Batman -superhero and pop icon. Personally I have only a passing interest in comic book heroes but there are many people deeply steeped in the alternative world of pulp fiction. My one friend, Tom the collector of everything, had such a large collection of comic books that he rented from his parents his childhood bedroom  -that is until the weight of 80,000 comic books began to compromise the structural integrity of the house.

Another old compatriot in that circle was Rich. Rich's goal was to be a writer of pulp fiction and the last I heard he's been published multiple times but hasn't yet achieved the level of success to let him quit his day job. Every November Rich would help his friend Al set up a mini comic convention over in Upper Dublin PA. What this mini convention lacked in size, it made up in enthusiasm  Al was well known in the business with is roots going back to DC comics just after they changed their name from National Allied Publications.

In the 1930's many of the comic book companies where started by business men who made their money in pornography -or at least that's what I've been told. Comic books were a way to diversify and legitimize their profits. 

The first appearance of Batman was in May 1939 but November 1939 is a monumental month for both the Batman story and comic book evolution. The November issue of DC comics #33 the back story of Batman is revealed. The young Bruce Wayne traumatized by witnessing the murder of his parents at the hands of street mugger becomes the brooding caped crusader. Other characters already had established back stories but Batman's add an extra psychological element. Batman didn't fight crime because he was morally good like Superman but instead Batman was compulsively driven and motivated by darker personal struggles. This was going to effect how the story of every other superhero would be written.   

Batman wasn't always meant to be brooding and vengeful  The TV series during the mid 1960's was camp humor at it best. A time when painters like Roy Lictenstein made comic book images high art and everybody appreciated an occasional respite from the political turmoil of the times.

In 1940 Robin was introduced to the story line. Sales doubled. Over the years there were always questions about what kind of relationship Batman and Robin really had. It was one of those nagging questions that the Senate investigation on comic books and juvenile delinquency specifically asked as several Senators stumbled with the word homoerotic. The question was never answered but Robin and Batman seemed to be a little more at arms distance after 1955.

As one person put it "Batman is like the Samurai warrior". In Japan the Samurai is the toughest guy at the top of the food chain. After practicing everyday  to coldly dispatch their enemies with a razor sharp sword, the Samurai were expected to balance out their activities and do something delicate like flower arrangements.

So in the future will Batman become totally ironic or ever grow old?

For over 70 years the Batman saga morphed and changed with the times, then almost disappeared only to be resurrected by another generation of writers and movie makers.

Maybe we will always have superheroes because they fill a need that goes back to the Epic of Gilgemesh -where some one heroic and identifiable wins and they defy death ever time their story is retold.