The Batman-Poe Connection

Partners in crime?

Edgar Allan Poe was a master of the modern detective story. Batman is a master sleuth. It may sound crazy to suggest a link between a nineteenth-century literary giant and a twentieth-century comics superhero, but there’s a park on the Bronx’s Grand Concourse where these two ‘lives’ actually do intersect.

In 1846, hoping the fresh air of the then-rural Bronx would prove beneficial to his tubercular wife Virginia, Poe rented a small wood-frame cottage for $100/year and moved there with her and her mother. After a year of living humbly but happily, Virginia died. Poe remained there (writing The Bells and Annabel Lee in one of the rooms) until his death in 1849.

Over the years, the Grand Concourse became a busy residential boulevard. In 1913, tiny Poe Cottage was relocated to a park across the street, later named in the poet’s honor. Docents provide guided tours through the cozy house. Sparsely furnished, some original pieces remain – like a scuffed mirror and the bed where his beloved Virginia died. A Visitor Center was built, its design echoing the wingspan of a raven (after Poe’s most famous poem), with roof tiles resembling dark feathers. Poe’s fans come from all over the world to see where he lived and wrote, while locals take their kids to the playground and attend seasonal events at the 1925-vintage bandstand.

A little-known factoid is what unites our two heroes: in 1939, neighborhood pals Bob Kane and Bill Finger sat on a Poe Park bench and hatched the idea for Batman. They met here regularly to brainstorm details of the new comic strip, trying to rival the recent success of Superman. Together they dreamed up costumes and storylines for Batman, his sidekick Robin, and their diabolical arch-villains. It’s no riddle, then, why many of the caped crusader’s thrilling escapades were inspired by tales penned by Edgar Allan Poe.

Address Poe Cottage: 194th Street and Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, New York 10458, +1 718.881.8900 x107, www.historichousetrust.org/houses/edgar-allan-poe-cottage |

Getting there Subway: Kingsbridge Rd (B, D, 4); bus: BX 1, BX 2, BX 9, BX 12, BX 22,

BX 28, BX 32, BX 34 | Hours Tours by appointment only | Tip As a boy, director Stanley Kubrick lived nearby and thrilled to movies at palatial Loew’s Paradise Theater (188th Street & Grand Concourse).