Television Obscurities » Batman

More Signet Batman Covers

RGJ — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:07:56 +0000

After reading my post about Signet’s various Batman tie-ins, Jeff recalled that he had two of the paperbacks, scanned the covers and sent them to me. The books Jeff has are Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom, the one actual tie-in novel, and Batman vs. The Penguin, the third collection of reprints from various Batman comic books. According to the back cover of Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom, the story involves the Penguin, the Joker and Catwoman vying for “the coveted TOMMY–the crimeworld’s top award.” All the winner has to do is “outwit or destroy” Batman and Robin.

Here’s the cover to Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom:

Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom Front Cover – Copyright Signet Books

Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom Back Cover – Copyright Signet Books

And here’s the cover to Batman vs. The Penguin:

Batman vs. The Penguin Front Cover – Copyright Signet Books

Batman vs. The Penguin Back Cover – Copyright Signet Books

Bookshelf: Signet Batman Paperbacks

RGJ — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:47:48 +0000

Today I’m going to write about a series of paperbacks published by Signet Books in 1966 relating to ABC’s Batman. I haven’t read any of these, nor do I own any of them, but Carl was kind enough to scan the covers to two of them for me. Signet, an imprint of publisher New American Library, has long been associated with media tie-ins, although primarily film. Signet has published novelizations of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Where the Boys Are, Basic Instinct and On Golden Pond, to name just a few. Signet also published two novels based on The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (the first of which I reviewed here) as well as two books based on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.

More recently, Signet has published novels based on Diagnosis Murder and Monk (all written by Lee Goldberg). In other words, in 1966 it wasn’t unusual for Signet to acquire the rights to publish books based on Batman. What I find unusual is the content of many of the books.

Batman was incredibly popular right out of the gate. Plenty of toys and collectibles were released in the months and years after it premiered in January of 1966. In the past I’ve written about Batman trading cards and other random memorabilia. Signet, in March of 1966, published Batman, subtitled “The BEST of the ORIGINAL BATMAN–the Caped Crusader’s greatest adventures.” Inside were black-and-white reprints of stories from Batman comic books. The back cover declared that “The editors of Signet searched the secret files of BATMAN–files dating back to the early 1950′s–to bring you THE FIRST ADVENTURES… THE VERY BEST ADVENTURES… of the Caped Crusaders Against Crime BATMAN and THE BOY WONDER, ROBIN.”

Batman Front Cover – Copyright Signet Books

Batman Back Cover – Copyright Signet Books

Obviously, the front and back covers were designed to replicate the tone of the television series. But fans of Batman who purchased this book were probably in for a disappointment. The television Batman was completely unrelated to the comic book Batman. And yet, the book must have sold because Signet published two additional volumes, Batman vs. The Joker and Batman vs. The Penguin in May of 1966.

Signet also published one original tie-in novel, Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom, in April of 1966. It was written by scriptwriter, comic book writer and novelist William Woolfolk using the pen name Winston Lyon. Woolfolk, who died in 2003, actually wrote for DC’s Batman comic book (an obituary from The New York Times can be found here). In August of 1966, Signet published a novelization of Batman the movie, also written by Woolfolk, also under the pen name Winston Lyon.

Batman v. The Joker Front Cover – Copyright Signet Books

Batman v. The Joker Back Cover – Copyright Signet Books

Easily the strangest Batman tie-in published by Signet was Bill Adler’s Funniest Fan Letters To Batman, which came out in August of 1966. It was a collection of actual fan letters written to Batman. Whether the letters were addressed to DC Comics or ABC, I can’t say. Bill Adler edited quite a few books like this, including Kids’ Letters to President Kennedy, Kids’ Letters to President Reagan, Letters to Smokey Bear and Love Letters to the Monkees, and the popularity of Batman meant there were plenty of letters being written.

Here’s a list of the six Signet paperbacks. Note that only Batman vs. The Joker and Batman vs. The Penguin were actually numbered.

