How did you first discover Batman?

[BatKid]

I'm pretty sure that everyone on this board has been a Batfan for their whole lives, or for just a short time. Either way, you were a fan. What I'm asking is, when was the first time you ever heard of Batman, and what made you a fan?

This is my story:

I was young...about 4 or 5. And by then, there was a lot of hype on superhero movies because of Batman: The Movie. I remember seeing re-runs of the 60's Batman on TV, also some other shows like BTAS...and from there, I was hooked. :)

I just loved the art, the characters, and the story. So, pretty much, Batman was my hero for my whole childhood, including today.

Like I mentioned above, everything I could possibly think of, was in Batman. Humor (60's Batman), Loneliness(Batman/Returns), Character interaction and story(BTAS), etc. That's what attracted me to Batman, and I'm sure many people today also are attracted by the same thing. I consider him THE Super-hero, because you can tell this character is very sad and lonely, you feel for the character, the stories are top-notch, etc. Granted, that a lot of other superhero stories have this, but I think Batman has the edge out of all of them. :D

Now that I've told my story, what's yours?

[CadaverousEyes]

I first discovered Batman around the same age as you were, and by the same things (60s show reruns and the movies) Even though I went to go see the first 3 movies in the theaters, and watched the cartoon on a regular basis (until they put TNBA on so early in the morning!@#!) I didn't become Batman-obsessed until I picked up the Knightfall TPB on a whim a few years ago.

[Barb Gordon]

Unlike most people, I can't really recall exactly when it was, it just seems that I've always enjoyed Batman. Course...I can't recall last week so maybe it's not that odd or anything. Anyways! I do know that it was the Batman cartoon that really helped feed the flame of..obsession shall we say ;) When I was little, Batman just seemed to be the coolest thing next to riding horses. And hey, Robin was just beyond awesome! And, through the years that enjoyment for all that is Batman just continued, which I'm glad it has, being a Batfan is just so great.

Barb^-^

[The Game]

I am in the same boat as Barb in terms of when I first heard of Batman. I haven't the fantiest clue.

I watched the '60s TV show in syndication at my Grandma's beach house originally (and even then I though Batgirl was pretty in that purple spandex ;) ), which lead to B '89 and Batman Returns, playing with action figures, and the animated series which got me hooked.

[baggins]

My Uncle who was in the merchant navy and used to sail on the old cruise ships in the 40s through to the late 60s.He used to bring back from the U.S the DC Batman and Detective comics, and I started reading them when I was about 5. Then I saw the old 40s movie serial on the cinema , on Saturday afternoon cinema club.
Hundreads of kids used to go to watch Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges , Charlie Chaplin and catoons. The Highlight was the serial, be it Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers ,Batman or whatever.
Then to my delight Batman came to television Staring Adam West.
So you can say it's been a long time now. :D :D :D

[Watagashi]

I can't exactly remember how I discovered Batman, but my dad was a huge fan of it and, I guess, he just started showing me the cartoon shows when I was little and I've been hooked on it ever since.

[Ricochet]

I was born liking superheroes. I am not kidding. I didn't read comics until I was seven (my sister gave me my first Iron Man then). I didn't watch B:TAS until it came out, because I remember waiting for it to air. All I remember is prancing around in Superman and Batman pajamas at age 3. My parents don't care for superheroes, so I must have been sparked on Superfriends (gasp!).

[BeyondGotham]

For starters, my dad was a HUGH Batman/Superman fan, we had all kinds of comics (until my mom sold them!!) I also remember watching the 60's show on TV after school, then there was the old Superfriends cartoon. SO I liked it all. I admit, when I first saw the previews for the 89 Batman, I thought it looked stupid! But my dad wanted to see it, so we did. Now 13 years, four movies, four new cartoons, hundreds of toys and comics..I'm still a HUGE fan...

[Batmex]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away:

I used to watch the original Tv show(with Adam West) followed by Superfriends when a was little.

