Julie Madison - Original Version

Original Version

Julie Madison first appeared in Detective Comics #31 (September 1939) only four issues after Batman's own debut. She made her last appearance in the Golden Age of Comics in Detective Comics #49 (March 1941).

She was originally portrayed an oft-imperiled socialite who is engaged to Bruce Wayne. She was not aware of his activities as Batman when, in her first appearance, she was used as a pawn in the vampiric Monk's battle with the Dark Knight.

Detective Comics #40 established her as an actress. In this issue she and others were targeted by the deranged actor Basil Karlo (aka the original Clayface) who was angry for not being given the chance to star in a remake of a movie he had previously appeared in.

Julie made her last appearance in the early series in Detective Comics #49. In this episode, the head of the film studio and his publicity agent got her to adopt the stage name "Portia Storme" (inspired by Portia of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and the fact that her last performance had "taken the world by storm"). Julie meanwhile ended her engagement to Bruce on the grounds that she felt that he ought to do something worthwhile with his life rather than just being a fun-loving playboy (she still did not know of his secret activities). The split was amicable and they remained on good terms. Batman and Robin intervened when Clayface escaped from custody and again went after Julie. In the course of capturing the villain, she became the first female to don the Robin costume as part of a complicated deception.

Julie Madison reappeared in two World's Finest stories in the 1970s as Princess Portia, ruler of the fictional country of Moldacia. This was intended as a loose parallel to Grace Kelly becoming Princess Grace of Monaco.