During his career, Batman has established himself as the archetypal non-powered "human superhero". While there's nothing "cosmic" about Batman, his role as a major comic book hero goes without question. Sometimes during the focus on the character, we often overlook those people who have been instrumental in the creating of that individual's persona. While scores of people have contributed entertaining and vital interpretations of Batman over the years, there is a baker's dozen of men who, I feel, deserve special mention.

Being a Batman fan, you know that the premier talent who made Batman what he is, was his creator, Bob Kane. Kane combined swashbuckling heroism, moody mystery, and surreal settings to create an environment whereby his hero could reek havoc on criminals. Kane's Batman appealed to fans who appreciated the fact that, for all his skills, he was after all, just a man. What an experience it must be to create a character who remains a vital part of 20th century cultural mythology.

Bill Finger has been described by Batman creator Bob Kane as "the unsung hero of Batman," and most longtime Batman fans are in agreement with that belief. Finger may not be Batman's creator, but he was there for the creation of virtually all the supporting cast: Catwoman, the Penguin, the Riddler, and the Joker. Finger was a consummate craftsman, who managed to turn out intriguing Batman stories even during Batman's lowest period in his comic career. If you had a favorite Batman story from his first twenty years, the odds are great that Bill Finger had a hand in its development.

Batman had one of the best artists in the history of comics in Jerry Robinson. Robinson's superb use of light and dark unusual angles, and bold lines influenced artists for decades to come. He added dynamics to the style established by Bob Kane. He also added another memorable thing to the Batman mythos; the name of his partner, Robin the Boy Wonder and if you believe his memory, his most deadliest foe--the Joker.

Throughout the 40's, Batman was drawn in the Bob Kane style. One illustrator who proved he could add some individuality to that style though was Dick Sprang, whose Batman barreled across the page. Sprang was always the stylist--his Batman could be Dick Tracy's second cousin, because they certainly have a common jawline--but he added a vitality to Batman art that few have since matched.

Jack Schiff is often overlooked in the studies of Batman's comic career. There is no doubt that Batman under Schiff's editorial direction lacked the  dynamism and style of Batman in the forties or the sixties, seventies, and eighties--but the fact is Schiff's editorial direction kept Batman alive during an era when most superhero comics were dying. Schiff was fond of the big-prop stories written by Finger, Schiff himself, and others, and he had the tendency toward science fiction and gimmick stories--but without his influence, Batman might not have survived through that lean decade.

Julius Schwartz is, and has always been, one of the premiere editors in the comic field; perhaps that is why DC asked him in the early 60's to take the reigns over the Batman titles and try to renovate them to reflect something more up-to-date. His response? Batman's "New Look," which immediately caught the attention of fans (It is amazing what a yellow circle on a costume can do isn't it?) and redefined Batman once again.

Schwartz is the man responsible for bringing in two of the top talents from his other books, Fox and Infantino, to make Batman's new look meaningful. Batman has been blessed with some of the best writers in the history of  comics; when Julius Schwartz was given the editorial task of updating the Batman concept for the 60's, he wisely turned to a writer he had been associated with for years, Gardner Fox.   Fox emphasized the "detective" in the Dark Knight Detective, constructing some of the best mystery tales the character had been involved with. Few writers had Fox's ability to pen the exploits of so many characters and still give each individuality.

1964 was a turning point in Batman's career. That's when the Batman ceased to be a caricature of a superhero and became a believable and respected part of DC's new resurgence. The person most responsible for the visual trend toward greater realism in Batman was Carmine Infantino, the artist who had previously revitalized the Flash as a leader of DC's Silver Age renaissance. Infantino had a bold, clean, realistic style that contrasted with the more cartoony work seen on Batman previously. Fans who were reading Batman back then had only one disappointment concerning Infantino's artwork on Batman; it only appeared in every other issue of Detective Comics, meaning we had to go for a month without seeing how Infantino interpreted the caped crusader.

Perhaps you've heard of "being in the right place at the right time"? Neal Adams came along at a time when Batman very much needed a change. The television series had run its course, and its effect on Batman was devastating; the comic book had been left virtually without direction, running the gamut of campy stories (who can forget the memorable "Jungle Batman",) gimmick villains, cliff hanger endings, and television-inspired superhero interpretations of Batman that had transformed him into a costume, not a character. Neal Adams was the artist who added a new dimension to Batman in 1970. He took this costume and made it menacing; he also gave us a believable, individualized interpretation of the man beneath the mask. It's not just Adam's interpretation of Batman that is so memorable, though; Adams' settings helped establish a mood that almost every Batman artist attempts to convey now, almost twenty years later. Adams made Batman a hero of shadows and night, and returned to the strong "camera angle" approach that had been Batman's visual trade-mark much much earlier. His active "photo realism" approach to comics illustration was quite different than the artwork that proceeded it--and was often imitated by the artwork that followed.

Denny O'Neil gave Batman fans stories every bit as powerful as the Neal Adams art that often accompanied them. O'Neil's scripts returned Batman to his roots as a night-time avenge, and his stories focussed on the bizarre nature of Batman's villains. He is currently Batman's editor, and continues to shape the character's future.

Marshall Rodgers took what Neal Adams had begun a few years prior and extended it into new directions. Adams had made Batman moody and realistic; Rodgers made Batman gothic. Many people still maintain that his interpretation of Batman is the definitive one and paved the way to his present incarnation.

Steve Englehart's period as a writer of Batman was all too brief, but it was quite influential; Englehart developed the human aspect of Batman in a series of tales involving Silver St. Cloud. It was also Englehart who took the Joker and made him a true maniac, a madman whose motivations were often incomprehensible but nonetheless deadly; arguable the true nature of madness.

No examination of individuals of who have had a profound effect on the Batman persona could be complete without the man who is credited for single handedly revitalizing Batman for an "adult" readership. If you say Dark Knight to any Batman fan, they immediately picture Frank Miller's classic series that re-defined Batman for the 1980's and beyond. It provided comics  fans a new adjective to describe the character: apathetic. The "dark knight" Batman was a gritty, bitter, obsessive, internally focused man incorporating the essence of earlier writers, but nonetheless uniquely Miller's. Miller recognized the essential difference between Batman and every other hero and brought that difference to the surface. That difference being that for a period in his life, Miller's Batman accepted the realization that if those people he pledged to protect, saw crime as inevitable and accepted it's existence; why shouldn't he. It can be argued that no other person so dramatically changed Batman in such a relatively short period; just four issues. Yet those changes remain an integral part of our "present" Batman and serve to set the stage for his on-going exploits (although I have to admit that the thought of a 40's Batman fighting today's "Bane" captures a perverse thrill for me.)

Although there are others who have significantly influenced Batman's development and appearence (McFarlane and his capes for example..) none have had the enduring influence of those spot-lighted here. And in any event, whether you agree or disagree, they have all have left their mark on the Batman.