Batman and Robin return in November

Believe it or not, the Collinsport Historical Society was the first website to break the news about the upcoming BATMAN animated film starring Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar. I happened to be in the audience during a panel featuring West and Ward at Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, N.C., back in March, 2015. Assuming fans of DARK SHADOWS were probably also fans of the classic BATMAN series, it seemed like a nice fit. By chance, we were also the first website to deliver the news to folks not attending the convention. (I usually don't care about the dubious distinction of being "first," but holy crap ... it's Batman!)

Since then, there's been little news about the feature (which, at one point, was even rumored to be splitting into two movies.) Entertainment Weekly has just shared a trailer for the film, BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS, which will hit DVD and Blu-ray on Nov. 1. You can read more about the film HERE, and watch the trailer below.

8 things I learned from Jeff Thompson's "Nights of Dan Curtis"

By WALLACE McBRIDE

"Nights of Dan Curtis" is not an especially friendly book. Author Jeff Thompson (a frequent contributor to the CHS) is possibly the reigning scholar on the works of Dan Curtis, and it certainly shows in his latest publication, which is saddled with the subtitle "The Television Epics of the Dark Shadows Auteur: Horror, Western, and War." Having already tackled Curtis' horror movies and television shows in his books "The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis" and "House of Dan Curtis," Thompson focuses here on his outlying productions, which range from the trivial (1998's THE LOVE LETTER) to possibly his most important work (1983's WINDS OF WAR.)

Unsurprisingly, DARK SHADOWS lurks in the recesses of almost every chapter "Nights of Dan Curtis." Despite the filmmaker's efforts to marginalize his breakthrough achievement, the gothic soap provided Curtis with friends and professional relationships that endured his entire career. You'll see many of the same names appear throughout the book, such as Kathryn Leigh Scott, Robert Cobert, Barbara Steele, Lysette Anthony and John Karlen. No matter the subject matter (and Curtis produced everything from westerns to melodrama) you were bound to find some kind of connection to DARK SHADOWS.

When I cracked this book open for the first time (and I've returned to its pages many times during the last few weeks) it was under the delusion that I knew a little something about Dan Curtis. As it happens, I didn't know much of anything ... I've seen very few of the projects documented in this book, many of which were total revelations. It begins with a forward by one of my childhood heroes, Larry Wilcox (I was never much of a Ponch fan) who writes about working with Curtis on 1979's THE LAST RIDE OF THE DALTON GANG. There are details on the 1979 SUPERTRAIN debacle, 1974's MELVIN PURVIS G-MAN, 2005's SAVING MILLY and tons of other projects that were entirely new to me.

Still, it's not what I'd call a friendly read. Thompson has crafted a fine reference book here, which was almost certainly his intention. This isn't a book about Jeff Thompson; it's a book about Dan Curtis, and it's refreshing to see such an absence of ego in this kind of book. But it also makes it incredibly difficult to review in a typical fashion. In light of that, here are eight factoids I learned from reading "Nights of Dan Curtis," which ought to give you an idea of what to expect from the book.

1: Holy Candy Man, Batman!

Two years before DARK SHADOWS, Dan Curtis tried to develop a BATMAN television series for CBS. In 1964, Curtis got the go-ahead to develop a pilot, with CBS given right of first refusal. The vision of the series doesn't sound very far removed from the show created by William Dozier in 1966: actor Don Murray (CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES) had agreed to star as the caped crusader, with Sammy Davis, Jr. as the Joker. Had a change in management not torpedoed the project, BATMAN would have stocked its rogues gallery with members of the Rat Pack.

---

2: CBS hacked Drac

In 1972, Curtis returned to the vampire well with DRACULA, which aired on television in the U.S., and was released theatrically (with a bloodier cut) in Europe. It was originally meant to be a much grander project, though. Curtis and screenwriter Richard Matheson wanted a three-hour time slot, but CBS granted them only two. While it was the first legitimate attempt to faithfully translate Bram Stoker's novel for film, both creators felt the shorter time slot hobbled (to a certain extent) the final product.

---

3: "That's the signpost up ahead ..."
As DARK SHADOWS was hitting its stride in 1967, Curtis was in the U.K. producing and directing THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. The TV movie was written by Ian McLellan Hunter and starred Jack Palance in the title roles, but neither were Curtis' first choice. When the project began development, actor Jason Robards was attached, and Rod Serling (!) was tapped to write the screenplay.

