Black Bat


The Black Bat was the name of two unrelated pulp heroes featured in different pulp magazine series in the 1930s, most well known because of their similarity to DC Comics hero, Batman.

The first Black Bat

He appeared in Black Bat Detective Mysteries, a short-lived pulp which saw six issues, all written by Murray Leinster, between 1933 and 1934. The character was called Black Bat in the way Simon Templar was called the Saint; unlike the Simon Templar books, however, none of the Black Bat stories ever mentioned the character's real name.

The second Black Bat

In July 1939, Thrilling Publications introduced a new Black Bat in a series called Black Book Detective. Written mainly by Norman A. Daniels under the house name G. Wayman Jones, the stories describe the crime-fighting career of former District Attorney Anthony Quinn. In a clear departure from most pulp characters and heroes, this Black Bat actually has an origin story. It describes how Quinn became the Black Bat after being blinded and disfigured by acid when trying to save evidence against Oliver Snate in court, an idea borrowed a few years later by DC Comics for the creation of both the hero Doctor Mid-Nite and the Batman villain Two-Face. The Black Bat left paper stickers of a bat stuck to his victims, so like The Spider before him, innocent people would not be blamed for their deaths, and other criminals would come to fear him.

The Black Bat and Batman

Both the Black Bat and Batman hit the newsstands around the same time, and both claimed that the other was a copy. The threat of lawsuits ended when DC editor Whitney Ellsworth intervened. Ellsworth had once worked for the Black Bat's publishers and brokered a deal that allowed both characters to co-exist peacefully. It is probable that the costumes of both characters were copied from the 1933/34 Black Bat series which featured costumed illustrations of the Black Bat inside the pulps, although in reality, the "Black Bat" in the stories wore ordinary street clothes. Batman creator Bob Kane always contended that the only bat-like man he had seen was the villain from the 1930 film, The Bat Whispers. However, the Black Bat did have a permanent influence on the Batman: chief Batman scribe Bill Finger called Kane's attention to the wrist flaps, which appeared to be gauntlets the rival character was wearing. Subsequently, similar "fins" were added to Batman's gloves which remain to this day.

How the Black Bat got his abilities

In the first issue, DA Tony Quinn is blinded by acid thrown by a thug working for Oliver Snate, a crime lord, and believes his career is over until a mysterious woman arrives. She tells him that her father is a small town policeman who is dying from a gangster's bullet and that a surgeon is willing to perform an operation to graft his corneas onto Tony Quinn's eyes so that he can see again. The operation is done in secret and when the bandages are removed four months later, Quinn finds that he can not only see normally but can even see perfectly in darkness too. While blind, Quinn had developed the necessary skills of the blind; sharper hearing, more sensitive touch, a better sense of smell, etc.

The other characters

Like many other crime fighters, Quinn is unhappy about all the criminals who slip through the law's net on legal technicalities, etc. and decides to work outside the law in another persona to bring them to justice, and so the Black Bat is born, with Quinn deciding to keep the role of a blind man and later acquires the title of "Special District Attorney". Con man, Norton "Silk" Kirby, a small-time crook who had tried to rob Tony Quinn one night and had been persuaded to stay on as "officially" a valet and this continued after Quinn was blinded. His many criminal skills are a valuable asset to the Black Bat. Carol, a "resourceful and intelligent girl" who is already working undercover in a gang decides to work with Quinn on his secret crusade and last comes Jack "Butch" O'Leary who risked his life to save a crowd from machine gun fire. None too intelligent but completely loyal and "a hulking giant of a man who was never happier than when his fists were flying in defense of the law and in the aid of the Black Bat".
Quinn has a secret tunnel to a gatehouse at the rear of his house which leads to a quiet street, which he uses as the Black Bat. This is necessary not just because of criminals who want him dead but because of the police too as he works outside the law. Friend to Quinn, the bulky lieutenant, Captain McGrath who is so honest he would turn in his own mother if she did something wrong is also enemy of the Black Bat. He suspects they are one and the same and often tries to prove it, with tricks, even once having a doctor examine Quinn's eyes. While Quinn can see perfectly, he can also make his eyes appear like those of a blind person and even a doctor is fooled. Quinn usually turns the tables on McGrath, making him look foolish in his attempts to prove he is the Black Bat.

Pulp hero

Covers of the Black Book Detective where Black Bat was the main story with some back-up stories were normally dark and featured a crime being committed while in the background shadows is the symbolic face of a brooding Black Bat looking on. Few covers broke with this tradition, like #27 where the Black Bat is seen being attacked by a huge dog and a knife wielding woman.
Unlike many heroes of the pulps, the Black Bat did not come up against the fantastic but battled ordinary criminals who prey on the weak and helpless. The stories were detective stories too with the criminal and details revealed in the last pages by Quinn. Issue 7 has the Black Bat fighting against a gang of arsonists burning down tenement buildings for insurance money, regardless of who dies in them. Issue 11 has the Black Bat investigating a strange plane crash as well as a missing fortune in diamonds, needed for America's war effort. Russia initially started the war on Germany's side so issue 12 deals with Russian spies who commit sabotage and murder in America. Issue 13, a fiend uses a hospital for illegal and deadly experiments, even punishing his own men with horrible torture if they fail him.
Issue 19 has a man who is believed to be the Devil but the Black Bat reveals his trickery. Issue 25 has Nazi fifth columnists steal a supply of bauxite which America desperately needs for the war effort. Issue 27 Prohibition is over so ex-bootleggers move into the commodity market, stopping supplies getting through. Issue 28 features a criminal hypnotist. Issue 36 One by one, people who know a secret start dying. Issue 38, a man convicted of murder has the Black Bat convicted of charges too on which he must acquit himself. Issue 39 Crooks plan to attend a rich party as detectives and steal two million in diamonds. Issue 40, the death predictions of a man prove too accurate so the BB investigates. Issue 41, in a 73-page story, a killer plots to control the Sentinel newspaper. Issue 44, a jailbreak and bank loot vanishes.

