About BYTBThe History of Batman: YTB
Beginnings |
Team Effort |
Hacks & Networks |
Bring You The Best
Beginnings
The story of Batman: YTB begins back in 1996 at the dawn of the World Wide Web's mainstream popularity. Chris, A.K.A. “Beyond,” had recently acquired AOL and found that he could make member pages. Batman being his favorite character, the Indiana native decided to make a fan page dedicated to the famous Dark Knight. With names like "robin3000A," he used the limit of five screen names - each permitting their own member page - and created a series of interlinking pages known as "The Batcave.” Of course, it didn’t last long, and in closing his AOL account, The Batcave was deleted. Nevertheless, some of its featured images and information are still displayed on BYTB today.
In 1999, Chris revisited the idea of creating a Batman website and started surfing the ‘net. By this time, it featured a great deal of sites, but after a trip to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Chris decided to make a site dedicated to the Batmobile. His site would list every Batmobile from the earliest comic book version to the latest design seen on Batman Beyond.
Through his research, Chris discovered that the Internet didn’t offer a great deal of information on Batman. While there were plenty of sites, most appeared to have similar content or focus on specific media such as movies. So Chris started looking around for information in magazines and various other sources, and in October of 1999, Batman: Yesterday, Today, & Beyond was launched. The original site address was http://www.geocities.com/batcars http://www.geocities.com/batcars.
At that address, the site only lasted a couple of months before Chris decided to redesign it and create a new address. In January 2000, the new BYTB premiered at the new address, http://www.geocities.com/batmanytb. The site remained small and still didn’t cover the broad variety of content he desired. In time, the site went without dedication or updates.
2001 saw another shift as the TV series Birds of Prey premiered on WB. With the new show came the time to update, and the site once again received a facelift. It also moved to a new address, http://www.geocities.com/batmanytb2. Over the course of the next year and half, the site went through little changes (See Fan-Made Evolution).
Team Effort
Finally, in 2003, Chris decided to take the next step and purchased the domain name Batmanytb.com. It was during this summer that he met future BYTB staff member Dan A.K.A. “Riskdogg"; coincidentally, the two lived mere miles away. Dan favored the media of film and animation, and he became instrumental in building and updating the site. Taking part in the 2004 San Diego Comic Con, he would even go on to offer some of the first screen grabs of The Batman to the ‘net.
During 2003, Chris also met New York native and engineering enthusiast Spencer who held a vast knowledge of the many Batmobiles. His own creation, Batmobile History, would become affiliated with BYTB, and Spencer would eventually become a regular BYTB staff member in 2005.
On October 4th, 2003, the all-new BYTB premiered. In its first month, Chris, Dan, and temporary staffer “Blackwing” saw the number of visitors sore from hundreds to thousands, and by April 2004, some of today’s most significant staff members had joined the BYTB team to elevate it to new heights.
Cale A.K.A. “Caleson,” would revamp the Action Figures & Dolls section as well as construct what many fans believe is the largest Batman themed Toys, Merchandise, & Collectibles database on the Internet. The young Iowan also created a vast Media section, contributed to History, and would be responsible for the various introductions and essays around the site.
A mere week after Cale’s registration, Cully A.K.A. “FlaBat,” jumped ship from another Batman fansite. He brought momentum to BYTB’s forum, The Voice of Gotham, in a number of ways. With quite possibly the greatest collection in Miami, Cully wrote many reviews for the latest Batman action figures. He also created a temporary comic strip entitled “Batsterpiece Theatre” which featured the many figures of his personal collection.
Next to join would be Scott A.K.A. “Darknight.” Scott showcased some of the finest comic book knowledge on the BYTB turf and quickly began work in its expansive Comics section, detailing archives and writing reviews on his favorite publications. As manager of an Arkansas book store, Scott also became persistent in updating fans on the latest "Bat-books" to hit shelves and summarizing their contents.
Soon, BYTB affiliate “Collabo” would help steer the site in a new direction. By advising several efficient tactics, like using SmartFTP, he made a respectful impact on BYTB's development but departed not long after to focus on his own site. It was during this time that other staff members joined temporarily, including PR specialist “Wonder Woman” Nicole and database worker Steve A.K.A. “Harleen Quinade.” Among those still with BYTB include “Drunken Fist” and “BigDaddy Gotham,” both of which would go on to write a great deal of in-depth comic book reviews.
