The Batman comic strip began on October 25, 1943, a few years after the creation of the comic book Batman. At first titled Batman and Robin, and briefly lengthened to Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder as a tie-in with the 1966 Batman television series, a later incarnation was ultimately shortened to Batman. The comic strip had three major and two minor runs in American newspapers.

Batman and Robin (1943–1946) The first series was written by Bob Kane and others. It was published as both a daily strip and a Sunday strip. This series has been reprinted by DC Comics and Kitchen Sink Press in one paperback volume of Sunday strips and three paperback volumes of daily strips. It was distributed by the McClure Syndicate. The strip ended on November 2, 1946.

From Joe Desris's introduction to the first book of daily reprints: "...this newspaper strip, Batman and Robin,...has important historical significance: It is the last large body of work that Batman creator Bob Kane penciled completely solo...and it contains stories by all of the significant writers from the first five, formative years of the feature’s history: Don Cameron, Bill Finger, Jack Schiff and Alvin Schwartz.”Batman: the Dailies 1943--1944, Kitchen Sink Press, DC Comics, 1990,

Episode guide +The Dailies 1943-1943TitledateWriterPencilsInkingLetteringEditorIntroductionBill FingerBob KaneCharles ParisDC bullpenJack SchiffSentinels of the LawOctober 25, 1943 - MondayTrained Crime-Fighters!October 26, 1943 - TuesdayMeet Alfred!October 27, 1943 - WednesdayThe Bat Signal!October 28, 1943 - ThursdayTha Bat Cave!October 29, 1943 - FridayThe Batmobile and the Batplane!October 30, 1943 - SaturdayChapter I: What a Sweet Racket!Bill FingerBob KaneCharles ParisDC bullpenJack SchiffCall to Action!November 1, 1943 - MondayStarling NewsNovember 2, 1943 - TuesdayMissing: Conviet 56890November 3, 1943 - WednesdayStymied!November 4, 1943 - ThursdayMusic MasterNovember 5, 1943 - FridayNew Threat!November 6, 1943 - SaturdayForced Exchange!November 8, 1943 - MondayA Sudden Disappearance!November 9, 1943 - TuesdayUninvited GuestNovember 10, 1943 - WednesdayThe Cat's Meow!November 11, 1943 - Thursday"Cat-Bird" in ActionNovember 12, 1943 - FridayCaptive!November 13, 1943 - SaturdayNarrow EscapeNovember 15, 1943 - MondayRobin's Funeral?November 16, 1943 - TuesdayA Hot SpotNovember 17, 1943 - WednesdayBlackie's PlansNovember 18, 1943 - ThursdayDan Tack's PromiseNovember 19, 1943 - FridaySearching For RobinNovember 20, 1943 - SaturdayMessage From RobinNovember 22, 1943 - MondayA Trap!November 23, 1943 - TuesdayNo SurpriseNovember 24, 1943 - WednesdayNoisy Entrance November 25, 1943 - ThursdayHidden HeroNovember 26, 1943 - FridayTwo DownNovember 24, 1943 - SaturdayBatman's BoomerangNovember 29, 1943 - MondaySlugged By A SandbagNovember 30, 1943 - TuesdayOver And OutDecember 1, 1943 - WednesdayRude AwakeningDecember 2, 1943 - ThursdayLucky Break?December 3, 1943 - FridayPerfect PitchDecember 4, 1943 - SaturdayPrisonersDecember 6, 1943 - MondayUnknown VisitorDecember 7, 1943 - TuesdayA Tack AttackDecember 8, 1943 - WednesdayBlackoutDecember 9, 1943 - ThursdayFree At LastDecember 10, 1943 - FridayCaptured ConvictDecember 11, 1943 - SaturdayCounterfeit CharityDecember 13, 1943 - MondayRacket RevealedDecember 14, 1943 - TuesdayWhat Next!December 15, 1943 - WednesdayBlackie's PalsDecember 16, 1943 - ThursdayRepeat PerformanceDecember 17, 1943 - FridayOdd CoincidenceDecember 18, 1943 - SaturdayImportant QuestionDecember 20, 1943 - MondayStrange BehaviorDecember 21, 1943 - TuesdayBack To The BackeryDecember 22, 1943 - WednesdayHoodwinked WitnessesDecember 23, 1943 - ThursdayBreak-InDecember 24, 1943 - FridayToo Many DummiesDecember 25, 1943 - SaturdaySemi-Pro CrookDecember 27, 1943 - MondayBlackie Strikes Again!December 28, 1943 - TuesdayRevised GameplanDecember 29, 1943 - WednesdayA Hot TipDecember 30, 1943 - ThursdayNew Track-tiesDecember 31, 1943 - FridayUncoverred HideoutJanuary 1, 1944 - SaturdayAnother BlackieJanuary 3, 1944 - MondayBad Disguise?January 4, 1944 - TuesdayLast ChanceJanuary 5, 1944 - WednesdayFake FelonJanuary 6, 1944 - ThursdayQuick ThinkingJanuary 7, 1944 - FridayThree-In-OneJanuary 8, 1944 - SaturdayChapter II: The Phantom TerroristBill FingerBob KaneCharles ParisDC bullpenJack SchiffChapter III: The Joker's Syumbol CrimesBill FingerBob KaneCharles ParisDC bullpenJack SchiffChapter IV: The Secret of Triangle FarmBill FingerBob KaneCharles ParisDC bullpenJack SchiffChapter V: The Missing Heir DilemmaBill FingerBob KaneCharles ParisDC bullpenJack SchiffChapter VI: The Two-Bit Dictator of Twin MillsAl SchwartzBob KaneCharles ParisIra SchnappJack SchiffChapter VII: Bilss House Ain't the SameJack SchiffBob KaneCharles ParisIra Schnapp -Chapter VIII: The Karen Drew MysteryJack SchiffJack BurnleyCharles ParisIra Schnapp -Chapter IX: Their Toughest AssignmentAl SchwartzBob KaneCharles ParisIra Schnapp -Chapter X: The Warning of the Lamp!Al SchwartzBob KaneCharles ParisIra Schnapp -Chapter XI: An Affai fo DeathAl SchwartzJack Burnley, Bob KaneCharles ParisIra SchnappJack SchiffChapter XII: A Change of CostumeJack SchiffDick SprangStan KayeDick Sprang -Chapter XIII: The News That Makes the NewsAl SchwartzBob KaneCharles ParisIra Schnapp -Chapter XIV: Ten Days to Live!Al SchwartzBob KaneCharles ParisIra Schnapp -Chapter XV: Acquitted by IcebergAl SchwartzBob KaneCharles ParisIra Schnapp -Chapter XVI: Deadly Professor RAdiumAl SchwartzBob KaneCharles ParisIra Schnapp -

