227-516: Timothy Jackson " Tim " Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics , commonly in association with the superhero Batman . Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick , he first appeared in Batman #436 (August 1989) as the third character to assume the role of Batman's crime-fighting partner and sidekick Robin . Following the events of Batman: Battle for
454-475: A planning commission . A city run by crime, with a riot of architectural styles. An essay in ugliness. As if hell erupted through the pavement and kept on going". The 1985 film Brazil by Terry Gilliam was also a notable influence upon the film's production design, as both Burton and Furst studied it as a reference. Black and white charcoal drawings of key locations and sets were created by Furst's longtime draftsman, Nigel Phelps . Derek Meddings served as
681-595: A successful franchise which pioneered the Kyodai Hero subgenre where the superheroes would be as big as giant monsters ( kaiju ) that they fought. The kaiju monster Godzilla , originally a villain, began being portrayed as a radioactive superhero in the Godzilla films , starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with
908-596: A Robin symbol. Following the completion of their mission and the revival of Damian, he handed him the Robin symbol on his suit to welcome Damian back to life and the role of Robin. In the Pre- Convergence timeline of Futures End , refugees from Earth-2 are given a signal from Brother Eye, which allows them into the Earth-0 Universe, but start a war when Darkseid follows them, leading to the deaths of
1135-547: A better place , or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime . Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books (and later in Hollywood films , film serials, television and video games ), as well as in Japanese media (including kamishibai , tokusatsu , manga , anime and video games). Superheroes come from
1362-705: A book entitled Business Zero to Superhero . In 2014, he received a cease and desist from DC and Marvel who claimed that his use of the term superhero would cause confusion and dilute their brands. He was offered a few thousand dollars in settlement to change the name of his book, but he did not concede. A few days prior to the scheduled hearing at the Intellectual Property Office in London, the companies backed down. A similar scenario occurred when comic book creator Ray Felix attempted to register his comic book series A World Without Superheroes with
1589-704: A budget of $ 20 million. Originally, Mankiewicz had wanted an unknown actor for Batman, William Holden for James Gordon , David Niven as Alfred Pennyworth , and Peter O'Toole as the Penguin , whom Mankiewicz wanted to portray as a mobster with low body temperature. Holden died in 1981 and Niven in 1983, so this would never come to pass. A number of filmmakers were attached to Mankiewicz' script, including Ivan Reitman and Joe Dante . Reitman wanted to cast Bill Murray as Batman and Eddie Murphy as Robin. Nine rewrites were performed by nine separate writers. Most of them were based on Strange Apparitions . However, it
1816-562: A cameo rather than a supporting character. One scene in Hamm's script had a young James Gordon on duty the night of the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents. When Hamm's script was rewritten, the scene was deleted, reducing it to a photo in the Gotham Globe newspaper seen in the film. Warner Bros. was less willing to move forward on development, despite their enthusiasm for Hamm's script, which Kane greeted with positive feedback. Hamm's script
2043-553: A comic book fan, to write the screenplay. Hamm decided not to use an origin story , feeling that flashbacks would be more suitable and that "unlocking the mystery" would become part of the storyline. He reasoned, "You totally destroy your credibility if you show the literal process by which Bruce Wayne becomes Batman." Hamm replaced Silver St. Cloud with Vicki Vale and Rupert Thorne with his own creation, Carl Grissom. He completed his script in October 1986, which demoted Dick Grayson to
2270-528: A crumbling gargoyle that eventually falls off the roof. Unable to bear the statue's immense weight, Joker falls to his death while Batman and Vicki make it to safety. Sometime later, Gordon announces that the police have arrested all of Joker's men, effectively dismantled what remained of Carl Grissom's mafia organizations, and unveils the Bat-Signal . Batman leaves the police a note, promising to defend Gotham should crime strike again, and asking them to use
2497-492: A cut of the film's earnings (including associated merchandise), which led to remuneration in excess of $ 50 million —biographer Marc Eliot reports that Nicholson may have received as much as $ 90 million. He also demanded top billing on promotional materials. Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale, but was injured in a horse-riding accident prior to commencement of filming. Young's departure necessitated an urgent search for an actress who, besides being right for
SECTION 10
#17327877981112724-693: A decorated officer in the United States Air Force who would become a costumed superheroine herself years later. In 1975 Shotaro Ishinomori 's Himitsu Sentai Gorenger debuted on what is now TV Asahi, it brought the concepts of multi-colored teams and supporting vehicles that debuted in Gatchaman into live-action, and began the Super Sentai franchise (later adapted into the American Power Rangers series in
2951-458: A different universe. Tim Drake goes through multiple universes, and finally rescues Batman. He comes into conflict with Batman when Batman starts being aggressive toward his enemies, and fights Damian Wayne . He is temporarily captured by the villains, but escapes and helps Batman save the day. Tim Drake finds Bruce Wayne again after he escapes from his prison, and convinces Bruce to open up and rely on his family again. Tim Drake helps Batman and
3178-443: A director," Furst said. "Conceptually, spiritually, visually, or artistically. There was never any problem because we never fought over anything. Texture, attitude and feelings are what Burton is a master at." Furst and the art department deliberately mixed clashing architectural styles to "make Gotham City the ugliest and bleakest metropolis imaginable". Furst continued, "[W]e imagined what New York City might have become without
3405-456: A former child of trauma and survivor guilt , guided "other trauma victims down a path of righteousness." Tim Drake, for example, endured trauma and "emotional duress" as a result of the death of his mother (his father was in a coma and on a ventilator). Drake contemplated the idea of fear, and overcoming it, in both the "Rite of Passage" and "Identity Crisis" storylines. Grant and Breyfogle subjected Drake to recurrent nightmares , from hauntings by
3632-512: A fundraiser hosted by billionaire Bruce Wayne, who is secretly Batman, having chosen this path after witnessing a mugger murder his parents when he was a child. During the event, Wayne becomes infatuated with Vale. Meanwhile, mob boss Carl Grissom sends his sociopathic second-in-command Jack Napier to raid Axis Chemicals and retrieve incriminating evidence. However, this is secretly a ploy to have Napier murdered for sleeping with Grissom's mistress Alicia Hunt. Corrupt lieutenant Max Eckhardt arranges
3859-586: A furor among comic book fans, with 50,000 protest letters sent to Warner Bros. offices. Kane, Hamm, and Uslan also heavily questioned the casting. "Obviously there was a negative response from the comic book people. I think they thought we were going to make it like the 1960s TV series, and make it campy, because they thought of Michael Keaton from Mr. Mom and Night Shift and stuff like that." Keaton studied The Dark Knight Returns for inspiration. Tim Curry , David Bowie , John Lithgow , Brad Dourif , Ray Liotta , and James Woods were all considered for
4086-419: A ghoulish Batman to the disquieting lullaby (or informal nursery rhyme), "My Mummy's dead...My Mummy's Dead...I can't get it through my head," echoing across a cemetery for deceased parents. Drake ultimately defeated his preadolescent fears "somewhat distant from Bruce Wayne" and "not as an orphan." By the end of "Identity Crisis", an adolescent Drake had "proven himself as capable of being a vigilante" by deducing
4313-537: A larger one. Another important event was the debut of Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, creating the Super Robot genre. Go Nagai also wrote the manga Cutey Honey in 1973; although the Magical Girl genre already existed, Nagai's manga introduced Transformation sequences that would become a staple of Magical Girl media. The 1970s would see more anti-heroes introduced into Superhero fiction such examples included
4540-449: A letter column of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories , the word superhero was used to define the title character of the comic strip Zarnak , by Max Plaisted. In the 1930s, the trends converged in some of the earliest superpowered costumed heroes, such as Japan's Ōgon Bat (1931) and Prince of Gamma (early 1930s), who first appeared in kamishibai (a kind of hybrid media combining pictures with live storytelling), Mandrake
4767-617: A level where he was able excel in computer science and gain a grasp of assorted scientific techniques, including biology, engineering, and genetics, which he has witnessed his attempts at re-cloning Superboy. As Red Robin, these skills became more advanced and he would be considered an expert martial artist and possess a genius with an IQ of 142, whose forte within the Batman Family includes his intelligence, detective skills, and computer hacking capabilities. His high level of intelligence has also lent him praise from Ra's Al Ghul, being one of
SECTION 20
#17327877981114994-724: A lexicon of teenage behavior from which to draw, unlike when Dick Grayson was introduced and the concept of the teenager was still nascent. They wisely mobilized the expected adolescent behaviors of parental conflict, hormonal urges, and identity formation to give Tim emotional depth and complexity, making him a relatable character with boundaries between his two selves." In the Robin ongoing series, when Drake had fully transitioned into an adolescent character, Chuck Dixon depicted him as engaging in adolescent intimacy, yet still stopped short at overt heterosexual consummation. This narrative benchmark maintained Robin's "estrangement from sex" that began in
5221-518: A minor role in assisting Batman during Joker War and Fear State event. In Tim Drake: Robin , Tim lives on a house boat while working to forge his own path away from Batman. However, shortly after his move, Tim/Robin gets framed for a crime he didn't commit while investigating a series of murders happening to the marina residents. He works with Darcy Thomas/Sparrow (a former initiate in the We Are Robins movement) and Detective Williams to find
5448-523: A multimedia franchise that used footage from Super Sentai . Internationally, the Japanese comic book character , Sailor Moon , is recognized as one of the most important and popular female superheroes ever created. The first use of the word "super hero" dates back to 1917. At the time, the word was merely used to describe a "public figure of great accomplishments." However, in 1967, Ben Cooper, Inc., an American Halloween costume manufacturer, became
5675-522: A new Red Robin ongoing series, written for its first twelve issues by Christopher Yost and thereafter by Fabian Nicieza. The series was canceled along with the rest of DC's publishing line for The New 52 reboot. In The New 52 period, Tim Drake primarily appeared as a main character in the Teen Titans series, with some guest appearances in the Batman titles, under the superhero name Red Robin. Tim
5902-415: A new 30-page film treatment , feeling the previous script by Mankiewicz was campy . The success of The Dark Knight Returns and the graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke rekindled Warner Bros.' interest in a film adaptation. Burton was initially not a comic book fan, but he was impressed by the dark and serious tone found in both The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke . Warner Bros. enlisted
6129-435: A portion of the film's earnings (including associated merchandise), and his own shooting schedule. Filming took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989. The budget escalated from $ 30 million to $ 48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced Hamm to drop out. Warren Skaaren did rewrites, with additional uncredited drafts done by Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems . Batman
