# Was there ever a version of Batman with a brown and yellow outfit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669 "2016-10-04T23:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/1 "2016-10-04T23:18:21Z")
My wife brought home a little Batman figure for me to put on my desk at work. It’s vinyl and has a sort of Hello Kitty look to it, with the giant head and smaller body, [like this](https://funko.com/collections/dc-comics/products/pop-heroes-batman). The only problem is, the colors on the one she bought for me are all wrong – the suit is yellow and the cowl, cape, gloves and boots are all brown, similar to this [plush version](https://funko.com/collections/dc-comics/products/copy-of-mopeez-batman-75th-colorways-pink). I looked through all of the DC characters on that site and didn’t see a vinyl Batman with my color scheme, so I’m not sure what version of Batman he’s supposed to be. Was there ever a version of Batman that was yellow and brown like that? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/2 "2016-10-04T23:34:30Z")
A search took me to [this site,](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/455285843559569951/) which lists several Batman plushies for sale, with the following text: > [@](#): > > Based on the many color variations of Batman on the cover of Detective Comics Volume 1 #241 Google image search for Detective Comics Voluem 1 #241 took me to a cover showing Batman in [lots of funky colors.](http://comicvine.gamespot.com/detective-comics-241-the-rainbow-batman/4000-112358/) And Robin… that is not a _red_ costume. That is _pink._ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/3 "2016-10-04T23:34:36Z")
Is it [this guy?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RG3IdIOmvuk/maxresdefault.jpg) Apparently, there’s a whole [line of them in rainbow colors.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0OANTqP49HU/VMzSGeT4z8I/AAAAAAAAFcA/BUwf5bRqsnY/s1600/15%2B-%2B2) Which is, I believe, a reference to this [oft be-meme’d silver age Batman cover](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/8/8c/Detective_Comics_241.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081218152007). _ETA: impotent fist shaking at **Ethilrist** _ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/4 "2016-10-04T23:45:20Z")
You’re lucky that is just has funky colors. I have one that is positively [Joker-esque](http://popvinyls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_9145.jpg)! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/5 "2016-10-05T00:43:47Z")
Maybe it’s Batmanuel? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/6 "2016-10-05T01:26:30Z")
It’s Bruce Wayne’s gay cousin, who decided to take up the crimefighting thing in the latest nod to “empowerment” and “inclusion.” Just like in _ **Zorro, the Gay Blade** _. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/7 "2016-10-05T01:43:37Z")
Who knew Bruce Wayne was a Padres fan? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/8 "2016-10-05T02:08:53Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Is it [this guy?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RG3IdIOmvuk/maxresdefault.jpg) Apparently, there’s a whole [line of them in rainbow colors.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0OANTqP49HU/VMzSGeT4z8I/AAAAAAAAFcA/BUwf5bRqsnY/s1600/15%2B-%2B2) Which is, I believe, a reference to this [oft be-meme’d silver age Batman cover](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/8/8c/Detective_Comics_241.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081218152007). > > _ETA: impotent fist shaking at **Ethilrist** _ Yep, that’s the one. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/9 "2016-10-07T12:45:35Z")
The Batman was originally a creature of the night. The colour of his costume didn’t really matter as it wouldn’t have been apparent in the dark anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/10 "2016-10-07T12:58:10Z")
Is it possible the costumes in the first filmed version, in black and white, were brown and yellow for the right monochrome contrast? If color stills from the set exist it might be one source of the confusion, even for comic inkers. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/11 "2016-10-07T14:44:12Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Is it possible the costumes in the first filmed version, in black and white, were brown and yellow for the right monochrome contrast? If color stills from the set exist it might be one source of the confusion, even for comic inkers. You know about Superman, when filmed in B&W, wore brown, because a blue and red uniform didn’t look right. I don’t think a black and gray uniform would have had those same problems. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/12 "2016-10-07T16:01:13Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Google image search for Detective Comics Voluem 1 #241 took me to a cover showing Batman in [lots of funky colors.](http://comicvine.gamespot.com/detective-comics-241-the-rainbow-batman/4000-112358/) > > And Robin… that is not a _red_ costume. That is _pink._ In the story inside, it was red. In today’s climate, a lot of people make fun of that story, but it was actually pretty good. In comparison to most 1950s Batman stories, the logic held together (more or less): Gotham is puzzled when, over a period of days, Batman has appeared in public in different-colored versions of his famous costume: red one day, sky blue the next, then green, orange, gold, etc. Is it some kind of code? Has he gone insane? The reason: while walking home from school one day, Dick Grayson was at the scene of a robbery. A little girl crossing the street was almost run over by the speeding getaway car, but Dick managed to save her, injuring his arm in the process. His act of heroism made all the newspapers. One of the items that was stolen in the robbery was a portable video camera. Batman deduced that the crooks planned to use the camera to pose as a TV crew at some upcoming media event. (Remember, this was the mid-1950s. What use would a video camera be to a private citizen? :eek:) Robin got a good look at the crooks, and would be able to identify them. So Batman needed to attend every media event over the next few days to look for the crooks. He needed Robin along to identify them. But if any news photographers got a shot of Robin with his arm in a sling, someone might connect it to the story of Dick Grayson’s injured arm and put two and two together. So Batman had to do something totally outrageous to make sure that all cameras would be on him instead of Robin. Thus, the multicolored costumes, while Robin kept his sling hidden under his cape. After a week, Robin spotted one of the crooks at a gem show, but not disguised as a cameraman. Batman apprehended him and found a gas mask in his coat. He then realized the real reason that the camera was stolen. It was rigged with a gas canister, and swapped with a camera belonging to an actual TV crew. When it was switched on, it would have gassed everyone in the room while the crooks walked out with the gems. Batman, in a rainbow-striped uniform, caught the rest of the gang, then a reporter cornered him and asked the reason behind his outfits. He refused to comment, other than to say that this would be the last one – and that he was happy to go from being a peacock back to being a bat. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/13 "2016-10-07T17:03:53Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > In the story inside, it was red. In today’s climate, a lot of people make fun of that story, but it was actually pretty good. [And it just got referenced last month in a Superman comic.](http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-original-superman-still-knows-how-to-embarrass-batm-1786956059) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/14 "2016-10-07T17:58:26Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > You know about Superman, when filmed in B&W, wore brown, because a blue and red uniform didn’t look right. I don’t think a black and gray uniform would have had those same problems. There’s a black and white movie called Jezebel, starring Bette Davis, in which she stars as a southern belle who goes to a dance dressed in red, shocking everyone there. :eek: Her fiance dumps her, he’s so shocked. Anyway, the costume was brown, because red didn’t look right in B & W. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/15 "2016-10-07T18:35:13Z")
The Batman referenced by the OP is actually wearing the colors of [Catman](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/1/14/Catman_0001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080603182551), a minor Batman villain. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/16 "2016-10-08T01:55:05Z")
The plush versions look more like Bat-Mite. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/17 "2016-10-08T03:10:50Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The Batman referenced by the OP is actually wearing the colors of [Catman](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/1/14/Catman_0001.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080603182551), a minor Batman villain. [Or Wolverine.](http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss17/mikey_boy76/Mikey%20Boy%20II/WolverineBrownCostume-1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-ever-a-version-of-batman-with-a-brown-and-yellow-outfit/767669/18 "2016-10-08T04:46:46Z")
Whoever knew that sometimes Batman just wanted to look _fah-bulous?_