26: The Untold Story Behind Batman's Butler

Few supporting characters appear more in Batman stories than Alfred Pennyworth. Across comics, tv shows, movies and more, Alfred always stands by Batman's side. You probably know him as the loyal, skilled, and caring father figure that shaped Bruce into who he would become. But few know the story behind his creation. On this episode of bat lessons we uncover his early history in comics and newspaper strips and then discover the surprising way Alfred is inspired by the same source material as archer, the lion king, clue, 007, john wick, black butler, and more. You don't want to miss it.

• Serial Shooting Script (Archive.org)
• Batman: The Dailies (Amazon)
• Pewter Status (Youtube)
• Batman #16 (DCU Infinite)
• Jeeves & Wooster (Youtube)
• Dr Conary Interview (Youtube)
• Military Batman (Wikipedia)

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Podcast Artwork by Sergio R . M. Duarte

Podcast Music by Renzo Calma

Motion Graphics by r2ktalha

00:00 Intro

01:57 First Appearance?

02:34 Who Created Alfred?

08:24 Daily Comic Strip History

16:39 Alfred’s Inker

19:29 Daily Strip Alfred

34:44 Batman #16

48:52 Story Thoughts

49:35 Alfred’s Inspiration