Batman
The first Batman story, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate", was published in "Detective Comics" #27 (May 1939). Finger said, "Batman was originally written in the style of the pulps", and this influence was evident with Batman showing little remorse over killing or maiming criminals. Batman proved a hit character, and he received his own solo title in 1940 while continuing to star in "Detective Comics". By that time, Detective Comics was the top-selling and most influential publisher in the industry; Batman and the company's other major hero, Superman, were the cornerstones of the company's success. The two characters were featured side-by-side as the stars of "World's Finest Comics", which was originally titled "World's Best Comics" when it debuted in fall 1940. Creators including Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang also worked on the strips during this period.
Neal Adams
Continuing to work for DC Comics during this sojourn, while also contributing the occasional story to Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazines (including the Don Glut-scripted "Goddess from the Sea" in "Vampirella" #1, Sept. 1969), Adams had his first collaboration on Batman with writer Dennis O'Neil. The duo, under the direction of editor Julius Schwartz, would revitalize the character with a series of noteworthy stories reestablishing Batman's dark, brooding nature and taking the books away from the campy look and feel of the 1966–68 ABC TV series. Their first two stories were "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" in "Detective Comics" #395 (Jan. 1970) and "Paint a Picture of Peril" in issue #397 (March 1970), with a short Batman backup story, written by Mike Friedrich, coming in-between, in "Batman" #219 (Feb. 1970). Adams introduced new characters to the Batman mythos beginning with Man-Bat co-created with writer Frank Robbins in "Detective Comics" #400 (June 1970). O'Neil and Adams' creation Ra's al Ghul was introduced in the story "Daughter of the Demon" in "Batman" #232 (June 1971) and the character would later become one of Batman's most common adversaries. The same creative team would revive Two-Face in "Batman" #234 (Aug. 1971) and revitalize the Joker in "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!" in "Batman" #251 (Sept. 1973), a landmark story bringing the character back to his roots as a homicidal maniac who murders people on a whim and delights in his mayhem.