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Hey guys I need some help. Was Batman Returns the first to come up with the idea of Batman using his cape to glide, or was that already in the comics? I can't seem to find any solid answer.

Batman used his cape to glide in the story A Caper A Day Keeps The Batman Away. Calendar Man blasted Batman's mini-helicopter out from under him and so he used his cape to somewhat control his fall.

SN can probably identify any earlier sources. But that's the earliest that I know about.

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Wed, 22 May  2019, 01:57
Batman used his cape to glide in the story A Caper A Day Keeps The Batman Away. Calendar Man blasted Batman's mini-helicopter out from under him and so he used his cape to somewhat control his fall.

SN can probably identify any earlier sources. But that's the earliest that I know about.

Thank you!

This is after BR came out, but a reference nonetheless.

Quote from: Silver Nemesis on Sat, 10 Nov  2018, 20:36
In 'Wings' (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual Vol 1 #5, 1995) Batman uses a cape glider that is visually similar to the one from Batman Returns.

(https://i.postimg.cc/2SDwzn3h/lotdk5.png)

I think the first time Batman ever used his cape to glide, was in Batman: Brave and the Bold #64(1966), so that was over 10 years before A Caper A Day Keeps The Batman Away.

(https://i.stack.imgur.com/B81l0.png)

The earliest example of Batman gliding was way back in 'Punch and Judy' (Batman Vol 1 31, October 1945).


At the end of this story he uses his glider to swoop towards the villain's car.


Which results in this happening.


Good old Golden Age Bats.

Here's another example of him using the glider suit in 'The Strange Costumes of Batman!' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #165, November 1950).


And once again in 'The Secrets of the Flying Bat-Cave' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #317, July 1963).


In these examples the glider is connected to the body of his suit, not his cape. But as others have already said, he did sometimes use his cape to glide. Here's the example colors cited from Batman Vol 1 #312 (June 1979).


And here's another example from 'The Smile of Choclotan!' (The Brave and the Bold Vol 1 #97, September 1971).


Batman's also used his cape as a parachute, as illustrated by this scene from 'The Boy from Outer Space' (World's Finest Vol 1 #92, February 1958).


And again here in 'Birdmaster of Bedlam!' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #348, February 1966).


And once more in 'Death Flies the Haunted Sky!' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #442, September 1974).


There are also quite a few stories where he swapped his cape for wings. For example, 'The Flying Batman' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #153, November 1949).


'The 1,001 Inventions of Batman' (Batman Vol 1 #109, August 1957).


'The Curse of the Bat-Ring' (Batman Vol 1 #120, December 1958).


In 'The Big Batman Quiz' (Batman Vol 1 108, June 1957) he was able to glide with the aid of a giant kite.


And in 'The Plot to Destroy Superman' (World's Finest Vol 1 #104, September 1959) he produced an inflatable glider from his utility belt.


I swear there's a Pre-Crisis story where Batman has a metal frame inside his cape which turns it into a glider, similar to what we see in Batman Returns, but I can't for the life of me remember which story it's from. I can see it in my mind's eye. I just can't recollect the exact issue. I'll try and dig it up sometime.

Quote from: Silver Nemesis on Sat,  8 Jun  2019, 20:13
The earliest example of Batman gliding was way back in 'Punch and Judy' (Batman Vol 1 31, October 1945).

(https://i.postimg.cc/wMJr3bkK/b31a.png)

At the end of this story he uses his glider to swoop towards the villain's car.

(https://i.postimg.cc/jSR1dcw9/b31b.png)

Which results in this happening.

(https://i.postimg.cc/VLQT2mYz/b31c.png)

Good old Golden Age Bats.

Looks a bit like the sequence in B&R where Batman first apprehended Mr. Freeze.

And the first panel of Batman falling from the plane evokes the beginning of B&R, specifically the freefall from the rocket.

We can always count on SN to deliver the goods.

Batman used his cape as a glider in Batman (89) when descending onto the catwalk in axis chemicals to confront Jack Napier did he not?
As he lands he hits a device on his belt.

The device he hit on his belt was the release mechanism for his grapple line.


It's the same contraption he was referring to when he told Vicki, "See that thing on my belt? Grab it. Whatever you do, don't let go."



I suppose he could have been using his cape to steer or create wind resistance to slow himself down as he was swinging on the cable. But I always just assumed Bat-Keaton was spreading his cape for dramatic purposes in the 1989 film.

When we watched it recently in the cinema, but son whispered to me "Ha, I can see the wire".
"You're supposed to!" I replied. "ohhhhhhhhh".

Quote from: Paul (ral) on Wed,  3 Jul  2019, 13:13
When we watched it recently in the cinema, but son whispered to me "Ha, I can see the wire".
"You're supposed to!" I replied. "ohhhhhhhhh".

Funny you should say that. Because I rewatched that Axis Chemical shootout scene last night and that was the first time I noticed the wire.

It's also the first time I noticed that wide shot of Batman swooping down seems to lack the spear gun even though it immediately cuts to a close-up of the spear gun.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZR7GcPc.gif)

Weird.

So... were we supposed to see the wire?

What about the scene where he drops through the museum skylight? I almost cited this as an example of Batman using his cape as a glider – or more accurately, as a parachute – but then I noticed the wire was clearly visible.


Yet when he drops into view, the device isn't fitted on his utility belt. So did he drop down on his grapple line or simply jump? I always assumed he jumped, using his cape to slow his rate of descent like he did at Nygma's party in Batman Forever.

As I mentioned in another topic, Bob Kane once claimed that Leonardo da Vinci's sketches of the primitive flying machine was one of many influences in creating Batman.

Quote from: Bob Kane
I remember when I was 12 or 13 I was an ardent reader of books on how things began . . . and I came across a book about Leonardo da Vinci. This had a picture of a flying machine with huge bat wings . . . . It looked like a bat man to me.

Source: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/19981109monday.html

(https://www.artranked.com/images/b7/b771f9c5a7d9b8ad088707f5d86a03b6.jpeg)

(https://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8jg57A4vi1qa9jwno1_500.gif)

Say what you will about Bob Kane, but if he had never seen da Vinci's work, I believe we would never have seen the cape gliding effect in Batman comics. Let alone in BR and in subsequent media.

Quote from: Silver Nemesis on Thu,  4 Jul  2019, 23:10
What about the scene where he drops through the museum skylight? I almost cited this as an example of Batman using his cape as a glider – or more accurately, as a parachute – but then I noticed the wire was clearly visible.

(https://i.imgur.com/Q7pL233.gif)

Yet when he drops into view, the device isn't fitted on his utility belt. So did he drop down on his grapple line or simply jump? I always assumed he jumped, using his cape to slow his rate of descent like he did at Nygma's party in Batman Forever.

Tbh I'm not sure with this one. Personally, I always liked the idea of him jumping through the skylight and using his cape to glide down, rather than using the grapple gun. I think the line being visible is a bit of a blooper.

I do think having the insert of the grapple gun in the Axis Chemicals sequence was a clever way of them covering their ass. Basically saying if you ever see a line attached to Batman you can write it off as the grapple gun.