Batman Begins Comic Influences

[BatmAngelus]

Like with the Batman Returns thread, I'll split this up between the comic book influences I know were cited and the ones that could just be coincidental, yet are nevertheless similar.
http://dccomments.proboards62.com/?board=dbst&action=display&thread=928&page=1

Definite Influences
Chris Nolan and company have cited Year One, The Man Who Falls, The Dark Knight Returns, Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale's Batman stories (Haunted Knight, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory), and the 1970s Dennis O'Neil comics that introduced Ra's Al Ghul.

So here we go:
The Man Who Falls?:
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 (yes, the screenwriter of Batman 1989) in Hamm?s comic book story ?Blind Justice.?  Unlike the film, he is not associated in any way with Ra's Al Ghul or The League of Assassins.

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.


The Man Who Falls, though, had him fall through wooden planks like the movie.

And just like in B89, the pearl necklace plays a role in the Wayne murders.

The riots in the Narrows are possibly inspired by The Dark Knight Returns, particularly when the black man criticizes Flass with assault and Flass points a gun at him.

Wayne Manor burns to the ground (though in the comic, it burns down for good).

Lastly, there's 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 first shot of the comic is actually of the monorail.
Then, there's, to some extent, the media covering Bruce Wayne's return (in the film, it is mentioned.  We don't really see it).

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.

The closest is Flass, who, like his movie counterpart, tells Gordon in the police car that other cops get nervous at how clean Gordon is.  He also winds up at a drug deal that gets busted by Batman, gets traumatized by Batman, and ends up getting knocked out and handcuffed by Gordon, though in a different context.

Batman does tie up Falcone, but in the comic, it is as a warning rather than actually apprehending the criminal.

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 escape (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.

Bale's animalistic portrayal of Batman had to have been somewhat inspired by Year One's reference to Batman giving a "growl" that he brought from Africa.

The mention of the Joker ?alluding to a sequel- on the rooftop with Gordon.

Oh yeah, and Alfred looks on as Bruce does pushups in the morning.

The Long Halloween:
This is actually where Falcone's first name was given as Carmine.  I don't believe his first name was ever given in Year One.
Besides Falcone's presence 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":  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.?

Scarecrow on a horse (again)
Batman hanging a man upside down to interrogate him regarding Scarecrow



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 could have influenced the film, I think: Thomas Wayne was mentioned as an opera lover in the Hush arc.

As for the Ra's Al Ghul comics:
- 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?




Lastly, the Batman Begins documentary on the DVD also has this comparison:

To compare with:


Even posters were influenced.  Check out these covers:

[BatmAngelus]

Possible Influences: These are the ones that were never cited, but were probably influential...

Dr. 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 Joker card in the film is also in the comics. It's in Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum in a flashback scene in which Amadeus Arkham finds a Joker card on the ground and thinks that one of the workmen left it. While you can't see all of it, it's a similar design with a jester holding a sceptor.

Then there's the comic, Shaman, the first arc from Legends of the Dark Knight, by Dennis O'Neil that has many similarities.
A few visual similarities - the snowy mountain cliffs with the mentor, the threat of death from the cliffs, the old man who provides medical attention in his shack.
Also, some story similarities with the character of Tom Woodley, who encountered Bruce in the mountains earlier and was believed to have fallen to his death from the cliffs, but actually survived and received medical attention from the same old man who treated Bruce Wayne. Woodley then returns to Gotham under a "new identity" and eventually attacks Bruce Wayne- whom he knows is Batman- in his home.

There's also a cool part in the scene where Batman first appears. A thug fires wildly until he's out of bullets and then looks around and asks, "Where'd he go?" before Batman- from behind him- attacks him. Very similar to the "Where are you?!" scene at the docks in Batman Begins.

Another part I found intriguing was this scene that takes place when Bruce returns to Wayne Manor:
ALFRED: How long will we be staying this time? Long enough to get our bags unpacked?
BRUCE: I'm back for good. Travels are done. At least for the foreseeable future. I'm ready to begin.

Now, here's something interesting- "The Batmobile of 1950!"- Detective Comics #156 may have influenced the design of Anton Furst's Batmobile, but how did it influence the Begins Batmobile's capabilities?
The story features a Batmobile that has the rocket tubes in the fenders- much like what the live action Batmobiles have from the 1960s til today's. It provides "bursts of tremendous speed for short distances." During a chase scene in the comic, the villains blow out a bridge, hoping it'll force the Batmobile to fall off into the cliff. Batman, however, turns on the rocket tubes to cross without needing to use the bridge.
"Twin jets of flame flash out with thunderclap force-- and the miracle car of the Dynamic Duo literally flies through the air!"

Then, there's Detective Comics #0.  I haven't read it myself, but I've heard that that's where it was explained that Batman's gear comes from Wayne Enterprises.

Bruce disguising himself in tattered clothes to spy on the Gotham streets is a reference to War On Crime.  That's the only time, really, that I've seen him dress up as a transient, rather than a hired hood (i.e. Matches Malone)

Finally, there are some possible references to Ra's Al Ghul comics that were written after Denny O'Neil's era.

The story that Ducard/Ra?s tells about his wife could be a reference to Birth of the Demon in which Ra?s?s wife was killed before he became Ra?s Al Ghul.

As for the plot, the story The Messiah of the Crimson Sun also features Ra's Al Ghul threatening the water supply with poison and Batman #400, Resurrection Night, has Ra's breaking out all the inmates in Arkham Asylum (a similar plot happened in Knightfall).

That's all I've got as of now.

[BurtonBatman]

Please sticky

[thecolorsblend]

Not bad as a first post.  Good job.

[BatmAngelus]

What?  First post?

Thanks for the compliments, guys. 

[thecolorsblend]

Yes.  First post in this thread.

[BatmAngelus]

Oh, okay, haha.

Dark Knight Comic Influences coming up...

[Kamdan]

What about Batman Forever's Comic Influences?

[BatmAngelus]

http://www.batmanmovieonline.com/forum/index.php?topic=269.0

[tomstoyz]

Very Interesting, I really like the picture choices too...nice job!