EW The Ultimate Guide to Batman

THOUSANDS OF BATMAN STORIES have been told over the past 83 years, and somehow they’re never enough. The Batman, the newest reboot of his cinematic incarnation (starring Robert Pattinson this time), will be the 10th live-action Batman feature film, depending on how you count. That’s in addition to his two 1940s movie serials, animated films (from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm to The LEGO Batman Movie), related flicks like Catwoman and Joker, and his appearances in Justice League and Suicide Squad. Then there are the many Batman TV shows (both live-action and animated), the Batman video games and, of course, the Batman comic books. He’s appeared in more than 1,000 issues of Detective Comics (now DC Comics) and nearly another 900 issues of Batman proper, among many others. So what’s…

In comics the Dark Knight is king. No superhero comes close to the number of classic stories starring Batman, written and illustrated by some of the most prominent creators in comic-book history. Batman was part of the wave of new superheroes who debuted after Action Comics #1 launched the superhero genre with the arrival of Superman. Costumed vigilantes were hot, and Batman offered a darker alternative to Superman by pulling inspiration from pulp heroes like Walter B. Gibson’s the Shadow, another wealthy socialite who moonlights as an urban vigilante. Cartoonist Bob Kane took full credit for Batman’s creation, but it was his fellow illustrator Bill Finger who was responsible for the visual elements of the hero that have withstood the test of time. Finger suggested major changes to Kane’s initial…

SOME TV STARS TAKE TIME TO FIND their characters. Others seem like they showed up on the first day with everything figured out. In “Hi Diddle Riddle,” the first episode of the 1960s TV series Batman, Adam West quickly establishes himself as the latter. Called into action when the nefarious Riddler launches a new scheme, Batman investigates a swinging discotheque. He arrives in full costume and is immediately offered a choice seat. “I’ll stand at the bar,” he replies. “I shouldn’t wish to attract attention.” Delivering the line, West never smirks or winks or gives any suggestion he’s in on the joke. In fact, his performance doesn’t suggest there’s any joke at all. He’s driven by politeness, upright behavior and a sense of fair play. At the bar he orders…

Robin Burt Ward, Chris O’Donnell Batman’s sidekick appears across thousands of pages of comics under many different names. Initially conceived in 1940 to lure younger readers, Robin is the Caped Crusader’s most useful tool—a utility player for the hero with a utility belt. The earnest young protégé, first embodied by orphaned acrobat Dick Grayson, later became the stand-alone hero Nightwing. He’s also the evil Red Hood (and lately, a not-so-evil Red Robin). For a while Robin was simply dead, one of the Joker’s victims. He’s even, briefly, been a she. Only the OG Robin has been on film: Dick Grayson, the definitive aw-shucks sidekick, a spandex-clad Watson to the Dark Knight’s Sherlock, who first joined Batman opposite Adam West in the 1966 series. He returned again in 1995’s Batman Forever,…

Ra’s al Ghul Ra’s al Ghul is the father-in-law from hell. First appearing in 1971’s Batman #232, international eco-terrorist Ra’s al Ghul sets up an elaborate ruse to find out if Batman is worthy of his daughter’s hand in marriage. Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul never formally marry, but she does have his son, which complicates the hero-villain dynamic. Gifted with immortality thanks to the Lazarus Pits he has hidden around the world, Ra’s al Ghul has survived for hundreds of years, giving him a wealth of knowledge and resources that put even Batman’s to shame. In film, 2005’s Batman Begins positioned Liam Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul as one of Bruce Wayne’s early mentors, shaping the hero whom he would later betray. —O.S. Scarecrow Batman strikes fear in the…

LEWIS G. WILSON The Batman (1943) His acting career may have lasted just a decade, but Lewis G. Wilson has one of the coolest credits imaginable: originating the role of Batman onscreen. The 15-part serial The Batman—which debuted in theaters on July 16, 1943, with a new chapter released weekly—finds Bruce Wayne (Wilson) and Dick Grayson (Douglas Croft) working as secret agents during World War II, tasked with taking down the Japanese agent Dr. Tito Daka, who is operating out of Little Tokyo. (As you might imagine, some of the serial’s elements have not aged well. …) The Batman debuted just four years into the comics’ run and is notable for introducing the Batcave. Wilson would go on to appear in about a dozen more projects before retiring from acting…