Batman ’66, Vol. 1 by Jeff Parker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Ah, 60’s Batman.
Whoever decided that there was a Batman void here was totally right. We’ve had a lot of grim and gritty Batman in the last few decades, and I like a lot of that stuff, but there’s a place for this too.
I feel like we’ve come to realize that the people behind the 60’s Batman knew they were making something cheesy and campy. They didn’t fail to create the 90’s Tim Burton kind of Batman. That was never their goal.
Doubt it? Let’s look at some plots from the 60’s Batman.
“The two heroes hide in the bank vault, surprising False-Face and his cronies when they break in; the master of disguise and Blaze manage to escape in the Trick-Truck, but Batman and Robin chase them to Bioscope Movie Studios. Here False-Face discovers that Blaze has a crush on Batman, and that it was she who sent the radio message that alerted Alfred; he takes her hostage and then leads the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder on a long, winding, chase around the movie sets.”
Sound familiar? Like maybe…the end of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure?! So maybe Tim Burton got a little more inspiration from the 60’s than we thought.
“Batman and Robin manage to capture one of Catwoman’s henchmen who along with a new single called “Catusi” by Benedict Arnold and the Traitors leads them to a nightclub called the “Pink Sand Box”, which is Catwoman’s new hideout, it soon turns out to be a trap, however. There they are quickly deposited by a revolving booth into a room with a metal floor. Catwoman makes the floor red-hot, forcing them to “dance the hot-foot”. Hoping to lower the floor’s temperature, the Caped Crusader bursts an overhead water pipe, only to unwittingly release “Catatonic”, a gas which renders him and Robin unconscious. They recover outside, strapped to aluminum grills, their bodies greased with margarine and two giant magnifying glasses poised directly over them, with the intent of roasting them alive in the midday sun…”
Ah, excellent. This is what I missed. I like the idea that the dynamic duo is put into an elaborate, giant grill and covered in margarine as opposed to shot in an alley.
“Using a mixture of his own insidious creation, “Jokerjelly” (concentrated strawberry gelatin which resembles strawberry jelly, but tastes like strawberry axle grease), Joker and crew go to the Gotham City Reservoir, where he infuses the entire Gotham City water supply (Aquarius), and then demands $10 million to ransom it back.”
Heh. Joker jelly. I infected the city’s water supply with my own jelly once. They just arrested me and put me on a web site.
“The Penguin appears to have gone straight. (Evidently the citizens of Gotham City have short memories; he tried the same trick in season one.) Not only that, he has emerged as the leading contender for mayor of Gotham City, thanks to a little-known provision of the city charter that permits felons to run for elective office. Mayor Linseed, facing almost certain defeat, convinces Batman to run for mayor.”
That’s what I’m talking about. Penguin versus Batman. FOR MAYOR! On the one hand, Batman is the representation of justice. On the other, Penguin has a monocle. Both have their pluses and minuses.
It was fun to see this aesthetic come back in comic form. I have to admit, the show is more fun. With the music, the sound effects, the acting. But the comic is the next best thing.