The Success of the Batman Franchise and Evil in his City - Case Study Example

DC-Batman Case Study DC-Batman CASE STUDY Introduction DC comics can be traced back to 1935 as New Fun Comics even though it is branding begun the 1940 publications. Over the years, it has undergone extensive rebranding to attract market and to better portray its products. DC refers to Detective Comics, a brand renowned for its legendary production in comics and films. Following the success of superman in the 1940’s DC projected an upsurge of sales in other titles, in its domain. Over the years; 1941, 1949, 1970, 1972, the DC logo has been changed till its current logo in 2005 (Hoena and Kane 2010, pg. 8). All products under this conglomerate bear this brand. To some DC may be referred to as the home of the “superstars” as coined in the 1974 logo or of heroes. Among its most featured productions’ are superman and batman. For the purpose of this assessment, we will focus on batman in the comic, movie and animation platforms. These three platforms provide the chronology in the making of the batman character ever since its inception in 1939 by its developer Bob Kane with the help of his writer Finger among others. The success of the batman franchise is unprecedented with it appearing in many platforms i.e. comics, television series, movies, books, animated series among others. Batman revolves around a caped vigilante who fights crime and evil in his city. The comic, the movie and the animation all follow this storyline and strong links can be found to relate the three platforms. Criticism about the divergence of the numerous platforms in the depiction of the batman character is common. The result of the cross media presentation on acceptance and relationship of fans is a matter of interest. The relation of current productions to the original 1939 comics is of interest. Batman is a fictional story created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The mystery man, based on Da Vinci’s ornithopter was a mortal vigilante in contrast to the superhuman superman (Chris and Scott 2009, 9). With the success of the superman comic, Kane in 1939 conjured a hero to rival superman. Initially, Kane wrote humour stories for Iger Publication Concern and Eisner. There after he joined National Comics. The concept of a heroic figure clad in sinister costume that ironically resembled that of a villain was drawn from McCullys “Zorro” and Walter Gibsons “The shadow." Kane cites the mask of Zorro as an inspiration to formulating Batman. Other films mentioned as progenitors of the batman franchise are, the 1930 film “Bat whispers” from which the idea of the bat motif was adopted and Sherlock Holmes from which batman’s investigative, deductive capabilities and intuition are borrowed (Mark, 2013). Kate, Finger and assistant Jerry Robinson created the trademark Batman elements that are known and loved; bat cave, the bat Mobiles, utility belt and the array of imposing villains such as the joker, the penguin and cat woman. Batman has evolved from a crime busting vigilante to a police confidant with time though the existence of the disparity in his portrayal, in several platforms is possible. Batman first appeared in DC comics with a public debut in 1939 issue of Detective Comics issue #27. Batman comic was produced in 1940. By May 2011, the issues of batman comics released were up to issue #710. Batman encompasses all major media platforms; film, television, radio, newspaper and video games with each media platform providing an exceptional experience in plots, characters and themes. Batman’s popularity and success have made it a worthy project for adaptation in transmit recreation and storytelling. Films are considered to be by far the most popular destination for past and future story world expansion. Three years after the first comic book, batman made its first appearance on film in a fifteen chapter collection of short length serial films with subsequent releases in 1965. In 1966 Leslie Martinsons “Batman” premiered on 20th century fox based on the popular television series. David Wilson portrayed Batman with Douglas croft as Robin. The story line was based on Bob Kane’s comic “Batman." The story is about a wealthy playboy philanthropist and his ward, who in the cover of darkness are a caped crusader and boy wonder respectively. (Kimberly 2008, pg. 8). In 1989-1997, Tim Burtons and Schumacher’s Batman was also released, in 2005 Nolan also released a slicker and more action paced Batman that was a continuation of Burtons and Schumacher’s dark batman. Since then batman feature in radio: the mutual radio network in 1945 “The adventures of superman." Batman never got a radio show distinctly for it. Another hit in the Batman comics was the introduction of the boy wonder robin that had an impact in the creation of other superhero sidekicks. The batman films were created from the batman comics and the batman series. The first series premiered in television on 12 January, 1996 aired two nights a week. Cartmell (1999) expressed their concern that no film strictly portrayed the adaptation of the comic book. They insinuated that current versions inclusive of those that preceded them are free interpretations built around the basic framework rather than adaptation as it was understood. The concepts and characters of DC issue #27 were from the originals whereas the comics, graphic novels and ABC television series and Schumacher’s films are interpretations of templates established by Kane and not Ur texts. The disparity in character performance was seen as a betrayal by Hollowed. Colombia’s release of serial batman encountered a changed tone and appearance of the comic that was altered from Kane’s morbid 1939 creation. Kane dismisses the serial as a typical propaganda vehicle and criticises the casting of the overweight Lewis Wilson (Reinhart 2003, pg. 15). The screening of 1943 serial in 1960 was seen in some quarters as a bad object of misguided interpretation. The ABC Batman series became a reference point for audiences even after the dark Burton films of 1989 and 1992. Animations first featured in short television series called the Batman/Superman hour of 1968-1969. Batman- The Animated Series