Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When did Batman premier?
Batman is a 1989 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the first installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series. The film stars Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker, alongside Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough and Jack Palance. The film takes place early in the title character's war on crime, and depicts a battle with his nemesis the Joker.
Returning to the Batcave, Batman is contacted by Carrie, who is being attacked by the Joker-like man and now wearing a Robin costume. Batman arrives and recognizes the man as Dick Grayson, the first Robin who Batman fired long ago. Grayson has been genetically altered to have a powerful healing factor and shape-shifting ability, but is criminally insane. As Batman and Grayson contemptuously recall their bleak history together, Batman drops him through a trapdoor into a miles-deep crevasse filled with lava, while Elongated Man rescues Carrie. Grayson clings onto a ledge, climbs out of the chasm and faces Batman. When Grayson remains virtually unharmed by everything Batman throws at him, Batman hurls himself and Grayson into the chasm. Grayson falls into the lava and is disintegrated. Superman rescues Batman at the last minute as the Batcave explodes, and takes him to Carrie in the Batmobile."The Dark Knight Strikes Again" received mixed to negative reviews, with criticism focusing on its artwork, storyline, and character development. Claude Lalumière of "The Montreal Gazette" gave the series a mixed review and said, "the script lacks the emotional nuances of its predecessor, and ... the artwork is rushed and garish", and that it "has considerable chutzpah, but its careless execution is regrettable". Roger Sabin of "The Guardian" wrote that the series has "flashes of brilliancefew can control page layouts like Millerbut in general the idea of the ironic superhero seems rather dated." Tony Millionaire quoted that "Miller did things for comics just as The Ramones did for music".
Batman & Robin: The Chiller was a dual-tracked, launched roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Designed by Premier Rides, the ride opened to the public on June 7, 1997. After a series of setbacks shortly after its debut, the roller coaster closed for much of its inaugural season and didn't reopen until 1998. When it did, ride operation was changed to launch only one side at a time as a result of the amount of power required by the ride's linear induction motor (LIM) launch system. Although modifications were made over the years to improve the ride experience and limit the amount of downtime, the park decided to remove the attraction following the 2007 season.
The Batman vs. Dracula is a 2005 animated movie based on "The Batman" television series. It premiered on television and was later released on home video. It has a much darker tone than the show, and features Vicki Vale (in her first animated appearance, voiced by Tara Strong, who voiced Barbara Gordon / Batgirl on "The New Batman Adventures"). The movie was released to DVD on October 18, 2005 and made its television debut on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on October 22, 2005. It was released on DVD as a tie-in with the live action "Batman Begins." When the film was first aired on TV, the TV rating given was TV-Y7-FV as it was assumed that it was going to be in the same tone as the kids TV series. Subsequent airings have carried a TV-PG-V rating.
Jimmy appears in "The Batman" animated series, played by voice actor Jack DeSena. In season five's premiere, he and Dick Grayson have a back and forth discussion about Batman and Superman from their sides of view. While Jimmy favors Superman to Batman, he is still impressed by Batman's Batmobile.
The New 52 storyline "Death of the Family" references the story during Batman's part of the arc, in that Joker was recreating all of his first crimes, but with a twist on how he did it last time. For example, the news report that plays on TV is a man dressed up as the Joker to announce his next crime shortly before being shot. It is revealed that he was John Claridge, son of Henry Claridge, who Joker murders first in "The Man Who Laughs". When Batman believes he is going after the Mayor, it turns out that he poisoned the mayor's security instead, but instead of smiles they all wear mutilated frowns. When they finally face off at the reservoir, Batman makes a guess that the Joker is going to poison it, and then Joker goes on to detail what would have happened if it played out exactly like last time, but instead reveals that since the people closest to the reservoir would have been poisoned before Batman or Nightwing detonated the viaduct anyway, he took the liberty of drowning the residents of nearby condos prior to Batman's arrival, and detonated the aqueduct while Nightwing was still on it. He not only recreated the crime, he stopped it before Batman did so that they could have time to talk.
Batman's primary character traits can be summarized as ""wealth; physical prowess; deductive abilities and obsession"". The details and tone of Batman comic books have varied over the years due to different creative teams. Dennis O'Neil noted that character consistency was not a major concern during early editorial regimes: "Julie Schwartz did a Batman in "Batman" and "Detective" and Murray Boltinoff did a Batman in the "Brave and the Bold" and apart from the costume they bore very little resemblance to each other. Julie and Murray did not want to coordinate their efforts, nor were they asked to do so. Continuity was not important in those days."
