This Year: Complete Batman '66 TV Series on…Blu-ray?

In addition to this tweet from Conan O'Brien, I've reached out for confirmation regarding Blu-ray or DVD format ("no comment"), uncut/unedited ("no comment"), and new supplemental features ("no comment").

What I was told, that "everyone is going to be very happy", makes me comfortable placing a heavy bet that it will have been remastered from film source for Blu-ray, as the episodes originally aired (edited down previously for syndication), and with a boatload of extras. This is how WB can kick off their Batman 75th Anniversary Year in style.

Next on my wish list is giving Bill Finger long-overdue co-creator credit on the character and universe.

The reason this has taken so long is a longtime dispute between FOX (who own the show), and Warner Bros (who own the characters and overall license). I heard rumbling last summer that the two sides had finally settled on a split where one side would get toy licensing and the other home video and streaming rights, but San Diego Comic Con (which had Batman '66-branded bags yet again) came and went with no official announcement.

My baseless speculation upon prior rumor is that FOX somehow will benefit from SVOD/streaming rights, having relinquished physical media release and licensed product rights to WB. If FOX has good lawyers, they may still have some sort of interest or stake in the backend of both, but only lawyers and file clerks will ever know for sure.

GOTHAM: Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon, Before Zero Year

Hitfix has the details from the TCAs, where FOX president Kevin Reilly offered a few breadcrumbs worth noting:

Executive-produced and written by "The Mentalist"'s Bruno Heller and produced by Warner Bros. Television, the show won't have "a bunch of characters you've never heard of," Reilly promised. "We see Detective Gordon, before he's a commissioner, all the characters you know, Bruce Wayne, the Penguin, all of them. It's Gotham teetering on the edge, and we see what makes these characters become who they are, [like] Catwoman. It's an operatic soap that has a slightly larger-than-life quality to it."

I've loved Bruno Heller's The Mentalist, and the story of Bruce Wayne lends itself to TV so much more naturally than movies. Dark, gothic, and full of angst works when in the least Gossip Girl-y hand possible. This is something of a pre-origin story, occurring even earlier in the Gotham timeline than Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, or the currently-running re-origin story Batman: Zero Year by Scott Snyder. Heller is what should inspire a great deal of confidence here.

Giant Size #36: Joker at the Front Door (Reprint)

Think of this as an appetizer for the year-ending #37, where John and I look back at the year 2013 in comics from our own particular angle. Back on Comic Shack #27, we did our "intro to Batman". I chose to plug this "reprint variant cover" episode here, squarely between #35, where I spoke to Neal Adams, and the interview with the equally Bat-legendary Dennis O'Neil in #37.

Giant Size #35: Neal Adams on The Shallow Seas

In what is definitely the most unique interview-focused episode of the show, I speak with comics legend Neal Adams. John and I spend a few minutes giving a primer as to who Adams is and why new readers should know, because the interview itself is off in its own solar system, barely talking about comics at all. Click on the cover art to order recommended reading material listed further down.

Rather than pepper him with the same series of Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow questions he's been asked for decades, I handed him the reins to explain his beliefs regarding the nature of the Earth and the universe, and how he believes they are growing (not "expanding"!).

Conducted at Dallas Comic Con's Fan Days show, I left in multiple interactions with fans who paid him for signatures at his table. I feel it adds some color in general, on top of how laser-precise Adams' mind is, such that he can pick up right where he left off from essentially every time. Mid-interview, there is a special appearance by Toadies drummer and Buzzkill co-creator Mark Reznicek.

John and I will double back on some of Adams' most prominent work in a near-future episode that will include an already-recorded interview with his collaborator Dennis O'Neil, one of the most important living legends in comics.

Recommended Reading

Green Lantern/Green Arrow
Until I read these, I didn't really care about Green Arrow. This run from the 1970's is one of the most iconic in terms of directly focusing a comics narrative on social justice issues of the day on top of intergalactic threats and so on. Some of the writing, as quoted by John toward the end of the episode, is a bit creaky now, but at the time, was extremely progressive. They make t-shirts of some of these covers, and I would wear them all.

Batman: Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2
The redefinition of the character to counter the Adam West TV series' camp tone occurred on the watch of publisher Carmine Infantino, with the look coming from the pencil of Neal Adams. The reason I recommend skipping the first and starting with this one is that this is where the real gold from his Batman work begins, the stuff that is most-fondly remembered, including his work on some absolutely gorgeous issues of The Brave and the Bold (which undoubtedly is part of the creative influence on the recent Brave and the Bold animated series). Grab Volume 3 while you're at it, which picks up roughly just after the issues found here.

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (Deluxe Hardcover)
Even if it were just for the novelty value of the Last Son of Krypton boxing The Greatest, the ~$15 you pay for this is pretty reasonable. There's some really outstanding background detail in Adams' art here, and the hardcover has extras in the form of development sketches and additional content of that sort. This is one of the coolest "X Meets Y" crossover one-shots of its kind not just due to historical significance, but because it's some of Adam's absolute best artwork.

