Although Batman had previously appeared in newspaper comics in the 1940s and 1950s, it was the adventures of the 1960s Caped Crusader that was the most successful and fondly remembered. The complete series, which ran from 1966 until 1972, has never been reprinted and is being collected here in three definitive volumes. The strip premiered in May 1966 on the heels of the fabulously successful Batman television show that aired twice a week in prime time. Batman was created in 1939 by Bob Kane with Bill Finger.