was aired from 1992-1995 with the release of Batman; Mask of the phantasm, batman and Mr. Freeze Sub-zero in 1998. The animated series were meant to appeal to young people. In 1992 Animated batman program premiered on fox television. It mimicked the dark and foreboding atmosphere of the 1989 and 1992 films and was geared towards teens and young adults. It was more of the drama rather than contemporary action adventure (Kimberly 2008, pg. 10). In December of 1992 premiere of the animated series Began at primetime because it had been discovered that reruns that had been aired at that time had done. Time warner annual report showed that the show was rated as a top daytime show for children between 2 to 11 years. It also had the highest priced advert ever for any animated daytime show. The move of Warner Brothers towards animations was pronounced to bring more than a billion dollars in direct revenues. When merchandise and other spinoffs were considered, one animated movie would likely be a multibillion dollar business. Between 1997 and 1999 Batman and Superman adventures were being aired. The Gotham knights, a continuation of the favoured and popular Batman Animated series was aired at the same time. Later after the animated television series, Batman and beyond was in the network (Owerzaki 2008, pg.5). Roman (2012, pg. 6), cites Batman; The bold and the brave that debuted in 2008. It was an adaptation of the 1966 feature of Batman often paired with another superhero. The animation capitalized on 1960’s batman comic and employed the use of a large number of guest heroes and super villains. Animated series are a product of specific corporate contexts and synergistic strategies. At the time of release of the animated Batman; the brave and the bold a comic under the same heading was released concurrently with the annotation “straight from the new hit cartoon." Batman has appeared in many media; comic books, comic strips, radio, television and films. Solo or partnered with another superhero or sidekick batman has been efficient. The transformation of batman from a comic book in 1939 to being a television character in the 60s to being a character of films from the 60’s to 2008 is a fete. Batman has transcended all scopes of trans media and with each, a distinct brand of allure for the old and new upcoming fans is delivered. Until the 80’s such a collection of efforts to present a story were viewed as being haphazard, and the involvement of multiple partners made such exploits challenging. The challenges or drawbacks in quality due to adaptations cannot supersede the benefits in profits that have been reaped from the diversification in media used to portray the character from the 1939 depiction made by Bob Kane. Trans media platforms provided opportunities for creation and introduction of numerous ideas in the form of characters, plots and viewer experience. The question has remained to be answered, How productive have these media platforms been? Owerzarki (2008, pg. 10), declared the batman return sequels to have received bad press due to content that was considered inappropriate for children but despite the controversy it was popular. Brooker (2012, pg. 5), expressed the divergence of the refractions of the batman character through its many adoptions. The imposing struggle for recognition and market between the older version of batmen and the new versions is prominent. The batman comics run on a different tract, but an occasional intersection with live action movies, the animated series and video games are evident. Will amplifies the pervading sense that batman is ungraspable, elusive, everywhere and, therefore, potentially nowhere. Though Brooker (2012, pg. 6), acknowledges that Nolan movie, The Dark knight has been promoted as an adaptation of the 1939 comic books that distinguishes it from all other previous movies. He nevertheless stresses the challenge involved in the fidelity to keeping to the singular concept of the Batman in the trans media platforms. “Nolan captured the dark batman, as opposed to Schumacher’s Batman” in 1960’s television shows, 50’s and 60’s comics. Reinhart (2013, pg. 2), articulated that, in relation to the 1960’s batman series, Columbia gave batman low priority by subcontracting the filming to Larry Damour Productions. This compromised quality effort to adopt Bob Kane’s original idea for the screen was lacking. The film was unimaginative with cliff-hanger clichés, a flimsy script, and unrecognizable character from comic depiction. Fidelity is defined to have a single correct meaning that the film makers must adhere to, violate or tamper with. Some would view adaptation as doomed and non-illuminating as it argues on subjective, individualized reading of texts (Mcfarlane 1996, pg.). References Ryall, C. and Tipton, S. (2009). Comic Book 101: The History Methods and Madness. Impact Books, .N.P: Media Ohio. Cartmell, D. and Whelehan, I. (1999). Adaptations: From Text to Screen, Screen to Text. Milton Park, Abington, Oxon: Rouledge Reinhart, M. S. (2013). The Batman Filmography 2nd edition. N.P: Marchfarlan Publishers. Brooker, W. (2012). Hunting the dark knight; Twenty First Century Batman. IB Tauris and Co LTD. Roman, Z. (2012). “The Brand and The Bold”. Global Media. (12)20. Owczarki, K. A. (2008). Batman, Time Warner and Franchise Film Making in the Conglomerate Era. Meehan, E. R. (2004). “Holy Commodity Fetish Batman”: The Political Economy of a Commercial Intersect. Thomas Schartz Ed (2004). Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. New York: Railledge. Pearson, R. E. and Unchio, W. (1991). The Many Lives of Batman. New York: BFI-railledge McMahon J. (2014). The philosophy of Tim Burton: University Press of Kentucky. Lexington Kentucky. Hoena, B. and Kane, B. (2010). Harley Quinn’s shocking experience. Mankato, Minnesota : Stone Arch Batman: Primewire movies and series downloads HYPERLINK "http://www.primewire.ag/index.php?search_keywords=batman&key=14405ad3272f6abc&search_section=1" http://www.primewire.ag/index.php?search_keywords=batman&key=14405ad3272f6abc&search_section=1 Mcfarlane, B. (1996). Novel into Film: An introduction to the theory of Adaptation. Oxford University Press Inc. 1996 Read More