Batman’s 75th Anniversary

By Gregg Katzman
4 hours ago

He is vengeance. He is the night. He is Batman, and he's 75-years-old! The Dark Knight made his very first appearance in 1939's DETECTIVE COMICS #27
and since then he's become one of the world's most popular characters.
Throughout the eras, Bruce Wayne has undergone several changes as
different creative minds put their own spin on the hero. To celebrate
the hero turning 75 years-old, DC created a panel to reflect on the hero's history. The panel consisted of John Cunningham, Neal Adams, Greg Capullo, Kevin Conroy, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and Scott Snyder. Let's get right to what they had to say about Bruce's history!

Favorite Batman villain? Geoff: "you can’t go wrong with Joker, I think Joker’s the best one." Kevin: "I’m very biased towards Joker because of Mark Hamill." Neal: Ra’s al Ghul. Neal joked he’s tempted to pick Joker just because Ra’s is tough to pronounce. Greg: humorously said Doctor Doom,
but then sides with the Clown Prince of Crime. "Everybody loves
monsters, and Joker’s like a monster clad in human flesh. Plays off
Batman perfectly." Scott: picked the Joker as well. "He’s not crazy,
he’s just evil. Endlessly interesting". Jim: selected Catwoman. Big fan of Newmar's Catwoman; has Fond memories of the TV show.

First
memory of classic Batman show? Jim: he watched it as a kid and took it
very seriously. "Joker horrified me because he has that mustache
underneath his makeup." Greg: "the very first superhero drawing I did of
Batman and Robin is from the intro to the TV show." Chatted about the
hilarity of Batman doing detective work with alphabet soup. Neal: when
someone fell while dancing and Batman said, “what a way to go-go.”

Frank Miller's THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS
is then brought up. Greg: "that is the go-to book for me. Anybody who’s
never read a comic book, that’s the one I give to them." He then joked
about how he made his son read it and he'd quiz him about it. Scott:
"it’s my favorite book, not just my favorite comic book." He has the
original 4 issues and explained that TKDR was an extension of the way
NYC was back when he was growing up there. "It was the world you knew
and Batman suddenly was real." That moment made him understand he might
want to write comics. Jim: it was his inspiration to become a comic book
professional. His favorite scene is when Bruce Wayne is taking a shower
and he just realizes he shaved his mustache off. "Like the force of
Batman has taken over and is calling him out. Every time you read it you
find new connections, new levels, and new themes that he [Frank Miller]
laid in there." Geoff: "the moment when Harvey Dent gets surgery and he says they fixed the wrong face."

The discussion then moved to a little show called Batman: The Animated Series. Kevin: "I had no idea what I was getting involved with." Stated that Bruce Timm and Paul Dini had to explain Batman's background. Kevin added he only knew the Adam West
series. As for the unforgettable voice, he said that he went to "the
darkest, deepest, place" he could go to meet the show's tone.

When asked about the lesson of Batman, Conroy believes it's "to never ever, ever give up."

Switched to Hush. Jim: "[Jeph] Loeb
made the script to touch upon all the highpoints in Batman’s
mythology." His work was heavily influenced by Frank Miller’s take at
the start. Buff at first, but more acrobatic by end. The change was a
"direct result of going back and looking back at all the great batman
stories." Added a lot of influence came from Neal’s work. Jim commented
that Hush was his pet-project and a loveletter to the creators that touched Batman before.

Lee and Miller's ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN
is then addressed. Jim: "a dream come true to work with Frank." The
artist said he could imagine how Frank would draw it, but then kept
having to remind himself to do his own take and he was the one hired to
craft the visuals.

Discussion moved to BATMAN: EARTH ONE. Geoff: it was "really intimidating because there’s been so many amazing batman stories." Said to Gary Frank
that if they’re going to do Batman, they need to do it differently.
Johns pitched the idea of Batman messing up a jump and suffering an
embarrassing fall. States that Gary said, “that’s not Batman.” Johns
replied, “exactly.” Commented the series is before he’s the greatest
detective. "He just wants to catch the man he believes is behind the
death of his parents." States part of the fun is their different Alfred Pennyworth. “A bit less of a perfect role model for Bruce.” Presented art from volume two of Killer Croc and Batman fighting. “Bruce and Alfred have decided they’ll build a myth that can help Gotham City.” Second volume's about Riddler and the theme of identity. Batman learns to be a detective though working with Jim Gordon.
A "really different take on Croc; plays a significant role." Emphasized
it's a "super different take on Batman. We’re very proud of it and we
have plans for several more after this.” Praised Gary Frank’s work,
claimed this is the best work he’s ever done.