Today, a special Batman Day edition of the Hero Nation Index, our weekly report on news from Hollywood’s sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and superhero sectors.

Today is the fifth annual Batman Day, and this year also marks the 80th anniversary of the Caped Crusader’s first appearance in the pages of DC Comics back in 1939. That auspicious confluence (and months of ramp-up work by Warner Bros., DC Entertainment, and their many brand partners) will shine an impressively global spotlight on the character that now ranks as the widely recognized masked man in American pop culture and across all of Western entertainment.

Batman Day Takes Flight Worldwide, ‘Joker’ Takes Cue From ‘Catwoman’

Cities across the world flash the Bat Signal on Batman Day

This Batman Day, I Have to Admit My Favorite Batman Isn’t Bruce Wayne

Holy anniversary! Displays of bat signal fete Batman at 80

Good news, orphans: It’s Batman Day!

It’s Batman Day, and even the Jersey Devil is paying tribute to the Caped Crusader at 80