Hacks & Networks
Throughout late 2004 and ‘05, BYTB had certainly seen its share of problems; as it turned out, not all of Collabo's advice would prove beneficial. In conververting to PHP, multiple hacks, hosting problems, and forum issues had come their way, forcing much rethinking and sometimes revoking of staff decisions. They would see the site move through four different hosts and, on more than a few occasions, the forum rebuilt from the ground up. Dan would also leave during this time to focus on his education.
In late 2005, BYTB began hosting Pendant Audio’s online radio shows, Batman: The Ace of Detectives, Superman: The Last Son of Krypton, and Wonder Woman: Champion of Themyscira. Combining this with the anticipation of Superman’s upcoming movie, Chris decided to create a network off of BYTB. This would soon include Wonder Woman: YTB, Superman: YTB, and for the rest of the DC Universe, DCU: YTB.
However, with alienated BYTB fans and not enough staff to build all sites of the YTB Network, problems were inevitable. BYTB was not receiving the attention it held for so many years, and in early July of 2006, it was decided to redirect focus on the flagship site of the YTB Network. After all, the entire staff was, first and foremost, Batman fans.
Bring You The Best
Through the ups and downs, BYTB has maintained a focus on what makes the site so great in the first place: unsurpassed content, informing news, and one of the friendliest forums on the ‘net. After all these years, so much lies ahead for those who browse their presentation of the Dark Knight, including new reviews, newly revamped databases, and entirely new sections.
Unlike other fansites that focus almost soley on modern Batman media, BYTB takes pride in representing Batman yesterday, today, and beyond. And in recent times, a secondary meaning has been given to the initials BYTB: Bring You The Best. A site created for fans by fans, Batman: Yesterday, Today, & Beyond embraces the Caped Crusader in his many incarnations and plans to do so for years to come.
Principle Information
Fan-Made Evolution |
Administration |
Accomplishments
Fan-Made Evolution
A number of sub-sites contributed to the development of today’s BYTB. They are as follows:
- Birds of Prey: The first to bring exclusive screen grabs to the Internet.
- Batman Beyond: A site dedicated to the popular cartoon series.
- Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker: The first to feature exclusive screen grabs from the uncut version.
- Gotham Girls: The first website dedicated to the Webisodes.
Administration
A Number of people have worked on and contributed to BatmanYTB. The following is a list of both past and current staff members.
CURRENT:
- Beyond A.K.A. Chris - Webmaster, Forum Moderator, News Reporter, Reviewer, and Maintainer of Animated, Character Profiles, and Movies
- Cdmink A.K.A. Christian - Forum Moderator, News Reporter, Reviewer, and Maintainer of Comics, & Character Profiles
- Darknight A.K.A. Scott - Forum Moderator, News Reporter, Reviewer, and Maintainer of Comics
- Spencer1984 A.K.A. Spencer - Forum Moderator, News Reporter, Reviewer, and Maintainer of Comics
- FlaBat A.K.A. Cully - Forum Moderator and Reviewer
PAST:
- Caleson A.K.A. Cale - Forum Moderator, News Reporter, Reviewer, and Maintainer of Action Figures & Dolls, History, Media, and Toys, Merchandise, & Collectibles
- Drunken Fist A.K.A. Waylon - Forum Moderator and Reviewer
- BigDaddy Gotham - Forum Moderator and Reviewer
- Catfan - Forum Moderator
- ROBOTRON - Forum Moderator
- Nate - Forum Moderator
- Phil - Forum Moderator
- Panzer - Forum Moderator
Accomplishments
- Premiered screen grabs of Birds of Prey to the Internet.
- Premiered screen grabs of the uncut Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker to the Internet.
- Premiered screen grabs of The Batman to the Internet.
- Cited in The New York Times for an image of the Batmobile.
- Requested by Wizard Magazine for merchandise images.
- Featured in Palladium-Item.
- First and only site to interview the voice of Batman, Rino Romano.
- Invited to participate in a live Batman vs. Superman debate on G4's Attack of the Show!.
- Various interviews with actors, writers, and others involved with Batman.
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