6356-537: A problem. We started out with a script that everyone liked, although we recognized it needed a little work." Dick Grayson appeared in the shooting script but was deleted because the filmmakers felt he was irrelevant to the plot; Kane supported this decision. Keaton used his comedic experience for scenes such as Bruce and Vicki's Wayne Manor dinner. He called himself a "logic freak" and was concerned that Batman's secret identity would in reality be fairly easy to uncover. Keaton discussed ideas with Burton to better disguise
6583-501: A profit," which has been attributed to a case of Hollywood accounting . Batman was criticized by some for being too dark, but nonetheless received a generally positive response from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 77% based on 142 reviews, with an average score of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "An eerie, haunting spectacle, Batman succeeds as dark entertainment, even if Jack Nicholson's Joker too often overshadows
6810-423: A profound effect on Japanese television . 1958 saw the debut of superhero Moonlight Mask on Japanese television. It was the first of numerous televised superhero dramas that would make up the tokusatsu superhero genre. Created by Kōhan Kawauchi , he followed up its success with the tokusatsu superhero shows Seven Color Mask (1959) and Messenger of Allah (1960), both starring a young Sonny Chiba . It
7037-505: A promiscuous manner. Through the overdeveloped bodies of the heroes or the seductive mannerisms of the villains, women in comic books are used as subordinates to their male counterparts, regardless of their strength or power. Wonder Woman has been subject to a long history of suppression as a result of her strength and power, including American culture's undoing of the Lynda Carter television series. In 2017's Wonder Woman , she had
Tim Drake - Misplaced Pages Continue
7264-564: A psychological world". Anton Furst and Peter Young won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction , while Nicholson was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) . The British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominated Batman in six categories ( Production Design , Visual Effects , Costume Design , Makeup , Sound and Actor in a Supporting Role for Nicholson), but it won none of
7491-577: A publishing agreement with DC Comics that allowed them to introduce a line of comics that included characters of many ethnic minorities. Milestone's initial run lasted four years, during which it introduced Static , a character adapted into the WB Network animated series Static Shock . In addition to the creation of new minority heroes, publishers have filled the identities and roles of once-Caucasian heroes with new characters from minority backgrounds. The African-American John Stewart appeared in
7718-520: A return to the title by Chuck Dixon was aborted abruptly upon his departure from DC again. The final nine issues of the series were written by Fabian Nicieza, tying into the then-ongoing "Batman R.I.P." storyline. Following the miniseries Batman: Battle For the Cowl , Tim Drake took on the new identity of the Red Robin as the character Damian Wayne was made the new Robin. The character began starring in
7945-551: A revived Captain Boomerang during the Brightest Day . Though Tim ultimately stops himself from killing Boomerang, he is chastised by Batman for his actions. In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Teen Titans (vol. 4) #0 revealed Tim Drake's new origin, showing a large departure from his original origin, removing his connections to Dick Grayson's origin story. In The New 52 , Tim
8172-757: A secondary character of the Green Hornet media franchise series since its inception in the 1930s. ). Kitty Pryde , a member of the X-Men, was an openly Jewish superhero in mainstream American comic books as early as 1978. Comic-book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes ; Cage and many of his contemporaries often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films, Native Americans were often associated with shamanism and wild animals , and Asian Americans were often portrayed as kung fu martial artists . Subsequent minority heroes, such as
8399-406: A single source." DC and Marvel have continued to expand their commercialization of the "superhero" mark to categories beyond comic books. Now, the two publishers jointly own numerous trademarks for figurines (see Spider-Man, Batman), movies, TV shows, magazines, merchandise, cardboard stand-up figures, playing cards , erasers , pencils , notebooks , cartoons , and many more. For instance,
8626-513: A skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in Fiction House 's Jungle Comic #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg". The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil , a non-costumed character who fought crime and wartime saboteurs using the superpower of invisibility created by Russell Stamm, would debut in the eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip a few months later on June 3, 1940. In 1940, Maximo
8853-409: A smokescreen and that the real target is coercing Hush to sign away Wayne Enterprises, Red Robin decides to confront Ra's head-on. He calls upon all of his friends to protect the various targets. Drake has since moved back to Gotham City and reestablished ties with his family and friends. After Bruce Wayne's return, Tim begins to aid his plans for expanding their mission globally with Batman, Inc. Tim
9080-399: A studio backlot ", he continued, "is literally another character in the script. It has the demeaning presence of German Expressionism and fascist architecture , staring down at the citizens." Hanke further addressed the notions of Batman being a period piece , in that "The citizens, cops, people and the black-and-white television looks like it takes place in 1939"; but later said: "Had
9307-406: A suit not unlike the swimsuits in the T.V. show Baywatch . The sexualization of women in comic books can be explained mainly by the fact that the majority of writers are male. Not only are the writers mostly male, but the audience is mostly male as well. Therefore, writers are designing characters to appeal to a mostly male audience. The super hero characters illustrate a sociological idea called
Tim Drake - Misplaced Pages Continue
9534-487: A supplemental interview with Daniel Best, Alan Grant added that "every issue from about that time [after the 'Year of the Bat'] that featured Robin sales went up because Robin did have his fans." Although both Grant and Breyfogle initially believed that their Anarky character could potentially become the third version of Robin, they were quick to support the editorial decision to focus on Drake. The social anarchist duo adopted
9761-518: A total cost of $ 250,000. Comic book fans initially expressed negative feedback against the Batsuit. Burton opted not to use tights, spandex, or underpants as seen in the comic book, feeling it was not intimidating. Prosthetic makeup designer Nick Dudman used acrylic-based makeup paint called PAX for Nicholson's chalk-white face. Part of Nicholson's contract was approval over the makeup designer. The filmmakers considered filming Batman entirely on
9988-463: A way out, Tim finds Batman but discovers this version of Batman is Tim Drake from the Titans Tomorrow future. Unable to accept a future where he decides to become Batman, Tim is forced to aid his older self in evading and containing a freed Doomsday . Tim learns from his future self that Dick, Jason, and Damian all tried to be Batman, but either retired or was forced to be put down by Tim (in
10215-476: A wide array of different backgrounds and origins. Some superheroes (such as Spider-Man and Superman ) possess non-human or superhuman biology or use and practice magic to achieve their abilities (such as Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel ) while others (for example, Iron Man and Batman ) derive their status from advanced technology they create and use. The Dictionary.com definition of "superhero"
10442-620: Is Nick Fury , who is reinterpreted as African-American both in the Ultimate Marvel as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuities. Batman (1989 film) Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name , created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger . Directed by Tim Burton , it is the first installment of Warner Bros. ' initial Batman film series . The film
10669-512: Is "a figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon , endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime", and the Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also: an exceptionally skillful or successful person." Terms such as masked crime fighters, costumed adventurers or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to characters such as
10896-631: Is a bit claustrophobic , which made it worse for him. The costume put him in a dark, Batman-like mood though, so he was able to use it to his advantage". Burton's idea was to use an all-black suit, and was met with positive feedback by Bob Kane. Vin Burnham was tasked with sculpting the Batsuit, in association with Alli Eynon. Jon Peters wanted to use a Nike product placement with the Batsuit. Ringwood studied over 200 comic book issues for inspiration. 28 sculpted latex designs were created; 25 different cape looks and 6 different heads were made, accumulating
11123-447: Is a character who shows initiative and is driven to do what he views as right. He knows he is living up to a legacy left by Dick Grayson and strives to not disappoint Bruce Wayne, Batman. Tim is a more natural detective than previous Robins and is talented with computers, which allows him to stand in his unique spotlight. Unlike his predecessors, Tim is not the most proficient combatant and has had to work on his fighting technique, taking up
11350-421: Is a motorcycle-riding hero in an insect-like costume, who shouts Henshin (Metamorphosis) to don his costume and gain superhuman powers. The ideas of second-wave feminism , which spread through the 1960s into the 1970s, greatly influenced the way comic book companies would depict as well as market their female characters: Wonder Woman was for a time revamped as a mod-dressing martial artist directly inspired by
11577-680: Is a talented athlete and computer genius who comes close to discovering Batman's identity, but never totally figures it out. When Tim finds the Batman and gets rejected for the role of sidekick, he decides to bring the Batman to him, by hacking the Penguin 's bank account and donating millions of dollars, thus putting his family in danger. The Penguin's goons come after Tim and his family, but Batman saves them. Tim's parents are forced to go into witness protection, but they believe Tim deserves better and ask Bruce to take care of him for them. The Witness Protection Program renames him "Tim Drake", and he takes on
SECTION 50
#173278779811111804-404: Is a triumph of design over story, style over substance, a great-looking movie with a plot you can't care much about." He also called the film "a depressing experience". On the syndicated television series Siskel & Ebert , his reviewing partner Gene Siskel disagreed, describing the film as having a "refreshingly adult" approach with performances, direction and set design that "draws you into
12031-544: Is a website satirizing the sexualized portrayal of women in comics by recreating the same poses using male superheroes, especially Marvel's Hawkeye . In 1966, Marvel introduced the Black Panther , an African monarch who became the first non- caricatured black superhero. The first African-American superhero, the Falcon , followed in 1969, and three years later, Luke Cage , a self-styled "hero-for-hire" , became
12258-631: Is also considered a natural leader, having led teams such as the Teen Titans and Young Justice. As a precaution, Bruce inoculated Tim, as well as his other close allies, against several toxins the Batman family has encountered, including Joker Venom, the Scarecrow's fear toxin, and some of Poison Ivy's pheromones. While this does not create a full immunity, it does give them a strong resistance, allowing them to continue fighting or escape when exposed to
12485-532: Is arguable that the Marvel Comics teams of the early 1960s brought the biggest assortment of superheroes ever at one time into permanent publication, the likes of Spider-Man (1962), The Hulk , Iron Man , Daredevil , Nick Fury , The Mighty Thor , The Avengers (featuring a rebooted Captain America , Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man , Quicksilver ), and many others were given their own monthly titles. Typically
12712-561: Is eventually appointed as the head of the newest incarnation of the Outsiders that now serve as Batman Inc.'s black-ops wing. Red Robin eventually rejoins the Teen Titans and takes over leadership from Wonder Girl . He remains the team's leader during their climactic battle against Superboy-Prime and the new Legion of Doom . Following an adventure with the Black Bat where he faces Ra's al Ghul's sister, Tim stalks and attempts to kill
