May 1st

My favorite comic book character, Batman, made his debut on this day in 1939 (Detective Comics #27.) Over the years, he has become the standard for superheroes, along with his DC counterpart, Superman. Where Superman is light and virtuous, Batman has always been a darker character. If you only watched the TV show from the 1960's you wouldn't get that sense. The best representation of this dark nature would be the 1989 film "Batman" with Jack Nicholson as the Joker. I can't write to the creator, Bob Kane, who passed away in 1989, shortly after the film was released and I've already sent letters to the TV and most current versions of Batman, so today's letter goes out to the man who played him in 1989 and in the 1992 sequel.

Michael Keaton