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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 17, 2014 18:16:01 GMT -5
But how much did the series do to make comics seem like an economically viable business? Circulation in general went up, to the extent that new lines like Tower and Fass appeared. I'm sure it made licensing a lot more lucrative for DC (and Marvel too) with more toys and other products emblazoned with characters. I'm not sure if DC or Marvel would've been as attractive for Kinney or Cadence to buy them if the show hadn't revitalized the industry. And that led to the Bronze Age expansion of both companies. That's possible, because it definitely did increase circulation. Unfortunately it lands in the "who knows" category because it's so far in the past. Would the comics have continued into the Bronze Age without the sales bump from Batman? Would they have increased even further in quality without the detour into the "camp craze"? Perhaps a subject for debate? I just don't really see a "camp craze" in the comics though. |
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Post by chadwilliam on Dec 18, 2014 22:33:27 GMT -5
Not to mention the show struck a blow to comics that they have never recovered from. Look at any mainstream news article about comics and what words are guaranteed to be in it? Zap! Pow! Bam! It's an attitude towards comics that is all because of this series. Comics will never live it down.
I can't say I agree with this simply because of what's followed since the series began. Now in 1966, I can understand someone being worried that the success of the show might mean we'd lost our chance to see Batman returning to his status of a creature of the night or that any future interpretation of the character would involve comedy, but since that time we've had Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Frank Miller, dead Robins, psycho Batman, the Animated series, a slew of movies that take the character very seriously, Joker cutting off his own face, etc. What darker aspects of the character remain unexplored because of the series?
I realize that I'm not exactly addressing your complaint which is directed more towards how people regard (or are told how to regard) the medium itself but if your concern is that people will never take comics seriously, I hate to say it, but the Adam West series has nothing to do with that. Instead of BIFF! POW! BAM! we'd be reading headlines with "WALLOPING WEBSNAPPERS!" or "GREAT SCOTT!" or "CALLING ALL CARS!" instead. And if you wanted something that more accurately portrayed modern comics, would "MY PARENTS ARE DEAD! NEW BATMAN MOVIE SWINGS INTO THEATRES" be all that more desirable?
And wait a minute, why do we care about justifying our hobby to anyone anyway?
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Post by DE Sinclair on Dec 19, 2014 9:24:31 GMT -5
Not to mention the show struck a blow to comics that they have never recovered from. Look at any mainstream news article about comics and what words are guaranteed to be in it? Zap! Pow! Bam! It's an attitude towards comics that is all because of this series. Comics will never live it down.
I can't say I agree with this simply because of what's followed since the series began. Now in 1966, I can understand someone being worried that the success of the show might mean we'd lost our chance to see Batman returning to his status of a creature of the night or that any future interpretation of the character would involve comedy, but since that time we've had Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Frank Miller, dead Robins, psycho Batman, the Animated series, a slew of movies that take the character very seriously, Joker cutting off his own face, etc. What darker aspects of the character remain unexplored because of the series?
I realize that I'm not exactly addressing your complaint which is directed more towards how people regard (or are told how to regard) the medium itself but if your concern is that people will never take comics seriously, I hate to say it, but the Adam West series has nothing to do with that. Instead of BIFF! POW! BAM! we'd be reading headlines with "WALLOPING WEBSNAPPERS!" or "GREAT SCOTT!" or "CALLING ALL CARS!" instead. And if you wanted something that more accurately portrayed modern comics, would "MY PARENTS ARE DEAD! NEW BATMAN MOVIE SWINGS INTO THEATRES" be all that more desirable?
And wait a minute, why do we care about justifying our hobby to anyone anyway?