[Cosmocat]

Geez, I honestly don't know how I first discovered Batman. He's one of those things, like Spider-Man, that I've liked all my life and has been there as long as I can remember... :)

[The Guard]

Well...my first exposure came in the form of a viewmaster slide. It was a picture of Batman riding a shark from "The Laughing Fish". Then I started watching the old TV show on the family channel, and my grandfather, in all his infinite wisdom, bought me the leatherbound FRANK MILLER BATMAN. On the inside he wrote "POW! WHAP! CRUNCH!" I don't think he read it. Soon afterward I saw the BATMAN movie, and Keaton hooked me. After that, I got a few comics off and on...then got into Knightfall, learned Batman's history, and here I am.

[adoptedBatpuppy]

My friend introduced me to Batman, when I was about 11, or 12.

[ghost15]

i have alwaysliked batman but i only started reading batman comics 6 months ago ;although, i have been reading superman since fourth grade or so. last year my friend told me to read the no mans land book and i liked it alot. so thats when it started.

[peterparker05]

I'm a little foggy on when I started liking Batman. I remember liking him for the longest time. I think it may have started with the old Superfriends shows or reruns of the old Adam West Batman. My first actual vivid memory is when I was younger, my mom wouldn't let me see Batman Returns when it was in theaters. However, she found Batman: The Movie starring Adam West and Burt Ward. I was over excited. This had not only the Penguin and Catwoman, but the Riddler and the Joker too! Soon I was buying an occasional comic and then I saw "I've Got Batman In My Basement." This hooked me on BTAS. My relationship with the comics has gone up and down throughout the years, but I've remained a fan of BTAS and the Batman himself. I even have the first seven or eight chapters of the orginal serial. It's fun to watch.

So that's my story.

[BatKid]

I've read all the stories so far, and if I'm correct, not one of us has seen Batman in the comics as our first discovery of him. We seemed to have found Batman either in the movies or the shows. It's kinda funny, where Batman started (the comics), not one of us here found him there, but in diff. incarnations of Batman. :rolleyes:

Just a food for thought fellow posters, food for thought. :p

[Joe G.]

My first Bat-experience (and this is a VERY murky memory)...

It was probably 1988 or 1989 (I was 5 or 6 at the time). I found out somehow that Batman was on Fox on Sunday mornings at 6 AM. I got my parents to set up our VCR to tape it. That's how I learned about Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson and everyone else.

My first Bat-comic experience (also very murky) was in a plant shop. They had a Batman comic with Robin on the cover, and I was a big Robin fan. I got my parents to buy it for me. It was Batman #424, the issue in which Jason Todd kills a man. It took me months to figure out WHY Batman was calling Robin 'Jason' and 'Jay'.

Those're my experiences. I'm a young'n.

[baggins]

Originally posted by BatKid
I've read all the stories so far, and if I'm correct, not one of us has seen Batman in the comics as our first discovery of him. We seemed to have found Batman either in the movies or the shows. It's kinda funny, where Batman started (the comics), not one of us here found him there, but in diff. incarnations of Batman. :rolleyes:

Just a food for thought fellow posters, food for thought. :p

That's were I discovered Batman from the DC comics. :confused:

[BatKid]

What I meant Baggins, is that most of us here that replied in this thread haven't discovered Batman from the comics where most of us would expect people to first see him, but in the shows and movies. I didn't mean EVERYONE here didn't first see him in the comics, only most of us here in this thread. I hope that solves your confusioness (is that a word?). If not, please tell me what you were trying to say.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that animated pic of Baggins? Did you get that off the LOTR animated film that was made a few years ago?

[Ed Liu]

Howdy all,

I honestly can't remember if my first exposure to Batman was from the old Filmation Batman cartoons (this would be in the early 70's) and the Superfriends cartoons, or from an oversized reprint of Batman #1, which my mom bought for me at the corner store. I do very distinctly remember having the crap scared out of me by Bob Kane's original take on the Joker.

My re-discovery of Batman was due to Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns in high school. It actually re-sparked my interest in comics after a five year hiatus. Miller's Joker scared the crap out of me, too.

-- Ed/Ace

[BatKid]

What was B.K.'s original take on The Joker? From what I've read in his first appearances, he just seemed to be a prankster and a maniac.

