Batman YTB | About BatmanYTB




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About BatmanYTB
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About BatmanYTB

About BatmanYTB

Beginnings ~ Team Effort ~ Hacks & Networks ~ Modern Approach ~ Fan-Made Evolution ~ Administration ~ See Also

Beginnings

The story of Batman: YTB begins back in 1996 during the mainstream dawn of the World Wide Web. Chris, A.K.A. “Beyond,” had recently acquired AOL and found that he could make member pages. Batman being his favorite character, Chris decided to make a fan page dedicated to the famous Dark Knight. He used all five screen names that we were allowed and created the “Batcave.” Of course, it didn’t last long, and he eventually had to delete it. 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 Guinness World Records Museum in Gatlinburg, TN, 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. Sure, there were a lot of sites, but most had the similar content or focused 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.

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. The majority of which included the building of the sub-sites listed below.

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 San Diego Comic Con in 2004, 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 Spencer who held a vast knowledge of the many Batmobiles as well as engineering. His own creation, Batmobile History, would be hosted on 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 refine the Action Figures & Dolls database as well as build up the Toys, Merchandise, & Collectibles to be, without a doubt, the largest on the ‘net. He also created the Media section, contributed to History, and would be responsible for the various introductions and historical summaries around the site.

A mere week after Cale’s registration, Cully A.K.A. “FlaBat,” jumped ship from another Batman fan-site. He brought momentum to BYTB’s forum, The Voice of Gotham, in a number of ways. With his extensive knowledge on the medium, Cully wrote many reviews for the latest Batman action figures. He also created a temporary comic strip entitled “Batsterpiece Theatre” that 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 of his favorite publications. Manager of a 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. Converting the site to PHP Fusion and advising other efficient tactics, he made a respectful impact on BYTB 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 “Harleen Quinade.” Among those still with us 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. Multiple hacks, hosting problems, and forum issues had come its way, causing 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.

Modern Approach

Through the ups and downs, the BYTB team has maintained a focus on what makes their so great in the first place: unsurpassed content, informing news, and one of the friendliest forums on the ‘net. And after all these years, so much lies ahead for those who browse this presentation of the Dark Knight. New reviews, newly revamped databases, entirely new sections are just on the horizon.

A site created for fans by fans, Batman: Yesterday, Today, & Beyond embraces our favorite character in his many incarnations and will continue to do so for years to come.

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

Beyond A.K.A. Chris
- Webmaster, Forum Moderator, News Reporter, Reviewer, and Maintainer of Animated, Character Profiles, and Movies

Caleson A.K.A. Cale
- Forum Moderator, News Reporter, Reviewer, and Maintainer of Action Figures & Dolls, History, Media, and Toys, Merchandise, & Collectibles

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

Drunken Fist
- Forum Moderator and Reviewer

BigDaddy Gotham
- Forum Moderator and Reviewer

ROBOTRON
- Forum Moderator

Nate
- Forum Moderator

Phil
- Forum Moderator

Panzer
- Forum Moderator

See Also

Credits


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