Batman Begins Comic Book Influences

[Timothy]

So far, we know that the film was officially inspired by "The Man Who Falls" Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns, and Year One...

But are there more stories that were utilized for this film? If there were, which ones were featured and why?

[Jack Napier]

I knew this day would come...

...you're killing me, Tim, lol.

Okay, to start off, I’ll elaborate on the ones that Tim mentioned:

“The Man Who Falls”:
I find it curious that Nolan and Goyer say that the events before Year One was a story that “had never been told before.” It was told in this comic. The DVD documentary even has them credit it and compare-
Bruce encountered the homeless
Bruce hikes up a mountain to reach a monastery, where he’ll be trained how to fight.
Bruce ends up growing a beard out of this!:



Henri Ducard was introduced and created by Sam Hamm in Hamm’s comic book story “Blind Justice.”
The events of Ducard training Bruce are essentially summarized in “The Man Who Falls.”
While Ducard in the film is Ra’s, I personally find him closer to the actual Henri Ducard. Being larger in size than Bruce Wayne (Ra’s, to me, looks like Batman’s equal in stature) and having a moustache.
His zero tolerance of criminals (evident in his willingness to kill, without mercy) sets him at odds with Bruce and ends the latter’s training under Ducard.
In “Blind Justice,” Ducard also mentions that he was impressed by Bruce’s fighting skills, which happens in the film as well (“Tiger! Ju-Jitsu!”).
In the present day part of the story, Ducard first makes his appearance in Gotham known to Bruce by going to Wayne Manor.

The Dark Knight Returns:
While it’s in “The Man Who Falls” and mentioned in Year One, I believe it was The Dark Knight Returns that introduced the idea that young Bruce Wayne fell into the cave as a child and was haunted by the bats that swarmed at him.


Other than that, the fact that Batman has a tank as a Batmobile is probably taken from The Dark Knight Returns, although the designs are obviously different.



Year One:
The level of the corrupt in the city that is controlled by Carmine Falcone (and enforced by the characters of Flass and Loeb). Even if none of these characters really resembled much of their counterparts.
Batman using a sonic emitter from the heel of his boot to summon bats to attack the SWAT team and distract them as he makes his mistake (which then leads to a chase between police cars and Batman himself). Let’s also note that Gordon has to get a wounded person to safety:


The swarm of bats against the sky in that scene could’ve inspired the opening:


The use of the Bat-Glider had to have influenced Batman Returns in having Batman’s cape become the glider. Batman Begins is probably influenced by both in explaining the background behind it (even if Returns isn’t in the same continuity) and having Batman use it more.
The mention of the Joker –alluding to a sequel- on the rooftop with Gordon.

[Jack Napier]

Well, let’s start off the new ones with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s comics. I find it interesting that on the DVD, The Long Halloween is solely credited when the most influential had to be the story “Fears” from a Legends of the Dark Knight issue. The DVD featurette even uses part of “Fears” in talking about “The Long Halloween.”

The Long Halloween:
Besides the presence of Carmine Falcone and having him briefly work with Scarecrow-
Scarecrow on a horse upon escaping Arkham:



Dark Victory:
Batman hanging Riddler upside down to interrogate him.
Scarecrow putting fear toxin in kids' toys
Somethine to note here is that in the original draft, Falcone confronted Batman with the shotgun in the dock area and popped the question. Batman would turn around, revealing shotgun rounds from Falcone's gun in his hands before saying "I'm Batman." In Dark Victory, something similar happens with Tony Zucco and the gun he hides in his office

Haunted Knight- "Fears":
Scarecrow on a horse (again)
Batman hanging a man upside down to interrogate him regarding Scarecrow
i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/BatmAngelus/batmanupsidedown6br_1.jpg [/IMG]


Fire coming out of Scarecrow's eyes as a result of a hallucination (unfortunately I can’t find the panel online)

The line "Dr. Crane isn't here right now. But if you'd like to make an appointment..."
The general story: So basically, we start out in a room with a bunch of criminals. The lights go out. A crook says "It's--The B-Batman!" (okay, not exactly what happens in the movie). Batman beats the crap out of people...and then later on, he does the same to Scarecrow. Gordon comes to arrest Scarecrow. Batman returns home and gets dressed in a tux to attend a party that's at Wayne Manor. Two guards watch Scarecrow and he later escapes while Bruce is at the party. Hmm.

