Bartman is Bart Simpson's caped alter ego in The Simpsons, the long-running animated series that began in 1989. Bart imagines himself as a masked avenger, a joke that became a major part of early Simpsons merchandising and comics. The persona got an extra boost in 1990 from Do the Bartman, the novelty single from The Simpsons Sing the Blues, which put Bart's rebellious character into pop charts internationally. Decades later the name still signals classic Bart confidence, which is why short clips tied to it keep circulating in meme edits and soundboards.