Holy 40th Anniversary, Batman!
Twoscore and zero years ago, our founding father William Dozier brought forth upon the ABC television network a new series that forever changed the landscape of the medium: Batman.
Although I tend to take my superheroes seriously, I don't take them so seriously that I didn't flat-out love Batman. I still get a kick out of the show when I stumble upon it in reruns today. I even recall seeing the feature film version of the series on the big screen (years after its 1966 theatrical release) several times at Saturday afternoon matinees.
The appeal of Batman: The Series is nearly impossible to explain from a 21st century perspective. The show's aggressively campy approach to the character — cheesy sound effect ("BIFF!" "POW!") graphics, hilariously bad acting on the part of stars Adam West and Burt Ward (quite possibly the most inept thespians ever to headline a network series, at least until Emeril Lagasse's short-lived sitcom), loopy dialogue ("I just happened to bring along my Alphabet Soup Bat-Container!") — seems dated and hokey today. You had to be a child of the '60s to understand how well it worked, at least in small doses.
Of course, as a healthy preadolescent male, the outstanding feature of Batman for me was the addition of Batgirl, played by Yvonne Craig, in the show's final season. But my favorite episode remains one of the pre-Batgirl shows, in which the Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (the soon-to-be-legendary martial arts master, Bruce Lee) dropped by from their own less campy and ultimately less successful Dozier-produced series to first battle, then team up with, the Dynamic Duo.
That legal hassles (stemming from the fact that competing studios possess the creative rights to Batman — Warner Bros., corporate sibling of DC Comics, owns the character, while 20th Century Fox owns the TV series) have kept the show off home video to date is a shame. A highly publicized DVD release would mean big bank for the rightsholders and potentially draw a younger audience to comics.
The sad fact is that DC has done everything it can to bury the memory of the show, which — as many outside the comics-reading fraternity remain blissfully unaware — is 180 degrees from the grim, tortured, borderline psychotic Caped Crusader of modern comics. A few months ago, when writer-artist Michael Allred wanted to portray a Batusi-dancing Batman on the cover of Solo, DC angrily forbade the notion.
So, in celebration of TV Batman's 40th birthday, here's a swingin' shot of the Darknight Damsel from the pulse-pounding pencil of Robb Phipps. "BIFF!" "POW!"
Although I tend to take my superheroes seriously, I don't take them so seriously that I didn't flat-out love Batman. I still get a kick out of the show when I stumble upon it in reruns today. I even recall seeing the feature film version of the series on the big screen (years after its 1966 theatrical release) several times at Saturday afternoon matinees.
The appeal of Batman: The Series is nearly impossible to explain from a 21st century perspective. The show's aggressively campy approach to the character — cheesy sound effect ("BIFF!" "POW!") graphics, hilariously bad acting on the part of stars Adam West and Burt Ward (quite possibly the most inept thespians ever to headline a network series, at least until Emeril Lagasse's short-lived sitcom), loopy dialogue ("I just happened to bring along my Alphabet Soup Bat-Container!") — seems dated and hokey today. You had to be a child of the '60s to understand how well it worked, at least in small doses.
Of course, as a healthy preadolescent male, the outstanding feature of Batman for me was the addition of Batgirl, played by Yvonne Craig, in the show's final season. But my favorite episode remains one of the pre-Batgirl shows, in which the Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (the soon-to-be-legendary martial arts master, Bruce Lee) dropped by from their own less campy and ultimately less successful Dozier-produced series to first battle, then team up with, the Dynamic Duo.
That legal hassles (stemming from the fact that competing studios possess the creative rights to Batman — Warner Bros., corporate sibling of DC Comics, owns the character, while 20th Century Fox owns the TV series) have kept the show off home video to date is a shame. A highly publicized DVD release would mean big bank for the rightsholders and potentially draw a younger audience to comics.
The sad fact is that DC has done everything it can to bury the memory of the show, which — as many outside the comics-reading fraternity remain blissfully unaware — is 180 degrees from the grim, tortured, borderline psychotic Caped Crusader of modern comics. A few months ago, when writer-artist Michael Allred wanted to portray a Batusi-dancing Batman on the cover of Solo, DC angrily forbade the notion.
So, in celebration of TV Batman's 40th birthday, here's a swingin' shot of the Darknight Damsel from the pulse-pounding pencil of Robb Phipps. "BIFF!" "POW!"
SwanShadow was randomly pounding the keyboard at 5:26 PM
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