---

4: Author, author!
Herman Wouk was unhappy with the filmed adaptions of THE CAINE MUTINY and MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, and was resistant to the idea of allowing WINDS OF WAR to suffer a "watered down" adaption. Curtis countered by bringing Wouk on board to write the screenplay of the 15-hour 1983 television mini-series, going so far as to give the author final approval on scripts.

---

5: It takes a thief
Robert Cobert frequently cribbed his own music from other movies. Listen carefully and you'll hear music from DARK SHADOWS appear in such productions as INTRUDERS and THE GREAT ICE RIP-OFF. "Quentin's Theme" made stealth appearances in both movies. If you've got to steal, steal from the best!

---

6: Great Scott!

Kathryn Leigh Scott auditioned for the role of Liz Stoddard in the 1991 DARK SHADOWS revival. Just let that idea sink in. If you've got to lose a part, though, you might as well lose it to Jean Simmons.  (Oops. KLS actually auditioned for the role of Liz in the 2004 pilot, but lost to Blair Brown. Jeff got it correct in his book; I got it wrong here. My apologies.) Still, just think of the possibilities. THINK ABOUT THEM.

---

7: The Number of the Beast
Dan Curtis was briefly attached to direct DAMIEN: OMEN II. As a not-terribly-proud fan of THE OMEN movies, the lack of detail on this bit of trivia is maddeningly frustrating. But I probably shouldn't expect too many details about a production that ultimately didn't involve Curtis. Mike Hodges (GET CARTER, FLASH GORDON) was signed to direct but was booted and replaced during shooting by Don Taylor (THE FINAL COUNTDOWN).

---

8: A Monstrous Monopoly

Curtis' television adaption of FRANKENSTEIN debuted Jan. 16, 1972, the same night as THE NIGHT STALKER, which he also produced. THE NIGHT STALKER earned a 32.2 rating and 54 share, making it the highest-rated television movie to date. It was followed in 1973 by a sequel, THE NIGHT STRANGLER. The sequel marked the end of Curtis' relationship with Carl Kolchak.

Ghoul House Rock: FRANKIE STEIN AND HIS GHOULS

The music of Frankie Stein and his Ghouls is cooler than it has any right to be. Between 1964 and 1965, the “band” cranked out no fewer than five full-length albums. By all rights these records should have been little more than white noise, the kind of generic elevator music that blared from teenage radios in movies and television whenever the producers didn't feel like ponying up the dough for a legitimate song.

But there's something special about the Frankie Stein series. Something surprisingly focused, haunting and aggressive. Which has led fans to sometimes speculate about the identities of the anonymous musicians that made of the ersatz band. If Frankie Stein was a real person, he’s been suspiciously quiet in the years since his band’s albums were hastily released. And there might be a good reason for it, if even a fraction of the rumors about the musicians involved with this project are true.

The “Frankie Stein” albums were released by Power Records, a subsidiary of the children’s specialty label Peter Pan Records. Power would later strike a chord with its young audience during the ‘70s when it licensed movie, television and comic book properties for its famous “book and record” sets. Years earlier, though, it was still struggling to find an identity, which lead the company to create some … unusual products.

For example: the 1966 album “Batman and Robin” by The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale. It’s since been established that there were no “Dan & Dale,” and that the band was actually made up of the legendary Sun Ra and members of the Blues Project. It was a quickie album meant to capitalize on the first wave of Bat-mania. The music had little to do with the Caped Crusaders, but it’s likely the young fans buying the album didn’t care.

“Batman and Robin” was produced another music legend: Tom Wilson. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, his list of credits absolutely will. During the 1960s, he produced such acts as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, the Velvet Underground and the Mothers of Invention. He’d been working with Sun Ra since the 1950s, which is probably why he was able to persuade the man to pick up a quick paycheck on a silly Batman knockoff.

The album was the product of Synthetic Plastics Co., a toy company located in Newark, N.J. Coincidentally, Synthetic Plastics Co. also produced the “Frankie Stein” albums. Which is where the rumors about the album’s creation get interesting. While nobody has ever taken credit for their work on them, rumor has it that Wilson produced these albums (all of which might have been recorded during the same session) with a roster of musicians that might have included Duane Eddy and Max Greger, members of the Blues Project and, possibly, Sun Ra, himself.

Or maybe it didn't include any of them. Who knows?

