role-playing game in 1985, then published the 80-page supplement Batman the following year, written by Mike Stackpole, with cover art by Ed Hannigan.
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Batman identifies a homophobic element to the vigor with which mainstream fandom rejects the possibility of a gay reading of the character.
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Batman has been the subject of psychological study for some time, and there have been a number of interpretations into the character's psyche.
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Batman's examined the possibility of several mental health issues, including dissociative identity disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and several others.
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However, Langley himself states in his book that Batman is far too functional and well-adjusted, due to his training, confrontation of his fear early on and other factors, to be mentally ill.
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