We love superheroes here at Tor.com. To be honest, we like supervillains quite a lot, too. If we had to vote on a favorite, though, Batman would win every time. What is it about the Caped Crusader that turns rational people into squeeing Batmaniacs? Is it the costume? The cool toys? The sexy Bat-growl? Or is the fact that Batman somehow manages to appeal to almost every facet of fandom, from the comics to the iconic sixties television show to the various Hollywood adaptations and animated series and video games? Granted, there’s no over-hyped Broadway musical yet… but that might be for the best.

Batman has been through so many incarnations in so many different media—as a character, he’s endlessly mutable, utterly distinctive, and he’s pretty much everywhere, lately. This month marked the 45th anniversary of the iconic Batman TV series, and the last few weeks have been filled with news and speculation about The Dark Knight Rises, the next installment in the hugely popular film franchise, coming out in 2012. Gaming fans can look to the hotly anticipated Arkham City, due out this fall, and then there’s the upcoming Batman: Earth One, DC’s continuity-free reboot of Batman’s origin story.

In short, 2011 is the Year of the Bat, and so we’ve asked our bloggers to weigh in on their favorite aspects of the Batman mythos: no rules, no restrictions, just pure vigilante fan appreciation at its finest. We hope you’ll join in as we pay tribute to the man behind the mask, along with quite a few of his less-savory associates... after all, what good is Bat-Week without a few villains?

Posts in Bat-Week:

	01/31/2011 - A Batman For Every Season by Lenny Bailes
	01/31/2011 - Big Screen Batman: The 1943 and 1949 Batman Serials by Danny Bowes
	01/31/2011 - I Am Catwoman, Hear Me Roar Giveaway by S.J. Chambers
	01/31/2011 - Batman: Plutocrat by Steven Padnick
	02/01/2011 - The Real Man of Tomorrow: Why the Caped Crusader is a Science Fiction Hero by Ryan Britt
	02/01/2011 - Harriet Ascending: The Queer Case of Dick’s Aunt by Jim Beard
	02/01/2011 - Always Leave ‘Em Laughing by Nick Abadzis
	02/01/2011 - Big Screen Batman: Batman: The Movie (1966) by Danny Bowes
	02/02/2011 - Big Screen Batman: Batman (1989) by Danny Bowes
	02/02/2011 - A Batman for All Ages by Dayton Ward
	02/02/2011 - Batman and The Cape vs. My Childood Memories by John Klima
	02/02/2011 - Big Screen Batman: Batman Returns by Danny Bowes
	02/02/2011 - Everything About 3-Dimensional Heroes I Learned From a 2-Dimensional Cartoon by Madeline Ashby
	02/03/2011 - Big Screen Batman: Batman Forever by Danny Bowes
	02/03/2011 - Joker and Iconoclast by Sam Weber
	02/03/2011 - Holy Villainy! The Top Ten Silliest Arch-Nemeses from 1960’s Batman by Ryan Britt
	02/03/2011 - Big Screen Batman: Batman & Robin by Danny Bowes
	02/03/2011 - The Batman as Anti-Vampire by Alisa Kwitney
	02/03/2011 - A Little Dark Knight Music: Batman Through Soundtrack and Song by Emily Asher-Perrin
	02/04/2011 - The History of the Bat-Man by Andrew Liptak
	02/04/2011 - Big Screen Batman: Batman Begins by Danny Bowes
	02/04/2011 - A Brief History of Batman’s Trunks by Jim Beard
	02/04/2011 - Capes Do Not Work That Way! by Steven Padnick
	02/04/2011 - Unlimited Batarangs: The Video Games of Batman by Matt London
	02/04/2011 - Big Screen Batman: The Dark Knight by Danny Bowes
	02/04/2011 - Batman Noir by GD Falksen
	02/04/2011 - Batman Wins the Internet by Bridget McGovern

Batman has previously lurked in the many shadows of Tor.com:

	11/16/2010 - Preview Pages from Batman: The Return
	11/16/2010 - Whitechapel Steampunks The Batman and it is Awesome
	11/11/2010 - Legends of the Super-Weird TV Specials
	11/08/2010 - Gotham City 14 Miles: The Fifteenth Mile
	10/27/2010 - Christopher Nolan Reveals Title of New Batman Movie
	08/31/2010 - The Great Debate: Bruce Wayne vs. Dick Grayson
	08/27/2010 - The Best Films You’ll Never See: Alternate Universe Movie Posters
	07/05/2010 - Batporn: The Dark Knight Gets Down and Dirty
	05/24/2010 - Best Graphic Story Nominee #1: Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
	09/01/2009 - The Death of a Legend (Again)
	06/30/2009 - Heart of Hush
	03/27/2009 - Batman R.I.P. - and good riddance!
	11/25/2008 - Around the Web: Battlestar, Batman, & UFOs

Batman has been reviewed pretty consistently in Tor.com’s 2010 “Wednesday Comics Pull-Lists” column:

	11/17/2010 - Batman: The Return
	11/10/2010 - Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6
	11/03/2010 - Batman and Robin #16
	10/27/2010 - Detective Comics #870
	10/20/2010 - Batman and Robin #15
	10/13/2010 - BatGirl #1
	10/06/2010 - Batman: Hidden
	09/29/2010 - Detective Comics #869
	09/22/2010 - Superman and Batman #76
	09/09/2010 - Batman and Robin #14
	09/01/2010 - Batman Confidential #48
	08/25/2010 - The Brave and the Bold #20
	08/04/2010 - Batman Confidential #47