The Dark Knight. The Caped Crusader. The World’s Greatest Detective. The Cape and Cowl. The Bat.

The Septuagenarian.

In 1939, Bob Kane’s dark vigilante took to the streets to fight crime and defend Gotham City against an eclectic and insane menagerie of colorful supervillains. Seventy years later, long after Batman surpassed his origins to become a certified pop culture icon, he stands as perhaps the most popular superhero in the world. Movies, television series, cartoons, video games and much more have been made about Gotham’s savior, and Batmania shows no sign of slowing down.

In honor of the Caped Crusader’s 70th anniversary, the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library is preparing for the ultimate birthday bash: “Batman at 70,” a program and exhibit to take place Nov. 9 at the McMaster Center in the Main Library, Downtown.

“What they’re going to get is a really good big picture of the character,” said Jim Beard, a local comic book historian, who will host a special Batman retrospective as part of the exhibit.

“We’ve got items from the very beginning until currently. We have vintage comic books that literally run the gamut from the very beginning — we have a ‘Batman No. 1’ that will be on display, all the way up to ‘Batman and Robin No. 1,’ which came out this year,” Beard said. “I really hope people are going to get a good scope of the character and, if they’re not aware that the character has that much history, I hope they’re going to get it.”

The discussion will also include an interactive video chat with current “Batman” writer and best-selling author Greg Rucka. The exhibit will feature an examination of many of the Dark Knight’s gadgets, rare collectibles and a life-size recreation of the Batcave on display.

This is not the first time the library has honored the long and illustrious history of a beloved comic book character. Last year, a program was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Superman and the success of that display directly lead to the beginnings of this one.

“This entire exhibit, its origin is just a few minutes after the Superman event ended last year,” said Beard, who contributes a column on comic books to Toledo Free Press. “As soon as it was over, I had people starting to come up to me … it was actually one of the library people who said, ‘We gotta do Batman.’ And I said, ‘Well, you don’t have to convince me!”

National excitement

“A lot of people don’t think of the library as a place to go for programming such as this,” said Rhonda Sewell, media relations coordinator for the library. “And we say just the opposite. The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library really encourages these types of programs, especially things in our history that mean so much. And definitely comic books have been something with a strong hold in our history — Batman and Superman are household names.”

Sewell said the event will have benefits for the library and Toledo.

“These types of events create excitement in the community and around the nation. We’re getting calls from comic book places around the country wanting to know how we’re doing things and other libraries around the country as well, saying, ‘Oh, that was a great idea! Wish we had thought of it!” she said.

Bleak origins

Of course, encapsulating 70 years of history in one presentation is no small feat, particularly with a character that has seen as much change as Batman. Over the years the Dark Knight has seen myriad alterations, from his costume to his demeanor to the tone of the stories he is involved in — strange for a character with such seemingly bleak origins.

“You would think that a character starting very dark, he would stay very dark,” Beard said. “But he’s gone through several decades of being a bright, colorful, run-around-in-the-daytime, kid-friendly character. Which is odd, when the character’s parents were murdered right before his eyes.”

Beard said Batman’s ever-shifting role can be seen as a reflection of the society that created him.

“After World War II, he started to brighten up because of the optimism after the war,” he said. “We go into the ’50s and the early ’60s and he’s a complete science fiction character — he’s going to other planets, he’s turning into creatures, there’s magical characters involved. It’s crazy. And this was before the TV series — the TV series pretty much reflected what the comics had become for several years there.”

The TV series in question, starring Adam West in a famously campy take on the Caped Crusader, began in 1966. Beard credits the series with sparking his interest in the character; he is compiling a book of essays examining it, which should be released in the summer of 2010.

“The contributors include comic writers, historians — three of whom are local writers,” Beard said.

Batman’s lighthearted era would begin to end as Watergate began.

“A couple of young writers come in and decide they want to turn the clock back and try to get back to those grittier, darker times,” Beard said.

Batcave

Gritty is pretty much how the Dark Knight has stayed ever since, at least in print. Beard said fans of any era will find something to their liking at the library’s exhibit, which tries to represent the character in all his forms — the life-size Batcave features touches that will bring a smile to older and younger fans.

The cave is the work of Cliff Upp, one of the library’s graphic designers and the man who also crafted a Daily Planet exhibit for last year’s Superman celebration.

“I grew up on comic books, I loved them,” Upp said. “I wish I had some of the comic books I had as a kid, but those all went in garage sales and whatever.”