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by BatKid
What was B.K.'s original take on The Joker? From what I've read in his first appearances, he just seemed to be a prankster and a maniac.

I think I read somewhere the Joker was inspired by an old silent movie, "The Man Who Laughs." About a man who, on orders of the king, has his face disfigured into a permanent grin.

The impression I got off the early Joker stories was that he was a cold and ruthless killer who used his disfigurement as a trademark, rather than a "schtick." It was later writers who turned him into a prankster.

[Calhoun07]

The original 60's series used to air after school on channel 3 out of Iowa, and I watched it religiously.

[Russkafin]

I guess I break the streak... my introduction to Batman was from the comics.

When I was about 4 years old I used to watch the Incredible Hulk TV show with my mom, and then run around with my shirt off pretending to be the Hulk. Then one day I was with my dad at the grocery store, and there was a Hulk comic book on the news stand. At that point I didn't even know what a comic book was, but you better believe I knew the Hulk when I saw him. I got dad to buy it for me, and after that I couldn't get enough of comic books. At first, dad always had to read them to me, but my desire to learn to read grew out of wanting to read the stories again and again on my own. Of course, mom and dad loved the fact that their four year old son was now trying to read (as well as write and draw), so dad was constantly buying me new comics... Not only just Hulk ones, but some other guys I'd never really heard of before, called Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman. :D

From there, I soon discovered the Batman TV series with Adam West. Of course, when you're that young, you don't pick up on all the camp! You are seriously concerned for the dynamic duo when they've been turned into human popsicles by Mr. Freeze! Then, I must have been in about 6th grade when BTAS started. By that time I had gotten wise to the corniness of the 1960's show, and felt I was outgrowing Batman. But, what the hey, I see they are doing a new cartoon about him, I'll check it out... The 'rents didn't let me see the Michael Keaton Batman movies (yeah, I had the kind of parents that took the PG-13 rating very litereally, hehe), so BTAS was my first real experience with the dark, brooding, "I am the night" Batman. I just about wet my pants. With the premiere of "On Leather Wings," I had rediscovered Batman, and I felt like that four year old kid all over again.

Wow, enough of my essay on why I love Batman. Quick question, though, if anyone can help me out. I actually remember, very very vaguely, the first Batman comic that I had when I was a kid. If anyone can help me out with what issue it is, I would be eternally greatful, because I really want to rebuild a lot of my "early" collection from when I was a kid for nostalgia purposes... (What happened to them? Come on, I was four... NOTHING lasts when you're four!) All I really remember is that it opened with a guy walking into a bank. The teller asks the guy if he wants to make a deposit or a withdrawl. The guy turns his head and we see that it is, in fact, Two-Face! He pulls out a gun and snarls, "Withdrawl."

Yeah, I remember that from when I was four. I don't know why, you remember weird stuff sometimes. Anyways, it would have been from around 1986. If that rings a bell with anyone who knows what issue that is, not only will I be very very impressed, I will also be your best friend. Thanks guys. :)

[baggins]

Originally posted by BatKid
What I meant Baggins, is that most of us here that replied in this thread haven't discovered Batman from the comics where most of us would expect people to first see him, but in the shows and movies. I didn't mean EVERYONE here didn't first see him in the comics, only most of us here in this thread. I hope that solves your confusioness (is that a word?). If not, please tell me what you were trying to say.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that animated pic of Baggins? Did you get that off the LOTR animated film that was made a few years ago?

No , it was found on the google web search site, and it's from a book. I was given that nickname many years ago. Sorry I misunderstood what you were trying to say. :o

[Anarky]

As a young child growing up in the 80s, my first exposure to the world of the Batman was actually as guest shots on the Scooby-Doo movies.

I remember this episode about a counterfeit ring that led the Dynamic Duo & Mystery Inc to an amusement park, where the Joker & the Penguin were hiding out.

After that, I remember racing home from school to watch the old Adam West series on syndicated tv.

And so the seeds were planted.

Then 1989 came and it was ON after that. I became a major Batfan. Then in '92, the animated series dropped, hooking me for life.

Props to Adam West, Tim Burton, & the staff @ WB animation.