Here’s how Frankie Stein  was credited on jacket of the band’s album “Monster Sounds and Dance Music”:

The monster maestro (Frankie Stein) is a graduate of the mausoleum of music at the University of Paris Green … He plays guitar with three hands and conducts with the other two. He is DEAD serious about his music. Many critics have hailed him as “hideous” … “ghastly” …“horrormonius”… etc. etc. etc.

As far as mysteries go, the real identity of “Frankie Stein” isn’t in any danger of displacing D.B. Cooper as America's Favorite Mystery Man. The albums were popular novelty records, but novelties, nonetheless. Many — if not all — of the participants might have had good reason to keep their identities a secret at the time. Cutting records like the “Frankie Stein” series was the musical equivalent of pornography for many musicians, though I suspect nobody has fessed up in recent years simply because they haven’t been asked.

As with many of the albums from the era, vinyl editions of the Frankie Stein and his Ghouls are hard to find — and a little pricey, to boot. While the music has since been released on compact disc, the collections are a little frustrating. “Ghoul Music” and “Shock! Terror! Fear!” were released as a double-album set, while an anthology titled “Monster Melodies” collects an additional 30 tracks. I haven't added up the track lists to compare them to the original releases, but wouldn't be shocked it a few songs slipped through the cracks during the conversion process.

---

WALLACE McBRIDE is an award-winning South Carolina journalist, and creator/editor of THE COLLINSPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY website. He was once used as a human shield by Michelle Phillips, owns a complete run of HOWARD THE DUCK comics, and talks too much about DARK SHADOWS.

Speaking of werewolves ...

Phil Nichols had a question:

"Do you know off hand if any of the dramas deal with a werewolf plot line?"

My answer got into spoilery territory, but yes, several of the DARK SHADOWS audio dramas from Big Finish deal with the legacy of Quentin Collins' curse. And then our e-mail conversation took a turn for the amazing.

Known online as "The Fiendish Dr. Phil," Nichols is an artist who has worked with the legendary Dick Smith, who passed away earlier this year. Among Smith's many accomplishments are the "old vampire" make-up effects used in the DARK SHADOWS television series and feature film, HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS. Nichols was also mentored by sculptor Henry Alvarez of Alvarez Wax Productions, who worked on such films as John Carpenter's THE THING, ROBOCOP and PREDATOR. The guy had some legendary teachers.

Nichols sent me a few photos of a mask he made of the "Collinsport Werewolf," as played by stuntman Alex Stevens on the television series.

The mask was so realistic that I wasn't entirely sure there wasn't a human being underneath it.

And Nichols has been super busy. With the upcoming 50th anniversary of both DARK SHADOWS and the classic BATMAN television series, he's been working on masks for many of those programs' leading characters. He plans to have the final pieces on display at Comicpalooza next year in Houston, Texas.

Here's his process:

"I sculpt in non sulfur plasticine," he said. "I use mainly Klean Klay which is the modeling clay we all had as kids in school in the 1960’s. Once the piece is sculpted and that takes about three to four weeks to get the likeness and detail right it is sealed with an acrylic spray and a spray wax."

After that, the sculpt is used to make a mold.

"I take the mold as a two-part mold using U.S. Gypsum Moulding Plaster," he said. "Once the mold is done it’s allowed to set undisturbed and dry out for a week to cure up really well. Once the mold is cured I strap it and seal the seam with water based clay then wrap it in plastic to prevent any leakage. Mask Making latex is poured in and allowed to sit over night for about 12 hours in the mold."

"This makes a very thick casting," Nichols said. "The the latex is drained out and the mold is allowed to dry out completely, usually taking four days or so to get dry enough to de-mold. When it’s dry enough I de-mold the piece then trim it and out out the eyes and mouth if it’s to have glass eyes and acrylic teeth."

He dries the mask the old-fashioned way: by hanging it on a clothesline ... which must freak out his neighbors.

"Once it is totally dry it is seamed using a moto tool," he said. "Once it’s seamed it’s based coated with latex paint in the appropriate color. I do at least 3 coats of base color."

Next, the glass eyes and teeth are inserted and sealed. Flexible polyurethane foam is used to fill the piece and  make it suitable for display.

"Once it’s all foamed up I finish the paint job with airbrush contours and layers of washes of color to make it look good," he said. "Then the hair goes on wigs for some hand laid hair for others. I usually hand mix the hair when I paste it on so it looks realistic."

You can find Phil Nichols online at www.fiendishdrphil.com.

See more photos at BLOOD DRIVE.

