Danny Elfman

When superheroes make the transition from comics to TV animation, it's always interesting to hear what kind of theme music they get. Songs with lyrics that explain who the heroes are can be fun, but they can also go awry. Instrumental tracks can be boring if you're not careful, but if they're well-executed, they can do a great job of creating just the tone you want for your cartoon. I've put together a chronological list of nine memorable theme songs from TV superhero cartoons. Obviously I can't include them all, but I expect to see in the comments which of your favorites I've left out.

Mondo, you are killing me with this. As part of their year-long celebration of Batman's 75th Anniversary, Mondo has produced an art show, posters, and a truly beautiful soundtrack album that sold out of all five designs at San Diego, and now, they're giving me the most compelling reason yet to get into vinyl: a die-cut single of Danny Elfman's theme from Batman: The Animated Series. I definitely do not need this because I don't even own a record player, but y'all... it's shaped like a bat. How can I not get this?

Batman's movie and TV adaptations have had varying degrees of success over the years, but one aspect of the DC Comics franchise that has been almost universally good for the past five decades or so has been the music. As if to prove it, the Piano Guys -- a duo consisting of a pianist and a cellist (shouldn't they be the Piano and Electric Cello Guys?) -- have taken three iconic Batman themes, arranged them for their own instruments, and mashed them up in a really creative and compelling way. Not only that, they put it all in an absolutely beautifully shot video.

The boutique merchandise arm of the celebrated Austin movie theater the Alamo Drafhouse, Mondo's about to level up with its most ambitious music plan yet: a series of vinyl-only releases of Danny Elfman's music from Batman: The Animated Series.

To celebrate the release of The Dark Knight Rises, Pomplamoose created a lighthearted, lightly dubstep-infused video last week covering Danny Elfman's 1989 Batman movie theme starring the duo in superhero personas. Before the duo could release their video, however, tragedy struck in Aurora, Colorado...

I've had a Google alert set up for "heavy metal Batman" for years, and I have to say that the results I've seen have been pretty disappointing. Until this week, that is, when our friends over at Topless Robot posted the new video by Powerglove, in which the video game-themed metalheads thrash the living hell out of the 1989 Batman theme...

For comics readers of a certain generation, the 1989 "Batman" film directed by Tim Burton marked a defining (if not inciting) moment in our love of the American comic book medium and its classic characters. Those same fans will agree that the music by Danny Elfman played a crucial role in that experience...