You know what you don’t see a lot in comic books these days? Silly wordplay. That’s probably why I’m enjoying the Batman ’66 series from Jeff Parker, based on the Adam West/Burt Ward television series from, well, 1966. It’s just gee-whiz fun at ludicrous speed.
In Batman ’66 #2, the “pompous prince of perilous plots, the Penguin!!” has managed to position a giant iceberg in Gotham Harbor, blocking all shipping routes – Robin is concerned that it will destroy commerce and sport-fishing! What’s more, the police and the Dynamic Duo can do nothing about it, because the Penguin has managed to get his iniquitous iceberg declared a sovereign nation called Penguinia! Plus, it won’t ever melt, because the “larcenous leprechaun” has formed an “Arctic Alliance” with none other than Mr. Freeze and his ridiculous German accent! It’s then child’s play to turn the Caped Crusader into a Popsicle Prisoner! What’s a Boy Wonder to do? A lot of good thinking, that’s what!
In the second story, a new revelation hit me like a bolt from the blue, upon seeing that Millionaire Bruce Wayne was on a date with one Kathy Kane, and the entertainment for the evening was “The Fabulous Lori,” otherwise known as the villainous siren villainess Lorelei Circe! What was that resounding revelation? That Batman ’66 is a DC comic book, which means we could get ’60s stylized versions of all sorts of DC characters as this series goes on! Can you imagine a Superman with zowie power, or a madly mod Wonder Woman? There’s nothing stopping them now!
This series is all about the good times and breezy fun, and the art from Ty Templeton in the first story and Jonathan Case in the second serve it quite well, and is just lovely to behold. They both made Adam West look great in a fight, and Case gets to go bananas when Circe ensorcells Batman with a unique vocal mind control that sends him on a hallucinogenic hayride through heaven and hell!
… man, it’s really hard to stop doing that. But then again, why should I? You just don’t get this kind of rollicking frolicking in comics anymore, so it’s a gas when you get a book wherein the last panel of the story involves the Dynamic Duo staring out at the reader, with Robin simply exclaiming “Gosh!” over the congratulations offered him for his fine work. Parker is nailing the dialogue and making us chuckle, chortle and cherish the madcap magic of Batman ’66.