Phil Nichols and some of his creations.

Yvonne Craig tribute scheduled for Me-TV this weekend

Yvonne Craig, remembered for her role as Batgirl in the '60s television series BATMAN, died Monday at the age of 78. As Batgirl, Craig was the barometer of puberty for many men my age. When you stop thinking of Batgirl as an interloper and start paying more attention to her than the Dynamic Duo, it's a certainty that adulthood is right around the corner.

MeTV is planning a retrospective this weekend in memory of Craig. The channel is showing special episodes of BATMAN beginning Saturday at 7 p.m. EST. You can see a short promo for the tribute below.

Adam West, Burt Ward return for BATMAN feature in 2016

During yesterday's BATMAN panel at Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, N.C., guests Adam West and Burt Ward announced they'd recently recorded dialogue for an animated BATMAN film slated for release in 2016 — the 50th anniversary of the classic television series.

Burt Ward and Adam West at the Mad Monster Party panel.

Actually, the actors speculated that the as-yet untitled film (presumably part of Warner Animation's line of direct-to-video DC Universe series) might be split into two movies They didn't share any additional details about the film(s), but its safe to say there's going to be extensive recasting of the show's principle actors. The legal dispute between 20th Century Fox (the creators of the original series) and Warner Bros (which own the BATMAN characters) dragged on for so long that almost everyone associated with the series died in the interim. While its easy to imagine Julie Newmar participating in the upcoming animated film, nobody's really clamoring for the return of John Astin to the role of "The Riddler." Will we see Mark Hamill take the place of Cesar Romero as "The Joker?" John DiMaggio? Wally Wingert?

It's not the first time Ward and West have returned to the roles of "Batman and Robin." Both have loaned their voices to the characters in everything from 1977's THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN, to episodes of THE SIMPSONS. They also announced during yesterday's panel that they've recently recorded dialogue for an upcoming episode of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Watch video from the panel below.

Review: BATMAN '66, THE LOST EPISODE

By WALLACE McBRIDE

Riddle me this: When is an adaption not an adaption?

The answer, it seems, is BATMAN '66: THE LOST EPISODE. While a wonderful book, it's not entirely the product that was advertised. Touted as an adaption for a lost treatment written for the classic BATMAN television series by Harlan Ellison, the end result is neither fish nor fowl thanks to a series of unavoidable creative decisions needed to make this book happen.

Fans of the BATMAN series have been hearing rumors for years of Ellison's screenplay, which has collected quite a bit of moss during the last few decades. My favorite version of the tale is that Clint Eastwood was attached to play the episode's villain, Two-Face, the disfigured (and disgraced) district attorney for Gotham City. Two-Face was the only major Batman villain never to appear on the series, and for obvious reasons. Thanks to the Comics Code enacted during the 1950s (which prohibited a great many subjects), Two-Face was even persona non grata in the Batman comics throughout the 1960s. It was unlikely that the comedy based television series could ever find a way to make Two-Face palatable to prime time audiences.

And, while it seems weird to fans that anyone would turn their nose up at a Harlan Ellison script, keep in mind that Ellison was still a working writer in Hollywood at the time and not nearly the literary legend he's since become. The guy was writing everything from THE FLYING NUN to BURKE'S LAW in those days, so his pitch probably wasn't seen as especially precious at the time.

Ellison's treatment for the episode is reprinted  in the pages of BATMAN '66: THE LOST EPISODE and it's a hoot. Ellison is a longtime comics fan and it shows here. His sense of tone in actually stunning, and finds a respectful balance between adventure and comedy that probably wouldn't have angered fans of the comics the way the television show did.

Still, there are some problems. As a story, it's difficult to envision the producers of BATMAN ponying up the dough needed to make Ellison's story happen. This is a sprawling tale that involves an imaginative car chase, a sword fight on a pirate ship, and the kinds of stunts that required more than just stuntmen dancing around a studio set. The television series was simply too small to contain this tale.

Adding to the problem is the presence of Two-Face. He's inherently a violent character, and there's a LOT more gunplay on display in this story than I ever remember seeing on the television series. Ellison also stops to recount the villain's origin, which is something the series avoided with pathological fervor. The show doesn't even provide a backstory for it's heroes, which makes it one of the only interpretations of Batman that doesn't offer up the obligatory human sacrifice of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Get it on Amazon!

