Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Uslan, Michael, 1951-
- Abstract:
- The Uslan, Michael mss., 1973-2025, consists of the files, typescripts, emails, memorabilia, original artwork, recordings, periodicals, realia, photos, production boards and ephemera of Michael E. Uslan, 1951- , the originator of the Batman movies.
- Extent:
- 163 Boxes
- Language:
- Materials are in English .
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Uslan, Michael mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Michael E. Uslan, 1951- , is an American comic book collector and the originator of the Batman movies. Uslan was born June 2, 1951, in Deal, New Jersey. He received both his undergraduate degree and law degree from Indiana University Bloomington.
An avid comic book collector from a very young age, Uslan owned a collection that included the second Batman and first Superman comic, growing to contain more than 25,000 comics. He is also credited with being the first instructor to teach "comic book folklore" at an accredited university. His class, "The Comic Book in Society," achieved widespread media attention, and Uslan was offered an internship at DC Comics.
Uslan is best known for his work as a producer, with Benjamin Melniker, of all of the modern Batman films to date, starting with Tim Burton's 1989 film, and including such titles The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Joker (2019).
Outside of producing the Batman movies, Uslan has also produced other comic book movies, including the adaptations of DC Comics's Swamp Thing (1982), its sequel Return of the Swamp Thing (1989), Constantine (2005), and The Spirit (2008). Uslan has also produced many television projects, including the Emmy-winning series Where on Earth is Carmen San Diego?.
Starting at DC as an intern, Uslan has written many comic books, including Batman's Detective Comics#27, as well as issues of The Shadow, Beowulf, Archie: The Married Life, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, The Spirit, Justice Inc., and The Lone Ranger/Green Hornet. Along with Stan Lee, he initiated DC's Just Imagine series. He has written many introductions to comic book collections, including books in the DC Archives and Marvel Masterworks collections, as well as the introductions to DC's Batman in the Fifties, America at War: The Best of DC War Stories, and Mysteries in Space: The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics. Uslan has written two biographies, The Boy Who Loved Batman and Batman's Batman. The Boy Who Loved Batman was adapted into a successful play in 2024.
- Scope and Content:
The first series organizes biographical information related to Michael Uslan, including awards, publicity, personal files (mainly financial and travel information), files associated with his two autobiographies, interviews, and material related to the stage play based on his life.
The next several series relate to major projects of Uslan's. The Batman series is sorted by format, title, character, or series. The DC series consists of files related to DC Comics-related projects and characters, organized by character or project. Properties that weren't initially DC, like THUNDER AGENTS, Shazam, and MAD, are included because of their association with the company during the dates of Uslan's involvement. The Swamp Thing series focuses on the production papers, clippings, and scripts regarding The Swamp Thing feature, its sequel, and other projects featuring the character. The Constantine series consists of correspondence, scripts, and other files from the production of the DC film. The Spirit series focuses on the production of The Spirit feature film and various other products featuring The Spirit that Michael Uslan contributed to. It also consists of general files related to The Spirit and its creator, Will Eisner. The Marvel series consists of files related to Marvel Comics, organized by project, topic, or character. The Stan Lee series focuses on files related to Stan Lee. The subseries Just Imagine consists of the interstitials, artwork, and scripts from Stan Lee's project reimagining the DC heroes. The next series consists of projects Uslan was involved with that feature characters originating from pulp and radio serials; these characters include The Shadow, The Lone Ranger, Doc Savage, and The Green Hornet. The Archie Comics series consists of files relating to the comics published by Archie Comics and its characters. This series includes the superhero characters from MLJ Comics, the publishing house Archie was once known as before shifting entirely from superheroes to teen humor books. The Where on Earth is Carmen San Diego? series consists of files related to the television series in which Uslan was produced, including movie scripts and other files.
The Projects series focuses on other projects that Michael Uslan was involved in. This is a hub of various series that were either attempted or successful projects. These include Foot Soldiers , Terry & The Pirates , National Treasure , The Black Cat . The projects featuring characters created by the team of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, historical figures, video games, and characters from Gold Key and Crossgen comics are included in their own subseries with additional subfolders organized by project name. The Other Projects subseries is a subseries in the Projects series consisting of files that are unconnected with any major project category that Uslan was involved with but were in the general collection. The titles in this subseries are organized alphabetically.
The Indiana University series consists of files related to Indiana University, including his comic book course, commencement addresses, and the Lilly Library. The Action Figures, Toys, and Merchandise series includes the toys and collectibles in Uslan's collection. The Audio/Visual Media series is sorted by format, much of which are on either CD, DVD, or VHS.
Comics and Film Related Documents is a series of various files associated with film and comic book productions including resumes, scripts, notes, and other documents. This includes subseries on The Hildenbrandt Brothers, various scripts, legal files, the New Jersey Film Commission, resumes, and production notes. The company papers series consists of subseries related to the various businesses, firms, and other establishments that Uslan was involved with. These include files associated with his own companies, Batfilm Productions and Branded Entertainment.
The Correspondence series is organized by name or by date depending on the significance, size, or placement in the collection. The Events series is organized by type of event. These include museum exhibitions, film festivals, conventions, and other misc. events. The Published Works and Clippings series consists of various comic books, magazines, news clippings, and files related to Uslan's children's book Chatterbox. The Oversize series consists of the material in the first 22 oversize boxes in the Uslan collection. The final series consists of miscellaneous material that does not fit anywhere else in the collection. These include files related to sports, clothing, ephemera, and auction catalogs.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift: 2009
- Processing information:
Processed by Kamden Spies, under the supervision of Kyra Triebold. Completed in 2025.
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into the following series: I. Biographical, II. Batman, III. DC, IV. The Swamp Thing, V. Constantine, VI. The Spirit, VII. Marvel, VIII. Stan Lee, IX. Pulp and Radio Serial Projects, X. Archie Comics, XI. Where On Earth is Carmen San Diego?, XII. Projects, XIII. Indiana University, XIV. Action Figures, Toys, and Merchandise, XV. Audio and Visual Media, XVI. Comics and Film Production Documents, XVII. Company Papers, XVIII. Correspondence, XIX. Events, XX. Published works and Clippings, XXI. Oversize Items, XXII. Misc. Because of the large scope of the collection, boxes were organized in batches at a time. Because of this, each series in the collection is spread out in multiple boxes. With each set of boxes, the collection was organized in the series order created when each box was being organized.
- Physical location:
- ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility); Wells - Map Case
Indexed Terms
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is open for research.
Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Uslan, Michael mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
1200 East Seventh StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
(812) 855-2452liblilly@iu.edu