From the Basic Comics about Batman.

Several weeks ago, I wanted to see what Batman comics and their characters were in the introduction before they extended into all kind multiverses and franchises. But these comics were the regular series and from there was a question how long I could keep reading. It was the issue 27 of May 1939 of Detective Comics in which the caped crusader appeared.

I have the adoration to Batman in original comics (it was with the article 'the' for some period) from the design of his suit: long ears and a triangle cover of the upper part of face, and his method of fighting the crime. He could kill mobsters and threatened to do that by putting them on the edge of death during interrogations when he wanted to get answers. It was lovable to see him alone without Alfred and Robin, he is only familiar with Commissionaire Jim Gordon as Bruce Wayne, and the dark knight was forced to escape from police who perceived him as a danger and could start to shoot at him.

No less fascinating was to watch at the transformation of heroes and the world. Batman gets wounded in his second issue (Detective Comics 28, June 1939), and later he improves his suit by embedding a bulletproof vest. From the very beginning Batman drives a car, which was some red hunchback automobile typical for these times. A few issues later, you see the forward part is extended and it starts to remind the future batmobile. The introduction of the batarang (the initial spelling was “baterang” when it appeared in Detective Comics 31, September 1939) and the first flying machine – a hybrid of a hang-glider and a helicopter, called batgyro (it was in the same issue), and it is interesting to see such thing in this period.

NB. The first practical helicopter was Focke-Wulf Fw 61 in 1936. It was invented in Germany.

However, just first two issues (Detective Comics 27-28, May and June) have flawless excellent screenplays where the hero fights variable mobsters. Afterward, the series weakens and ends up, as assumed, in commercialism. Eventually, I couldn't read and jumped in time and pages. The comics already went down by their original writers in that they didn't think about reasonability in the plots and how to get the hero out from the own created dangerous situations. The chronological and attentive reading was finished on a confrontation with the Monk (Detective Comics 31-32, September and October 1939)–his first masked supervillain– who can hypnotize anybody from any distance. Instead of keeping his fiancée, Julie Madison, away from a maniac, Batman thinks as reasonable that she should still follow her trace and arrive in Hungary, where the evil man waiting her. The caped crusader's mind will become under control of the Monk, but it will stop at the moment of death threat without point.

Almost every issue already had that Batman is trapped by a villain, and either it has some thing that gives him a way out–and it flabbergasts every time that evildoer misses this obvious detail–or an accident that always unacceptable because it's basing on luck or prevention again, or another–the third potboiler variant–is that the monstrous machine breaks. I got tired by having an entrapment for many times.

The other feature that became a sad trademark in Batman comics is this: you see a picture in which Batman overcomes in fight with a foe, but the next image shows that he gets a punch from an impossible position in that situation, and it puts the caped crusader on the ground.

Dark knight’s detective skills are built on lucky accidents and almost guessing from nowhere. It was already in his first encounter with supervillain who was Dr. Death (Detective Comics 29-30, July and August 1939) when he, as Bruce Wayne, drives his car and notices a familiar henchman who goes on the execution of the order.

I always loved that Batman has many grandiose villains. They have startling characteristics, backgrounds, and abilities. The early comics hadn’t monsters, mutants, and anything superhuman while villains were usually without mask or suit, but they had imposing facial features, which were about beard and wearing something on eyes. That made their appearances too noticeable and too villainy. Some of these men became regular later, and there were those who didn’t cover faces in introduction, as it was Deadshot (Batman 59, June 1950)–he was a magician with a usual robber bandage on eyes. I never liked Clayface because that pile of mud on look couldn’t be serious and more belongs to one-shot bad guys. I hadn’t wish to learn about all incarnations, though I was supposed to do. The first version was opposite from the rest. It was Basil Karlo (Detective Comics 40, June 1940) who is B-flick actor known for playing a maniac Clayface, becomes frustrated about production of a remake without his involvement and he decides to kill the leading actress Julie Madison. His motives aren’t serious and make him as an insane man, but that background and origin are fantastic. Unfortunately, the screenplay of had aforementioned shortcomings. This version of Clayface didn’t become popular (comic book companies already made orientation on that) and he stopped appearing (the later monster incarnations committed a vice versa in likeability). This villain was a standing out because personalities of criminals usually weren’t unique in that period of the Batman comics. I only saw unchangeable masterminds in robbery with imposing facial look, as it was Hugo Strange (Detective Comics 36, February 1940). He had zero difference, appeared in two more comics (Batman 1, the second quarter of 1940 and Detective Comics 46, December 1940) where in the end he is getting killed by falling from a height. That regular criminal with a generic imposing facial look that was in XIX century features (beard around chin and round glasses) didn’t intend to be a constant character. He was resurrected from nowhere–a typical thing in comics and nobody cares about the impossibility–in the seventies and the public raised his favor to him. It is woeful, Dr. Death didn’t deserve that credit because his appearance is pleasant to watch and his background is solidly elaborated, including knowledge in chemistry and gases. These aspects make him a big personality and an evil fitting to the main enemies of Batman. He thought about money, but it wasn’t hackneyed because he was a first in comics (besides, he wanted to get them through blackmailing). It was later when a villain after villain showed the same stealing ambitions, which became another tiresome that I had from reading and wishing to drop. Dr. Death also has some abilities that preceding Scarecrow (World’s Finest Comics 3, September 1941). He reappears in the eighties (Batman 345, March 1982 and Detective Comics 512, March 1982), but that didn’t bring the popularity despite he demonstrated that he is an inventive and powerful evildoer.