BATMAN '66: THE LOST EPISODE isn't hampered by the constraints of a '60s television budget, or the outdated regulations of the Comics Code Authority, and proceeds full steam ahead with maniacal glee. Which is where the book runs into a minor problem: This is hardly Ellison's story anymore. While it follows the plot points provided in his script treatment, he's provided very little dialogue. And, what dialogue he wrote back in 1966 is mostly abandoned here. Ellison's presence in the final comic book is mostly notional.


The end result is still quite spectacular, though. While it never fully feels like an episode of BATMAN, writer Len Wein and artist José Luis Garcia-López (legends in their own right) have created one of the single best BATMAN stories that I've read in years. It's fun, witty and beautifully drawn, and makes me wish DC Comics was producing more Batman books like this one. BATMAN '66: THE LOST EPISODE makes me really miss the character.

Holy 1080p! BATMAN coming to home video next week!

BATMAN: THE COMPLETE SERIES Blu-ray limited edition set.

BATMAN: THE COMPLETE SERIES is kind of a miracle.

One of the only TV series of the 1960s to rival the kind of hysteria created by DARK SHADOWS, BATMAN was a massive pop culture phenomenon that quickly imploded. Television networks were still using Draconian methods to track viewership in those days, but it's hard to say if later ratings standards would have helped to series. BATMAN aired two (occasionally three) times a week as a means of better exploiting it's "movie serial" pretense, producing a whopping 120 episodes between 1966 and 1968. No matter how good a dessert might be, nobody wants to eat it as a steady diet.

What happened next was even stranger. 20th Century Fox, the studio that produced the series, and Warner Bros., the studio that owned "Batman" and related characters, spent the next few decades in a legal standoff that was too absurd for a John Woo movie. The only morsel of the original series that was ever released to home video was the 1966 BATMAN: THE MOVIE theatrical feature. Fox owned that film, certain elements of the series (such as the "Bat Symbol" on the side of the Batmobile), characters created for the show and, most importantly, the actual television episodes.

Fox's rights to the series only extended to the television market.  Because the studio doesn't own the Batman characters they couldn't release the television series without the consent of Warner Bros. And WB had shown little interest in a project that obliged them to share revenue generated from properties they owned outright.

In other words: WB owned the keys, Fox owned the car, and neither were interested in carpooling.

BATMAN hasn't been entirely out of circulation, of course. It's appeared on syndicated television from time to time, and has been a mainstay product for bootleg DVD vendors (which tended to use sketchy recordings from those same television broadcasts.) If you wanted to watch BATMAN during the last few decades, these have been your only two options.

Prior to January's announcement that BATMAN was coming to home video, rumors had been circulating that suggested the two companies had reached an understanding. My favorite involved a settlement stemming from copyright issues over WATCHMEN, the legal mess between Fox and WB that resulted from the long-in-development feature film.

Who knows what the truth might be, but Fox and WB must have reached some kind of arrangement because BATMAN: THE COMPLETE SERIES is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on Nov. 11.

The home video release is a cause of celebration, but also a cause for sadness.

On the happier side: WB is pulling out all the stops. BATMAN: THE COMPLETE SERIES has been remastered in high definition for a dazzling Blu-ray release that includes actor audition reels, commentary tracks, the famous BATGIRL television pilot and tons of other stuff. It's also being released in a "complete series" DVD package, and in individual DVD season sets. WB has more planned for later, such as a "greatest hits" compilation that packages 64 episodes in a 12 DVD set.

There's also the Blu Ray Limited Edition Set for hardcore fans, which includes three hours of extras, as well as:

• Hot Wheels® Replica Batmobile
• The Adam West Scrapbook
• 44 Vintage Trading Cards
• Ultraviolet Digital Copy
• 32-Page Complete Episode Guide

This is clearly a "feast or famine" situation. While the Blu-ray box set is a bit expensive, WB has graciously made a lot of options available to fans.

Sadly, the legal wrangling that has been going on between WB and Fox for the last few decades means much of the cast will not be able to participate in the project. While Adam West and Burt Ward are still with us, we've since lost Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Eartha Kitt, Eli Wallach ... I'm going to end this list here because it's getting depressing. You probably see my point.

WB has released a split-screen video demonstrating the enhancements made to the BATMAN series for the new home video release.

Barnabas Collins is a nut job

Just when I thought the David Henesy cereal commercial would be the most unusual thing I'd see all week ...

