One of the first things I wrote on this blog was a tribute to the passing of Carrie Fischer. Sadly today I write another tribute to another icon lost: Adam West. Death is, in the journey of life, an inevitable certainty, and while Adam West had lived a full 88 years, in the case of an icon like that, it is easy to forget that he has been tethered to the same mortal coil that we have all been intertwined with. Adam West, most notable for his performance as Batman in the 1966 Batman show and his voice work on shows like Family Guy, Simpsons, and even Batman: The Animated Series, has left quite an impact on the world and so it is with a heavy heart that we let him go. However, I would like to take a brief moment to talk about his influence on pop culture as a tribute to the entertainment he had brought to so many.
To many in my generation the 1960's Batman tv show is the bud of a lot of jokes. The corny villains whose puns could make Arnold Schwartzinager shiver (see what I did there), an arsenal of 'bat' themed equipment, the ridiculous firemen's polls that he and Robin would slide down, to even ridiculous dialogue between the Dynamic duo such as: "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!" or "Holy Potluck Batman!", all of it strayed far past the line of camp that made it difficult to believe this character was had the moniker of The Dark Knight. Nonetheless, Adam Wests portrayal allowed the character to thrive during a time where dark characters were under endless scrutiny.
Back in the 50's a book called The Seduction of Innocence started a war, and it's target was comic books. This caused a huge dip in sales to comics, specifically in response to such "violent" undertakings these heroes went through. It was a poor example for children to see "heroes" solving their problems with fists rather than dialogue. However, shows like Adam West's Batman took the heat off of a lot of those arguments. Its campy nature and silliness were innocent enough for parents to not freak out, and the violence of the show was covered by giant bubbles filled with onomatopoeia would spring out from nowhere to cover up the connecting of fist to face. Adam West kept the Batman alive in a world that was not able to handle his darker tones as a character. In fact this camp bled into the comic narrative for a while and has even maintained it's relevance as last year DC released both a Batman '66 ongoing title and even an animated feature Return of the Caped Crusader. Adam West's Batman was the bookmark that allowed for Batman to come back to his darker routes in films like Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman.
I am not a religious person, and I am not entirely convinced in a heaven, however, for Adam West I hope there is. I hope it's a bat cave with a silly fireman's poll, a bat computer with tons of blinking lights, and a disco floor for him to do get his Bat boogie down. Rest in peace Dark Knight.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! see you again soon!
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