Before Christian Bale needed a throat sweet. Before George Clooney had bat nipples. Before Bill Murray was almost the Caped Crusader (be honest, that would have been awesome). Before all that, KAPOW – there was Adam West. And on 10th November, for the first time ever, all 120 episodes of the original TV series will be available on Blu-Ray for the very first time, in one gigantic Bat-boxset. With that in mind, it’s the perfect time to look back at the superhero show which pretty much defines ‘60s camp.
Everything sorted itself out in episode two, obviously, as the Caped Crusaders defeat the bad guys in a massive brawl (complete with onomatopoeic title cards – POW!). Things changed slightly in the third season, as plots and sets got (somehow) more surreal, Batgirl joined the boys, and it actually mentioned some contemporary issues (like those darn hippies and mods). But even with these changes, Batman was still always tongue-in-cheek and without the dark plots that might later be expected from Batman (forget about that dead parent trauma).
True, some of those jokes might go over the head of current audiences, but there’s still a lot to love about Batman. And this new boxset is probably a good way to go if you want to either catch up on part of superhero history, or relive your childhood. As well as all 120 episodes of the TV series, buyers will also be getting over three hours of new content, including interviews with Adam West (including a look at his script notes for the first two episodes), features on the art and design, looking at the collectibles the series generated, and famous fan memories. Boxed along with a Hot Wheels Batmobile, trading cards and an Adam West scrapbook, it’s definitely one for Batman completists.