Go West, young (Bat)man

Batman is my favorite comic book character. My Dad worked for the company that owned Marvel, my 'Uncle Joe' was president of Marvel for a while, I read everything Marvel as a kid because I got it all for nuthin'... but Batman was still my favorite. Still is.

And the way I was introduced to Batman, like so many others, was the campy 60's TV show starring Adam West.

Therein lies the magic of Batman. You can do THAT to Batman, and he is still cool.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that 60's TV show (and I am living in pain that it is not on DVD... Warner, DC, George Baris - whose ever fault that is - FIX it, you slime) but it didn't exactly treat the character with respect. Not that I would have realized it at the time.

Point is, any other character in the universe, if you take him and make him a giant joke in the biggest TV show around for a few years.... that's it. He'll always be a joke. Marvel is making a comedy out of "Ant-Man"... not that Ant-Man was ever the coolest hero on campus - but he wasn't created as a joke. There are some really cool possibilities inherent in a hero that can shrink to the size of an Ant and retain his human strenght... I give you Neal Adams descent into the innards of the cyborg 'the Vision'... but once that movie comes out, if anyone sees it - Ant-Man is a joke FOREVER.

Not Batman. He can be a joke, he can be serious, he can be animated, he can be live action, he can be on your bubble bath and your PJ's and he's cool no matter what.

So, I drew this slouching, happy, Adam Westish Batman in honor of that silly take on the character. And damn, was that car freaking cool.