The Art of Neal Adams (Hardcover)
If you are into art books, this is a pretty solid collection of a cross-section of Adams' work, runs under $40, and makes a good gift if there's an Adams art fan in your life. His Conan covers are still to die for.

Paul Dini on Siskel & Ebert's Review of "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm"

This is the 20th anniversary year for this landmark animated movie, which was originally supposed to go direct-to-video. It ended up getting rushed into a lousy theatrical release. From Paul Dini's post on Facebook:

A year after BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM opened on the kiddie matinee bill to poor box office and little critical notice, I was pleasantly astonished to turn on AT THE MOVIES one weekend and watch Roger and Gene deliver a rave review of the picture. PHANTASM was so poorly distributed they had missed it in theatres (Roger would later tell me he thought it was a Bugs Bunny-like compilation of TV episodes with bits of new linking footage) and they never watched it until they had received a review copy on tape ten months later. They praised the noirish look of the feature, the writing, and the voices, and apologized for letting it slip under the radar the year before. A few months later Alan Burnett and I met Roger at a Sundance screening, and we had a chance to talk before the show and thank him for the nice review. He had many nice things to say about the show, which led into a long conversation about movies in general. It was a very nice night, and even though we never met face to face again, we swapped e-mails now and then. Roger was a good guy, a gifted writer, and as he proved over the last few years, a tremendously courageous soul.

A transcription of a portion of Roger Ebert's comments:

"I think that the day is coming, and it's also happening with the Disney pictures, when adults are realizing that animation is not limited to an entertainment form for children...and that animation can do some things that live action can't do.

"For example, the sets for the city in this movie are seen more clearly than they are in the live action movie, where they're kind of murky. The exaggeration of the effects and the camera angles can be stretched and played with in a way that isn't available in the real world. And then also here, it's really interesting that they actually have a story, more of a story than the movies. They have characters, and they think, and they pause, and motivations, and you get involved in it."

The review itself (which like many "rogue" S&E postings, could disappear):

Carmine Infantino: 1925-2013

Comics Alliance's EIC Joe Hughes has put together a really solid obit for the incomparable Carmine Infantino, whom we also lost yesterday.

His skills lead to the complete redesign and overhaul of The Flash, and, as a direct result, the revival of superhero comics. He co-created The Elongated Man, Deadman, and most prominently, Batgirl. To say that his stamp on DC Comics and comics as a whole is profound would be a massive understatement.

Here's one among many memorable pieces of Infantino art that made the rounds on Twitter yesterday:

Daily Grab 56: Good Soldier. Good Soldier.

Was trying to hold this for when I had the latest Screen Time posted, which is all Batman talk with Andrea Romano. I'll update with a link once it's live.

Daily Grab 55: Better Than This

Posted late. My apologies. I came down with something nasty yesterday after interviewing voice director Andrea Romano.

This is one of the most affecting frames in The Dark Knight Returns Part 2. Like I said to Andrea yesterday, Jim Gordon might be my favorite part of the Batman universe she has sculpted over the last 20 years.

Daily Grab 54: The Super-Real America

Like the first part, released late last year, The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 looks, sounds, and plays note-perfect. I'm hoping to have voice director Andrea Romano return to Screen Time this week to discuss all things Batman with me. Things are looking positive. UPDATE: Tune in at 4:30pm CST Thursday right here.

With the distance of time, Superman's employment by President Reagan as his human WMD is funny but not entirely unrealistic or farcical.

Screen Time 17: The New Radio Theatre (with Andrea Romano)

This is my favorite show yet (subscribe in iTunes). It's long, but when talking to an artist of this stature, the length is merited and warranted. I talk with Andrea about things I haven't heard or read her discuss in any previous podcast or interview.

Andrea Romano either cast or voice directed (sometimes both) all of the following animated projects and more (not in chronological order):

Batman: The Animated Series
Animaniacs
Tiny Toons
TMNT (2012)
The Last Airbender (and The Legend of Korra)
Ducktales
Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers
almost all of the DC Animated movies, starting with Batman: Mask of the Phantasm on through The Dark Knight Returns
Snorks
Smurfs
Pound Puppies
ReBoot
Static Shock
Superman: The Animated Series
Justice League

There are too many more to list. She's directed Batman more times than Burton, Schumacher, and Nolan combined, and has director's shelf in my DVD library alongside Scorsese, Spielberg, Lean, and Hitchcock. In the opening minutes, we discuss exactly what a Voice Director does, and why she's this big of a deal.

The stories she tells are absolutely unreal. Here's a name you won't forget after hearing this episode:

George O'Hanlon

Don't Google him, just listen.