After Dinner, They Went Bowling

Detective Comics #383, January, 1969

I Hope That's His Arm

They used the most disgusting interior image for the cover of the highly recommended, perfectly awful The Brave and the Bold - The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 1. Don't expect too many similarly queasy thrills inside, but it does have my favorite Batman thought balloon ever:

Say, I forgot--it IS my birthday! Just hope nobody notices it's also Bruce Wayne's--!

I think that means someone once asked Batman his birthday and he answered, "February ninetee--SHIT!! God damn it!!" And he never stopped worrying about it.

It's The First Anniversary Of Batman's 40th Anniversary, The Day I Posted This:

The coolest show in TV history turns 40 today. ABC broadcast "Hi Diddle Riddle," the premiere episode of Batman, on January 12, 1966.

Bat-Signal pix: Batfriend
I was going to link you all over Bat-Hell, as I did last year. Then I saw Mike Sterling's Insanely Bat-tastic Collection Of Bat-Links. He is clearly my better; go there and start Bat-Clicking. But first, here are a few that popped up since his post, and a couple I think he missed:

• Fred Hembeck's Bat-Clippings From 1966 Newspapers & Magazines
  
• Dial B For Blog's Tribute 1 2 3 4 5
  
• Zsa Zsa Gabor, Van Johnson, & Other Surviving Bat-Villains
  
• Fab Argentine Bat-Site
• 1966 Batmobile Paper Model via Broken Glass Makes Me Laugh
  and the essential
  
• McSweeney's Analysis Of The Batman Theme!

Holy Meat Loaf!

Jim Steinman––a composer/producer whose regrets might include Bat Out Of Hell, Bat Out Of Hell II, Total Eclipse Of The Heart and, for all I know, Total Eclipse Of The Heart II––claims to be writing songs for a Batman stage musical. He's blogging about it, and he's posted an MP3 of a show-stopper belted out by that nefarious Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker: "Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys?" [Via Metafilter.]

* * *Extra! Ethel Merman, Tallulah Bankhead and other Batman Baddies On Broadway!

The Hullaballoo Dancers Dance To The Batman Theme

Thanks to Agent Double-4

Work In Progress: A Depressing Alternative Comic Made Of Old Batman Panels

Liberace Meets The Pope

Lots of pix & relics (relix?) of Liberace's supercampy career--including his Batman appearance--at the amazing Bob's World Of Liberace!

First Photo From 'Batman Begins' Sequel

Will Ferrell as Two-Face

Nearly a week after the rest of us have quit, Dial B For Blog's Robby Reed continues an amazing daily tribute to the Batman anniversary! Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6

Ma Parker Is Dead

Actress Shelley Winters, who played the dastardly Ma Parker in episodes 43 and 44 of Batman, is dead. Of the roughly three dozen "special guest villains" who opposed the Dynamic Duo in the feature film and series, which began 40 years ago this week, 11 are still alive:

Julie Newmar (Catwoman)
Eartha Kitt (Catwoman)
Lee Meriweather (Catwoman)
Joan Collins (The Siren)
Zsa Zsa Gabor (Minerva)
Glynis Johns (Lady Penelope Peasoup)
Cliff Robertson (Shame)
Barbara Rush (Nora Clavicle)
Malachi Throne (False Face)
Eli Wallach (Mr. Freeze)
And, frighteningly, Van Johnson (The Minstrel), who must be 150.

Services: Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 PM, Gotham Prison Chapel.



Pix: The 1966 Batman Villains - Ma Parker and this eBay auction.

Think What You Will

From Detective Comics #155 and El Blog de Jotace:

As Wayne Manor Burns...
DOLPHINS SING BATMAN THEME!
[Thanks to AGENT DOUBLE 4]

Fire Guts Stately Wayne Manor from the 1966 Batman series! On the other hand, Stately Wayne Manor Escapes Damage!

UPDATE: The mansion that did burn to the ground -- was it Stately Wayne Manor in a movie? [Last link via This Is Pop!]

We Have Already Seen...

The always stunning comics site Dial B For Blog scans the 1966 TV Guide Article On Batman! And while we're at it, let's not forget Batfriend, the best-looking Batman '66 fansite of all--or the poor, deluded Siamese Human Knot Site!