12939-417: Is less destruction, and the events of Convergence and everything afterward takes place. Tim is launched into the new future, 35 years later, where he becomes the new Batman and destroys a weakened Brother Eye. In DC Rebirth , Tim Drake still operates under the Red Robin alias. He gains a new and third overall Red Robin suit similar to his first Robin suit except with two "R"s as his logo instead of one. It
13166-572: Is reunited with Wonder Girl and Impulse, and meets Teen Lantern and Ginny Hex. The five young heroes later travel to Gemworld, where they are also reunited with Superboy and meet Princess Amethyst. Soon lost in the Multiverse, Young Justice struggles to return home, with Tim taking on the new identity of Drake during an attack by his Earth-3 counterpart. However, this identity was retired shortly after returning to his universe, and Tim returned to being Robin. Following Infinite Frontier , Tim's history
13393-599: Is revealed later on in Detective Comics #965 that Tim Drake's origin story has reverted to that of the original universe, where he discovers Batman and Robin's identities after Jason Todd's death and became Robin before adopting the Red Robin persona. Tim is primarily featured in Detective Comics as part of Batman and Batwoman 's new team in Gotham, along with Orphan , Spoiler , and Clayface . Batman and Batwoman were preparing this group to combat enemies known as
13620-431: Is smoothed over again, restoring his pre-New 52 histories as Batman's third apprentice and re-establishing him as having been Robin since that time. In Batman: Urban Legends , it is revealed that he and Stephanie Brown broke up off-panel and he reconnected with a friend from high school, Bernard Dowd. Bernard is kidnapped, sending Tim on a rescue mission while still trying to understand what he truly desires from life. During
13847-568: Is teleported to an unknown place by Mister Oz and kept prisoner. Tim swore that his friends will find him. Later, Batman learns from Ascalon, a robotic entity created by the Order of St. Dumas, that Tim is still alive, with Batman resolving to find Tim. In Mr. Oz's prison, Tim is forced to relive his memories of the past by Mr. Oz. Realizing that Mr. Oz is using Kryptonian technology, Tim easily hacks into it and frees himself as Mr. Oz reveals his identity as Jor-El and disappears. As he tries to find
SECTION 60
#173278779811114074-506: Is uncommon, the USPTO will grant joint ownership in a mark. For example, in the case Arrow Trading Co., Inc. v. Victorinox A.G. and Wegner S.A. , Opposition No. 103315 (TTAB June 27, 2003), the TTAB held that when "two entities have a long-standing relationship and rely on each other for quality control, it may be found, in appropriate circumstances, that the parties, as joint owners, do represent
14301-515: The Superman casting, a variety of Hollywood A-listers were considered for the role of Batman, including Mel Gibson , Kevin Costner , Charlie Sheen , Tom Selleck , Bill Murray , Harrison Ford and Dennis Quaid . Burton was pressured by Warner Bros. to cast an obvious action movie star, and had approached Pierce Brosnan , but he had no interest in playing a comic book character. Burton
14528-499: The Academy Award for Best Art Direction . The film was followed by three sequels: Batman Returns (1992), with both Burton and Keaton returning; Batman Forever (1995), which featured Val Kilmer in the lead role; and Batman & Robin (1997), which featured George Clooney in the role. Keaton eventually reprised the role of Batman in the DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2023). The film also led to
14755-507: The Batcave , and provides her with all of his research on Smylex, which will allow Gotham's residents to escape the toxin. Conflicted with his love for her, Wayne visits her apartment intending to reveal his secret identity, only for the Joker to interrupt the meeting. Joker asks Wayne, "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?", which Wayne recognizes as the catchphrase used by
14982-496: The Batman title, mainly operating in the Batcave . According to Marv Wolfman, Tim was created to stand out from Grayson and Todd by having high intellect, a strong sense of justice and family outside of Batman's own. The ensuing Tim Drake storylines, authored by the Alan Grant and penciled by Norm Breyfogle , coupled with the 1989 release of Burton's Batman , spurred sales of both Batman and Detective Comics . For
15209-668: The Black Canary , introduced in Flash Comics #86 (Aug. 1947) as a supporting character. The most iconic comic book superheroine, who debuted during the Golden Age, is Wonder Woman . Modeled from the myth of the Amazons of Greek mythology , she was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston , with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. Wonder Woman's first appearance
15436-515: The DC Rebirth relaunch, Tim Drake became the main character in the series Detective Comics written by James Tynion IV where it was reinvented as a team book. The character featured in issues #934-940 and #965-981, with some flashback appearances in the interim. The character has subsequently become a main character in the relaunched Young Justice series written by Brian Michael Bendis. The character received widespread media attention when it
15663-535: The Emma Peel character from the British television series The Avengers (no relation to the superhero team of the same name), but later reverted to Marston's original concept after the editors of Ms. magazine publicly disapproved of the character being depowered and without her traditional costume; Supergirl was moved from being a secondary feature on Action Comics to headline Adventure Comics in 1969;
15890-527: The Lady Liberators appeared in an issue of The Avengers as a group of mind-controlled superheroines led by Valkyrie (actually a disguised supervillainess ) and were meant to be a caricatured parody of feminist activists; and Jean Grey became the embodiment of a cosmic being known as the Phoenix Force with seemingly unlimited power in the late 1970s, a stark contrast from her depiction as
16117-706: The New York Times and The Colbert Report , and embraced by anti- Islamophobia campaigners in San Francisco who plastered over anti-Muslim bus adverts with Kamala stickers. Other such successor-heroes of color include James "Rhodey" Rhodes as Iron Man and to a lesser extent Riri "Ironheart" Williams , Ryan Choi as the Atom , Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle and Amadeus Cho as Hulk . Certain established characters have had their ethnicity changed when adapted to another continuity or media. A notable example
16344-646: The Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California , but media interest in the film made them change the location. It was shot at Pinewood Studios in England from October 10, 1988, to February 14, 1989, with 80 days of main shooting and 86 days of second unit shooting. 18 sound stages were used, with seven stages occupied, including the 51 acre backlot for the Gotham City set, one of the biggest ever built at
16571-612: The X-Men 's Storm and the Teen Titans ' Cyborg avoided such conventions; they were both part of ensemble teams, which became increasingly diverse in subsequent years. The X-Men, in particular, were revived in 1975 with a line-up of characters drawn from several nations, including the Kenyan Storm, German Nightcrawler , Soviet / Russian Colossus , Irish Banshee , and Japanese Sunfire . In 1993, Milestone Comics , an African-American-owned media/publishing company entered into
16798-440: The psychotic Joker. Additionally, Batman co-creator Bob Kane worked as a consultant for the film. Numerous leading men were considered for the role of Batman before Keaton was cast. Keaton's casting was controversial since, by 1988, he had become typecast as a comedic actor and many observers doubted he could portray a serious role. Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under strict conditions that dictated top billing ,
17025-529: The visual effects supervisor , overseeing the miniatures and animation. Conceptual illustrator Julian Caldow designed the Batmobile, Batwing and assorted bat-gadgets that were later constructed by prop builder John Evans. Keith Short sculpted the final body of the 1989 Batmobile , adding two Browning machine guns . On designing the Batmobile, Furst explained, "We looked at jet aircraft components, we looked at war machines, we looked at all sorts of things. In
17252-399: The " male gaze " which is media created from the viewpoint of a normative heterosexual male. The female characters in comic books are used to satisfy male desire for the "ideal" woman (small waist, large breasts, toned, athletic body). These characters have god-like power, but the most easily identifiable feature is their hyper sexualized bodies: they are designed to be sexually pleasing to
17479-430: The 1960s version of Batman , and it was the complete opposite of our film. We tried to market it with a typical dark and serious tone, but the fans didn't believe us." To combat negative reports on the film's production, Kane was hired as creative consultant. Batman's co-creator, Bill Finger , was uncredited at the time of the film's release and his name was not added to any Batman-related media until 2016. Parallel to
17706-568: The 1970s as an alternate for Earth's Green Lantern Hal Jordan , and would become a regular member of the Green Lantern Corps from the 1980s onward. The creators of the 2000s-era Justice League animated series selected Stewart as the show's Green Lantern. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Miles Morales , a youth of Puerto Rican and African-American ancestry who was also bitten by a genetically-altered spider, debuted as
17933-458: The 1980s, superhero fiction centered on cultural, ethnic, national, racial and language minority groups (from the perspective of US demographics ) began to be produced. This began with depiction of black superheroes in the 1960s, followed in the 1970s with a number of other ethnic-minority superheroes. In keeping with the political mood of the time, cultural diversity and inclusivism would be an important part of superhero groups starting from
18160-409: The 1980s. In the 1990s, this was further augmented by the first depictions of superheroes as homosexual. In 2017, Sign Gene emerged, the first group of deaf superheroes with superpowers through the use of sign language . Female super heroes—and villains—have been around since the early years of comic books dating back to the 1940s. The representation of women in comic books has been questioned in
18387-561: The 1990s). In 1978, Toei adapted Spider-Man into a live-action Japanese television series . In this continuity, Spider-Man had a vehicle called Marveller that could transform into a giant and powerful robot called Leopardon, this idea would be carried over to Toei's Battle Fever J (also co-produced with Marvel) and now multi-colored teams not only had support vehicles but giant robots to fight giant monsters with. In subsequent decades, popular characters like Dazzler , She-Hulk , Elektra , Catwoman , Witchblade , Spider-Girl , Batgirl and
18614-604: The Amazing Superman debut in Big Little Book series , by Russell R. Winterbotham (text), Henry E. Vallely and Erwin L. Hess (art). Captain America also appeared for the first time in print in December 1940, a year prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese government, when America was still in isolationism . Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby , the superhero was the physical embodiment of
18841-856: The American spirit during World War II. One superpowered character was portrayed as an antiheroine , a rarity for its time: the Black Widow , a costumed emissary of Satan who killed evildoers in order to send them to Hell —debuted in Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940), from Timely Comics , the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics . Most of the other female costumed crime fighters during this era lacked superpowers. Notable characters include The Woman in Red , introduced in Standard Comics ' Thrilling Comics #2 (March 1940); Lady Luck , debuting in
19068-478: The Avengers) with her brother, Quicksilver. In 1963, Astro Boy was adapted into a highly influential anime television series. Phantom Agents in 1964 focused on ninjas working for the Japanese government and would be the foundation for Sentai -type series. 1966 saw the debut of the sci-fi/horror series Ultra Q created by Eiji Tsuburaya this would eventually lead to the sequel Ultraman , spawning
