BATMAN (character)

Batman is a comic book superhero created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939 for DC Comics. He made his debut in Detective Comics #27 in 1939 (not long after Superman), and he was soon given his own comic book as well, and both were incredibly successful. While Bob Kane received all the publicity for creating Batman, it appears that the lion's share of the credit should have been given to Bill Finger (and also Jerry Robinson, who created The Joker and many other iconic elements of what made Batman Batman). Batman's "regular" villains include: the Joker, Penguin, Ra's al Ghul, Two-Face, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Bane, Clayface, and Killer Croc. The Batman franchise has spread to almost all forms of media including books, television shows (including an insanely popular show starring Adam West and Burt Ward) and many super successful films (including ones with the new darker Batman, known as "The Dark Knight").