Batman 66

Ever since DC launched Batman '66, the crossover that virtually everyone wanted was a meeting between the Adam West-era Caped Crusader and Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman. Now, it's happening in the pages of Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77, a crossover from Jeff Parker, Marc Andreyko, David Hahn, and Karl Kesel that takes place across three different eras, pitting Batman and Wonder Woman against Ra's al-Ghul, Talia, and a handful of other special guest villains. It's an incredibly entertaining story that goes well beyond what both series were able to do on TV. To find out more about it, ComicsAlliance spoke to Hahn and Kesel about the challenge of drawing a story with three different flavors of retro style, and the era's perfect "casting" of Ra's al-Ghul, and we got a first look at this week's issue.

This week, Comixology has launched a sale on DC's digital-first line, which means that for half of their usual cover price, you can catch up on rip-roaring retro adventure in books like Bombshells, Wonder Woman '77, and Batman '66, get continuity-free adventures in Adventures of Superman, Sensation Comics, and Legends of the Dark Knight, and --- perhaps most importantly --- finally get the answer to the question of whether Batman could defeat a pro wrestler.

This week marks the digital release of Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, the new film that reunites Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar for an all-new adventure set in the campy, pop-art gotham city of the 1966 Batman television show. The movie stands alongside projects like the Batman '66 comic and the home video release of the entire series as part of a new (and welcome) wave of appreciation that we're enjoying here at the 50th anniversary, but by its very nature, that sets a standard that ends up being very difficult to live up to.

DC's digital-first re-imaginings and continuations of beloved superhero shows of decades past have not only yielded some great comics in their own right, but recently they've been crossing over with other properties in a similar vein. Batman '66 has met up with Green Hornet and The Man From Uncle while Wonder Woman '77 has been hanging out with The Bionic Woman. Later this year, thing rocket to their logical conclusion as, for the first time, Adam West and Burt Ward's Batman and Robin team-up with Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman for an epic crossover that could only be called Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77.

There’s no arguing that the version of Batgirl that looms largest in the minds of both comic fans and people only familiar with the character from pop culture in general, and that version is Barbara Gordon. Not only has Barbara held the title of Batgirl the longest, she’s the character that’s endured throughout her own adventures and tribulations, the many changes to the fictional universe that surrounds her, and the real world upheavals of the medium she exists within. So we hope you’ll enjoy this collection of artwork celebrating Babs’ many moods and looks and check out the artists who’ve shown her so much love. This is the best Batgirl fan art.

Q: Has Batman ever been overtly political? Was there a time Batman ran for office? If so, would you vote Batman? - @ShaneMBailey A: To answer your last question first, yes: I consider myself a staunch Batocrat on virtually all of the most important issues, like crime, child labor laws, funding for the development of personal rocket cars, and batarang control. But even though I would happily cast my vote for the Caped Crusader if I had the chance, the occasions where Batman chooses to take a political office are pretty few and far between, especially if you don't count the time he was secretly President of the United States for a weekend. Of course, there was that time Batman ran for Mayor to keep the Penguin from gaining control of Gotham City.

If there's one thing that has made the nightmare of existence worth it over the past few years, it's been the revival of and new appreciation for the classic Batman television show. Between the long-awaited release of the series on DVD and the new adventures that have been running in the Batman '66 comic book, it's been a good time to be a fan of what is unquestionably the greatest mass-media incarnation of the Dynamic Duo. But in a few months, we're getting something all new and amazing. On October 11, Warner Bros. will release Batman: Return of the Caped Crusader, a new animated movie that's not just based on Batman '66, but also features original series actors Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar, reprising their roles as Batman, Robin, and Catwoman.

Now that I've rewatched the entire series as an adult, I have a very hard time picking out my single favorite story arc from Batman '66. When I was a kid, though, there was no question: It had to be the three-part story where Batman and Robin sailed across the Atlantic to far-off Londinium to battle foggy crimes in merry old England. If nothing else, I think that it appealed to my childhood sense that our country's greatest export was costumed crime-fighting. Now, though, it's time for England to repay the favor by sending their own dynamic duo to the fair shores of Gotham City --- and that's exactly what's happening in Batman '66 Meets Steed and Mrs. Peel, the '60s TV crossover that pretty much had to happen. Check out a preview of the book's second chapter!

When it came to 1960s action television, two campy crimefighting series captured the attention of audiences the world over. The first was Batman, the legendary Adam West/Burt Ward series that brought the Day-Glo hijinks of the comics to TV. The other is The Avengers, a long-running spy/science fiction --- or "spy-fi" if you will --- series from Doctor Who co-creator Sydney Newman. The best known seasons of The Avengers paired Patrick McNee's "top professional " John Steed with Diana Rigg as the stylish "talented amateur" Mrs. Emma Peel. Although they've starred in their own comics before under the title Steed & Mrs Peel (to avoid confusion with those other Avengers) --- including comics written by Mark Waid and Grant Morrison --- now the pair cross paths with the Dynamic Duo in Batman '66 Meets Steed & Mrs. Peel, by Ian Edginton, Matthew Dow Smith and Jordie Bellaire. Judging by this first chapter, readers are in for a treat.

So on the one hand, the "Premium Format" figures from Sideshow are sculpted with a realism that's almost frightening. If you're not expecting to see them lurking on a bookshelf, you can very easily glance at them and think that your home is currently being invaded by foot-tall versions of Batman and Catwoman who stepped right off the television screen. But on the other hand, having a home that's being attacked by tiny Batman characters is kind of everything that I've ever wanted in my life. It's a good thing, then, that Sideshow just released photos of their newest Premium Format figures: Batman, based on Adam West, and Catwoman, based on Julie Newmar, going up for pre-order this week.