In "Superman/Batman" #6, Hiro Okamura creates a spaceship in the form of a mecha version of the Composite Superman. In a more recent arc in "Superman/Batman", a new Composite Superman Batman was created when Mister Mxyzptlk merged the Supermen and Batmen of several alternate realities together. Startled to be joined together, Batman mentally exclaimed to Superman, "Clark, your mind races, I never knew"; Superman replies, "And yours Bruce, is so dark". This ends at the battle's conclusion, and all the Batmen and Supermen who did not "need to be here" were sent away, leaving only the normal DCU Superman and Batman.
Superman/Batman is a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Superman and Batman. "Superman/Batman" premiered in August 2003, an update of the previous series, "World's Finest Comics", in which Superman and Batman regularly joined forces.
Harley decides that the only way to make the Joker love her is to kill Batman, which she attempts to do by feeding him to a school of piranhas. Batman distracts her by telling her that the Joker had been using her from the start, and that Joker's stories of an unhappy childhood were lies. When she tearfully insists that Joker really loves her, Batman convinces her to call Joker so that he will know she accomplished her goal (as the piranhas would leave no convincing evidence, other than bones and a tattered costume which anyone can fabricate). When Joker arrives, however, he is infuriated that Harley would try to kill Batman herself and knocks her out a window, where she is found by nearby police officers. Joker then decides nonetheless to use the opportunity to finally kill Batman, which escalates into a wild chase ending atop a moving subway train. Batman taunts Joker by saying that Harley came closer to killing him than he ever did. Joker attacks him in rage, but Batman sends him lunging into a burning smokestack.
The character of Batman has appeared in various media aside from comic books, such as newspaper syndicated comic strips, books, radio dramas, television, a stage show, and several theatrical feature films. The first adaptation of Batman was as a daily newspaper comic strip which premiered on October 25, 1943. That same year the character was adapted in the 15-part serial "Batman", with Lewis Wilson becoming the first actor to portray Batman on screen. While Batman never had a radio series of his own, the character made occasional guest appearances in "The Adventures of Superman" starting in 1945 on occasions when Superman voice actor Bud Collyer needed time off. A second movie serial, "Batman and Robin", followed in 1949, with Robert Lowery taking over the role of Batman. The exposure provided by these adaptations during the 1940s "helped make [Batman] a household name for millions who never bought a comic book".
Some continue to play off the homosexual interpretations of Batman. One notable example occurred in 2000, when DC Comics refused to allow permission for the reprinting of four panels (from "Batman" #79, 92, 105 and 139) to illustrate Christopher York's paper "All in the Family: Homophobia and Batman Comics in the 1950s". Another happened in the summer of 2005, when painter Mark Chamberlain displayed a number of watercolors depicting both Batman and Robin in suggestive and sexually explicit poses. DC threatened both artist and the Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts gallery with legal action if they did not cease selling the works and demanded all remaining art, as well as any profits derived from them.
Batman returns to Gotham and confronts Morganstern, the last mob boss on Whisper's list. Morganstern tells Batman about how he and the other mobsters hunted down Whisper because the child murders and subsequent increased police presence were making their operations difficult. When they found him, they tried to kill him but found to their horror that, no matter what they did, his body repaired itself. Ultimately, they decided to chain him up and throw him into Gotham harbor. Batman agrees to be present at a meeting between Morganstern and Whisper at a local warehouse.
In the years since the character met Batman, Talia is repeatedly depicted as torn between loyalty to her father and her love of Batman. However, she has proven an important 'ally' in her way; most prominently, she encourages Batman to return to Gotham City when it is declared a "No Man's Land" (1999) following an earthquake, and Batman had lost his fighting spirit and did not believe he "could" save Gotham.
The live action television series was so popular that its campy humor and its Batmobile (a superficially modified concept car, the decade-old Lincoln Futura, owned by George Barris whose shop did the work) were quickly introduced into the Batman comic books. But the high camp and general silliness of the television show did not sit well with long-time Batman comic book fans. So, when the series was canceled in 1968, the comic books reacted by becoming darker and more serious, including having Batman abandon that Batmobile. Its replacement for a number of years was a much simpler model with a stylized bat's head silhouette decal on the hood being the only decoration of note. The 1960s TV style Batmobile still appears from time to time in the comic books, most recently in "Detective Comics" #850 and the issues of "Batman Confidential".
In 2014, the live-action TV series "Gotham" premiered on the Fox network, featuring David Mazouz as a 12-year-old Bruce Wayne. In 2018, when the series was renewed for its fifth and final season it was announced that Batman would make an appearance in the show's series finale.
Infuriated, Swamp Thing kills Headhunter immediately, singing the same lullaby his father did. He reveals to Batman that his father used to sing the song when he was scared as a child. Batman gets angry, claiming he was used by Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing turns sad because of the distant relationship with his father, and says that Batman doesn't understand. Batman is offended by the statement that he doesn't understand. Swamp Thing tells him that he believed Batman was the reason he came, and because he knew that, he had no reason to stay. Swamp Thing then disappears, leaving Batman alone.