19295-501: The Axis plant used to create Smylex. Meanwhile, Joker lures Gotham's citizens to a parade honoring Gotham's bicentennial with the promise of free money. This turns out to be a trap designed to dose them with Smylex gas held within giant parade balloons. Batman foils his plan by using his Batwing to remove the balloons, but Joker shoots him down. The Batwing crashes in front of a cathedral, which Joker uses to take Vicki hostage. Batman pursues
19522-488: The Bat-Signal to summon him in times of need. Alfred takes Vicki to Wayne Manor , explaining that Wayne will be a little late. She responds that she is not surprised, as Batman looks at the signal's projection from a rooftop, standing watch over the city. "I was never a giant comic book fan, but I've always loved the image of Batman and the Joker. The reason I've never been a comic book fan – and I think it started when I
19749-661: The Bat-family rescue Damian and defeat Zur-En-Arrh. Bruce Wayne builds a new home for the Bat-family calling it the Pennyworth Manor as a new base after regaining his money. Like Batman and other members of the Batman Family, Tim Drake possesses no inherent super-powers and relies on a combination of his combat skills, technology, and deductive abilities; As Robin, Tim Drake underwent training under numerous masters, including Batman , Nightwing , Henri Ducard , Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) , and Lady Shiva . Over time,
19976-523: The Batcave, but at first refused to involve Tim in the field out of concern for the boy's safety, not wanting a repeat of Jason's fate. After a series of events involving Tim's mother's death and his father's paralysis, and Tim rescuing Batman in an encounter with the Scarecrow , Batman eventually enlisted him as the third Robin at the age of fourteen. Before joining Batman as the third Robin, Tim Drake
20203-526: The Batman to give the film industry a better idea of his vision for the film. Uslan later compared its dark tone to that of the successful four-part comic book The Dark Knight Returns , which his script predated by six years. In November 1979, producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber joined the project. Melniker and Uslan became executive producers. The four felt it was best to pattern the film's development after that of Superman (1978). Uslan, Melniker and Guber pitched Batman to Universal Pictures , but
20430-639: The Birds of Prey became stars of long-running eponymous titles. Female characters began assuming leadership roles in many ensemble superhero teams; the Uncanny X-Men series and its related spin-off titles in particular have included many female characters in pivotal roles since the 1970s. Volume 4 of the X-Men comic book series featured an all-female team as part of the Marvel NOW! branding initiative in 2013. Superpowered female characters like Buffy
20657-464: The Colonists, later revealed to be a military group under the command of Batwoman's father, Jake Kane, who have modeled themselves after Batman in a more violent matter. After the team rescues Batman and Tim hacks their database to discover their plans, Jake sends two waves of Bat-Drones to take down the "League of Shadows", which will kill hundreds of innocents in the process. As his teammates evacuate
20884-575: The Council of Spiders, blow up the League's base, and escape with Tam. After crippling Ra's' League of Assassins, Drake returns to Gotham City to overthrow Ra's' plans to use Hush (surgically altered to resemble Bruce Wayne) to gain control of the Wayne family resources and destroy all that Batman held dear by directing his assassins to target all of the Batman's associates. Realizing that these attacks are
21111-483: The Cowl in 2009, Drake adopted the identity of Red Robin . In 2019, Tim returned to his original Robin persona and briefly used the mononym "Drake". As a young boy, Tim was in the audience the night Dick Grayson 's parents were murdered and later managed to discover the identities of Batman and the original Robin through their exploits. After the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd , and witnessing Batman spiral into darkness, Tim attempted to convince Dick to resume
21338-497: The Grayson years. Erica McCrystal likewise observes that Alan Grant, prior to Dixon's series, connected Drake to Batman's philosophy of heroic or anti-heroic " vigilantism " as "therapeutic for children of trauma. But this kind of therapy has a delicate integration process." The overcoming of trauma entailed distinct identity intersections and emotional restraint, as well as a "complete understanding" of symbol and self. Bruce Wayne,
21565-402: The Joker and Rupert Thorne as villains and Silver St. Cloud as the romantic interest. Mankiewicz took inspiration from the limited series Batman: Strange Apparitions , written by Steve Englehart . Comic book artist Marshall Rogers , who worked with Englehart on Strange Apparitions , was hired for concept art . The Batman was then announced in late 1983 for a mid-1985 release date on
21792-576: The Joker murdering Thomas and Martha Wayne ; in the comic book, Joe Chill is responsible. Writer Sam Hamm said it was Burton's idea to have the Joker murder Wayne's parents. "The Writer's Strike was going on, and Tim had the other writers do that. I also hold innocent to Alfred letting Vicki Vale into the Batcave . Fans were ticked off with that, and I agree. That would have been Alfred's last day of employment at Wayne Manor ," Hamm said. The songs written by Prince were criticized for being "too out of place". While Burton has stated he had no problem with
22019-423: The Joker, and in the ensuing fight, he explains that Napier killed his parents and thus, indirectly created Batman. This leads Joker to realize Batman is Bruce Wayne. Joker eventually pulls Batman and Vicki over the cathedral's roof, leaving them hanging while he calls in a helicopter. The helicopter is piloted by his goons, who throw down a ladder for him to climb. Batman uses a grappling hook to attach Joker's leg to
22246-546: The Joker. Lithgow, during his audition, attempted to talk Burton out of casting him, a decision he would later publicly regret, stating, "I didn't realize it was such a big deal." Burton wanted to cast John Glover , but the studio insisted on using a movie star. Robin Williams lobbied hard for the part. Jack Nicholson had been the studio's top choice since 1980. Peters approached Nicholson as far back as 1986, during filming of The Witches of Eastwick ; unlike Keaton, he
22473-514: The Last Crusade (which had a 4-day Memorial Day weekend gross of $ 37.0 million the previous month) and Ghostbusters II (which had a $ 29.4 million 3-day weekend the previous weekend). Upon opening, the film would go on to reach the number one spot above Honey, I Shrunk the Kids . Additionally, it had the largest opening weekend for a Jack Nicholson film for 14 years until it
22700-574: The Last Crusade made the most money worldwide in 1989, Batman was able to beat The Last Crusade in North America , and made a further $ 150 million in home video sales. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold more than 60 million tickets in the US. Despite the film's box office – over $ 400 million against a budget of no more than $ 48 million – Warner Bros. claimed it ended up losing $ 35.8 million and "not likely to ever show
22927-529: The Magician (1934), Olga Mesmer (1937) and then Superman (1938) and Captain Marvel (1939) at the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books , whose span, though disputed, is generally agreed to have started with Superman's launch. Superman has remained one of the most recognizable superheroes, and his success spawned a new archetype of characters with secret identities and superhuman powers. At
23154-457: The Prince songs, he was less enthusiastic with their use in the film. On the film, Burton remarked, "I liked parts of it, but the whole movie is mainly boring to me. It's OK, but it was more of a cultural phenomenon than a great movie." Despite initial negative reactions from comics fans prior to the film's release, Keaton's portrayal of Batman was generally praised. James Berardinelli called
23381-514: The Spirit , who may not be explicitly referred to as superheroes but nevertheless share similar traits. Some superheroes use their powers to help fight daily crime while also combating threats against humanity from supervillains , who are their criminal counterparts. Often at least one of these supervillains will be the superhero's archenemy or nemesis . Some popular supervillains become recurring characters in their own right. Antecedents of
23608-658: The Spoiler. Although at first, he regarded her as reckless in operating without Batman's guidance, the two would eventually become romantically involved. For a brief period when Tim's father found out about him being Robin and he retired from the role, Stephanie temporarily replaced him as the new Robin. Following the death of his father in Identity Crisis (2004) and the presumed death of Stephanie in Batman: War Games (2004–2005), Tim relocated to Blüdhaven,
23835-827: The Sunday- newspaper comic-book insert The Spirit Section June 2, 1940; the comedic character Red Tornado , debuting in All-American Comics #20 (Nov 1940); Miss Fury , debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941; the Phantom Lady , introduced in Quality Comics Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941); the Black Cat , introduced in Harvey Comics ' Pocket Comics #1 (also Aug. 1941); and
24062-472: The Teen Titans, except for Drake. Tim abandons his Red Robin mantle and becomes a bartender until an attack by Brainiac , where changes to the timeline are made. Brainiac is captured, and Terry McGinnis dies at the hands of Brother Eye's Batman-Joker hybrid. Tim dons the Batman Beyond suit and goes back in time and prevents Brother Eye from sending the signal to Earth-2, creating a new future where there
24289-408: The USPTO. Felix is one of many who argue that the term "superhero" has become generic (see discussion below). Felix's mark is currently abandoned, but he has stated that he intends to fight against DC and Marvel for use of the term. In 2024, Superbabies Limited managed to obtain a default judgement and cancel the "super heroes" trademarks as genericized, except for the animation pictures mark. This
24516-540: The Vampire Slayer and Darna have a tremendous influence on popular culture in their respective countries of origin. With more and more anime , manga and tokusatsu being translated or adapted, Western audiences were beginning to experience the Japanese styles of superhero fiction more than they were able to before. Saban 's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , an adaptation of Zyuranger , created
24743-529: The West as Astro Boy , was published. The series focused upon a robot boy built by a scientist to replace his deceased son. Being built from an incomplete robot originally intended for military purposes, Astro Boy possessed amazing powers such as flight through thrusters in his feet and the incredible mechanical strength of his limbs. The 1950s saw the Silver Age of Comics . During this era DC introduced
24970-539: The age of thirteen, he saw that Batman had grown reckless and violent following the second Robin ( Jason Todd )'s murder by the Joker . Reasoning that "Batman needs a Robin", Tim at first approached Dick Grayson – who had since become Nightwing – to ask him to become Robin again. Dick refused, but Tim's actions in an encounter with Two-Face prompted him and Alfred Pennyworth to see Tim as a potential third Robin. Batman agreed to mentor Tim, train him, and use his assistance in
25197-559: The aid of Englehart to write a new treatment in March 1986. Like Mankiewicz's script, it was based on his own Strange Apparitions and included Silver St. Cloud, Dick Grayson, the Joker, and Rupert Thorne, as well as a cameo appearance by the Penguin . Warner Bros. was impressed, but Englehart felt there were too many characters. He removed the Penguin and Dick Grayson in his second treatment, finishing in May 1986. Burton approached Sam Hamm ,
25424-512: The archetype include mythological characters such as Gilgamesh , Hanuman , Perseus , Odysseus , David , and demigods like Heracles , all of whom were blessed with extraordinary abilities, which later inspired the superpowers that became a fundamental aspect of modern-day superheroes. The distinct clothing and costumes of individuals from English folklore , like Robin Hood and Spring-Heeled Jack , also became inspirations. The dark costume of
25651-482: The archetypical hero stock character in 1930s American comics, superheroes are predominantly depicted as White American middle- or upper-class young adult males and females who are typically tall, athletic, educated, physically attractive and in perfect health. Beginning in the 1960s with the civil rights movement in the United States, and increasingly with the rising concern over political correctness in
