I remember loving the Adam West / Burt Ward Batman television series when I was a kid. Of course, like Rocky and Bullwinkle, when I watched it as an adult, I realized just how much of it went over my head when I was younger.
Someone finally produced a comic book that attempts to recapture the spirit of the old TV shows. The straight-laced crime fighters and their civilian alter-egos. The people who surround them that prove incapable of recognizing Millionaire Bruce Wayne and his Youthful Ward Dick Grayson, despite the speech patterns, mannerisms, and minimally disguising masks. (And, as you may have noticed, the clichés.) The villains. The narration.
The spirit of the television show is largely captured in this comic book but not entirely. Some of the trademarks of the television show just didn't make it into these stories. For example, the "dire peril that requires you to turn into the next episode, same bat-time, same bat-channel" to see how (or if) the Dynamic Duo escape the trap is only present in 2 of the stories in this book. The cheap production values, especially sets, are replaced by more realistic settings. The "Big 4" of villains are scarcely represented the Joker is featured in one story, and the Riddler makes a cameo in another, but no Catwoman and no Penguin. (Others, such as King Tut, Shame, and the Bookworm join new baddies.) The "guest star in the window while Batman and Robin scale a building" never show up. And, of course, in a visual medium like the printed page, there is no way to include the soundtrack or the infamous sound effects during fight sequences. (Come to think of it, even the "BAMs!" and "OOFs!", although present, are not nearly as common as on the series.)
Still this book was a great diversion, and presented a pleasant and nostalgic look back upon some scenes from my childhood. I recommend it for others with similar backgrounds as myself.
RATING: 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars for those sites that cannot handle fractions of a star.
Someone finally produced a comic book that attempts to recapture the spirit of the old TV shows. The straight-laced crime fighters and their civilian alter-egos. The people who surround them that prove incapable of recognizing Millionaire Bruce Wayne and his Youthful Ward Dick Grayson, despite the speech patterns, mannerisms, and minimally disguising masks. (And, as you may have noticed, the clichés.) The villains. The narration.
The spirit of the television show is largely captured in this comic book but not entirely. Some of the trademarks of the television show just didn't make it into these stories. For example, the "dire peril that requires you to turn into the next episode, same bat-time, same bat-channel" to see how (or if) the Dynamic Duo escape the trap is only present in 2 of the stories in this book. The cheap production values, especially sets, are replaced by more realistic settings. The "Big 4" of villains are scarcely represented the Joker is featured in one story, and the Riddler makes a cameo in another, but no Catwoman and no Penguin. (Others, such as King Tut, Shame, and the Bookworm join new baddies.) The "guest star in the window while Batman and Robin scale a building" never show up. And, of course, in a visual medium like the printed page, there is no way to include the soundtrack or the infamous sound effects during fight sequences. (Come to think of it, even the "BAMs!" and "OOFs!", although present, are not nearly as common as on the series.)
Still this book was a great diversion, and presented a pleasant and nostalgic look back upon some scenes from my childhood. I recommend it for others with similar backgrounds as myself.
RATING: 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars for those sites that cannot handle fractions of a star.
