A New View

[Yellow Oval]

I was rethinking the trailer for the DVD set and all the talk we have had about the rich colors et al. My question is this. Does anyone think this might cause people, specifically comic fans of the newer generation, to see Batman in a new light other than the dark, dreary, and psychotically depressed twit DC has engineered him into? With all of the grainy, washed-out copies over the almost last five decades, it is not only we who have not seen him presented properly, but also many later generations who have no idea of his costume's visual impact.

It would be a nice thought if this DVD set had the effect of helping to bring the character back around to where he should be seeing as DC and Warner don't have the stones for it!

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Some fans are so hardwired in the "it is only relevant if its dark" mindset, that they might look at the 1966 series and complain that the rich colors are "too comic book-y"--if you can believe that. Not too different than the fans who supported the muted colors of the new Captain America, arguing that the comic version was "too bright" and unrealistic.

[Spikor1982]

Yeah, Ive never understood the haters saying that 66 is too cartoony or campy-its supposed to be. They nailed it perfectly. I Love the 1989/1992 films and they have a very special place in my heart, but as for the Nolan films, well, they are just ok. They don't even need to be Batman films-the idea of Batman is really incidental to the stories and they are set way too much in reality taking the 'comic' element out of them.

Fans of the Nolan films probably wont be swayed into the 66 world. Plus many people have the ridiculous mentality that if something is old then isn't as good as something that's new.

[Hedji]

If we hope to bring back this aesthetic and texture to the mainstream, we have our work cut out for us. Sadly, comics themselves aren't marketed to kids anymore, given their cover price and thematic content. But as you mention the dark aesthetic, modern computer coloring makes most books look drab and dreary.. Again, the idea is it will be taken more seriously if it looks grim.

Our best hope is that a middle ground will emerge between the existing categories of "Camp" vs "Drama". I'm always hopeful films like the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy will kick off a trend of lighter tone.

But the grip of Frank Miller is far reaching. I'm not sure it can ever be undone. I find that nowadays, the popular joe-comic-con concept of what Batman ought to be stems not from comics or films, but from video games. That's a whole other ball of wax, because the gamer mentality of Arkham Batman is perhaps darkest and most "Epic" of all.

In short, nah, I think they've messed up Batman really darned good. Our best bet is to enjoy our blu rays.

[WayneGrayson]

I agree with one of the posters, in that the new transfers will make it more pleasurable to watch "66" - sometimes the washed-out faded prints were a bit distracting, not to mention pretty hard on the eyes. Anyway, if the Nolan Burton lovers decide "66" wasn't so bad after all and kind of get into it, then that's great - but if not, at least we have this to ourselves. You know, there's something to be said for being into and enjoying something that no one else will like - it's as if Dozier and Company did this just for us.