Perhaps the biggest draw of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice is the prospect of seeing DC’s two biggest heroes together on the big screen for the first time. While they’ll be trading blows in Dawn of Justice, Batman and Superman have a deep and complex relationship that has bloomed over 70 years of comics, television, radio and more. It’s fitting that a movie exploring the relationship between the two superheroes is ushering in a DC Cinematic Universe, as it represents one of DC’s greatest strengths: the shared bonds and history between characters.
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Here’s a few of the many milestones Batman and Superman have reached together during their long history:
First Comics Appearance Together: All-Star Comics #7 (1940)
While most comics historians don’t cite this as their first real meeting, Batman and Superman first appeared together in a Justice Society story way back in 1940. The two appeared (along with the Golden Age Flash) to assist the Justice Society raise money for war orphans. When junior JSA member Johnny Thunder vows to raise $300,000 for the cause, he comes up way short and uses his magic Thunderbolt to help raise the difference. The Thunderbolt summons Batman, Superman and the Flash, each of whom brings $100,000 to help Johnny meet his obligations. In honor of their contributions, the JSA makes both Batman and Superman honorary members, although the two had no real interactions together for several years afterwards.
First Team-Up: The Adventures of Superman Radio Show (1945)
The 1940s Adventures of Superman radio show played a major role in shaping the Superman mythos, adding classic elements like Jimmy Olsen, kryptonite and the phrase “truth, justice and the American way” long before its comic book counterparts. The radio program also featured the first meeting between Superman and Batman in a 14-part serial adventure titled “Dr. Blythe’s Confidence Gang”. After Lois is arrested for the murder of a federal agent, Superman teams up with Batman and Robin to track down Lois’s identical doppelganger, a criminal working for the scheming Doctor Blythe. Batman and his teen sidekick made periodic appearances on The Adventures of Superman afterwards, and even starred in several episodes when Superman’s voice actor went on vacation.
First Comics Team-Up: Superman #76 (1952)
While Superman and Batman had appeared together in several Justice Society adventures, the two didn’t have an “official” team-up until 1952. In Superman #76, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were forced to share a room on a cruise ship and quickly discovered each other’s secret identities. The two heroes then teamed up to stop a jewel thief and distract Lois Lane from discovering the two heroes’ secret identities. While the story was a pretty standard early Silver Age story, Superman #76 not only established the two heroes’ friendship, it arguably was the first DC story set on Earth-One.
First Shared Series: World’s Finest Comics (1941)
Although their first team-up wouldn’t occur for over a decade later, Batman and Superman began appearing together of the covers of World’s Finest Comics, an anthology series featuring stories featuring both superheroes (and other DC characters). While Batman and Superman appeared together on nearly every World’s Finest cover together, the two heroes wouldn’t appear in a “World’s Finest” story together until the mid-1950s. Afterwards, World’s Finest frequently featured Batman and Superman team-up adventures, although the book branched out to include stories featuring various Batman and Superman villains teaming up, as well as stories featuring the “Super-Sons”, the out-of-continuity children of Batman and Superman.
DC revitalized the whole team-up concept in the early 2000s when it began publishing Superman/Batman, a series that focused on the more nuanced relationship the two characters shared in the post-Crisis DC Universe.
First Batman/Superman Merger: The Composite Superman (1982)
While he’s not “technically” a merger of Batman and Superman, the Composite Superman certainly looks like the two heroes were mashed together. After gaining the powers of the Legion of Superheroes in a freak accident, high diver Joseph Meach transformed his body to look like a Frankenstein-esque combination of Batman and Superman, complete with green skin. Jealous of Batman and Superman’s success, Meach (calling himself the Composite Superman) threatened to expose the two heroes’ identities and battled the heroes before his powers wore off. Jeph Loeb paid homage to the concept in Superman/Batman when the heroic Toyman created a spaceship resembling the Composite Superman.
First Fight: The Dark Knight Returns (1986)
Although Batman and Superman’s relationship was cordial and friendly during most of the Golden and Silver Age, the relationship took a turn for the worse after the 1986 miniseries The Dark Knight Returns. Set in a dystopian future, Superman fights Batman on behalf of the US government, who views Batman’s successful turnaround of Gotham City as a major embarrassment. With the help of a one-armed Green Arrow and some kryptonite, Batman brings down his former friend, although he fakes his own death before finishing Superman off so that he can continue his war on crime uninterrupted.
DC released The Dark Knight Returns while it prepared to reboot its continuity in Crisis on Infinite Earths. A few months later, John Byrne re-established Batman and Superman’s relationship in his Man of Steel miniseries, seemingly inspired by the darker tones of The Dark Knight Returns. Byrne replaced years of mutual respect and camaraderie with distrust, suspicion and a fundamental difference of opinion on how to be heroes. It would be years before the two had something that resembled a friendship, and it appears that Batman v. Superman will rehash that initial period of distrust in live action form.
First Animated Team-Up: World’s Finest (1997)
Although Batman and Superman had previously appeared together in the Super Friends cartoon, Batman and Superman’s first “real” animated team-up was the three-part “World’s Finest” arc in Superman: The Animated Series. The arc featured Lex Luthor hiring the Joker to kill Superman, with Batman following to Metropolis in pursuit of his arch-nemesis. Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne also entered into a relationship with Lois Lane, much the chagrin of Clark Kent, who quickly learned that Wayne and Batman are the same person. Although the romantic triangle caused tension between the two heroes, they put aside their differences to bring down Luthor and the Joker.