During the 'War Games' story arc which took place in several Batman-related issues, Spoiler, desperate to prove herself, took one of Batman's contingency plans and set it into action. The plan was to get all of Gotham's crime lords under the control of Orpheus, an agent of Batman, and therefore under the control of Batman himself. The plan failed because Spoiler was unaware that the man who was set to meet with the crime lords, Matches Malone, was really just one of Batman's disguises. When "Matches Malone" did not show the meeting quickly broke out into a fight, leaving many dead. This quickly erupted into a brutal gang war on the streets of Gotham.
Commissioner James Gordon tells Batman that three disreputable men visited Diamante earlier that day, and when his landlady entered to clean, the apartment was empty of people. She did find a note that read simply, "You will soon hear my demands" along with an icicle - clearly the work of Mr. Freeze. As the meeting continues, Freeze telephones, and informs the commissioner, Chief Miles O'Hara, and Batman and Robin of his terms: for the safe release of Paul Diamante, he demands Batman in exchange and Batman agrees to come to Mr. Freeze.
Batman is eventually captured by Chill, who unmasks the unconscious crimefighter, but does not recognize him, because Batman applied elaborate makeup and hair dye to alter his physiognomy. Chill subjects Batman to a video reel and a hallucinogenic drug that reduces Batman to a quivering wreck suffering from survivor's guilt. Chill has Batman posed at the top of a tall pedestal overlooking a pool of acid, forcing him to watch a video where a young boy's parents are killed in front of him and then the boy subsequently thanks God he did not die himself, hoping that Batman will kill himself from the resulting guilt. When Marcia, who saw her father as nothing more than a thug who abused her mother, and cared nothing for the revenge plot, attempts to double cross Chill in order to deliver Batman to mob boss Morgan Jones, Chill slashes Marcia, apparently killing her. Robin arrives on the scene and coaxes Batman out of his hallucinogenic haze, spurring him to break free of his bonds. Batman and the Reaper fight, and Batman emerges victorious. As Batman holds the unmasked Chill over the acid pool, urged by Robin to drop him in, Chill's son Joey reveals himself and his father's identity. Deciding to act on the indecision that he faced when he had Joe Chill at his mercy years earlier, Bruce spares Chill Jr.'s life, reflecting that what began with Joe Chill and Thomas Wayne should end with their 'grandsons' of Joey and Dick. After the police arrive and Chill is taken away in an ambulance, Batman goes to a bridge and discards Joe Chill's firearm into the ocean.
Film director Tim Burton—who had directed the 1989 Batman film and its first sequel—felt Nolan "captured the real spirit that these kind of movies are supposed to have nowadays. When I did "Batman" twenty years ago, in 1988 or something, it was a different time in comic book movies. You couldn't go into that dark side of comics yet. The last couple of years that has become acceptable and Nolan certainly got more to the root of what the "Batman" comics are about."
In 1999, a futuristic spin-off series titled "Batman Beyond" premiered on The WB, featuring a teenager named Terry McGinnis taking on the duties of Batman under the guidance of an elderly Bruce Wayne. Then in 2001, the "Justice League" animated series premiered on Cartoon Network, featuring Batman as one of the founding members of the League. This was continued in 2004 by "Justice League Unlimited", featuring a greatly expanded League. Many DC cartoons unrelated to the larger DC animated universe, such as "Teen Titans" and "The Batman", also featured character designs strongly influenced by those of Bruce Timm.
David Mazzuchelli, creator of "", became aware of "Batman" manga's existence when he went to Japan for a cartoonists convention in the early 1990s. The Japanese told him about a manga adaptation of "Batman", information he later passed along to his good friend, premiere designer and novelist Chip Kidd. Chip Kidd had been a serious fan of Batman ever since the age of two. When the TV series came out in the US, Chip stayed loyal to the series even while his friends started watching "Happy Days".
Batman & Bill is an American documentary film that premiered on Hulu on May 6, 2017. Directed, written and produced by Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce, explores the creation of the Batman, how Bob Kane was accepted as the sole creator, and how Bill Finger was never credited for his work despite creating the Batman mythos.
"The New Batman Adventures" premiered on Kids' WB just two years after "Batman: The Animated Series" ended its original run on Fox Kids. The animation style was changed significantly from "BTAS" due to budgetary issues. The animators decided to make the show look more compatible with the smoother "Superman: The Animated Series" with which "TNBA" would air in tandem as part of "The New Batman/Superman Adventures" on Kids' WB. "TNBA" was later given the same opening theme of "BTAS" when aired in syndication.