REVIEW: Batman: The Complete Series

Robert Greenberger

Robert Greenberger is best known to comics fans as the editor of Who's Who In The DC Universe, Suicide Squad, and Doom Patrol. He's written and edited several Star Trek novels and is the author of The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. He's known for his work as an editor for Comics Scene, Starlog, and Weekly World News, as well as holding executive positions at both Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

2 Responses

  1. I was but months old when Batman premiered, but my Mom swore my first “words” were from singing along to the theme -“Nim-a- nim-a-nim-a…”

    The DVD box set offers the same extras and quality, save for the collectibles and sound chips. Even the design of the seasons’ disc holders in unchanged. The set’s booklet is nothing more than an episode guide per disc.

    The lack of commentaries is far and away the biggest loss that this set suffered. It took so long to get the rights to everything, and by that point nearly every one of the Special Guest Villains had died. A lack of commentary even from west, Ward and Newmar is inexplicable, let alone inexcusable. I’ve said before that I’d hope against hope that some clever dick had recorded some tracks with the cast before most of them had passed, but alas, no such luck.

    Batmaniacs have already identified two missing scenes in episodes, and a clamor is already rising for a replacement disc. But otherwise the set is stellar – the “next week” tags ar back, even the one in the first season that incorrectly promised a Joker adventure. You can see the drop in film quality when a lost moment is spliced in – film gets grainier, etc, but that actually makes it more special, as it draws attention to the fact that they did the work to track down the footage.

    It’s amazing how many of the show’s stories were based almost verbatim on stories from the comics. Like all the work pulled from Carl Barks on Duck Tales, there was no credit offered. I remember growing up reading the reprints of classic stories and recognizing elements and more from the show.

  1. November 17, 2014

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