Batman and Robin (1953) The second series was written by Walter B. Gibson and was published on Sunday only, in September 1953. This short-lived attempt to revive the Batman comic strip ran only in Arrow, the Family Comic Weekly, which was edited by Gibson. A few of these very rare strips are reprinted in the book Batman: The Sunday Classics 1943–46.

Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder (1966–1973) Although it was credited to "Bob Kane", this series was actually ghostwritten, as noted below. The strip ran on Sunday from May 29, 1966, to July 13, 1969, and daily from May 30, 1966, to 1973. At first, this series was a campy revival drawing on the popularity of the Batman TV show, as exemplified by the guest appearance of celebrities like Jack Benny and public figures like Conrad Hilton. Later, it told more serious Batman stories and featured guest appearances by Batgirl, Superman and Aquaman. A 1970 sequence featuring the Green Arrow and the Man-Bat was reprinted in Amazing World of DC Comics #4-5 (1975). It was syndicated by the Ledger Syndicate.

Episode guide Episode # Fan title Writer Artist(s) Start date End date Inc. dailies? Inc. Sundays? 01DCatwomanWhitney EllsworthShelly Moldoff1966-05-301966-07-09yesno 01SA Penguin with Shark TeethWhitney EllsworthShelly Moldoff1966-05-291966-07-10noyes 02DJoker on ParoleWhitney EllsworthJoe Giella1966-07-111966-09-24yesno 02SThe Nasty NapoleonWhitney EllsworthS. Moldoff/J. Giella/C. Infantino1966-07-171966-10-16noyes 03DJolly RogerWhitney EllsworthJoe Giella1966-09-261966-12-10yesno 03SBatchap and BobbinWhitney EllsworthJoe Giella1966-10-231966-12-11noyes 04Poison Ivy Whitney EllsworthJoe Giella1966-12-121967-03-18yesyes 05Batman Meets BennyWhitney EllsworthJoe Giella1967-03-191967-04-30yesyes 06Batgirl BeginsWhitney EllsworthJoe Giella1967-05-011967-07-09yesyes 07AmnesiaWhitney EllsworthJoe Giella1967-07-101967-11-12yesyes 08ZodiacWhitney EllsworthJoe Giella1967-11-131968-04-07yesyes 09Superman's Missing PowersWhitney EllsworthAl Plastino1968-04-081968-08-12yesyes 10Aqua-BatmanWhitney EllsworthAl Plastino1968-08-141968-12-16yesyes 11Plastic SurgeryWhitney EllsworthAl Plastino1968-12-171969-05-30yesyes The Sunday strips ended July 13, 1969. The daily strips continued and were drawn by Plastino through Jan. 1, 1972, with Nick Cardy assisting on the art toward the end. They were written by Ellsworth until July 1970 and then by E. Nelson Bridwell. E. M. Stout took over the strip on January 3, 1972. Batman and Robin failed to appear regularly in the strip, supposedly teamed up with a new hero called Galexo, who eventually took over until it ended in 1973.Greenfeld, Dan. "Galexo: The Strange Lost Chapter of Batman Lore," 13th Dimension (Nov 6, 2016).

This series was reprinted by The Library of American Comics in a three-volume collection which began in 2014 and was titled Batman - Silver Age Newspaper Comics.

The World's Greatest Superheroes (1978–1985) From April 3, 1978, to February 10, 1985, Batman appeared in a strip variously titled The World's Greatest Superheroes, The World's Greatest Superheroes Present Superman, and The Superman Sunday Special. It was syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate. For information on writers and artists, see Batman: the Sunday Classics 1943–46.

Batman (1989–1991) The most recent revival of the strip, titled simply Batman, ran Sunday and daily from November 6, 1989, to August 3, 1991. The first story was written by Max Allan Collins and drawn by Marshall Rogers. All of the other stories were written by William Messner-Loebs and drawn by Carmine Infantino and John Nyberg. It was syndicated by Creators Syndicate. All of these strips were reprinted in Comics Revue.

Episode guide "Catwoman" "The Penguin" "The Joker" "Two-Face" "Robin" "The Riddler" "The Mad Hatter"

References

External links A Change of Costume (2/11/46 - 3/23/46) part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12 part 13 part 14 part 15 part 16 part 17 part 18 1966 Batman and Robin Comic Strips based on the television show (Penguin storyline from 1966 Sunday strip debut) January 7, 1967, strip with Conrad Hilton Jack Benny Meets Batman Spotlight: Batman Comic Strip (1970 sequence reprinted in Amazing World of DC Comics #4) Galexo Found! Obscurity of the Day: Batman (samples of the 1989-1991 strip)