How Much Does It Cost to Be Batman in Real Life?

The innocents of Gotham City — and the comic book world in general — owe its allegiance to Batman.

Created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, Batman first appeared in DC Comics' issue #27 in 1939. His immediate popularity earned him his own eponymous series the next year, and his latest movie release in 2012, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, currently holds the fourth biggest opening weekend in box office history.

A notable superhero because of his distinct lack of superpowers, Batman takes out the bad guys of Gotham using no more than his physical prowess, indomitable willpower and quite a number of high-tech, self-invented gadgets. (Take away the Batsuit, the Batmobile and the Batarang, and Batman is just ... well, Bruce Wayne.)