cash
Gotham Tourist
Posts: 1
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Post by cash on Dec 29, 2013 15:05:38 GMT -5
I have noticed a reoccurring plot point across various Batman media involving Alfred Pennyworth dressing up in the Batman costume in order to conceal Batman's true identity. I wonder if anyone might know where this bit of the story originated. Was it from the comic books?
The earliest version of the Alfred/Batman costume switch that I'm aware of is from the 1949 serial, Batman and Robin, where Eric Wilton's Alfred (supposedly) dons the cape and cowl to help rescue Bruce Wayne from the Wizard's henchmen. I know that Alan Napier wore Adam West's costume in hilarious fashion at least once. I don't think the animated series from the 90s ever had Alfred play dress up (though he did attempt to convince Batcave intruders that he was Batman, if I remember right). I'm pretty sure he wore the costume in The Batman cartoon series, though I don't remember the context. The Alfred-as-Batman motif also appeared in Batman: The Brave and the Bold -- essentially canonizing it as an indelible part of the Batman mythos.
So where did it come from? Was the 1949 serial the first, or was the serial adapting something that the comic book writers had originated? Or is it just something that every bored writer would naturally come up when presented with the conundrum of how to keep Bruce Wayne's true identity a secret?
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Post by majorhoy on Apr 27, 2014 15:55:21 GMT -5
There was a story from Batman #22 (April-May 1944 cover date) called The Duped Domestics! where Alfred dresses as Batman to impress a woman . . . when I was a kid, I read the reprint in Batman #255.
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