For his Batcave design, Upp said that he didn’t try and emulate just one era of Batman, but instead drew inspiration from many different periods of the Dark Knight’s history.

“It’s a blending of a little of everything. It’s not based on any specific look, per se, but it’s based on elements from all across the spectrum. I used things I already had on hand in the workroom and at the library.”

Batman, RIP

It is remarkable how much effort is being devoted to a character who isn’t even around to enjoy his 70th birthday. That’s right: Batman is dead. Sort of. He was “killed” in the DC Comics event “Final Crisis,” although he’s not really dead. Just like Superman in 1992, Captain America most recently or even Batman himself in 1993, when his back was “broken” by supervillain Bane. The heroes always come back.

“It might seem like a big deal to people who don’t read comics,” Beard said. “But it’s a fairly commonplace thing among comic book fans; you just accept the fact that every so often they’re going to ‘kill’ off your character, but that he’s going to come back at some point.”

In the meantime, fans can celebrate Batman’s 70th and toast a superhero who changed with the times and changed comics forever.

“It’s interesting that Superman and Batman were introduced only about a year apart from each other, and the two characters couldn’t be more different, but both were so successful,” Beard said. “At that time, people wanted heroes they could root for, coming out of the Depression, leading into World War II. And it’s still going today.”

“Batman at 70” will take place at the Main Library, 325 Michigan St., from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 9. For more information, call (419) 259-5207 or visit toledolibrary.org.

BATMAN TIMELINE

• 1939: In Detective Comics No. 27, the story “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” is published. The main character is a new and mysterious vigilante called the Bat-Man. In the final panel, it is revealed that the Bat-Man is actually millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. The story also features the first appearance of longtime ally Commissioner James Gordon.
• 1940: Batman No. 1 is published, and the issue features the debut of two new villains: the Cat (later renamed Catwoman) and a clown-faced trickster named the Joker. Bruce Wayne’s young ward Dick Grayson is introduced in Detective Comics No. 38, and becomes Batman’s sidekick Robin.
• 1941: Batman’s car is first called the “Batmobile” in Detective Comics #48. Oswald Cobblepot — The Penguin — debuts in Detective Comics No. 58.
• 1942: The Bat-signal first appears above Gotham City in Detective Comics No. 60. Harvey Kent — later Dent, the villain Two-Face — debuts in Detective Comics No. 66.
• 1943: Loyal butler Alfred is first seen in Batman No. 16. Batman and Robin star in their first movie serial for Columbia Pictures — Lewis Wilson plays Batman and Douglas Croft plays Robin. The Batcave first appears in the “Batman” newspaper comic strip.
• 1948: The Riddler, Edward Nygma, asks his first questions in Detective Comics No. 140.
• 1959: Cold-themed villain “Mr. Zero” debuts in Batman No. 121. He will be redubbed Mr. Freeze.
• 1960: Justice League forms in Brave and the Bold No. 28. Batman is a founding member.
• 1961: The first Batgirl, Betty Kane, debuts in Batman No. 139.
• 1966: The first episode of the “Batman” television series airs, with Adam West in the cape and cowl. A full-length movie is made before the end of the year.
• 1967: Commissioner Gordon’s daughter Barbara becomes the new Batgirl.
• 1968: “The Batman/Superman Hour” airs on CBS — the first animated version of the Dark Knight.
• 1973: Batman is featured in the animated TV show “Super Friends.”
• 1983: A new Robin, Jason Todd, debuts. He will die five years later in the “A Death in the Family” story arc when fans vote to kill him off.
• 1984: Dick Grayson becomes superhero Nightwing.
• 1986: Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” is published.
• 1988: “The Killing Joke” is published, written by Alan Moore. In it, Barbara Gordon is shot by The Joker, leaving her paralyzed.
• 1989: Tim Burton’s “Batman” film is released, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of its time. It spawns a No. 1 soundtrack by Prince and three sequels.
• 1992: “Batman: The Animated Series” first airs on FOX television.
• 1993: The villainous Bane breaks Batman’s back in Batman No. 497. Bruce Wayne relinquishes the Bat-mantle for a year.
• 2005: The Batman film franchise is reinvigorated with the release of “Batman Begins” by director Christopher Nolan. The 2008 sequel, “The Dark Knight,” will become the second-highest grossing film of all time and earn Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of The Joker.
• 2008: Batman “dies” in Final Crisis No. 6. Dick Grayson steps into the cowl as the new Batman.

  — Jeff McGinnins

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 7:52 pm and is filed under Arts and Life, Exhibits, Featured.
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