Jim Beard - Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays on Why the 1960s Batman TV Series Matters

A Beard family urban legend tells of my sister, then six years old, innocently asking my parents why was it that , if the Batcave was only 14 miles away , we couldnt just drive out and visit it.

My sister mistook Gotham City for our hometown and believed the magical Batcave to lie just outside the city limits . S he obviously also believed Batman and Robin to be real , just like Santa Claus. I was, alas, only nine months old when Batman premiered on 1 2 January 1966, but by June 1967 , the series also had its powerful bat-hooks in me. At that time, my mother made this annotation in my baby book: 14 mos. Dances to record Batman .

In his baby book, Jim Beards mother notes in summer 1966 the earliest sign of his fascination with Batman.

I was a believer. The show introduced me to the Caped Crusader before meeting him in print , making me into the comic- book fan I am today. Since then , Ive heard a multitude of stories about kids literal belief in Batman and what it meant and still means to them. You probably have one of your own or know someone who does.

Imagine how kids of the mid-1960s saw Batman : nothing before had been so colorful, so crazy, so in-your-face. The TV series did far more to put children in Robins place than the actual comics ever did. Kids often felt as if they could find the Batcave on their own, ride with their hero to police headquarters, and learn what super-criminal was perpetrating what crime spree this time.

Christmas 1966 with the Be ards. Note the coveted Switch N Go Batman Batmobile Set.

For two seasons, the series burned like a Batcave Bunsen burner, hot and steady, then flickered to a slow heat in the final season before being extinguished forever. Maybe it was a blessing that its televised life was cut so short : can you imagine how much more flak it would receive today if it had continued?

Yes, adults perception s of the show usually differ from those of children, especially those who didnt grow up with the series or were already adults when it originally aired. Its become a lmost a traditional American value to put Batman down a knee-jerk reaction that might seem funny or clever but thats also painful to those who honestly believe in the shows worth. I distinctly remember the sense of hurt and unreality the first time I heard someone putting down Batman s bat-fights as totally fake. I was dumbfounded. Fake? To me they were what they were: an integral slice of the show that you accepted as part of the whole.

A ny show that so clearly divides opin ions needs to be fully re assessed . Batman has become legendary and continues to serve as an inspiration to creative types around the world, yet it also still ends up as the butt of jokes and clichs. T hat dichotomy fascinates me , both as a Batman fan and as a student of pop culture. I have my own perspective on the series , but I also believe that time hasnt been too kind to memories of Batman . T he show needs to be laid out and examined thoroughly for both its merits and its faults. You may love it or hate it, and I get that but why ?

Yet over the years , there have only been a handful of other books concerning the show, which is amazing for such a landmark of pop culture. At the front of the line must stand Joel Eisners The Official Batman Batbook , first published in 1986 and the first quantification of the shows scope and detail. Then there are the three volumes of James van Hises Batmania , which aimed itself solidly at the seriess fans . L astly comes the Holy Trinity of Bat-autobiographies : Adam Wests indispensable Back to the Batcave (1994), Burt Wards Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights (1995) , and Yvonne Craigs From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond (2000) . Other than a few magazine spotlights and the like , thats about it for the show that once held the entire country spellbound twice a week.

When I pitched Gotham City 14 Miles to the fine folks at Sequart, I tried to boil my theme down to one simple questi on: Why does this show matter? To wit: why is it still fondly remembered though also soundly reviled? Why is it cited as an inspiration to artists and musicians and filmmakers and writers , yet also used as an example of what not to do in todays comics and films? Why have the finer details and nuances of the shows stories, design , and performances been either forgotten or never truly appreciated at all?

Overall, why isnt Batman 66 being seriously discussed?

In the third- season episode Ill be a Mummys Uncle , we learn that the secret Batcave below stately Wayne Manor is surrounded by a shield of nigh-impregnable Batanium, which King Tut tries to break through. B oth Batman fandom and the shows haters seem ensconced in Batanium firm i n their beliefs and perceptions, unwilling to allow the shield to come down and allow new thought or opinion to strike their foundations. Perhaps this book can help smash through those barriers and expose a few myths and clichs along the way .

I wanted Gotham City 14 Miles to be as fun and eclectic as the TV series itself and set out to create a cadre of essayists who could make that vision a reality. In no way did we want this book to be merely a celebration of Batman ; anyway, the best way to celebrate the show is probably to take it seriously. And a Batman lovefest would probably end up being fairly boring after the first few essays. No, what the show required most was critical dissection and examination, with an eye towards its weight and worth, not simply to be maintained as a monument to its admirers. Most contributors do appreciate Batman , which in part attracted them to write about the show, but they argue their case rationally, elevating the critical discourse surrounding the show, and felt free to admit the shows failings too. Their diversity, ranging from seasoned professionals to talented newcomers, from comics scholars to comics creators, offers a treasure trove of varied perspectives and insight.