25878-512: The artwork. Blind Justice tells the story of Bruce Wayne trying to solve a series of murders connected to Wayne Enterprises . It also marks the first appearance of Henri Ducard, who was later used in the rebooted Batman Begins , albeit as an alias for the more notable Ra's al Ghul . In the months before Batman ' s release in June 1989, a popular culture phenomenon known as " Batmania " began. Over $ 750 million worth of merchandise
26105-415: The bo staff to give him an edge that Batman does not need. Tim almost always seeks to analyze a problem and outthink his opponent but has shown the ability to win a fight when necessary. During this period, the character also featured prominently in the comic series Young Justice , written by Peter David, as a core team member from 1998 to 2003. Subsequently, Tim Drake also became a prominent team member in
26332-422: The case of Damian). After Doomsday is lured back to his cell, both Tims teleport out of Mr. Oz's prison and arrive in Gotham in the Titans Tomorrow future. Before being sent back, Tim is asked by his future self to apologize to Conner, but the younger Tim has no idea who Conner is, although he later admits that the name is tugging at his heart, though he does not know why. Tim is incapacitated by his future self, as
26559-518: The casting of Michael Keaton. In response, Peters rushed the first film trailer that played in thousands of theaters during Christmas. It was simply an assemblage of scenes without music, but created enormous anticipation for the film, with audiences clapping and cheering. DC Comics allowed screenwriter Sam Hamm to write his own comic book miniseries . Hamm's stories were collected in the graphic novel Batman: Blind Justice ( ISBN 978-1563890475 ). Denys Cowan and Dick Giordano illustrated
26786-594: The categories. Nicholson, Basinger, the makeup department, and costume designer Bob Ringwood all received nominations at the Saturn Awards . The film was also nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation . The success of Batman prompted Warner Bros. Animation to create the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series , as a result beginning
27013-469: The chance to work on Licence to Kill in favor of Batman . Ringwood found it difficult designing the Batsuit because "the image of Batman in the comics is this huge, big six-foot-four hunk with a dimpled chin. Michael Keaton is a guy with average build", he stated. "The problem was to make somebody who was average-sized and ordinary-looking into this bigger-than-life creature." Burton commented, "Michael
27240-408: The character as their own in the early 1990s, during Grant's shift to libertarian socialism but before his late 1990s emphasis on Neo Tech . Breyfogle agreed that "it was a big thing to bring in the new Robin, yes. I know my fans often point specifically to that double-page splash where his costume first appears as a big event for them as fans and I usually have to point out to them that Neal Adams
27467-452: The character became adept in the usage of technology and became versed in several expressed styles of martial arts such as Aikido , Karate , Boxing , Judo , Kung Fu , Tai Chi , Krav Maga , and esoteric Tibetian martial styles which include healing arts (which utilize pressure points). In battle, he also favored a bo staff and was trained in its usage by Lady Shiva herself. Over time, Tim's skills developed, his intelligence improving to
27694-441: The character is a complete duel of the freaks. It's a fight between two disturbed people", adding, "The Joker is such a great character because there's a complete freedom to him. Any character who operates on the outside of society and is deemed a freak and an outcast then has the freedom to do what they want... They are the darker sides of freedom. Insanity is in some scary way the most freedom you can have, because you're not bound by
27921-414: The character starred in the five-issue miniseries Robin, written by Chuck Dixon , with interior pencils by Tom Lyle and cover art by Brian Bolland . The new Batman and Robin team went on their first official mission together in the story "Debut", again written by Grant and penciled by Breyfogle. Lauren R. O'Connor contends that, in early Tim Drake appearances, writers such as Grant and Chuck Dixon "had
28148-409: The character, including the use of contact lenses . Ultimately, Keaton decided to perform Batman's voice at a lower register than when he was portraying Bruce Wayne, which became a hallmark of the film version of the character, with Christian Bale later using the same technique. Originally in the climax, the Joker was meant to kill Vicki Vale, sending Batman into a vengeful fury. Jon Peters reworked
28375-608: The city where Nightwing fights crime, for a period of time to escape the "ghosts" of Gotham City and to stay close to his stepmother Dana Winters, who was admitted into a Blüdhaven clinic after going into psychological shock over Captain Boomerang killing Jack Drake. Tim Drake was then given another redesign of the Robin costume with a red and black color scheme. The colors are those of Superboy 's costume, in tribute to his best friend Superboy after he also died in battle in Infinite Crisis (2005–2006). Once Dick takes over
28602-476: The climax without telling Burton and commissioned production designer Anton Furst to create a 38-foot (12 m) model of the cathedral. This cost $ 100,000 when the film was already well over budget. Burton disliked the idea, having no clue how the scene would end: "Here were Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger walking up this cathedral, and halfway up Jack turns around and says, 'Why am I walking up all these stairs? Where am I going?' 'We'll talk about it when you get to
28829-654: The climax, but the filmmakers "liked [my] character so much," Wuhl said, "that they decided to let me live." Burton chose Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent because he wanted to include the villain Two-Face in a future film using the concept of an African-American Two-Face for the black and white concept, but Tommy Lee Jones was later cast in the role for Batman Forever , which disappointed Williams. Fortunately, Williams would go on to voice Two-Face in The Lego Batman Movie in 2017. Nicholson convinced
29056-413: The comic-strip characters Patoruzú (1928) and Popeye (1929) and novelist Philip Wylie 's character Hugo Danner (1930). Another early example was Sarutobi Sasuke , a Japanese superhero ninja from children's novels in the 1910s; by 1914, he had a number of superhuman powers and abilities. The French character L'Oiselle , created in 1909, can be classed as a superheroine. In August 1937, in
29283-534: The companies filed a trademark application as joint owners for the mark "SUPER HEROES" for a series of animated motion pictures in 2009 (Reg. No. 5613972). Both DC and Marvel also individually owned trademarks involving the "super hero" mark. Notably, DC owns the mark " Legion of Super-Heroes " for comic magazines and Marvel owns the mark "Marvel Super Hero Island" for story books, fiction books, and children’s activity books. DC and Marvel have become known for aggressively protecting their registered marks. In 2019,
29510-552: The companies pursued a British law student named Graham Jules who was attempting to publish a self-help book titled Business Zero to Superhero . Much academic debate exists about whether the "super hero" mark has become generic and whether DC and Marvel have created a duopoly over the "super hero" mark. Conversely, DC and Marvel hold that they are merely exercising their right and duty to protect their registered marks. The following trademarks were or are registered jointly with MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC. and DC COMICS: As mentioned,
29737-400: The costume was slightly altered with spiked gauntlets, a cropped tunic, and a new utility belt. Superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero ; typically using their powers to help the world become
29964-408: The couple confirm their commitment to each other. In the main Batman comics written by Chip Zdarsky , Tim Drake learns the existence of Failsafe (a robot that Zur-En-Arrh created in case Batman killed someone) and meets Zur-En-Arrh for the first time. He tries assisting Batman as well as Zur-En-Arrh (who temporarily took over Batman's body), but watches helplessly as Failsafe teleports Batman to
30191-559: The damage, but ends up with a rictus grin . Driven insane by his new appearance, Napier, now calling himself "the Joker", kills Grissom, massacres Grissom's associates, and takes over his operations. He then starts terrorizing Gotham by lacing hygiene products with "Smylex" – a deadly chemical that causes victims to die laughing . Joker soon becomes obsessed with Vicki and lures her to the Flugelheim Museum, which his henchmen start vandalizing . Batman rescues Vicki, takes her to
30418-477: The debut of Shotaro Ishinomori 's Skull Man (the basis for his later Kamen Rider ) in 1970, Go Nagai's Devilman in 1972 and Gerry Conway and John Romita's Punisher in 1974. The dark Skull Man manga would later get a television adaptation and underwent drastic changes. The character was redesigned to resemble a grasshopper, becoming the renowned first masked hero of the Kamen Rider series. Kamen Rider
30645-422: The design of Neil Jordan 's The Company of Wolves (1984), but was unable to hire its production designer Anton Furst for Beetlejuice as he had instead committed to Jordan's London-filmed ghost comedy High Spirits (1988), a choice he later regretted. A year later Burton successfully hired Furst for Batman , and they enjoyed working with each other. "I don't think I've ever felt so naturally in tune with
30872-470: The development of Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995), which in turn began the DC Animated Universe of spin-off media, and has influenced Hollywood 's modern marketing and development techniques of the superhero film genre. Reporter Alexander Knox and photojournalist Vicki Vale investigate sightings of " Batman ", a masked vigilante targeting Gotham City 's criminals. Both attend
31099-401: The end of the decade, in 1939, Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger . During the 1940s there were many superheroes: The Flash , Green Lantern and Blue Beetle debuted in this era. This era saw the debut of one of the earliest female superheroes, writer-artist Fletcher Hanks 's character Fantomah , an ageless ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into
31326-568: The end, we went into pure expressionism, taking the Salt Flat Racers of the 30s and the Sting Ray macho machines of the 50s". The car was built upon a Chevrolet Impala when previous development with a Jaguar and Ford Mustang failed. The car itself was later purchased by standup comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham , who had it outfitted with a Corvette engine to make it street legal. Costume designer Bob Ringwood turned down
31553-432: The few Batman Family members he addressed distinctively as "Detective". Despite his high level of training and skill in combat, Tim's future version from Titans Tomorrow stated that he eventually realized he would never possess the same level of skill in combat as Bruce, Dick, Jason, or Damian. Tim is also capable of speaking several languages beyond his native English, including Cantonese, Russian, Spanish and German. Tim
31780-402: The film entertaining, with the highlight being the production design. However, he concluded, "the best thing that can be said about Batman is that it led to Batman Returns , which was a far superior effort." Variety felt "Jack Nicholson stole every scene" but still greeted the film with positive feedback. Roger Ebert was highly impressed with the production design, but claimed " Batman
32007-755: The film. The logo is also an ambiguous image , which can be read either as Batman's symbol or as a gaping mouth. Earlier designs "had the word 'Batman' spelled in RoboCop or Conan the Barbarian -type font". Jon Peters unified all the film's tie-ins , even turning down $ 6 million from General Motors to build the Batmobile because the car company would not relinquish creative control. During production, Peters read in The Wall Street Journal that comic book fans were unsatisfied with
32234-531: The filmmakers made Vicki Vale a femme fatale rather than a damsel in distress , this could have made Batman as a homage and tribute to classic film noir ." Portions of the climax pay homage to Vertigo (1958). The B.D. Fox ad agency created hundreds of unused logos and posters for promotion, many by John Alvin . In the end Burton and producers decided on only using a gold and black logo designed by Anton Furst and airbrushed by Bill Garland, with no other key art variation, to keep an air of mystery about
