Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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elmrgraham
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by elmrgraham »

I hope not.
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The Boss
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by The Boss »

Well, if they aren't going to produce any more (and even if they do) hopefully DC will take this marvelous series to the next level by releasing them on DVD as motion comics complete with the voices of Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar (where aplicable) as well as Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner for the Batman '66 meets Wonder Woman '77.

Once the Batman '66 series has been exausted they should continue by having Adam and Burt add their voices to older comics such as this collection of issues that inspired the TV series.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_'66:_Th ... Collected)
Image

I would also love to see issues with Batmite ( an homage to the 1977 animated series)
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as well as an issue of Jerry Lewis comic featuring Batman and Robin while Mr. Lewis is still alive to provide his own voice.
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In any case it just shows that there is so much more that DC/WB can do with the Batman '66 line even if it does not involve new issues.
Jthree
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by Jthree »

I hope DC would reconsider this. Batman 66 and it's subsequent tie-ins are the only thing I regularly read anymore. I cannot believe why they are not more popular. Are all of today's fans so series and in love in dark material, that they can't read something a bit more "light." Very discouraging news.

three
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AndyFish
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by AndyFish »

The story doesn't make any sense.
It reports right in the article "The series, helmed mostly by writer Jeff Parker and a coterie Bat-artists, has been a smashing success." now if that's true there's no way they'd stop making these.

I also find it hard to believe in an age where some Marvel Comics are selling 4000 copies a month, which is laughable, that '66Batman has been a smashing success.

I read the first few issues and then just waited for the hardcovers, I have all of them but have only read bits and pieces. Last night I read the Meets Green Hornet series by our own Ralph. It was good, it captured a lot of the feel and spirit of the show but even that occasionally went south-- the scene where Batman and Robin and the Hornet and Kato are stuck to the roof of the train and how they got out was a groaner.

MINOR SPOILER NOTE -- Are we to believe that Batman doesn't wear socks or that Robin isn't wearing leggings? It seemed to me like the idea was seeing toes was "funnier" and maybe to a four year old it was, but to me it was just silly.

When the series worked Batman and Robin were serious, like Joe Friday in Dragnet-- and the world around them was crazy. When it didn't work Batman and Robin were made to look foolish and that's just lazy writing.

Let's look at two shark incidents--

In the movie, filmed right after the first season wraps, Batman is attacked by a shark, Robin has to climb down the Batcopter ladder to deliver him the needed Anti Shark spray which gets the shark to let go and fall to it's explosive demise. It's comical, but it's serious drama for the kids while the adults are laughing at it-- yet it makes sense within the framing of the series universe.

Compare that to the third season when a surfing Batman see's a shark and merely pulls some spray out of his belt and the shark swims off. That's lazy writing. Yes I realize it also was budgetary since it was likely too expensive to film even a rubber shark by this point in the series, but it's that laziness that takes all the drama out of the show and why it was cancelled.

When the creators stop caring so too do the viewers, same thing with the readers.
Jthree
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by Jthree »

AndyFish wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:04 pm The story doesn't make any sense.
It reports right in the article "The series, helmed mostly by writer Jeff Parker and a coterie Bat-artists, has been a smashing success." now if that's true there's no way they'd stop making these.

I also find it hard to believe in an age where some Marvel Comics are selling 4000 copies a month, which is laughable, that '66Batman has been a smashing success.

When the creators stop caring so too do the viewers, same thing with the readers.
Andy. I'm confused. Just how many copies is Batman 66 selling? I thought Mr. Parker had done a decent job writing the series, but I did think other DC writers should take a shot at writing the 66 series to see how they would handle the Adam West take on the character.

--jthree
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AndyFish
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by AndyFish »

Sorry for the confusion-- I shouldn't try to write a post while an artist friend is telling me a story at the same time.
Current market reports for Batman '66 Sales
BAT66SALES.jpg
So if you look at these numbers in a current market where some Marvel Comics are coming in at 4000 copies (and being cancelled)

Compare these numbers to the "mainstream" Batman books...
MAINSTRbatSALES.jpg
MAINSTRbatSALES.jpg (120.88 KiB) Viewed 6713 times
And calling Batman '66 a "smashing success" as written in the article seems to be a stretch.

The point of my post, badly written, was simply that if the writers (and I don't know if Jeff Parker writes all of them) simply respected the characters and gave it a more of a Season 1 feel while still putting in some of the nuttier elements of Season 3 that worked, giving us a Batman who wasn't a deranged psycho as he's been portrayed in his own books you might have had a title that was a hit both with fans of the show, and fans of superheroes who stand for something too.
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The Boss
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by The Boss »

As much as I hate to say it. Maybe Batmania is coming to an end (this time permanently) as niether DC nor Warner Bros. seem to have any more faith in the 1960s series. So sad seeing as how both Adam and Burt are still with us and could provide so much more in the ways of nostalgic Bat-entertainment.
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Progress Pigment
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by Progress Pigment »

The Boss wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2017 8:25 pm As much as I hate to say it. Maybe Batmania is coming to an end (this time permanently) as niether DC nor Warner Bros. seem to have any more faith in the 1960s series. So sad seeing as how both Adam and Burt are still with us and could provide so much more in the ways of nostalgic Bat-entertainment.
Post 1968 and the cancellation of the series, when did DC and Warner's EVER show any faith in the series?! They did everything in their power to bury it and practically denied it ever happened! It was treated as a lampoon of the character -- almost like a skit from SNL -- that was never really meant to be Batman. Comics purists liked to claim it was based on the 1940's serials, not the comics. Warner's came around when (I'm guessing) focus groups & polling showed them they could turn a dollar off the old 'bright knight'.

