-> Ok, here it is! Had to dig my magazine boxes off my shelfs to find th
-> first newspaper strip batman collection. Lets see, beginning on page
-> 4,this is said concerning the evolution of the comic:
-> "The 1943 Columbia movie serial,Batman,had an effect on both the comi
-> book & newspaper strip versions of thr caped cruesader. Announced in
-> trade journals as early as April 17th,1942,the writing of this
-> 15-chapter serial was probably begun in late 1942,continuing into at
-> least April 1943.Ads appeared in Box office,(July 17th,1943)&Motion
-> picture herald(july24)promoting the serial. Bruce Wayne's
-> butler,Alfred,first appeared in Batmen #16,April-may,1943).Since the
-> movie serial included Alfred & existing scripts are dated before
-> Batman #16 would have gone on sale,it is certain that DC & the
-> serials authors (Victor Mcleod,Leslie Swabaker,Harry Fraser)were
-> colaborating.It is possible that the serial writers invented Alfred.
-> In any event,the serial certanly affected his apperance. The comic
-> book Alfred began as a heavyset  character, while he was slim in the
-> serial & strip. The comic book caught up in late 1943.  A serial
-> shooting script(dated February 5,1943) for the first time calls
-> Batmans cave the "Bat's cave" "
-> WHEW!! This serial is sometimes shown on cable,its a VERY important
-> part of the characters history,that is well worth the watching!!
I would LOVE to go into further research of the Golden Age, as far as
how much certain characters have changed and how relatively lame they
were as compared to today!
For instance, there is NO contemporary counterpart to Doiby Dickles or
Woozy Winks, and the golden age Atom had one of the more nebulous
origins and "raisons d'etre"! Remember, this is the era where Robin/Dick
Grayson was given that ridiculous hairdo! (g)
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