Artist Steve Casino paints detailed portraits on peanut shells. His subjects range from fictional characters and celebrities (such as the Barnabas Collins piece above) to custom works created for specific clients. (In other words, they're for sale.) I asked Steve about how he created the Barnabas Collins piece, and here's what he had to say: 

"I grew up on Dark Shadows so this was fun to do.

"A peanut is used as the canvas.  After figuring out who I'm going to paint (in this case, a D.S. fan hired me) I find a peanut that is close to the shape of the person.  Mainly I look for a face shape in relation to the lower body.  After that I crack it open, take out the nuts and re-glue it, sealing the inside to make it last.  I smooth the bumpy texture with wood filler.  The legs are bamboo skewers and the hands/cape are dense foam.  The cane is a toothpick.  The whole thing is assembled with a strong archival-quality glue and is very durable. The final piece is sealed in an acrylic coating then mounted inside a hand-blown glass dome to preserve it." 

I've included a few more examples of his work below, which might be relevant to your interests.

You can find Steve online at http://stevecasino.com, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/painterofnuts.

Review: I heart "BATMAN 66"

I pulled the trigger this week and bought my first digital comicbook. It's been a long time coming for a variety of reasons. Loyalty has something to do with it, specifically a loyalty to a format I've enjoyed for almost my entire life. Stuffed between the pages of family photo albums are pictures of me, about three years old, holding a copy of Superman #287. It's the issue that returned Krypto (AKA "Superdog") to Superman comics after the publisher kept the animal busy chasing comets in space for several years. DC Comics has a long history of dropping Krypto off at the editorial animal shelter, only to welcome him home after a change of heart many years later. A humane society could probably file a successful custody suit against DC over the animal's welfare.

The fact that I'm this aware of the editorial content of a comicbook I haven't laid eyes on in almost 40 years should tell you everything you need to know about why I'm resistant to digital comicbooks. Comics, especially superhero comics, are a perfect marriage of format and content. It's revealing that, after more than 80 years of life, outside media are just now beginning to catch up to the storytelling possibilities presented by comics. I think the economic realities of Hollywood will eventually bring this relationship crashing down, but cultural shifts during the last few decades have also created some unpleasant realities in the comic market. The format has been gradually ghettoized, a situation that has been facilitated by desperate, unimaginative publishers interested in nothing more than squeezing every penny from a rapidly dwindling audience. When you marry bad comics to the lazy, adversarial relationships that some comicbooks stores have with their customers ... well, let's just say the future looks bleak.

So, I'm not doing cartwheels over the idea of reading any mainstream comics right now, let alone digital versions of those same books.

The announcement of BATMAN 66 got my attention, though. 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros have been quietly mending legal fences over the last few years, paving the way for a slew of new products related to the ADAM WEST/BURT WARD TV series. BATMAN 66 is a new comicbook series based on that show, an idea that is both difficult and easy to screw up. While the concept sounds like a no-brainer, DC Comics has developed a reputation as a publisher capable of fucking up a wet dream. During the last few years, they rarely meet a terrible idea they don't fall madly in love with.

Even worse, BATMAN 66 is being published as a digital-only comicbook, which put up yet another  barrier between me and their products. My plan was to wait and see how the book was received, and possibly buy the trade paperback collection later in the year if/when it materialized.

And then those bastards had to go and price the book at 99 cents.

My recent trip to the HeroesCon in Charlotte, N.C., had me thinking again about comics, especially after such wonderful discoveries as AMERICAN BARBARIAN and the latest installments of HENRY AND GLENN FOREVER. So, in a moment of weakness, I splurged 99 cents on the first issue of BATMAN 66.

Then, a few minutes later, I spent another 99 cents on issue #2. These were the best $2 I've spent on comics in a long, long time.

Much like the late, great THE BATMAN ADVENTURES, BATMAN 66 eschews a monolithic reverence of continuity in favor of telling a whopping good tale. The first two issues are part of a larger arc, but one that harkens back in style and substance to the '60s television show in a way that never feels condescending or pandering. It also ignores the TV show's technical restraints to deliver some bang-up action sequences that also feel in character. Unlike the unhinged "Season 8" BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER comics (which had a budget-unconscious approach that led to out-of-character moments such as giant robots slugging it out in downtown Tokyo) writer Jeff Parker and artist Jonathan Case have created a Batman book that feels right. It's not only true to the TV show, but to the character, as well.

