ADAM REED's Exploration of BATMAN '66, Part Two

EDITOR'S NOTE: Adam Reed has a fond appreciation for the late 1960's BATMAN television series. That makes him a knowledgable reviewer of the comic book treatment, and we appreciate sharing his reviews from Captain Blue Hen's 10,000 Comics Pyramid Facebook page with you . . . .

BATMAN '66 #2 by Jeff Parker and Ty Templeton (DC Comics, October 2013) Adam's Rating: Two And One-Half Stars out of a possible Five Stars.

This issue starts the trend of a main story and a back-up. While I think it works here, it’s not a format I liked since sometimes the main plot felt rushed. 

The first story features Penguin teaming up with Mr. Freeze, who uses his freeze gun to construct a giant iceberg that the Waddling Master of Foul Play somehow manages to convince the United Nations to declare a country with him as emperor. The Penguin uses it to block Gotham Harbor and extort money from ships trying to enter. 

Batman is frozen and captured when he “invades” Penguinia and it’s up to Robin to save him. Ty Templeton really nails the actors’ likeness, especially Burgess Meredith and Otto Preminger. Again we get things they could never afford on the show like Penguin’s iceberg, the Bat-Sub and the return of the penguin submarine from the ‘66 movie and there’s even a Rocky reference thrown in. 

The second story features the return of a reformed Chandell (played by Liberace) who is playing a concert attended by millionaire Bruce Wayne and his date Kathy Kane. Singing at this concert is the unreformed Lorelei Circe aka the Siren (played by Joan Collins) who uses her restored voice (it was neutralized in her appearance on the show) to force the men in attendance (minus Bruce since he went to change) to steal from their wives and themselves. 

This one is a great mini-adventure featuring some great action. Siren was unique on the original show since she was the only metahuman villain featured and it was fun to see her again. The only thing that takes away from it is that they didn’t have the rights to use Liberace or Joan Collins’ likeness as their characters (this would happen throughout the run of the comic, especially with Gordon, Alfred, O’Hara and Aunt Harriet). I wish they used Kathy Kane again and actually have her appear as Batwoman but I guess that would detract from Barbara Gordon’s first appearance three issues later. 

Another thing I wish the comic had continued to do was setup future stories. At the end, it’s revealed the villain who helps Siren is none other than the Sandman who appears a few issues later. To my recollection they only do that a couple times throughout the run. Also weird is that the woman on his arm is a dead ringer for Zsa Zsa Gabor who played the series’ final villain Minerva. She’s not named and her villainess wasn’t anything to write home about. It’s just weird they drew the character that way and never had her return.

BATMAN '66 #3 by Jeff Parker and Joe Quinones (DC, November 2013) Adam's Rating: Four Stars out of a possible Five Stars.

The first story features elements new to the Batman ‘66 universe. First off is the main villain of the story, the Red Hood, who has an axe to grind with the Joker. Heading to the Arkham Institute for the Criminally Insane (first mentioned last issue as the new location Gotham’s criminals are sent instead of the state prison) and meeting up with Dr. Quinn (not medicine woman), the Dynamic Duo seek to prevent Joker from being kidnapped by Red Hood. 

Jeff Parker really dives into the minutia of the show as he brings in Professor Overbeck, a one shot character who originally worked at the Gotham Atomic Energy Factory, now an Arkham employee. I just find it cool when writers bring in minor side characters to fill out the world. 

The art is great, I love that the artists draw in a mustache for Cesar Romero. In fact there’s one panel where Joker is being restrained by two thugs and the face he makes is spot on for a similar one Romero did on the show, showing how great some of the artists were in capturing the actors. The one negative is they don’t show Batman’s eyes, instead going for the white eyed cowl present in other comics and cartoons. It’s what made West’s Batman unique. 

Story Two has the Dynamic Duo already captured by Egghead (looking nothing like Vincent Price, despite his estate granting permission) and about to be eggs-terminated in a giant egg sent plummeting towards the ground. It’s nothing spectacular outside of seeing stuff they could never do on the show’s budget and some fun yet eggs-asperating puns.