As you say, my issue was more with how the show causes people to think of comics. And I disagree that the show had no effect on that. Likely comics would never be regarded as great literature (which in fairness they usually aren't), but the attitude people get from the show was that they were all jokes. And bad ones at that. Also, I never said anything about justifying comics to anyone. If I cared about what anyone thought I would have dropped them in junior high. It's just annoying that all anyone ever thinks about comics is what they've picked up from the show. |
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ironchimp
Full Member
Simian Overlord
Posts: 456 
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Post by ironchimp on Dec 19, 2014 10:48:41 GMT -5
the US military sold a submarine to a Mr P N Guin at a PO Box
'nuff said
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 19, 2014 14:22:20 GMT -5
I absolutely love the show. It is the reason that I own all the comics I do and that I'm here. Reruns of the show were a daily staple when I was young and the first comics I purchased all had Batman appearing prominently on the cover.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 19, 2014 14:41:03 GMT -5
I can't say I agree with this simply because of what's followed since the series began. Now in 1966, I can understand someone being worried that the success of the show might mean we'd lost our chance to see Batman returning to his status of a creature of the night or that any future interpretation of the character would involve comedy, but since that time we've had Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Frank Miller, dead Robins, psycho Batman, the Animated series, a slew of movies that take the character very seriously, Joker cutting off his own face, etc. What darker aspects of the character remain unexplored because of the series?
I realize that I'm not exactly addressing your complaint which is directed more towards how people regard (or are told how to regard) the medium itself but if your concern is that people will never take comics seriously, I hate to say it, but the Adam West series has nothing to do with that. Instead of BIFF! POW! BAM! we'd be reading headlines with "WALLOPING WEBSNAPPERS!" or "GREAT SCOTT!" or "CALLING ALL CARS!" instead. And if you wanted something that more accurately portrayed modern comics, would "MY PARENTS ARE DEAD! NEW BATMAN MOVIE SWINGS INTO THEATRES" be all that more desirable?
And wait a minute, why do we care about justifying our hobby to anyone anyway?
As you say, my issue was more with how the show causes people to think of comics. And I disagree that the show had no effect on that. Likely comics would never be regarded as great literature (which in fairness they usually aren't), but the attitude people get from the show was that they were all jokes. And bad ones at that. Also, I never said anything about justifying comics to anyone. If I cared about what anyone thought I would have dropped them in junior high. It's just annoying that all anyone ever thinks about comics is what they've picked up from the show. As Chad said though that idea was already cemented in the mind of the public since long before the series began, heck it's an opinion held here in that states almost since the mediums conception. Do people today latch onto the show as "evidence" to support their opinions that comics are just "Kid stuff"? Sure, but that's just because its a convenient example, but that doesn't mean the show is to blame for that opinion and it doesn't mean that the show cannot be enjoyed on its own right despite how some use it. |
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Post by gothos on Dec 19, 2014 16:54:58 GMT -5
As you say, my issue was more with how the show causes people to think of comics. And I disagree that the show had no effect on that. Likely comics would never be regarded as great literature (which in fairness they usually aren't), but the attitude people get from the show was that they were all jokes. And bad ones at that. Also, I never said anything about justifying comics to anyone. If I cared about what anyone thought I would have dropped them in junior high. It's just annoying that all anyone ever thinks about comics is what they've picked up from the show. As Chad said though that idea was already cemented in the mind of the public since long before the series began, heck it's an opinion held here in that states almost since the mediums conception. Do people today latch onto the show as "evidence" to support their opinions that comics are just "Kid stuff"? Sure, but that's just because its a convenient example, but that doesn't mean the show is to blame for that opinion and it doesn't mean that the show cannot be enjoyed on its own right despite how some use it. Yes, there's no doubt that most adult Americans thought of all comics as "kid stuff" from their inception on, whether they read any of them or not. The success of Frederic Wertham's crusade suggests that he tapped into a popular sentiment, that comics weren't a place for not-kid-friendly material. The particular accomplishment of the BATMAN show, though, is that it exposed a sizable number of adults to the actual content of many Batman comics. Before the 1966 series, only kids knew about semi-famous Bat-villains like Joker and Penguin, much less the Riddler, Mr. Freeze and Mad Hatter. Even though the Batman show tweaked the material that kids took more or less seriously, it was unprecedented in actually translating a lot of the content of superhero comics to live-action. I don't imagine that most adults of the time thought of the show as anything but a curiosity. But Hollywood never forgets anything that makes money, and since it seems evident that BATMAN remained popular in reruns-- something one couldn't say of a lot of kids' shows-- this probably led to the small growth of live-action super-shows in the 1970s, and eventually to more big-screen adaptations. I'd argue that the kids who grew up on Batman reruns were primed for a "straight" Batman movie in 1989, and that there's a pretty good correlation between the success of that film and the majority of superhero films that followed-- with a little help from CGI tech, of course. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 17:04:28 GMT -5
the US military sold a submarine to a Mr P N Guin at a PO Box 'nuff said Right around 1:50 mark of this video has this scene that you are talking about - it was memorable scene in this movie. I just dig it! |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Dec 19, 2014 17:11:02 GMT -5
I'm clearly outvoted on the opinions of the Batman TV show, which is perfectly fine. I'm glad that you can all enjoy it ways that I can't. I'm also happy for those who have long been awaiting getting the series on DVD/Blueray now having the opportunity to own it. May you long enjoy it, and I'll keep avoiding it on cable. Best to all.