32461-479: The filmmakers to cast his close friend Tracey Walter as the Joker's henchman Bob. Irish child actor Ricky Addison Reed was cast as Dick Grayson before the character was removed by Warren Skarren for the revised shooting script. The rest of the cast included Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon , Jerry Hall as Alicia, Lee Wallace as Mayor Borg, William Hootkins as Lt. Eckhardt, and Jack Palance as crime boss Carl Grissom. "On Batman , our vision of Gotham City
32688-515: The first black superhero to star in his own series . In 1989, the Monica Rambeau incarnation of Captain Marvel was the first female black superhero from a major publisher to get her own title in a special one-shot issue. In 1971, Red Wolf became the first Native American in the superheroic tradition to headline a series. In 1973, Shang-Chi became the first prominent Asian superhero to star in an American comic book ( Kato had been
32915-454: The first entity to commercialize the phrase "super hero" when it registered the mark in connection with Halloween costumes. In 1972, Mego Corporation , an American toy company, attempted to register the mark "World's Greatest Superheroes" in connection with its line of action figures. Mego Corporation’s attempted registration led Ben Cooper, Inc. to sue Mego Corporation for trademark infringement. Due to its financial struggles, Mego Corporation
33142-407: The first ongoing monthly Robin series in its history, once again written by Dixon, with Tim Drake as its main adolescent character. The ongoing series continued for over 15 years, ending with issue #183. Mike Mullins on Newsarama has stated: Throughout [the entire Robin series], the character of Robin has been captured consistently, showing him to step up to greater and greater challenges. Robin
33369-494: The first screenplay. Batman was not greenlit until after the success of Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). The tone and themes of the film were partly influenced by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland 's The Killing Joke and Frank Miller 's The Dark Knight Returns . The film primarily adapts and then diverges from the " Red Hood " origin story for the Joker, having Batman inadvertently cause gangster Jack Napier to fall into Axis Chemical acid, triggering his transformation into
33596-424: The former Robin with his skills. This led Grayson and later Alfred Pennyworth , Bruce Wayne's butler, to support Tim's request to be Batman's new partner. Not wanting to make the same mistake as he did with Jason Todd, Batman had Tim endure an intensive period of training that was never given to his predecessors. As such, Tim remained a non-superhero supporting character for the first year of his regular appearances in
33823-514: The hit on Napier by conducting an unauthorized police operation. However, Commissioner James Gordon arrives, takes command, and orders the officers to capture Napier alive. Batman also appears, while Napier kills Eckhardt as revenge for the double-crossing. During a scuffle with Batman, Napier topples off a catwalk and falls into a vat of chemicals. Although presumed dead, Napier survives with various disfigurements including chalk white skin and emerald-green hair and nails. He undergoes surgery to repair
34050-479: The hypothetical heteronormative male audience. Villains, such as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy , use their sexuality to take advantage of their male victims. In the film versions of these characters, their sexuality and seductive methods are highlighted. Poison Ivy uses seduction through poison to take over the minds of her victims as seen in the 1997 film Batman and Robin . Harley Quinn in 2016's Suicide Squad uses her sexuality to her advantage, acting in
34277-470: The idea of a masked avenger and the superhero trope of a secret identity . Over the next few decades, masked and costumed pulp fiction characters such as Jimmie Dale/The Grey Seal (1914), Zorro (1919), Buck Rogers (1928), The Shadow (1930), and Flash Gordon (1934), and comic strip heroes such as the Phantom (1936), began appearing, as did non-costumed characters with super strength , including
34504-568: The ideas, citing "my movies aren't commercial like Top Gun ." Elfman enlisted the help of composer Shirley Walker and Oingo Boingo lead guitarist Steve Bartek to arrange the compositions for the orchestra. Elfman was later displeased with the audio mixing of his film score. " Batman was done in England by technicians who didn't care, and the non-caring showed," he stated. "I'm not putting down England because they've done gorgeous dubs there, but this particular crew elected not to." Batman
34731-409: The identity of the "Red Robin", rather than that of "Robin", out of respect to Jason Todd. In later issues, he is shown to be a founding member of the Teen Titans as well as their leader and he shows feelings for Wonder Girl which are reciprocated. Tim was unwilling to meet with the rest of the Bat-family at the Batcave after he was infected with the Joker's new compound "HA". He was present when Damian
34958-565: The inside. It also had yellow stitching and a matching belt, a black domino mask, gloves, and boots. Tim Drake resumed the motif of a red and black costume when he took on the identity of the Red Robin . The Red Robin costume consisted of a long-sleeved red tunic, along with black boots, tights, gloves, cape, and cowl. It also included a black-and-gold utility belt that carries Drake's weaponry, such as his bo staff and throwing discs. After Drake's confrontation with Ra's al Ghul in Red Robin #12,
35185-412: The latter decides to go back in time to kill Batwoman, the apparent cause of Tim becoming Batman. Tim returns to Gotham and is reunited with the Bat-family, but warns them about Future Tim. After a battle with Ulysses Armstrong and Brother Eye, Tim leaves Gotham to investigate the alternate timelines, and Tim's restored memories of his past friends from Young Justice. This leads him to Metropolis, where he
35412-596: The latter title, Grant attested in 2007 that "when the Batman movie came out, the sales went up, if I recall correctly, from around 75,000 to about 675,000." 1989-90 was indeed the "Year of the Bat:" Capital and Diamond City Distributors reported that the Year One -inspired Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight dominated four out of the five spots for preorders ( not total sales and second printings). The only exception
35639-467: The latter, complete with a domino mask and a cape, became influential for the myriad of masked rogues in penny dreadfuls and dime novels . The vigilantes of the American Old West also became an influence to the superhero. Several vigilantes during this time period hid their identities using masks. In frontier communities where de jure law was not yet matured, people sometimes took
35866-606: The law into their own hands with makeshift masks made out of sacks . Vigilante mobs and gangs like the San Diego Vigilantes and the Bald Knobbers became infamous throughout that Old West era. Such masked vigilantism later inspired fictional masked crimefighters in American story-telling, beginning with the character Deadwood Dick in 1877. The word superhero dates back to 1899. The 1903 British play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized
36093-420: The laws of society". Burton saw Bruce Wayne as the bearer of a double identity, exposing one while hiding the reality from the world. Burton biographer Ken Hanke wrote that Bruce Wayne, struggling with his alter-ego as Batman, is depicted as an antihero . Hanke felt that Batman has to push the boundaries of civil justice to deal with certain criminals, such as the Joker. Kim Newman theorized that "Burton and
36320-478: The likes of Batwoman in 1956, Supergirl , Miss Arrowette , and Bat-Girl ; all female derivatives of established male superheroes. In 1957 Japan, Shintoho produced the first film serial featuring the superhero character Super Giant , signaling a shift in Japanese popular culture towards tokusatsu masked superheroes over kaiju giant monsters. Along with Astro Boy , the Super Giant serials had
36547-404: The locations the drones were sent to, Tim hacks the drone's mission directive to make himself the sole target, knowing that the drones will stop once the target is eliminated. While Tim manages to take down the first wave of drones, he is killed apparently by the second wave, devastating the Bat-family and his former Teen Titans teammates. However, just before Tim was blasted by the second wave, he
36774-424: The long-running DC Animated Universe and helped establish the modern day superhero film genre. Series co-creator Bruce Timm stated the television show's Art Deco design was inspired from the film. Timm commented, "our show would never have gotten made if it hadn't been for that first Batman movie." Burton joked, "ever since I did Batman , it was like the first dark comic book movie. Now everyone wants to do
37001-764: The magazine King of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s." In 1971, Kamen Rider launched the "Henshin Boom" on Japanese television in the early 1970s, greatly impacting the tokusatsu superhero genre in Japan. In 1972, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman anime debuted, which built upon the superhero team idea of the live-action Phantom Agents as well as introducing different colors for team members and special vehicles to support them, said vehicles could also combine into
37228-470: The mark in connection with comic books, and were granted the mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1981. In the years leading up to the assignment of the mark, both DC and Marvel battled to register various trademarks involving the phrase “superhero.” However, DC and Marvel quickly discovered that they could only register marks involving the phrase "superhero" if
37455-451: The mugger who killed his parents, realizing the killer to have been Joker (as Napier) all along. He shoots Wayne, who survives thanks to a serving tray hidden underneath his shirt. Vicki is taken to the Batcave by Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth , who had been coaxing the relationship between the pair. After Vicki learns his secret, Wayne chooses to battle the Joker for the sake of the city over their relationship. He then departs to destroy
37682-854: The murder of Drake's mother by vilified cult leaders; 4) the beginning of Drake's recurrent nightmares and trauma ; as well as 5) the perspective of a child of one of the cult's Haitian followers, unknowingly and inadvertently orphaned by Batman at the end of the four-issue arc. Tim Drake eventually transitioned from preadolescence to adolescence, becoming the third Robin throughout the storylines "Rite of Passage" and "Identity Crisis", with all issues scripted by Alan Grant and penciled by Norm Breyfogle. Story arcs that included Drake only in subplots or featured his training in criminal investigation, such as "Crimesmith" and "The Penguin Affair", were either written or co-written by Grant and Wolfman, with pencils by Breyfogle, Aparo, and M. D. Bright . Immediately afterwards,
37909-432: The new Spider-Man after the apparent death of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker . Kamala Khan , a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who is revealed to have Inhuman lineage after her shapeshifting powers manifested, takes on the identity of Ms. Marvel in 2014 after Carol Danvers had become Captain Marvel. Her self-titled comic book series became a cultural phenomenon, with extensive media coverage by CNN ,
38136-514: The new incarnation of Teen Titans written by Geoff Johns, from 2003 to 2011. The ongoing series Robin (vol. 4) was written by Chuck Dixon until issue #100, in which the series was handed off to Jon Lewis. Lewis's run as a writer concluded with issue #120. Bill Willingham wrote the series for issues #121-147. As part of DC Comics' "One Year Later" relaunch initiative, in which the events of all ongoing titles skipped forward one year, Adam Beechen took over as writer on Robin with issue #148. Later,
38363-623: The pages of several popular superhero titles from the late 1950s onward: Hal Jordan 's love interest Carol Ferris was introduced as the Vice-President of Ferris Aircraft and later took over the company from her father; Medusa , who was first introduced in the Fantastic Four series, is a member of the Inhuman Royal Family and a prominent statesperson within her people's quasi-feudal society; and Carol Danvers ,
38590-421: The part, could commit to the film at very short notice. Peters suggested Kim Basinger : she was able to join the production immediately and was cast. As a fan of Michael Gough 's work in various Hammer Film Productions , Burton cast Gough as Bruce Wayne's mysterious butler, Alfred . Reporter Alexander Knox was portrayed by Robert Wuhl . In the original script, Knox was killed by the Joker's poison gas during
