The Most Comic-Accurate Batman Versions Are Ben Affleck & Adam West

[TMC]

https://screenrant.com/batman-comic-...eck-adam-west/

Adam West Played The Classic Batman

The earliest Batman comics were notoriously dark and violent, with Batman and Robin investigating gruesomely surreal murders from iconic villains like The Joker and The Penguin and being shown killing criminals in rare instances. This changed in the post-war 40s, which saw superhero comics, including Batman, take on a far more lighthearted tone with more outlandish adventures and villains who distanced themselves from their mobster roots. Batman himself, once a two-fisted dispenser of rough justice, became more of an idealized upstanding citizen, setting an example for readers. Adam West’s Batman embodies this era of the comics with comical seriousness, obeying even trivial laws at inconvenient times and refusing to fight enforcers if they wore glasses.

Batman wasn’t a vigilante with a shaky relationship with the Gotham Police. Instead, he and Robin were deputized officers whose advanced vehicles were registered with and maintained by Gotham City. Though their real identities remained secret, even to the police, Batman and Robin perfectly depicted the more family-friendly era of Batman comics that began in the late 40s and ended in the early 70s. While Robin has had other live-action incarnations, the most comic-accurate version of him is in the Adam West series. What few Batman adaptations understand is that Batman and Robin are a father-son duo, with Bruce Wayne adopting Dick Grayson after the latter’s parents are killed by a criminal, mirroring Bruce’s origin. Robin appeared in every episode of Batman and was typically depicted as being just as competent of a crime fighter as Batman.

The 60s Batman TV show also included most of Batman’s vast rogue’s gallery of supervillains, showcasing their idiosyncratic gimmicks with full earnestness. While Batman avoided showing villains like The Joker and The Riddler killing people, it did manage to depict them as dangerous gang leaders who matched wits with Batman. The villains certainly tried to kill Batman and Robin constantly, typically through outlandish death traps that’d fit right in with the Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang comics of the 40s and 50s.

[Duster76]

What a complete misread of the world this series existed in. One of the main problems the show had was the fact that it didn't reflect the Batman character of 1966. The popularity of Batman was declining in the early 1960's. Detective Comics one of the two comic books Batman was featured in was one of the poorest selling titles in the DC catalog. In 1964 the character was reimagined and both Detective and Batman comics took on a much more serious tone. Gone from the Batman universe were Bat-Mite, the original Bat-Girl, Bat-Woman, the original Batmobile the stairs leading to the Batcave, space aliens and other clownish plot components. Batman and Robin were drawn differently to give them a more serious look. The goal was to get the character closer to
its origins. When the series began in 1966 it was thus out of alignment with the way the character was now being presented in the comics. The series was eagerly anticipated by readers of the Batman titles, but those readers were soon disappointed by the tone of the program which in no way reflected the comics of 1966. When the show returned to start its second season the audience didn't, ratings dropped like a rock.

The best depiction of the Batman of the 1960's was the outstanding Batman: The Animated Series, a far superior effort.