The third Black Bat

In 2011 Anthony Quinn is stated as dead in the Clockwork Comics series Education of a Superhero by Adam Dechanel and a new Black Bat under the alias Steve Ventura took on the daunting legacy. Legacy of the Black Bat is an ongoing series created by Paul Hobbs and Adam Dechanel. Ventura, a former reluctant assassin, has vague memories of Anthony Quinn's past suggesting he is a clone of some kind. In addition to this he also has access to all the Black Bat's former hidden weaponry and tech arsenal in the Bat Crypt. Anthony Quinn's former teenage sidekick Jeremiah Graymalkin helped Ventura begin his new life as the new Black Bat.

Black Bat in Black Bat Detective Mysteries Index (The first Black Bat)

  1. "The Body in the Taxi"
  2. "The Coney Island Murders"
  3. "The Hollywood Murders"
  4. "Murder At First Night"
  5. "The Maniac Murders"
  6. "The Warehouse Murders"

    Black Bat in Black Book Detective Index (The second Black Bat)

  7. The Brand of the Black Bat
  8. Murder Calls the Bat
  9. The Black Bat Strikes Again
  10. The Black Bat's Challenge
  11. The Black Bat's Spy Trail
  12. The Black Bat's Crusade
  13. The Black Bat's Flame Trail
  14. The Black Bat's Triumph
  15. The Black Bat and the Trojan Horse
  16. The Black Bat's Dragon Trail
  17. The Black Bat's Justice
  18. The Black Bat and the Red Menace
  19. The Black Bat's Summons
  20. The Black Bat's Invisible Enemy
  21. The Voice of Doom
  22. "The Eyes of the Blind"
  23. "The Blackout Murders"
  24. "Shadow of Evil"
  25. "The Faceless Satan"
  26. "The Murder Prophet"
  27. "The Nazi Spy Murders"
  28. "The Seventh Column"
  29. "Millions for a Murder"
  30. Captains of Death
  31. "Without Blood They Die"
  32. "Guardians in Black"
  33. Markets of Treason
  34. The White Witch
  35. "Death For Charity"
  36. "Murder Deals in Ersatz"
  37. "The Skeleton's Secret"
  38. "The Marked Man"
  39. "Murder on the Loose"
  40. "Murder Among the Dying"
  41. "Blind Man's Bluff"
  42. "The Man Behind Murder"
  43. "The Survivor Murders"
  44. "With Malice Aforethought"
  45. "The Crime To Come"
  46. "The Lakeside Murder"
  47. "The Murder Prophet"
  48. "Dead Man's Plunder"
  49. "The Long Ago Murder"
  50. "City of Hidden Death"
  51. "The Coiled Serpent"
  52. "Inheritance of Murder"
  53. "The Murder Maker"
  54. "The Lying Killers"
  55. "City of Hate"
  56. "Thirty-One Deadly Guns"
  57. "The Riddle of the Dead Man's Bequest"
  58. "Murder's Playground"
  59. "The Missing Million"
  60. "The Dennison Document"
  61. "Murder Town"
  62. "Blueprint of Crime"
  63. "The Murder Genius"
  64. "The Black Bat Fights For Life"
  65. "The League of Faceless Men"
  66. "The Dangerous Corpse"
  67. "The Killer Who Wasn't"
  68. "The Eyes of Death"
  69. "Hot, Willing--and Deadly"
  70. "The Lady of Death"
  71. "The Celebrity Murders" .

    In comics

Due to the issues with Batman, Nedor Comics, the comic publishing arm of Thrilling Publications, did not do a Black Bat comic series; however, it did do a series with a character called "The Mask", which was based on the Black Bat. The Mask appears in the first twenty issues of Exciting Comics.
Moonstone Books included the Black Bat in a new series of comics based on public domain pulp heroes called "Return of the Originals", which began in September 2010. Black Bat Doubleshot, written by Mike Bullock with art by Michael Metcalf, was one of the five main titles in the line.
In 2011, Clockwork Comics launched a new Black Bat with ties to the title character in E.O.S. During his introduction it is stated that Anthony Quinn, the second Black Bat, was killed. Who this third Black Bat remains a mystery.
DC Comics began using the Black Bat name for another completely unrelated new costumed identity for the character Cassandra Cain, who had previously been the second Batgirl.
In 2012, it was announced that Dynamite Entertainment was going to relaunch the Black Bat. The first issue was released on May 1, 2013.
Black Bat is one of the pulp heroes in Dynamite's "Masks" comic book series.