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Post by chadwilliam on Dec 20, 2014 22:45:24 GMT -5
You know, in thinking about it further, I can certainly relate to this consternation though in a slightly different way. It seems that the Adam West series has only recently found favour with a significant number of comic fans - when I was last regularly buying DC comics in the mid 90's, no one would admit to liking the show. I remember hearing that Alex Ross had to repaint either a cover or promo piece for Kingdom Come just because he depicted Batman smiling (although I have to imagine it would have been more of a scary grin than broad smile). Not sure if it was true or not, but you did hear stuff like, "We can't have Batman appearing in the daylight - what's next? The Batusi?" So here we have the show not even being whispered about within the comic's community for the longest time, but being the go-to reference for the larger social media when comics are discussed and I can see how if you're not a fan of the show, it's a valid gripe, but for me, I'd rather the situation be reversed with the comic community being open to another interpretation of the character beyond what we've had for nearly 30 years (say towards a Batman who is more of an Errol Flynn) and the media forgetting about the series if they so choose. |
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Post by badwolf on Dec 22, 2014 11:15:48 GMT -5
the US military sold a submarine to a Mr P N Guin at a PO Box 'nuff said Right around 1:50 mark of this video has this scene that you are talking about - it was memorable scene in this movie. I just dig it! I love how Batman chastises the admiral!  |
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Post by marvelmaniac on Jan 1, 2015 11:06:19 GMT -5
I watched this show in primetime every week and loved it although it never made me want to buy DC comics or sway from Marvel.
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Post by berkley on Jan 5, 2015 16:28:19 GMT -5
I watched this show in primetime every week and loved it although it never made me want to buy DC comics or sway from Marvel. Very similar to my experience at the time. I was really into the show and we had some toys related to it - a small, Hot Wheels sized Batmobile dinky (as we used to call them) and a thing that I believe was called a Viewmaster in which you could watch a slide show of stills from various episodes. We only had one or two, and also a Beverly Hillbillies and a Green Hornet. The slides were on these cardboard discs that you inserted into the small handheld device and clicked them along. It had a binocular construction so you got a vivid 3-d effect that seemed very cool at the time. |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Jan 5, 2015 17:27:42 GMT -5
I watched this show in primetime every week and loved it although it never made me want to buy DC comics or sway from Marvel. Very similar to my experience at the time. I was really into the show and we had some toys related to it - a small, Hot Wheels sized Batmobile dinky (as we used to call them) and a thing that I believe was called a Viewmaster in which you could watch a slide show of stills from various episodes. We only had one or two, and also a Beverly Hillbillies and a Green Hornet. The slides were on these cardboard discs that you inserted into the small handheld device and clicked them along. It had a binocular construction so you got a vivid 3-d effect that seemed very cool at the time. Yep, that was a Viewmaster. I had the Batman set as well. |
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Post by marvelmaniac on Jan 5, 2015 18:21:07 GMT -5
Very similar to my experience at the time. I was really into the show and we had some toys related to it - a small, Hot Wheels sized Batmobile dinky (as we used to call them) and a thing that I believe was called a Viewmaster in which you could watch a slide show of stills from various episodes. We only had one or two, and also a Beverly Hillbillies and a Green Hornet. The slides were on these cardboard discs that you inserted into the small handheld device and clicked them along. It had a binocular construction so you got a vivid 3-d effect that seemed very cool at the time. Yep, that was a Viewmaster. I had the Batman set as well. They still make them and for the last 2 Christmas's my sister has gotten me view master reels with family photo's in them. |
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