THE FIRST BATMAN COMIC – A Different Batman

The first Batman comics were written in a pulp style representative of the times. In these early stories, Batman was not above using firearms, or even harming or killing criminals with little to no remorse. Being a detective more so than a superhero, Batman was more akin to a private eye than a capes and tights crimefighter, despite his appearance. Things toned down a little when Robin joined the Caped Crusader, but were still kept in that pulp tone.

Bill Finger, the co-creator and famed writer of Batman in those early days, wrote the famous origin of Bruce Wayne in Detective Comics #33 in 1939. This issue depicted a young Wayne witnessing the death of his parents in that ever familiar scene. This led to the dark tone and nature of the Batman character. He later suggested that Batman needed a Watson to his Holmes, which is where Robin, the Boy Wonder came into play, much to the chagrin of the other co-creator Bob Kane. Sales doubled, and so kid sidekicks began popping up everywhere.

When Batman branched off into his own titular series (though he still appeared in Detective Comics as he does to this day) he was shown killing two giants with a gun in the first issue. Editor Whitney Ellsworth put a stop to this aspect of the original Batman character for good by decreeing he could no longer kill or use a gun. The first Batman comics featured a cold, calculating detective, but future stories would show his heart and mind more profoundly because of this decision.