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Comics historians know this well, but Batman made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27, first published in May 1939 (although released to the public in March). He wasn't exactly as we know him today, however, as some of the Batman's personal details would take a few issues to fill out. Detective Comics began selling remarkably well when Batman's teenage sidekick Robin was introduced. From there, writers began introducing Batman's rogue's gallery of villains. The Joker first appeared in Batman's first solo comic in 1940. The Penguin, Two-Face, and the Riddler showed up in issues of Detective Comics throughout the 1940s.

Batman made his first leap to the big screen in 1943 with a Columbia Pictures serial starring Lewis Wilson as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Douglas Croft as Robin/Dick Grayson. In the serial, Batman was a contracted government employee, hired to investigate Japanese espionage following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. It seems...

When most people think about the Dark Knight's early days in live-action, they think of the Adam West and Burt Ward TV series (and accompanying film) from the 1960s. That's understandable given its cultural impact and lasting legacy, but the West show wasn't the first time that Batman was brought from the comic book page to the screen. In 1943, just four years after the character's comic debut in 1939's "Detective Comics #27," Columbia Pictures produced and released a series of theatrical serials starring Lewis Wilson as the Caped Crusader and Douglas Croft as Robin, with William Austin playing Alfred.

Released in 15 weekly installments, these serials actually contributed what later became key aspects of the franchise, most notably turning the Batcave from a simple tunnel beneath Wayne Manor to a full subterranean hideout. At the same time, though, the '43 adaptation changed a lot from the original comics, turning Batman into...

“Behind A Barrier Of Antarctic Ice…A Paradise Of Hidden Terrors!” Universal-International laid out a pretty penny to film this elaborate spin on The Lost World, modernized to take in discoveries at the South Pole. It’s a showcase for fancy B&W opticals and traveling mattes … but the featured monster stars are a big letdown — a pathetic rubber costume for a T-Rex and a clunky mechanical water dragon. And the leading lady screams as she pretends to be entangled in a man woman-eating plant!

The Land Unknown

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 78 min. / Street Date , 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jock Mahoney, Shawn Smith, William Reynolds, Henry Brandon, Douglas Kennedy, Phil Harvey, Shirley Patterson.

Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter

Film Editor: Fred MacDowell

Visual Effects: Orien Ernest, Jack Kevan, Fred Knoth, Roswell A. Hoffman, Clifford Stine

Original Music: Henry Mancini, Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein

Written by László Görög,...

"Batman" is a 1943 black-and-white 15-chapter theatrical serial from Columbia Pictures, directed by Lambert Hillyer, starring Lewis Wilson as 'Batman' and 'Douglas Croft' as 'Robin', based on the DC Comics character, with J. Carrol Naish as 'Dr. Daka', Shirley Patterson as 'Linda Page' and William Austin as 'Alfred':

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Batman"...

“Thru the Time Barrier, 552 years Ahead… Roaring To the Far Reaches of Titanic Terror, Crash-Landing Into the Nightmare Future!” … and as Daffy Duck says, “And it’s good, too!” Allied Artists sends CinemaScope and Technicolor on a far-out timewarp to a place where the men are silly and the women are… very female. Hugh Marlowe stars but the picture belongs to hunky Rod Taylor and leggy Nancy Gates.

World Without End

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date March 28, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Hugh Marlowe, Nancy Gates, Nelson Leigh, Rod Taylor, Shawn Smith, Lisa Montell, Christopher Dark, Booth Colman, Everett Glass.

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks

Makeup: Emile Lavigne

Art Direction: Dave Milton

Film Editor: Eda Warren

Original Music: Leith Stevens

Produced by Richard V. Heermance

Written and Directed by Edward Bernds

“CinemaScope’s first science-fiction thriller.”

First, huh? What about MGM’s CinemaScope attraction Forbidden Planet, which...

From SneakPeekTV.Com, take a look @ the first film appearance of 'Batman', from "Batman" (1943) directed by Lambert Hillyer, starring Lewis Wilson as 'Batman', Douglas Croft as 'Robin',  J. Carrol Naish as 'Dr. Daka', Shirley Patterson as 'Linda Page' and William Austin as 'Alfred":

"...'Batman', a secret U S government agent, attempts to defeat the sabotage schemes of enemy agent 'Dr. Daka'...

"...operating in 'Gotham City' at the height of World War II..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Batman"...