What Is the Story of Batman?

What Is the Story Of?

by Michael Burgan

His aliases include the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and World's Greatest Detective, but he's best known as Batman, and he's leaping from the night sky onto the page in this fun biography.

Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American philanthropist and business owner, and Batman, his crime-fighting alter ego, have been entertaining audiences since 1939. The character was so popular after appearing in Detective Comics that DC Comics decided to give Batman a comic book of his own. In doing so, they created one of the company's most successful franchises.

Author Michael Burgan details the history of Batman--from his tragic origin story and his infamous arch enemies--to his iconic depictions in television and movies throughout the years.

Genres: Nonfiction, Batman, Childrens, Kids, Middle Grade, Juvenile

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2020

Reviews

[Megan Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was interesting. I am amazed how many different Batman stories there are.

[Kevin Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to properly gauge, since I'm not the target market, but it's fine. It's a basic, kid-friendly overview of the character and publication history. It hits most of the milestones, particularly in different media, but I was pleased to see it mentions a couple of the most significant comic creators.

Some more historical context and scope would be interesting and informative, which I think could be done while still keeping it at kid-level, as the popular I Survived series proves. Some things that are mentioned just seem random, since the author doesn't explain their significance. Other bits seem like ads for upcoming projects rather than true milestones for the character.

Plus, it suffers from not having actual comic book art or photos from the films in it, but illustrator Jake Murray is exceptionally versatile at capturing likenesses as well as the different tones of the different eras.

Overall, it reads like a kid's book report on the much more rich and comprehensive Batman: The Complete History. But, seeing as how I bought it to donate to an elementary school library, I'd feel fine handing it to an 8-12-year-old kid who loves and wants to learn more about Batman. I just don't think it captures enough of the magic of the character to serve as the best jumping-on point.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman is one cool crime fighter.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the Who-HQ line of books, "What is the Story" is the newest line of young reader nonfiction books. This one focuses on Batman, his conception with Bob Kane's comics up to the more recent Zach Snyder Justice League.
While Batman has some dark story lines through the years, this book keeps it kid-friendly and glosses over some of the messier history. The information doesn't go too in-depth or complex making this an ideal book for readers as young as 3rd grade to as old as maybe 6th.

I picked this up and read it in order to add it to my own classroom library. It certainly is easy to follow and I think young Batman fans will quickly consume its content.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy History of Batman, Batman! How does this guy know so much about you?

For someone who grew up watching the animated series, the live action films and as an adult, fell in love with the 1960's Adam West version, I thought I knew Batman, but I was very impressed by the information this book provided.

Did you know...Alfred hasn't always been in the series?
Did you know...there was a girl Robin?
Read on and discover all of the cool things about Batman's creators and those who have taken wing as the Dark Knight in his many incarnations.

Filled with wonderful facts and cool insight into the Bat Cave, Batman is arguably one of the best heroes.

[Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the Who was/is? children's nonfiction series this book focuses on the history of Batman. Starting as a comic book hero of the late 1930s then becoming a movie serial in the 40s and a hit TV show in the 1960s. It also examines changes to the comic book character and when Robin, Bat Woman and Bat Girl were added. A chapter examines the various Batman villains. The last part of the book looks at the recent Batman movies and animated series from the last 30 years. A must read for kids who are fans of Batman and want to learn more about the hero's origins.

[Goddess of Chaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Using his brains and his great strength, Batman solves the case."

This book offers a nice history of Batman, highlighting his evolution as a character... the introduction of the boy wonder (and why), of Alfred... and the various tones the story/character has had.

The author does a nice job of helping the reader to understand the collaborative nature of Comics, concepts like origin stories, as well as showcasing the differences of the major villains Batman went up against and what made them stand apart as characters.

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se trata de una interesante introducción al personaje de Batman en los comics, la televisión y el cine, con algunos datos interesantes, por ejemplo que Alfred, el mayordomo no apareció por primera vez en los comics, sino en la primera película serial; que Batichica fue creada para el programa de televisión y que antes que ella hubo una Batwoman que fue creada en los cómics y cosas así. Corto, conciso y divertido con muy buenas ilustraciones.

[CL]

Created by Bob Kane (artist) and Bill Finger (writer). Design inspired by Leonardo de Vinci’s drawings of a flying machine. First appeared in Detective Comics No. 27 (later known as DC). His sidekick is Robin and frequent villains are Riddler, Joker, Catwoman and Penguin. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns took darker tones.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Batman is my favorite superhero. That being said, I have to admt that I found out many facts about him that I did not know. Even though I m well above the targeted age group, I found the book very interesting!

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for me and a great read for my children. I thought I knew a lot about Batman, but there was so many little nuggets of information in here that were just fantastic that you never really know about.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

informational

[Karthika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of fun and enjoyment.

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

II like that Batman is called dark Knight.I like the Batman has a utility belt . It’s a really good book

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Vani Ghanate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read to get an idea of how popular Batman is. Now I feel like watching his movies myself.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students loved this book! Really enjoyable and easy to understand. Kept their attention too!

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is exactly what is says on the title.

[Oscar Ramirez]

i love this series. the artwork is always on point and the story telling is always fun, so you can read an entire series in an entire day.
fun series, get acquainted with it

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had a lot of background info that I never knew about Batman!

[Michelle Tremblay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed that there was no mention of Kevin Conroy as the voice of the Animated Batman. He is Iconic and should have been included.

[Kera Mitchell]

Lucas talked me into checking this one out from the library. I was surprised at age 4 that he wanted to sit down with me and read this!

[Matt Castello · Rating 4 out of 5]

A "super" swift (no pun intended), yet engaging and informative read on the Dark Knight, the Man Behind the Cowl. Lots of neat pictures and graphics too.

[Jesse McCullar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book! It had many interesting details such as costume design and even some details about his villains. His mask was inspired by Zorro and his cape was inspired by early flight mechanisms that looked like bat wings. I also learned that some of his villains were inspired by movie takes of the Bat-Man tale, even Alfred was first made in a movie adaptation and not in the comics until after the movie. I give it three stars because it isnt my book thief and non-fiction is realy not my style.

[Shahd Rdawi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen to it along with book at Audible 59minutes .
Second reading all by myself with passion after watching the dark-night series finally !! It took me 15years since first release !!