I know this is an awful thing to bring up, since it is such a cherished TV series and runs in the blood of several generations from the 1960′s onward, but I have to say it. The Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward is not as good as the DC comics. *BAM*, I said it (and most of you agree)....
I am unabashedly a fan of the 1960′s as a cultural era. I hold the Batman TV series of that era close to my heart. I watched it a lot, via reruns of course, and the optimism and peppiness gave me an escape from the world I inhabited internally. You see, I have always been a chronic pessimist. I am always trying remedies though. Books usually do it.
Unfortunately folks, that optimism and bright, sunny, campy crime-fighting is just not Batman’s style. It never has been (well, except for this TV series, the post-Burton/pre-Nolan films and some of the WB animated TV series). Ok, so maybe there are many possible Notasgoodasthebook posts in this mythology.
I don’t really want to throw my hat into the ever-stretching ring of Batman lore (though if you want to, you can start with Batman: The Complete History (link below)). I simply want to say that I like the earlier comics more than the TV series. Let’s consider some simple differences:
Costumes
Batman and Robin from the early comics
Batman and Robin from the 1960s TV Series
Ok, maybe those aren’t that different. Maybe a little later in the comics, but still before the TV series:
Batman and Robin in the 1950's
How many pairs of tights can I compare, right? Obviously the costumes aren’t really that different, but there are some differences. The costumes on West and Ward are less angular, more curved (notably Robin’s shorts and Batman’s mask/ears). This might not seem like a big deal, but it makes me feel like the TV characters are a lot more approachable and, dare I say, “cuddly”. By the end of the show in 1969, DC Comics definitely wanted to bring it back to where it had begun, while distancing itself further from the image lingering from the TV series. So they went in a recognizably different direction from the series. The costume is almost completely covered by the cape.
Batman 1970
Situations and Plots
Well, there were some cheesy things going on in the Batman world before the TV show hit the airwaves. The 50′s and early 60′s weren’t the best of time for our caped crusader, story-wise. Batman and Robin kept finding themselves in weird sci-fi-like situations. But the TV series gave Batman such a bad name that it would take years to get the public to take the Dark Knight seriously again. His gloomy almost anti-social behavior would be developed and explored much more fully after the show, maybe even because of it, but it was already there, as a kernel, in the original comic books.
Though there was a lot of campy fun to be had watching Adam West and Burt Ward, we were never really watching Batman and Robin. Luckily, the Batman franchise, or mythos, was too large to be hurt by the TV show and some of the other misrepresentations of the character.
Some could argue, and argue well, that these less optimal incarnations of the Dark Knight have only slightly harmed the franchise, instead bringing hordes of new fans, some of which moved onward and delved deeper into the darker, deeper Batcaves. That is usually the case with the sort of things posted on Notasgoodasthebook, but the question still remains whether the story is improved or not, whether the characters retain the elements that made them interesting and unique in the first place. In my book, the TV series falls flat in that regard.
For a little more in-depth reading about Batman, here are some links:
- http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/86
- http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/87
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman
- http://www.goldenagebatman.com/gabathistory.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_%28TV_series%29
I leave you with an image, for your pleasure. Just don’t be so scared you drop your hula hoop.
Remember, in the 50′s and 60′s television was still a really new means of entertainment and we were also dealing with a couple of wars and a huge social revolution.
The costumes and interpretations of the comic had a lot to do with what the “groovy” people were doing back then. I always felt that the t.v. show was more about trying to link into the “flower power” generation than honor the comic.
We were also dealing with censorship which included just how provocative costuming could be. Believe me, Cat Woman was one sexy babe back then. The show also played with a good deal of sexual innuendo that was just becoming a part of the social structure in the 60′s.
I guess that my point is that the television series had more to do with social change and the evolution of television as a whole than it did with an accurate leap from the page to the screen.
Hate to break it to you, Lindsey, but DC’s iterations of the Batman have been pretty regularly bad, with only a few high points (Dark Knight Returns). For my money, the best, most consistent incarnation of the world’s greatest detective was the short-lived “Batman: The Animated Series” (1992-1995) — a TV show. *BAM* I said it.