Thursday, July 28, 2011
Batman and Adam West
That's right, Batman is back to claim his mantle as the host of this blog! I have 100 covers to post so there will be plenty of Bat-goodness until I move on to the next title... and that's not the only change - I hope everyone noticed that there is now Lost Issues App available for Android or any type of phone or tablet, It's free, just go here to get it:
http://www.noticeorange.com/r/TheBraveandtheBoldTheLostIssues
You just have to love Adam West. Here's a guy who has a great sense of humor about and respect for his place in comics history. While some actors have tried to distance themselves from their connection to superhero and genre roles, West has embraced it and you have to appreciate that, regardless of your opinion of the 60's series. His Batman show is a hoot to watch now with the campy dialogue and the guest stars hamming it up as villains... but when I was a kid I viewed it in a completely different light. I took it as a straight action show, and loved how colorful it was with so many characters from the comics coming to life. The only thing it was missing for me was Two-Face! I think that ability to appeal to viewers on different levels must have played a big role in its success.
Labels:
Adam West,
Batman,
Brave and the Bold,
DC Comics,
Team Up
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10 comments:
Nice to see Batman back... and with Adam West, no less!
I agree with you about enjoying the show on two different levels. As a kid, I took it pretty seriously, but now I watch it with my 7 year old and can still enjoy it as an adult.
When are we going to get to see Batman team up with the Aquabats? Now that they have a new show on Hub, it might be time to give them a chance.
Dave sez,
Holy "Missed Opportunity"! Adam West beat out Lyle Waggoner for Batman/Bruce Wayne...and they didn't even think to cast him in the recurring role of Harvey Dent, and go Two-Face in season two or three?
I'm not much of a fan of Bluewater Comics...but I really do hope that Hizzoner, Mr. West's book is a - Biff! Pow! Zap! - smash hit!
Fantastic! ...and might as well get an early start on requests: Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, please!!
I watched the 60's series when it was syndicated in the early seventies-- on a black-and-white TV. We didn't get a color set until the late 70's, so I watched the earliest Spider-man and Incredible Hulk episodes in B&W, too. When they all turned up on the Science Fiction channel (now SyFy) in the 90's they felt that much more psychedelic than I remembered them. Spider-man and the Hulk seemed boring and repetitive for the 80% of the time that the hero wasn't on camera. But Batman had a consistent design sense that made it feel like a Warholian Pop artifact. Also, as an adult I could recognize all those celebrities who poked their head out of the 'window' while Batman and Robin walked 'up' the exteriors of buildings.
....very interesting take, *pblfsda*, on the '60's Batman show. Having gone to the New School for Research in NYC, I'm surprised I've never heard a discussion on the pop-art/psychedelia the show was bursting with. Adam West is so subversive now on Family Guy. To simply call what he does "camp" is not doing it justice.
Welcome back, Batman! Nice way to kick of his return, too!
heres my picks batman and aqua teen hunger force,atom ant,animaniacs,astro boy,archie,birdman,blue marvel,bozzo,buffy,battletar galactica
In his memoir, Back to the Batcave, Adam West referred to the show as farce. I'll go even further and classify it as high-octane farce. If you can find back issues of Cinefantastique, look for the one with a cover story on the 60s Batmanseries.
This is late-breaking info for this conversation - I learned only recently that Clint Eastwood was cast to play Two-Face in 1968 on Batman but the show was cancelled before the episode was made. That would have been an interesting bit of stunt casting.
Clint Eastwood as Two Face? I am not sure he has the range for how it was played during TV show - Batman was only serious one on show while the villains hammed it up. I'd like to see Ross combine Eastwood's face on a Two Face body and see it however.
Dean Cain is another actor who took his hero period in stride and did not run away from it.
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