Heck, even Loeb’s Hush influenced the film, I think: Thomas Wayne was mentioned as an opera lover in the Hush arc.

[Jack Napier]

In terms of modern comics, the Batman Begins documentary on the DVD also has this comparison:

To compare with:


Even posters were influenced. Check out this cover:



Let’s go to the villains and some older comics…

I think some of the Ra's Al Ghul appearances in the seventies or so made an influence:
- In his first appearance, he had a base in the Himalayas, tricked (or attempted to trick) Bruce/Batman into helping him while hiding his own intentions, and used a decoy Demon's Head.
- Another comic had him gassing the city. He wore a small gas mask that fit right over his mouth, looking similar to the one in Begins.

You’ll have to take my word on this one since I can’t find the panel online.
- The first time the League of Assassins (league of Shadows in the movie) appeared, it had the Sensei in charge, even though it was Ra’s’s gang. The Sensei looks kinda familiar doesn’t he?





Next villain- Jonathan Crane looks pretty darn close to how he looked in his first appearance:



As for Joe Chill: Joe Chill has been the killer of Bruce Wayne’s parents since Batman #47 in 1948. Bruce Wayne wanting to shoot him down with a gun is from Batman: Year Two. Joe Chill being killed by the mob before Bruce can even act is from Detective Comics #235 (although done in a much different way). In all versions, Batman is never the one to kill Joe Chill- someone always beats him to the punch.

The look of Mr. Zsasz (being bald) was from an arc called Victims:

[Jack Napier]

They seemed to have used the original look for Arkham Asylum when O’Neil introduced it in the seventies, which looked more like an institution than the demonic mansion in the current comics:


^from the video game. Only pic I could find, but the production design is pretty similar.

Even some of the original comics could’ve influenced the film (mind you, these are more speculative than confirmed):

Detective Comics #29, when Batman confronted Dr. Death, had the first time Batman was defeated (kinda).
Batman climbs up the wall of an apartment building. Enters it, but then gets beaten by the villains' top henchman. Batman crashes through the window to escape.
Not exactly the same as Batman's first confrontation with the Scarecrow, but a bit similar, I think.

This is more speculative than anything, but Detective Comics #46 (scans thanks to Evil Twin 120 at the BOF boards) has similarities to the last hour or so of the film.
Batman appears and fights thugs at a warehouse.

The first villain to use a form of fear gas (in this case: Dr. Hugo Strange)

(gotta love how the gratuity of the words FEAR! FEAR! FEAR! FEAR!)
The fear gas threatened to be dumped into the reservoir and at the train station.


The villain supposedly dies and falling from a great height

I’m going to have to make a separate thread on all the Batman: The Animated Series stuff that was taken, lol.

[Timothy]

batmangelus said:

I knew this day would come...

...you're killing me, Tim, lol.

Well, I was wracking my brain with topics to post, and just decided "I'll just post the most obvious references..."

Plus, I knew of but couldn't remember the ones from Dark Victory and the zombie one; I heart writing a paper and posting online near-simultaneously ;D

[Jack Napier]

I find it interesting that when Katie Holmes was originally rumored to be playing the love interest "named Rachel." Fans thought that this meant Rachel Caspian, a character from Barr and Davis's "Batman: Year Two" and believed Nolan to be adapting Year Two. When Viggo Mortensen was mentioned by Michael Caine as being approached for a villain role, people thought that Mortensen would be The Reaper, the Year Two villain (obviously, that wasn't the case).

But could Rachel Dawes (originally Dodson) have kept the name Rachel Caspian from the comics? Well, they certainly don't look alike. They don't have the same occupation- Rachel Caspian wants to be a nun. And Rachel Dawes certainly doesn't have a father prowling the nights as a psychotic street vigilante with hooks for hands.

But there are similarities:

1. Both Rachels are concerned with the poverty and the evil in the city and seek to stop it. Their concern as well as their actions further attract Bruce to them.

2. Both Rachels hate the persona that Bruce Wayne has. Neither of them truly buys it. Rachel Caspian tells Bruce, "I've seen the real Bruce Wayne...not the playboy, nor the philanthropist..."

3. Both Rachels reject Bruce towards the end of the story.

4. Minor, but in both BB and "Full Circle" (the follow-up story to "Year Two") Batman gives Rachel a sedative to knock her out before bringing her back to shelter. Both of them later wake up in their bedrooms (in Caspian's case...her bedroom at Leslie Thompkins's place).

