Martinex1: Born William West Anderson in 1928, Adam West passed away yesterday at the age of 88. He of course was known to all of us Bronze Agers as Batman from the campy television show. From the late '60s he carried on in some fashion continuing to promote the character, through convention appearances, cartoons, and voice acting.
I remember being glued to the television set watching daily reruns of the program in the early 70s. It was on continuous rotation alongside other classic shows. When I was a bit older I recognized the full humor of the show and enjoyed it thoroughly.
I was struck by later appearances of Adam West and how he always seemed to be in good humor. He was continuously self-deprecating and seemed to fully embrace being tied to Batman. I never met him, but he struck me as optimistic and honestly bemused but happy about what life had given him. That attitude seemed to rub off on others.
The show itself definitely was part of my ongoing enjoyment of the superhero genre. It hit me at the same age as when I started collecting comics and was the perfect companion for that early part of my hobby.
I was sorry to hear about his passing and it struck a chord with me as more and more of our heroes of youth succumb to life's final step. Thanks for the entertainment and good humor; rest in peace Adam West.
Thank you for tuning in this past week. I appreciated the help this past Monday solving the memory mysteries. I ordered the Life with Archie book from ebay, so I will be able to enjoy a childhood favorite again. On that topic, if you have any nagging memory mysteries please reach out to us at backinthebronzeage@gmail.com and we will add them to a list for a future post and hopefully solve some problems for you as well.
It was an enjoyable week all around with a wonderful discussion about Summer reading and additional income in our weekly Follow the Leader post. Redartz led a discussion about comic digests on Wednesday. Tarzan and Conan took center stage on Thursday. We had a couple of questions around musicians and musical failures on Friday. And Saturday we laughed at some inexplicable panels.
COMING SOON:
This week we shine a light on the hairless on Monday, open the door for a new leader on Tuesday, hit the road on Wednesday, leap back to the Golden Age on Thursday, get dazed by school days on Friday, and much much more! Join us along the way.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
When I posted the Wonder Woman topic last week, I had not seen the movie yet. But I managed to get out this past week with an old friend to see the DC film. This is the first DC movie I have seen at the theater for a while as I skipped Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad. I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. Without spoiling anything, I thought the movie was faithful in spirit to the Wonder Woman mythos, and was generally optimistic and upbeat. The character was heroic and steadfast. And despite the movie treating the material and origin seriously, it did not get mired in the darkness and brutality like previous films. Instead it embraced the heroism and the honor embedded in the storyline. There was a good sense of humor throughout and many characters were likable. I though Gal Gadot was great in the title role, portraying both the strength and the fish-out-of- water attributes of the character very well. I liked the settings of Themyscira, London, and the WWI battle front. The movie seemed both new and traditional at the same time. It wasn't perfect but it was quite superior to many other Hollywood comic book offerings. I honestly place this movie in my list of Top 10 comic movies - and it truly may be in the top 5 along with many Marvel movies. I give it 4.5 Bronze Medallions and say "see it!" If you do, and you agree or disagree let us know.
Have a great week! Cheers!
8 comments:
RIP Adam West.
I've heard West being described as the Bright Knight, contrasting his deadpan campy portrayal with the grim and gritty portrayals by other actors later on. Seems like we all could use some more brightness in our lives in the world now!
- Mike 'thanks for the memories Mr. West' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Yes, the passing of Adam West marks the end of an era. The old Batman shows were as much a part of my staple childhood viewing as Lost in Space, the Crusher and George "Scrap Iron" Gadanski. May the earth rest light upon you.
I was a tad too young to see Batman on TV and only saw it later in syndication maybe starting around 1970ish?
(Marti - Channel 9? I keep remembering these commercials where they are by a swimming pool, behind a clear shield, getting shot / machine gunned and Robin saying, "Holy Guadalcanal Batman, what now?!" Thank goodness no one ever shot them in the ankles!)
And, just heard a really nice live interview with Lee Meriwether the first Catwoman on WGN. Lots of nice things to say about Adam West. She was quite the Catwoman, to be sure!
But I know I've seen every episode a good half dozen times. Great show. Adam West did it right!
I was so sad to hear this yesterday, my family played a marathon of the old Batman series we had on video all day in tribute. Like many others, it was a big part of my childhood, and just a few years ago had the pleasure of introducing it to my children who delighted at the campy silliness of it all.
I thought last year's animated direct to video release "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders" was an admirable re-visiting of the original series. You could hear the age catching up with Adam West by that point, but he still delivered his classic character all the way (joined by Burt Ward and Julie Newmar who both seemed equally up to the task).
RIP Mr. West, and thank you for all of the wonderful memories!
Loved Adam West, and I was very shocked at the news of his passing. Although I didn't realize how old he actually was. I thought he was only in his 70's.
I was glad he was eventually able to get out from under the "shadow of the bat" (so to speak) and being typecast as "the campy Batman". In later years he just embraced the whole thing and was able to carve out a pretty respectable post Batman career.
Especially memorable to me was his voice acting portrayal of the Grey Ghost on Batman The Animated Series in the 1990's. The entire episode was written as an homage to Adam West, and Bruce Timm said they would have scrapped the whole idea if West had not agreed to do it.
I also enjoyed his other voice acting work and frequent cameos in many TV shows and movies.
R.I.P. Mr. West (aka The Bright Knight).
RIP, Mr. West. Thanks for all the entertainment over the years...
I found these comments about West from Julie Newmar, AKA *THE* Catwoman, particularly touching.
hi Martinex ... I knew you would love the Wonder Woman film ...
i wrote about Adam West yesterday but you mentioned the show struck you just as you started collecting comics … it was the same situation for me… the Batman show would run every weekday morning before the news and it helped to get me out of bed in time for school… otherwise I may have easily slept the day away…
(…PS, signed off by saying Cheers … are you from England?)
RayAtL I am from the great Midwestern city of Chicago (suburbs). I've been in the area most of my life. "Cheers" is just something I say. Along with "Y'all" and. "You ol sock in the wash". So I guess I picked up some othe locale's dialect along the way.
CH47 I remember that commercial as well. I am sure Batman was on WGN but from what I recall it also had a healthy stint on Channrl 32 WFLD along with other rerun mainstays like the Monkees, Green Acres, and the Brady Bunch.
I can still remember my brother teaching me how Batman climbs up the walls and how the cameo guest stars opened the windows.
I liked the odd villains as well like King Tut, Bookworm, and the Mad Hatter. Fun show.
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