Signet paperback book question

[Gleeps, it's Batman]

Pulling this question from another thread:

That would be "Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom"? I always wondered why The Riddler did not make it into the book.

This brought another question to my mind. When exactly did the Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom come out? Would The Riddler not appearing in it have anything to do with Frank Gorshin not appearing in Season 2? Are there any pictures of the villains inside the paperback? Just wondering if they'd have had to pay him if there were villain pictures, and they didn't want to while they were squabbling over money. I'm guessing that's probably not the case, but since I can't find my copy of the paperback, I don't know the answer to the pictures question.

[Lord Death Man]

My husband remembers the time well, as the series of five books was his favorite bit of Bat-merchandise from the 60's (aside from the gum cards, a popular favorite on the school playground thanks to the candy store selling them right across the street). He liked this one in particular since it was an original work and not a reprint of the comics or a film adaptation like the others (and was one of the few things that actually featured TV Batman on it). It came out in late summer of 1966, pretty much at the same time as the movie-he remembers his father buying it for him on the way to the drive-in to see the movie the first week it was out. He started reading it a couple of weeks later on a Friday when the second episode of Time Tunnel was playing. So, it is doubtful that Mr. Gorshin's contract problems entered into things. It is odd that they left out Riddler considering his first season popularity and his appearance in the movie. It is understandable he did not get his own book in the series like Joker or Penguin (there were only a very few comic book Riddler stories at the time, not enough for a booK), but I guess the writer must not have cared for the character. There are no photos in the book, aside from the cover one of Adam West (as opposed to the 'Fearsome Foursome' book that had a few pages of B/W stills).

When they reprinted three of the five volumes (the three using comic reprints) during the 1989 wave of Bat-mania, they also 'added' a Catwoman volume.

[Shemp]

When exactly did the Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom come out?

"Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom" and "Batman vs. the Fearsome Foursome" (the 1966 movie novelization) came out in August 1966. Both bought by me within minutes of the drug store clerk putting them on the paperback spinner rack.

Also that summer, Signet released three paperbacks featuring reprints of 1950s comic book stories.