History
Batman historian Les Daniels credits Gardner Fox, (the first writer other than Bill Finger to write the adventures of Batman in Detective Comics), with introducing the utility belt concept in Detective Comics #29 (July 1939). In its first appearance, Batman's utility belt "contain choking gas capsules." Two issues after the utility belt debuted, Fox also wrote the first appearance of a bat-themed weapon, when the batarang debuted in the story "Batman vs. the Vampire" in Detective Comics #31 (Sep 1939).
Up until 1989, most artists drew the utility belt as a simple yellow belt with a buckle and cylinders around it. In 1986, Frank Miller drew Batman's utility belt with military-style pouches in the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns limited series. This rendition was utilized again in Batman: Year One and used by almost every artist in the Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight comics series. In 2000, the pouches became a standard feature in the depiction of the utility belt.
One feature added to the utility belt in Tim Burton's live-action films, Batman and Batman Returns, was a small motor which would move items from the back of the belt around to the front allowing Batman easier access to his weaponry and tools.
A common gag amongst comic fans is Batman's apparent ability to carry a tool for almost every eventuality on his belt, all prefixed with the word 'bat', such as bat-cookies, bat-milk and bat-shark repellent. Often, especially in the Adam West series, Batman could carry everything needed for a particular scenario, from typical batarangs to a miniature batphone which remotely linked to the one in the Batmobile.
Read more about this topic: Batman's Utility Belt
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—Terry Hands (b. 1941)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
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