This series of articles has been outlining how much of an influence the character of Batman has been in my life. I’d like to include just a few more thoughts before I turn my attention to other areas of interest.
The Batmobile. I know that “chicks dig the car,” but automobiles are often a “guy” thing.
I have already discussed how much I love the Batmobile on my blog in a previous entry. But let me add a few more points about it.
When we last spoke on this topic, Batman: The Animated Series (B:TAS) was about to debut on Fox.
Monday, September 7, 1992. I lived for that date.
That was the day the first episode of Batman: The Animated Series was set to debut on Fox.
As I mentioned last time, I had seen a copy of an episode at a local Trek convention, and I was stoked! It looked great, and I counted the days until the show hit the airwaves.
I was so excited that week and so focused on that Monday that I didn’t follow my usual practice at that time of reading the TV Guide from stem to stern. I hated missing programs! And I knew that nothing was going to compete with B:TAS.
Finally, the day came, and my VCR (yes, it was that long ago) taped the premiere half hour. It was “On Leather Wings,” the same episode I’d seen at the Trek con. I was thrilled to have it on tape, the first of many.
Last entry, I began to explain just how much of an influence Batman has had on my life. When I ran out of energy, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns was about to be published.
Now, I had given up comics prior to this event, as I pointed out previously. But Batman’s sidekick, Robin, was instrumental in me getting back into buying them again.
The New Teen Titans comics, with Robin as the team leader, was a hot item for DC Comics. My brother Randy never stopped collecting comics even though I had. So, when he had trouble getting New Teen Titans #1, I was recruited to go to a local comics specialty shop to buy one.
That was a significant change for comics fans. Having a store dedicated to comics meant not having to rifle through drug store racks or shelves. It also meant being able to get nearly all the comics you wanted without missing issues, which often plagued and discouraged collectors.
It’s always a bittersweet thing when something you love comes to an end. You know, that kind of thing makes one nostaglic.
For example, the recent release of the entire Justice League and Justice League Unlimited DVD set and Batman Beyond collection makes me happy because I now have all of the Bruce Timm animation of DC Comics characters ever shown on TV tucked away in my DVD collection.
But it also means the end of an important era of creativity and some of the best storytelling I’ve ever seen. Now, I dearly loved the recent direct-to-DVD Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths, which was based on a script intended to bridge the gap between JL and JLU, but no more JLU and BB episodes or movies are expected to be made anytime soon. (A Batman Beyond comic mini-series will be out in a few months, so that will help ease the pain some!)
I can’t help but think back to Batman: The Animated Series, based on my all-time favorite comics character, the Dark Knight.
And I realized just how much influence Batman has had in my life. Let me share some of that with you.
“Where does he get those wonderful toys?” — The Joker in Batman
The first thing I ever read was a Batman comic, so I guess it comes as no surprise that I am fascinated by and love to collect things associated with the Dark Knight. But the thing I enjoy the most is Batman’s transportation, the Batmobile.
It seems like every artist who draws an issue of a Batman comic has to create his own version of the Batmobile. Some have been terrific, while some have been silly. I mean, who could drive a car with huge and intricate spikes jutting out of the thing? Not even Batman can pull that off!
I’m going to list some of my favorite versions of the Batmobile next. And if I can find some of the silly stuff, I’ll post that, too!