38817-420: The past decade following the rise of comic book characters in the film industry (Marvel/DC movies). Women are presented differently than their male counterparts, typically wearing revealing clothing that showcases their curves and cleavage and showing a lot of skin in some cases. Heroes like Power Girl and Wonder Woman are portrayed wearing little clothing and showing cleavage. Power Girl is portrayed as wearing
39044-406: The phrase referenced their own company or a character associated with their company. As a result, DC and Marvel decided to become joint owners of the "superhero" trademark. Although many consumers likely see DC and Marvel as competitors, the two comic book publishing giants are allies when it comes to protecting the trademark "superhero" and variants thereof. Although joint ownership in a trademark
39271-419: The power of a god, but was still drawn to a much weaker, mortal male character. This can be explained by the sociological concept "feminine apologetic," which reinforces a woman's femininity to account for her masculine attributes (strength, individualism, toughness, aggressiveness, bravery). Women in comic books are considered to be misrepresented due to being created by men, for men. The Hawkeye Initiative
39498-583: The previous two Robins, which make him more similar to Batman. He succeeded Dick as the leader of the Teen Titans , and later led his superhero team, Young Justice . He was briefly followed in the role of Robin by Stephanie Brown , and later for a longer period by Batman's biological son, Damian Wayne , during the time Tim operated as Red Robin. Tim has been shown to have a close friendship with Superboy . He has had romantic relationships with superheroes Stephanie Brown and Cassie Sandsmark , and more recently his former schoolfriend Bernard Dowd. In 2011, Tim Drake
39725-520: The public, and policing unauthorized uses. However, misuse by the public alone does not necessarily cause a trademark to become generic if the primary significance of the term is still to indicate a particular source. Some legal experts argue that, like the once-trademarked terms "aspirin" and "yo-yo," the term "superhero" now primarily refers to a general type of character with extraordinary abilities, rather than characters originating from specific publishers. In keeping with their origins as representing
39952-458: The real culprit. But this is made more difficult by the appearance of glowing animals and mudlike creatures that take the form of trusted friends and family. Tim ultimately realizes that all these events are linked to a villain obsessed with him, with things coming to a head when Bernard gets kidnapped. Tim confronts the villain, a metahuman who uses the codename Moriarty and who dubs themselves Tim's nemesis. Tim defeats Moriarty and saves Bernard, and
40179-503: The record for being the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film until 1996 when Twister surpassed it. It was the highest-grossing film based on a DC comic book until 2008's The Dark Knight . Furthermore, Batman held the record for being the highest-grossing superhero film of all time until it was taken by Spider-Man in 2002. The film's gross is the 143rd highest ever in North American ranks. Although Indiana Jones and
40406-441: The rescue, Bernard tells Robin that his friend Tim helped him come out and understand himself, prompting Robin/Tim to realize his own identity as a bisexual man. Afterward, out of costume, Bernard asks Tim on a date, which Tim accepts. Tim would later tell Bruce (and the rest of the Batman Family off panel) about his breakup with Stephanie and new relationship with Bernard before moving to the Gotham marina on his own. Tim Drake plays
40633-454: The role of Batman after Bruce's apparent death in Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis , he fires Tim from the Robin mantle and gives it to Damian Wayne , due to Dick believing he and Tim are equals. Tim, believing that Bruce is still alive, assumes the identity of Red Robin and leaves Gotham City to go on a worldwide search for Wayne. Red Robin , which was launched in late 2009, depicted Tim Drake's search to find evidence that Bruce Wayne
40860-471: The role of Robin, stating that "Batman needs a Robin". However, Dick refused to return to being Batman's sidekick, and instead, Tim was appointed as the third Robin. Neal Adams redesigned the entire Robin costume specifically for Tim Drake's character, with the sole exception of the redesigned "R" logo by the Norm Breyfogle . Subsequent stories emphasize Tim's superior detective skills compared to
41087-602: The role of fear in instigating a series of violent crimes. As the character continued to appear in the main Batman titles, the original Robin miniseries was followed by the four-issue miniseries Robin II: The Joker's Wild! (December 1991-February 1992) and the six-issue miniseries Robin III: Cry of the Huntress (December 1992-March 1993) both also written by Dixon. Due to the success of these miniseries, DC launched
41314-492: The second half of 1990, inaugurating six months of Spidermania (or Mcfarlamania, depending on the reader). DC closed out 1990 with vendors under-ordering issues, prompting the publisher to push Batman #457 and the first part of the Robin mini-series into second and then third printings. The next year, 1991, witnessed the ascension of Chris Claremont 's, Jim Lee 's, and Scott Williams 's X-Men against Magneto , as well as Fabian Nicieza 's and Rob Liefeld 's X-Force , into
41541-443: The studio turned it down. Though no movie studios were yet involved, the project was publicly announced with a budget of $ 15 million in July 1980 at the Comic Art Convention in New York. Warner Bros. , the studio behind the successful Superman film franchise , decided to also accept and produce Batman . Tom Mankiewicz completed a script titled The Batman in June 1983, focusing on Batman and Dick Grayson 's origins, with
41768-598: The studio. Locations included Knebworth House and Hatfield House doubling for Wayne Manor , plus Acton Lane Power Station and Little Barford Power Station . The original production budget escalated from $ 30 million to $ 48 million. Filming was highly secretive. The unit publicist was offered and refused £ 10,000 for the first pictures of Jack Nicholson as the Joker. The police were later called in when two reels of footage (about 20 minutes' worth) were stolen. With various problems during filming, Burton called it "Torture. The worst period of my life!" Hamm
41995-449: The substances. Tim Drake's original Robin costume had a red torso, yellow stitching and belt, black boots, green short sleeves, gloves, and pants. He wore a cape made of Kevlar and Nomex that was black on the outside and yellow on the inside. This costume was different from that of his predecessors in that it provided increased protection with an armored tunic and gorget , long boots, an emergency "R" shuriken on his chest in addition to
42222-435: The superhero supergroups featured at least one (and often the only) female member, much like DC's flagship superhero team the Justice League of America (whose initial roster included Wonder Woman as the token female ); examples include the Fantastic Four 's Invisible Girl , the X-Men 's Jean Grey (originally known as Marvel Girl ), the Avengers ' Wasp , and the Brotherhood of Mutants ' Scarlet Witch (who later joined
42449-410: The term "SUPER HERO" trademark is at risk of becoming generic. Courts have noted that determining whether a term has become generic is a highly factual inquiry not suitable for resolution without considering evidence like dictionary definitions, media usage, and consumer surveys. Trademark owners can take steps to prevent genericide , such as using the trademark with the generic product name, educating
42676-469: The then-upcoming 1989 film , Tim first appeared in 1989's Batman: Year Three by the writer Marv Wolfman and interior penciler Pat Broderick , before having his origin detailed in Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying , a crossover story between the ongoing series Batman and New Titans , written by Wolfman and penciled by George Pérez and Jim Aparo (the latter with inks by Mike DeCarlo ), in which he first introduced himself to Dick Grayson and impressed
42903-462: The title character." On Metacritic , the film received a weighted average score of 69 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Many observed that Burton was more interested in the Joker and the art and set production design than Batman or anything else in terms of characterization and screentime. Comic book fans reacted negatively over
43130-422: The top of the preorder rankings. The only exception to this X-mania was, again, Tim Drake and the sequel to the Robin miniseries, the first variant issue of which garnered the third spot, firmly wedged between variant issues of X-Force and X-Men . The mini-series pitted solo Robin against the Joker, in response to fan demands for a matchup since "A Death in the Family". The 1990s comics booming bust had begun. In
43357-413: The top!' I had to tell him that I didn't know." Burton hired Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo , his collaborator on Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice , to compose the music score. For inspiration, Elfman was given The Dark Knight Returns . Elfman was worried, as he had never worked on a production this large in budget and scale. In addition, producer Jon Peters was skeptical of hiring Elfman, but
43584-420: The traditional batarangs and a collapsible bo staff as the character's primary weapon. Following Infinite Crisis and 52 , Tim Drake modified his costume to favor a mostly red and black color scheme in tribute to his best friend, Superboy (Kon-El) , who died fighting Earth-Prime's Superboy . This Robin costume had a red torso, long sleeves, and pants, with a cape that was black on the outside and yellow on
43811-421: The two companies also own a variety of other superhero-related marks. For instance, DC owns "Legion of Super-Heroes" and " DC Super Hero Girls " and Marvel owns “Marvel Super Hero Island" and "Marvel Super Hero Adventures." DC and Marvel have garnered a reputation for zealously protecting their superhero marks. As noted above, one of these instances included a man by the name of Graham Jules, who sought to publish
44038-498: The weakest member of her team a decade ago. Both major American publishers began introducing new superheroines with a more distinct feminist theme as part of their origin stories or character development. Examples include Big Barda , Power Girl , and the Huntress by DC comics; and from Marvel, the second Black Widow , Shanna the She-Devil , and The Cat . Female supporting characters who were successful professionals or hold positions of authority in their own right also debuted in
44265-634: The world on archaeological digs and thus he was left in a boarding school with relatively little adult supervision. By the age of nine, Tim, who had a very sharp intellect, had deduced the identities of Batman and Robin as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, after witnessing a gymnastic maneuver by Robin that he previously saw Grayson display in the Haly Circus. Inspired by the heroes' exploits, Tim trained himself in martial arts, acrobatics, detective skills, and scholastics to better himself both physically and intellectually, though having no intention of joining Batman one day, mainly for his self-fulfillment. When Tim reached
44492-488: The writers saw Batman and the Joker as a dramatic antithesis, and the film deals with their intertwined origins and fates to an even greater extent". Batman conveys trademarks found in 1930s pulp magazines , notably the design of Gotham City stylized with Art Deco design. Richard Corliss , writing for Time , observed that Gotham's design was a reference to films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Metropolis (1927). "Gotham City, despite being shot on
44719-415: Was Mankiewicz's script that was still being used to guide the project. Due to the work they did together with the film Swamp Thing (1982), Wes Craven was among the directors that Melniker and Uslan considered while looking for a director. After the financial success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Warner Bros. hired Tim Burton to direct Batman . Burton had then-girlfriend Julie Hickson write
44946-415: Was a child – is because I could never tell which box I was supposed to read. I don't know if it was dyslexia or whatever, but that's why I loved The Killing Joke , because for the first time I could tell which one to read. It's my favorite. It's the first comic I've ever loved. And the success of those graphic novels made our ideas more acceptable." —Tim Burton In the late 1970s, Batman's popularity