4. Here's the big part that I found interesting. This is in "Full Circle" by the way. In both BB and "Full Circle," Rachel responds to Bruce with something that Batman later repeats back to her. Instead of "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me"...

BRUCE WAYNE: Are you happy?
RACHEL CASPIAN: Perhaps we can never have exactly what we want, Bruce. I've learned to live with that. I'm content. That's more than many people have.

Just as the BB quote relates to the story, this quote relates to the theme of "Full Circle" about being able to let go of the past and remain satisfied with the present.
Anyways, Batman repeats it right back at her when she kind of recognizes him.

RACHEL: Tell me...do you know Bruce Wayne?
BATMAN: Not well. Why do you ask?
RACHEL: I as just wondering...is he happy?
BATMAN: He's content, Miss Caspian. That's more than many people have.

And then he leaves...to throw Joe Chill's gun into Gotham Harbor (oh yeah..)

Anyways, these may not have been intentional, but they certainly are similarities between them that would've been enough, IMO, to have had the character named Rachel Caspian. I mean, if you can give the name of Commissioner Loeb to a thin, African American man who gives no indication of corruption or sleaze...

[Timothy]

batmangelus said:

I find it interesting that when Katie Holmes was originally rumored to be playing the love interest "named Rachel." Fans thought that this meant Rachel Caspian, a character from Barr and Davis's "Batman: Year Two" and believed Nolan to be adapting Year Two. When Viggo Mortensen was mentioned by Michael Caine as being approached for a villain role, people thought that Mortensen would be The Reaper, the Year Two villain (obviously, that wasn't the case).

But could Rachel Dawes (originally Dodson) have kept the name Rachel Caspian from the comics? Well, they certainly don't look alike. They don't have the same occupation- Rachel Caspian wants to be a nun. And Rachel Dawes certainly doesn't have a father prowling the nights as a psychotic street vigilante with hooks for hands.

But there are similarities:

1. Both Rachels are concerned with the poverty and the evil in the city and seek to stop it. Their concern as well as their actions further attract Bruce to them.

2. Both Rachels hate the persona that Bruce Wayne has. Neither of them truly buys it. Rachel Caspian tells Bruce, "I've seen the real Bruce Wayne...not the playboy, nor the philanthropist..."

3. Both Rachels reject Bruce towards the end of the story.

4. Minor, but in both BB and "Full Circle" (the follow-up story to "Year Two") Batman gives Rachel a sedative to knock her out before bringing her back to shelter. Both of them later wake up in their bedrooms (in Caspian's case...her bedroom at Leslie Thompkins's place).

4. Here's the big part that I found interesting. This is in "Full Circle" by the way. In both BB and "Full Circle," Rachel responds to Bruce with something that Batman later repeats back to her. Instead of "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me"...

BRUCE WAYNE: Are you happy?
RACHEL CASPIAN: Perhaps we can never have exactly what we want, Bruce. I've learned to live with that. I'm content. That's more than many people have.

Just as the BB quote relates to the story, this quote relates to the theme of "Full Circle" about being able to let go of the past and remain satisfied with the present.
Anyways, Batman repeats it right back at her when she kind of recognizes him.

RACHEL: Tell me...do you know Bruce Wayne?
BATMAN: Not well. Why do you ask?
RACHEL: I as just wondering...is he happy?
BATMAN: He's content, Miss Caspian. That's more than many people have.

And then he leaves...to throw Joe Chill's gun into Gotham Harbor (oh yeah..)

Anyways, these may not have been intentional, but they certainly are similarities between them that would've been enough, IMO, to have had the character named Rachel Caspian.

Excellent analysis! I must admit that Year Two didn't immediately pop into my head (I usually just remember it for the segments involving Batman and hand-guns), but that makes sense all the same...

I mean, if you can give the name of Commissioner Loeb to a thin, African American man who gives no indication of corruption or sleaze...

And that, my friend, will be another topic entirely... ;D

[Jack Napier]

Excellent analysis!

Thank you. One of my friends at BOF said that he wished Rachel was named Rachel Caspian and I was like, "But they're nothing alike...or are they?" and then I commenced a review of Year Two.

[Timothy]

Hilarious! ;D