I headed to the issues that presented the most famous villains. The unchanging quality of screenplays didn’t let to complete every time. Nevertheless, the first coming of Joker (Batman 1, Spring 1940 – it was released in April 24) disclosed a delight personality in that he already was his classic. It is grievous that the damned show of 90s killed his madness by introducing Harley Quinn who isn’t credible in any her abilities (though she hasn’t anything frightening) and, personally, her voice is squeezing ears (perhaps, it is the only thing that could hurt Batman, but nobody tried to elaborate in that direction). The dark knight in his fight with Joker considers him as a worthy opponent, but he gets that neutralizing kick from the impossible angle again when it looked that he defeats the white-faced bad guy. The introduction of Joker already depicts he knows some fighting, but he isn't stronger than Batman.

I had clarity with origin of Two-Face (Detective Comics 66, August 1942) in that attempted reading in which detective skills were shown in that one tire of Harvey’s car was shot and he reached his lair leaving the trace, and you wonder why the driver didn’t feel that something is not right with his vehicle. Anyway, he didn't become insane – the ex-district attourney just changed his lifestyle because an incident with acidity deprived his attractive look.

The incredible villains were without imposing plans in their origins. Riddler (Detective Comics 140, October 1948) traps Batman and Robin in a glass labyrinth that he is going to explode, but the heroes just break the accidental window that is one that capable to destroy and escape while the baddie trapped himself initially, but the explosion wasn’t harmful for him and it wouldn’t for protagonists. Poison Ivy (Batman 181, June 1966) didn’t do anything intricate in the final confrontation. Just tried to kiss Batman, who gets a reminding from Robin about danger of her lips. He wasn’t hypnotized and knows she is a criminal because chases her from the first pages of the story. The caped crusader rejects her, Poison Ivy escapes and he simply throws a batarang to stop her.

Appearance of the first Robin–also known as Dick Grayson (Detective Comics 38, April 1940)–a teenager who easily became a companion of Batman did turning comics into less cruel, pacifistic and oriented toward children auditorium. The caped crusader tries to avoid to slay people to that time. It kept for the next two decades, and also was the influence of the sixties show in which the protagonist doesn’t have bad habits and following the driving rules is important for him and his partner Robin. It changed in the seventies when the writer became Dennis O’Neal who took away all non-mature elements and brought darkness and cruelty into the comics. It was the man who is the author of Arkham Asylum (Batman 258, October 1974) and the League of Assassins (Detective Comics 405, November 1970) with its main members Ra’s al Ghul (Batman 232, June 1971) and Talia al Ghul (Detective Comics 411, May 1971). Still, Batman was without a piece of antiheroic, as he had in the original issues. The dark knight carried on to avoid the killing of criminals. Nevertheless, the screenplays quality had the same flows and stereotypes after these improvements.

Talia al Ghul is the most attractive lady in the Batman universe. I would marry her, though I don’t like much that her deranged father wants to reshape the world that could lead to erasure of billions of lives, or whatever else a global and harmful he plans every time… but all that was before I saw Stunning Italian Lady. Anyway, it makes strange that Talia doesn’t wield any fighting and weaponry techniques in her first issues despite she is from the League of Assassins. But it would be incorrect to seek the understanding in these comic books. I was familiar with some of stories under O’Neal before and read in places in these recent times to remind myself the plots. There were screenplays with potential but, as it was before, they had debacle.

I looked into some later issues of Batman comics, but I had enough of that pointless commercialism.