The current renaissance of the series on Blu-ray, the acceptance of '66 Batman in comics fandom, and the incredible array of Batman toys that have been released is almost certainly more than any of us could possibly have imagined or hoped for. Going into Toy-R-Us last year with my eleven yr. old daughter, I was overwhelmed! The very fact that I could buy a Batman figure that looked like Adam West off the rack in a retail store did not seem real! The comics are just icing on the cake. I haven't bothered with them yet. I give the 'Brave & Bold' cartoon a lot of credit too. You might briefly see King Tut or The Minstrel in any given episode. Unbelievable! I can't feel any sadness at all. We've basically been showered in bat-blesssings here! And Adam & Burt lived to see it. Win! Win! Win!
Next week, the Dynamic Duo meets the Clock King!
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AndyFish
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by AndyFish »

Warner and DC NEVER had any ill will towards the series--many times I'd be in the DC Offices and they'd have bootleg episodes playing in the freelancer room. They didn't support it because they didn't have the rights to it. It'd be like Burger King promoting Big Macs-- doesn't make sense from a corporate standpoint. It wasn't a focus group that changed their minds, it was the attorneys who finally worked out the rights.

I'm all for more classic '66 stuff-- comics, toys, movies, as long as they're good. Put out mediocre product and it won't hold up.
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TBolt
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by TBolt »

Given the events depicted in the WW crossover the end is not a bad thing.
To the Bat-Elephant!!
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AndyFish
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by AndyFish »

Was the WW crossover bad? << and I understand most of them were not great, I've not read it as I wait until its released in hardcover before I'm disappointed ;)
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mwilbury
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by mwilbury »

AndyFish wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:41 am Was the WW crossover bad? << and I understand most of them were not great, I've not read it as I wait until its released in hardcover before I'm disappointed ;)
The story is probably on-level with the Green Hornet arc, though it is more imaginative. I have found it to be better than the other crossovers, though that's not saying much. All of them are stretched very thin, but the Wonder Woman series does a better job at justifying the multi-issue format as it jumps between time periods and adds to the Batman '66 timeline (for better or worse).
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TBolt
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by TBolt »

I don't want to spoil it but let's just say that a villain murders a main character and then that villain is murdered by THE main character. It goes against both the characters of the show.
To the Bat-Elephant!!
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TP-6597
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Re: Holy Oh-No! Batman '66 comic near end of line(?)

Post by TP-6597 »

Progress Pigment wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2017 8:58 pm The current renaissance of the series on Blu-ray, the acceptance of '66 Batman in comics fandom, and the incredible array of Batman toys that have been released is almost certainly more than any of us could possibly have imagined or hoped for. Going into Toy-R-Us last year with my eleven yr. old daughter, I was overwhelmed! The very fact that I could buy a Batman figure that looked like Adam West off the rack in a retail store did not seem real! The comics are just icing on the cake. I haven't bothered with them yet. I give the 'Brave & Bold' cartoon a lot of credit too. You might briefly see King Tut or The Minstrel in any given episode. Unbelievable! I can't feel any sadness at all. We've basically been showered in bat-blesssings here! And Adam & Burt lived to see it. Win! Win! Win!
That's it in a nutshell.

At 55 years old, I'm drinking my morning coffee out of a Batman 66 coffee cup (one of two), I regularly wear one of three Batman 66 T-shirts (there will be more), my keychain is a 66 Batmobile, I own every episode and watch them regularly, I have a Robin figure on my desk at work, and I'm a member of a message board focusing on the TV show.

We're through the looking glass on the show being alive and well. A show I watched when I was 4 years old!
The show is a permanent part of our culture. I posted a link a few months ago to a bookshelf that referenced the show. Sadly, everyone was afraid to watch the ad. Too bad, but I digress..

Just yesterday I sent an article to a friend about high end cognacs. The topic sentence; "Riddle me this..."
Again, the show is forever with us. It's part of us. The comic going under is just business, not a referendum on the show. Mind you, a comic book focused on a show that ran 50 years ago. Plus, we just got an animated film - voiced by the actual actors we grew up watching!!

I have a connection to the show that is a thousand times more awesome than it was when I was a child. The stars are still with us and one has even been on a current show that I watch every week. There is no way in the world I could come up with anything to be down about.

Anyone lamenting the show's popularity waning a bit needs to step back and take a look for a moment. The show's popularity was supposed to end half a century ago. We've never had it so great.
“What's important is that the world know that all visitors to these teeming shores are safe, be they peasant or king.”
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