45173-503: Was a popular choice for his role. Nicholson had what was known as an "off-the-clock" agreement. His contract specified the number of hours he was entitled to have off each day, from the time he left the set to the time he reported back for filming, as well as being off for Los Angeles Lakers home games. Nicholson demanded that all of his scenes be shot in a three-week block, but the schedule lapsed into 106 days. He reduced his standard $ 10 million fee to $ 6 million in exchange for
45400-413: Was a young child, he visited the circus for the first time with his parents. The Drakes asked the Flying Graysons for a photo together, resulting in a momentary bond between Tim and Dick Grayson as they met for the first time. Dick Grayson's parents were murdered that night, as witnessed by Tim from the audience. Growing up, Tim's parents were frequently absent for months at a time as they traveled around
45627-415: Was also the main character in the 26-issue weekly series Batman and Robin Eternal alongside the other former Robins. Meanwhile, a version of Tim from five years into the future was also a main character in the weekly series The New 52: Futures End ; this alternate-future version of Tim would become the title character in the subsequent Batman Beyond series up until its relaunch with DC Rebirth . As of
45854-399: Was ambushed by an assassin from the Council of Spiders. He manages to drive himself and Pru (one of the assassins working for Ra's al Ghul, who had become an ally of Tim's) to Tam's hotel room, and they are promptly abducted by the League of Assassins. Although initially reluctant, Tim Drake allied with Ra's before nearly bleeding to death due to their encounter with the Council of Spiders. He
46081-413: Was annoyed by the publicity. David Handelman of The New York Observer categorized Batman as a high concept film. He believed "it is less movie than a corporate behemoth ". Batman grossed $ 2.2 million in late night previews on June 22, 1989, on 1,215 screens and grossed $ 40.49 million in 2,194 theaters during its opening weekend. This broke the opening weekend records held by Indiana Jones and
46308-399: Was approached to write a script with Guy Hamilton to direct, but the two turned down the offer. Uslan was unsuccessful with pitching Batman to various movie studios because they wanted the film to be similar to the campy 1960s television series . Columbia Pictures and United Artists were among those to turn down the film. A disappointed Uslan then wrote a script titled Return of
46535-443: Was both critically and financially successful, earning over $ 400 million in box office totals. Critics and audiences particularly praised Nicholson and Keaton's performances, Burton's direction, the production design, and Elfman's score. It was the sixth-highest-grossing film in history at the time of its release. The film received several Saturn Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for Nicholson's performance, and won
46762-409: Was concurrently a main character in the series Batman written by Chip Zdarsky. He was featured in issues starting from #125, and in "The Toy Box" back up story starting from issue #131. Tim Drake: Robin received a nomination for Outstanding Comic Book at the 34th GLAAD Media Awards . Tim Drake is the son of Jack Drake and Janet Drake, coming from the same social class as Bruce Wayne. When he
46989-481: Was dethroned by Anger Management in 2003. Batman also set a record for a second weekend gross with $ 30 million (also the second biggest 3-day weekend of all time) and became the fastest film to earn $ 100 million, reaching it in 11 days (10 days plus late night previews). The film closed on December 14, 1989, with a final gross of $ 251.4 million in North America and $ 160.2 million internationally, totaling $ 411.6 million. The film would hold
47216-520: Was given a modern redesign of the Robin costume and sent to train abroad with numerous experts to refine his martial arts. When Bruce Wayne retires after Knightfall , Robin goes solo to defend Gotham City . Robin would eventually go on to co-star with other teenaged superheroes in Young Justice and Teen Titans . He also made guest appearances in other DC comic books such as Nightwing and Azrael . Robin would also become increasingly closer to fellow teen vigilante Stephanie Brown, also known as
47443-494: Was in All Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941), published by All-American Publications , one of two companies that would merge to form DC Comics in 1944. Pérák was an urban legend originating from the city of Prague during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in the midst of World War II . In the decades following the war, Pérák has also been portrayed as the only Czech superhero in film and comics. In 1952, Osamu Tezuka 's manga Tetsuwan Atom , more popularly known in
47670-405: Was influenced by the tone of the 'Dark Knight' comics, and also Andreas Feininger 's photographs of New York buildings and the work of Japanese architect Shin Takamatsu . ( Blade Runner was consciously avoided as a reference; no one was allowed to watch it while we were designing the film and neon was shunned altogether!)" —Art director Nigel Phelps Burton had been impressed with
47897-499: Was killed by the Heretic and admitted to Bruce that even though he had a dysfunctional relationship with Damian that he did grieve for him. He was also at the final battle between Batman and the Heretic when Talia killed her son's clone and blew up Wayne Tower. Tim was also part of the Bat-family's assembled team which went to Apokolips to retrieve Damian's body. As their mission focused on retrieving Robin, Tim, Jason, and Barbara wore costumes that resembled Damian's colors and each wore
48124-431: Was later convinced when he heard the opening number. Peters and Peter Guber wanted Prince to write music for the Joker and Michael Jackson to do the romance songs. Elfman would then combine the style of Prince and Jackson's songs together for the entire film score. At the encouragement of Prince's then-manager Albert Magnoli , it was agreed that Prince himself would write and sing the film's songs . Burton protested
48351-422: Was not allowed to perform rewrites during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike . Warren Skaaren , who had also worked on Burton's Beetlejuice , did rewrites. Jonathan Gems and Charles McKeown rewrote the script during filming. Only Skaaren received screenplay credit with Hamm. Hamm criticized the rewrites, but blamed the changes on Warner Bros. Burton explained, "I don't understand why that became such
48578-435: Was one of the first films to spawn two soundtracks. One of them featured songs written by Prince while the other showcased Elfman's score. Both were successful, and compilations of Elfman's opening credits were used in the title sequence theme for Batman: The Animated Series , also composed by Shirley Walker. When discussing the central theme of Batman , director Tim Burton explained, "the whole film and mythology of
48805-449: Was originally interested in casting an unknown actor, Willem Dafoe , who was falsely reported to be considered for the Joker but had actually been considered for Batman early in development. Producer Jon Peters suggested Michael Keaton, arguing he had the right "edgy, tormented quality" after having seen his dramatic performance in Clean and Sober . Having directed Keaton in Beetlejuice , Burton agreed. The casting of Keaton caused
49032-480: Was produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber and stars Jack Nicholson , Michael Keaton , Kim Basinger , Robert Wuhl , Pat Hingle , Billy Dee Williams , Michael Gough , and Jack Palance . The film takes place early in the war on crime of the title character (Keaton) and depicts his conflict with his archenemy the Joker (Nicholson). After Burton was hired as director in 1986, Steve Englehart and Julie Hickson wrote film treatments before Sam Hamm wrote
49259-419: Was put in charge of the League of Assassins by Ra's and used the time to simultaneously plan how to stop the Council of Spiders and destroy the League of Assassins. After failing to foil all but one of the Council's assassination attempts, Tim realizes that the Council will be attacking the League's base, and realizes that he left Tam in danger at the base. Rushing back to base, he simultaneously manages to delay
49486-444: Was ranked 32nd in IGN 's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes. He has also been featured in various adaptations, including several television series, such as those set in the DCAU , Young Justice (2010–2022), and Titans (2018-2023) as well as the Batman: Arkham video game series. Tim Drake was created to succeed Jason Todd as Robin after DC killed off Todd in their story A Death in the Family . Named after Tim Burton , director of
49713-538: Was revealed that he was bisexual in DC's relaunch initiative Infinite Frontier through Batman: Urban Legends #6 (August 2021), written by Meghan Fitzmartin. This reveal made Tim notable for being one of the most prominent LGBT characters in comic books . He subsequently received a story in DC Pride 2022 and his own Tim Drake: Pride Special before DC announced a new ongoing series written by Fitzmartin. The series, Tim Drake: Robin , launched on September 27, 2022 and ran for 10 issues, ending on June 27, 2023. He also
49940-493: Was sold. Cult filmmaker and comic book writer Kevin Smith remembered: "That summer was huge. You couldn't turn around without seeing the Bat-Signal somewhere. People were cutting it into their fucking heads. It was just the summer of Batman and if you were a comic book fan it was pretty hot." Hachette Book Group USA published a novelization, Batman , written by Craig Shaw Gardner . It remained on The New York Times Best Seller list throughout June 1989. Burton admitted he
50167-413: Was still alive after cutting himself off from the rest of the Bat-family . He was approached by Ra's al Ghul 's assassins, who were also interested in finding out what happened to Batman. At the same time, Tamara "Tam" Fox , Lucius Fox's daughter, has been sent to find Tim Drake to bring him back to Gotham. Tim goes to Iraq and manages to discover definitive proof that Bruce was alive and lost in time, but
50394-441: Was the one who designed the costume. The 'R' symbol and the staff were all that was mine." In the "Rite of Passage" storyline for Detective Comics , Grant and Breyfogle intertwined 1) Drake matching wits with Anarky ; 2) a criminal and anthropological investigation into an apocryphal Haitian Vodou cult (revealed by Batman, asserting anthropological and investigative authority, as a front for extortion and crony capitalism ); 3)
50621-462: Was the third preorder spot, snagged by Batman #442, the conclusion to Tim Drake's "A Lonely Place of Dying" storyline. The "Year of the Bat" continued into the first half of 1990. Preorders for Batman and Detective Comics issues featuring a revived Joker and Penguin began to compete with, and even edged out, the last three parts of Grant Morrison 's and Klaus Janson 's Gothic storyline in Legends . Todd McFarlane 's Spider-Man arrived in
50848-584: Was then bootlegged at various comic book stores in the United States. Batman was finally given the greenlight to commence pre-production in April 1988, after the success of Burton's Beetlejuice the same year. When comic book fans found out about Burton directing the film with Michael Keaton starring in the lead role, controversy arose over the tone and direction Batman was going in. Hamm explained, "They hear Tim Burton's name and they think of Pee-wee's Big Adventure . They hear Keaton's name, and they think of any number of Michael Keaton comedies. You think of
51075-404: Was unexpected as Marvel and DC had filed a motion to extend time to answer. There is an ongoing debate among legal scholars and in the courts about whether the term "superhero" has become genericized due to its widespread use in popular culture, similar to terms like "aspirin" or "escalator" which lost their trademark protection and became generic terms for their respective products. Some argue
51302-467: Was unwilling to defend itself against Ben Cooper Inc.'s suit. As a result, in 1977, Mego Corporation jointly assigned its interest in the trademark to DC Comics , Inc. ("DC") and Marvel Comics ("Marvel"). Due to the financial prowess of DC and Marvel, Ben Cooper, Inc. decided to withdraw its trademark opposition and jointly assigned its interest in the "World's Greatest Super Heroes" mark to DC and Marvel. Two years later in 1979, DC and Marvel applied for
51529-428: Was waning. CBS was interested in producing a Batman in Outer Space film. Producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan purchased the film rights of Batman from DC Comics on October 3, 1979. It was Uslan's wish "to make the definitive, dark, serious version of Batman, the way Bob Kane and Bill Finger had envisioned him in 1939. A creature of the night; stalking criminals in the shadows." Richard Maibaum
#110889