##	Title	Date	Author

(1.)	Batman (Comic Reprints)	Mar 1966	N/A
(2.)	Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom (Novel)	Apr 1966	Winston Lyon
3.	Batman vs. The Joker (Comic Reprints)	May 1966	N/A
4.	Batman vs. The Penguin (Comic Reprints)	May 1966	N/A

Other Signet Paperbacks

–	Batman vs. The Fearsome Foursome (Film Novelization)	Aug 1966	Winston Lyon
–	Bill Adler’s Funniest Fan Letters to Batman (Compilation)	Aug 1966	N/A

One of these days I might try to get my hands on a copy of Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom, the one true Batman tie-in novel.

New Article: ABC and Batman’s Fourth Commercial Spot

RGJ — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:12:18 +0000

I’m fairly confident this is the last article I’ll be writing that focuses heavily on Batman. The first, of course, was Batgirl and the Batman Phenomenon, followed by William Dozier’s Unsold Dick Tracy Pilot (while not about Batman per se, there are strong connections between that series and this unsold pilot) and then Broadcast Twice a Week (or More). And now, in my first article of 2010, I’ve covered ABC and Batman’s Fourth Commercial Spot. Here’s the summary:

In the mid-1960s, it was industry practice to include just three minutes of commercials in every half-hour of prime time. When ABC premiered Batman in January of 1966, it ignited a firestorm of controversy by adding a fourth minute. Affiliates protested and one station took the incredible step of refusing to air the campy, twice-a-week sitcom. Making matters worse was the disclosure that ABC was considering expanding the fourth commercial minute to all its 7:30-8PM programming. In the face of increasing pressure from affiliates, ABC eventually backed down.

I will admit that the controversy ends rather anticlimactically. ABC decides to table the introduction of an additional minute of advertising and that’s it. Based on everything I have access to, although Batman continued to include four commercial minutes, ABC never again attempted to expand the policy. And it does appear that, for the most part, the amount of advertising in a half-hour program stayed relatively stable through the 1970s. If anyone can shed additional light on this topic, either contact me or add a comment at the article itself.

Batman Trading Cards

RGJ — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:30:10 +0000

According to Old Bubblegum Cards.com three sets of Batman trading cards were released in 1966 by Topps (the third of which was issued in two versions). The four cards I’ve scanned are from Series 1, known as the “Orange Backs” or “Black Bat” cards. Another set, based on the 1966 feature film, was also released.

Card #3 Front

Card #3 Back

Card #5 Front

Card #5 Back

Card #25 Front

Card #25 Back

Card #55 Front

Card #55 Back

Random Batman Memorabilia

RGJ — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:32:19 +0000

ABC’s Batman burst onto the scene in January of 1966 and its popularity led to an incredible assortment of toys, collectibles and memorabilia. Action figures, board games, trading cards, coloring books and more. Here’s a black and white promotional photograph featuring pre-printed autographs of Adam West and Burt Ward, from 1966. I believe it was available by mail order:

I don’t know much about these six stamps, featuring Batman, Robin, the Batmobile, the Joker, the Riddler and the Penguin. From the looks of the individual stamps they came connected together in one piece of plastic and were later twisted and pulled apart. The two small pins on each stamp suggest perhaps they fit into a holder of some sort. Or maybe not.

Finally, here’s a Tru-Vue film card. I hadn’t heard of Tru-Vue until I was researching this card. The company was founded in early 1930 and was apparently very popular during the 1930s and 1940s and later competed with View-Master, which used a round card rather than a square one. You can read more about Tru-Vue here and here. There were three Batman Tru-Vue film cards; this is the first. I’ve seen them on eBay occasionally, sometimes packaged together with a special Batman Tru-Vue viewer.

I tried scanning two of the individual pictures with some success:

This particular film strip was found inside an Edison phonograph, where it had presumably fallen and been forgotten during the 1960s. I don’t have a Tru-Vue viewer so unfortunately I can’t enjoy its wonderful stereography.