Batman's Right Wing

Washington Post, July 3:

Holy smaller government and lower taxes, Batman... "Batman Begins" has become something of a cult hit among fans of free markets, individualism and Ayn Rand, among other things... Kapow!

The Bidinotto Blog:

This Batman is the antithesis of your entire sick, parasitical, eat-the-rich, blame-the-victim-not-the-criminal, sacrifice-the-individual-to-the-collective gang view of human nature and society. In the form of a mythic pop hero, Batman Begins presents a heroic, self-assertive and unapologetic view of human potential, individual self-responsibility and larger-than-life entrepreneurship. Batman is a fantasy archetype of heroic American individualism.

Objectivism Online:

Two other less prominent, but equally positive, ideas ran through the movie. One was the necessity of judging another's character primarily by their actions... The second idea, the one that was most shocking to me, was the idea of taking pride in selfishness. The hero of the movie actually conveys pride in selfishness.

National Review Online:

The generation gap between the Wayne parents and son, Bruce, marks a transition from detached liberal philanthropy to engaged conservative crime fighting. Bruce’s generous parents live at a safe distance from the city in a protected mansion. Bruce converts to conservatism the old-fashioned way — a liberal mugged, not so much by reality, as by, well, a mugger who kills his parents.

Acton Institute For The Study Of Religion & Liberty:

Yet one of the most gratifying aspects of this film is its affirmation of the value of traditional institutions more generally, such as the family, rule of law, and private ownership of the means of production.

The Ludwig Von Mises Institute isn't buying:

Wayne Industries is presumably the largest employer in Gotham, but never once is the firm's success or failure mentioned as a determinant of economic stability. Bankrupting the company by pouring money into a monorail is hardly the best way to benefit those in need of jobs and security...

The solutions Batman Begins offers to Gotham's struggle with economics and ethics are thus 1) redistribution of wealth and 2) a violent "crackdown" on those engaging in trade deemed unacceptable. Is this a message that should excite those passionate about free markets?

BATCAKE

Erotic Batman watercolors by Mark Chamberlain. Not safe for: work, children, fundamentalism, trademark, social control, denial, or lunch! I know a lot of sites have beaten me to the link, but I can't resist stuff like this!

Zap! Pow! Ka-Ching!

$30G for training, a $500 cowl--and that's just for starters! Forbes breaks down the huge amounts of dough Being Batman would set you back! [Via Information Overload]

The Seattle Times' intrepid Mark Rahner writes about the enduring appeal of Batman. This time, a member of the mainstream media gets it so right that he even quotes me!

Holy Grim & Gritty!

'Critics have accused this story of giving birth to the era of "grim and gritty" comic books'
-- The Dark Knight Returns entry at Wikipedia.

'Tim Burton later adapted the comic's bleak sensibility for his first "Batman" movie, and since then, countless comics creators have aped the "grim and gritty" milieu.'
-- San Francisco Chronicle

'Overall, a very cool image that suggests Batman Begins will return the franchise to its grim and gritty pre-Schumacher days.
-- FilmForce

'If the original Dark Knight seems almost normal today, it’s because... it set the tone for the wave of “grim and gritty” superhero comics that’s still going on.'
-- Portland Phoenix

'Comic book writers wrestle with his dark, grim and gritty traits while trying to make him a mainstream hero to whom readers can relate.'
--Detroit News

____________
So, to recap the conventional wisdom: Batman sucked until 1986, when people began to describe him with the grown-up sounding "grim and gritty."

Well, I found the earliest known citation of the term as it relates to Batman, and it will shock you. I am not kidding. It's true, I swear. And you'd better be sitting down:

NARRATOR: When last we saw our beleagured battlers, they were slowly sinking in a bitter batter of Riddler quicksand! A grim and gritty end awaits them unless something awfully good happens awfully fast!
-- Batman, A Riddling Controversy, first broadcast February 9, 1967

____________
So, to all of you people who take the Dark Knight oh-so seriously: your very mantra comes from the ADAM WEST TV SHOW! When he was trapped in a GIANT CAKE! HAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry. It's just... HAAAAHAHA! Oh, God!

[Hard evidence here.]