The Batman I was introduced to and fell in love with as a kid was Jim Aparo’s Batman. This is a Batman that wasn’t created by Bill Finger or Bob Kane. This Batmans was the result of a collective mind. It was a character shaped by the hundreds of artists and writers that had worked on him before Aparo.
Aparo’s Batman is what I consider to be the Classic Bronze Age Batman. His costume looks like cloth and his cape is far longer than his Silver or Golden age ancestors. He has more exaggerated ears and he dawns the bright yellow target across his chest. Aparo’s Batman is muscular but not bulky. He doesn’t have boots with huge treads or a cowl that looks like a helmet. His design sleek with an elegant streamlined shape.
I should note that while Aparo didn’t draw the first Batman comic I ever picked up he was the artist doing the majority of the Batman books I was reading at the time. It wasn’t long after I started reading when Batman: A Death in the Family
Although I enjoy all versions of the character because Aparo’s Batman was the Batman I was introduced to it’s always the first Batman I think of when someone mentions the character.
