19 December 2025
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The history of the Batman comics are fascinating, a major icon for nearly ninety years and still going strong. Holy heroes, Batman! As Robin would say.
The Origins of Batman
It took just under one year, in the late 1930s, for DC Comics to appreciate the success of Superman in Action Comics. The word went out to find another hero. That call was answered by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in the shape of “the Batman” as he was first known.
Detective Comics number 27, the very first Batman tale, was published in May 1939. As the title suggests, this was a more Earth-bound comic with stories of crime, murders and mobsters, not interplanetary adventures.
The idea behind Batman was to create a “clever” hero but without special powers. Bob Kane is credited with his origin but there were bat characters prior to this time, including in a 1930s film with Douglas Fairbanks Jr and an early pulp character called the Bat.
Nonetheless, the DC Comics Batman world was more intricate and was seen as something new.
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The success of Batman
Batman was an instant hit, and he was cover-featured in every alternate issue of Detective Comics until issue number 35 when the constant cover-feature chain started.
Very quickly, in Detective Comics number 38, Robin was introduced (April 1940) as DC Comics wanted a younger version of Batman to hold the interest of readers of a similar age.
Batman soon had his very own title too and Batman number one was issued in spring 1940. DC Comics was fast becoming an industry colossus.
Batman and Robin were soon starring in not only Detective and Batman comic books but World's Finest, and Batman, minus Robin, was seen in All Star Comics as an honorary member of the Justice Society of America from issue number seven until the magazine folded with issue number 57 in 1951.
As Batman had starred in so many other comics his appearances in All Star were quite limited. Not to be forgotten, Robin was also given a short series of solo adventures in Star Spangled Comics in the late 1940s/early 1950s in issues 65 to 130.
Batman appeared in many of the later issues after number 95 as a “guest” star! The early issues of World's Finest featured separate Superman and Batman stories but, starting with issue 71, they teamed up, along with Robin.
Batman the TV Show
Of course, it was not just comics that made Batman and Robin household names. The biggest event was, in fact, due to television.
In 1966, the Batman ABC TV series hit the screens and triggered one of the biggest merchandising explosions ever. At this point in time, the Batman comic sales had slumped and there was a very real danger of Batman comics being cancelled.
Then Batman hit the TV screen and this all changed overnight. The perfectly cast Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin heralded a true “bat era”.
It wasn't only the heroes. The villains were popular too as many of Batman's foes were colourful in themselves — the Joker, Catwoman, Riddler and Penguin in particular. The show was a “must see” and even spawned its own movie.
The Bat toys filled the shops. Toys, games, sweets, bubble-gum cards, action figures, jigsaws — in fact anything that could be even remotely related to Batman was merchandised.
Quite a few Bat-guns were made too but part of the Batman lore is that he never used a gun (except in a couple of very early comic book stories). Some of these guns are very rare indeed. The boom only lasted a couple of years, but it has left a large cache of classic must-have collectables and rarities are almost common!
The best known is probably the Corgi Toy Batmobile. Millions were produced and still are. Whilst not uncommon, nice examples still fetch big money. The more difficult toys to locate are the plastic ones which were less robust and are now around sixty years old.
The original packaging was superb and commands big money even for the empty boxes. Highly collectable too are the different sets of Batman cards issued by A&BC in several series in 1966. The wrappers are highly sought after too, especially the later ones.
To see the extended piece about the Batman fame, subscribe to Diecast Collector (which now includes Collectors Gazette) and see the full piece in February's copy - on sale 2nd January 2026.