Frank Gorshin’s Riddler is tapped for the first issue's badguy, which is appropriate given that he was also the first villian to appear on TV show. The Riddler appears to die in the climax of the first issue, which is devoted almost entirely to a dramatic fistfight on the wing of an airplane. This seeming death leads directly into a deeper mystery involving a possibly reformed Catwoman in the next issue. It's fun, it's funny and I can't wait to see where this series goes next.

The version I read was formatted for the iPad, and I suspect the reading experience will vary between devices. On the iPad, the panels were animated in a way that leads the reader along, connecting word balloons and transitions in a way that was vaguely disturbing. Layout and design is an often overlooked part of comic art, even though it's an absolutely essential part to visual storytelling. During the Pin-Up Artist Revolution of the 1990s, though, layout and design became less valuable than ever, and the sad truth is that too many aspiring comic artists would rather be TODD MCFARLANE than J.H. WILLIAMS. Having the iPad take me by the hand and reveal the story in tidbits simply feels like a step in the wrong direction for comicbooks. It's a microcosm form of design that requires less from an artist, in much the same way a Twitter "tweet" requires less from a writer. (That's a criticism of the format, and not of the work done in this comic.)

That's not to say it was an unpleasant experience. The story and art are terrific, which is what matters the most. It was just weird to read a high-tech comic created for a generation raised on smartphones, energy drinks and wi-fi instant gratification. The iPad format doesn't let you progress in a story without touching each panel on the screen multiple times, and that's a cheat if you're trying to keep a reader involved. It mostly unsettling in retrospect, and I can't fault the publisher for experimenting with the format. It's way past time for comics to get aggressive in their pursuit of readers. I'm just not sure that fake interactivity is the way to go.

NOTE: If you want to read BATMAN 66 for yourself, here are a few options:

AMAZON

iTUNES

COMIXOLOGY

DC COMICS

Dark Selby talks Dark Shadows, Dark Knight

David Selby

 DAVID SELBY has an interesting interview over at Comicbookmovie.com, where he discusses his time spent playing Commissioner Jim Gordon in the upcoming DARK KNIGHT RETURNS animated feature film. Here's a sample:

"That was a special time in the 60s, and for whatever reasons these shows captivated the public’s imagination. Maybe we just needed it in the 60s. They were shows that allowed you to escape … shows that made life a little easier to cope. I think about New York City at that time and all the things that were going on. The corruption, the racial conflicts, the unrest at Columbia University. There were protests everywhere. Then there was Chicago, and the election in 1968. The assassination of Martin Luther King, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. Vietnam was raging. And then you had these shows. I’m sure some sociologist is examining all of this and working it out. But I think those two shows, Batman and Dark Shadows, they fit that expression, “Whatever gets you through the night.” It is interesting that they both came out of that period. But maybe not. Maybe the times were right."

Read the rest of the interview over at Comicbookmovie.com.

David Selby talks about playing an "older" Jim Gordon in The Dark Knight Returns

Frank Miller's landmark graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns, is being adapted by WB Premiere as two straight-to-video animated films. Among the cast is Peter Weller, Michael McKean and our own David Selby. The featurette above (courtesy of Selby's Facebook page) talks with the creative team bringing the comic to life, and includes a short interview with Selby about his role as an "older" Commissioner Gordon.

Along with Maus and Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns is one of the three critical successes of the 1980s that helped add the term "graphic novel" to America's lexicon. Because if the book's scope, The Dark Knight Returns has long been thought of as unfilmable, which makes the notion adapting it as two animated features that much more compelling.

David Selby cast in animated Batman: The Dark Knight Returns movie

This is something Batman fans have been waiting years for: WB has confirmed that an animated feature is in the works based based on the classic '80s Batman series, The Dark Knight Returns. Peter Weller will be playing retired lunatic Bruce Wayne (and his alter-ego Batman,) according to The Hollywood Reporter blog, Heat Vision.

Selby

"One of the most influential comics of all time, the Dark Knight Returns is set in a near future where Batman is retired and Gotham City has slid into a dystopian state ruled by a gang of hooligans called The Mutants. The 55-year old Bruce Wayne is forced to don the cape once more, this time partnering with a female Robin to not only stop the Joker but keep the peace when the city falls into chaos after being hit by an electromagnetic pulse."

According to his Twitter feed, Selby will be playing, Commissioner Gordon, who is one of the leads in the original graphic novel. A small segment of The Dark Knight Returns was adapted for the animated Batman TV series back in 1998. I've embedded a clip from that episode above, for you newbies.