Not so long ago, I had the delight of reading Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays on Why the 1960s Batman TV Series Matters! from cover to cover.  (Original review here) In the even more recent past, I had the even bigger delight to interview Jim Beard – the driving force and editor behind the book! (Lulu Press – here)

Thanks for taking time to talk with The Pullbox

Eric:    So where did this project come from?  How did it evolve?

Jim:      The book came from a very basic, personal desire of my own to foster more discussion about BATMAN ‘66. To my mind, there just aren’t enough people talking about it, outside of the usual jokes and rose-colored remembrances. Which are fine; I don’t knock someone else’s own opinion on the show, but I can’t help but feel there’s more, much, much more to talk about than the Batusi and “Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb” and Catwoman’s skintight Lurex costume. GOTHAM CITY 14 MILES came into being to, hopefully, get those and many other discussions out in the open and finally determine why the show matters.

From there, it evolved into a project that included many voices, which is a facet I absolutely love. Better than just me sitting there and expounding about Adam West and the Batmobile – now its many learned voices all talking about the same show, but each taking a different part of it and going to town on them.

How did you decide who would be involved with this project – or was it more of a “destiny” thing?

After Sequart accepted my pitch and I hammered down what themes I wanted the essays to cover – 14 essays for 14 miles – I started to plug in writers I knew who had the chops and the insight that I was sure would lead to the best discussions. People like Paul Kupperberg and Bob Greenberger jumped onboard with little or no hesitation – what a thrill – and others I had recommended to me by the fine folks at Sequart and other professionals. One writer couldn’t arrange it in his schedule and recommended Chuck Dixon himself. Well, golly; how could I ask for better than a true DC Bat-scribe? Finally, my team was assembled and the real task began: dissecting a pop phenomenon. So, a little bit of planning, a wee bit of destiny and whole lotta luck.

Once you had a direction and a sense of who you wanted to be involved for Gotham City 14 Miles, how long did this take to put together?

This project officially began in April of 2009 and was officially published in December of 2010. Is that normal for this kind of book? I dunno! There’s nothing too normal in the world of BATMAN ’66!

Batman the TV show is loved far and wide, is there a single factor that you would pinpoint as to why this show (four decades later) is still embraced?

I believe it to be a combination of the time in which it appeared and its groundbreaking nature. The show set out to be different. It also appealed to both children and adults, and we all know that makes for shows and films that stand out from the pack. Its legend has only grown over the past 45 years – a real testament to the incredible people who worked on it back in the day.

Do you think the show’s synthesis of action, adventure, comedy and camp could be duplicated in today’s media?

I firmly, unequivocally believe the answer to be a resounding “NO.” When producers and directors try to make a “happening,” history shows that they almost always fall flat on their faces. Like I said, BATMAN ’66 was meant to be different, but I think everybody involved would have been happy to just have some good ratings and get a few seasons out of it. They weren’t trying to create a worldwide sensation. Look how many times it’s been announced that such-and-such group is “the new Beatles” – never works. Same with BATMAN ’66. It was what it was at the time it was and its something that can’t be duplicated.

Superhero television shows come and go as fads and most of them will have naturally have a small niche fan base (truth be told, I have the entire Flash series from the early 90’s on DVD) – do you think there are any superhero-based shows today that will have the same level of fan longevity that Batman has?  Forty years from now will they talk about Smallville, Heroes or the Cape had an impact on society?

Again, I’d have to say “no.” Look at the show: two-and-a-half seasons and it burned up and flitted away. If it had run longer I bet it wouldn’t be half as remembered as it is today. There’s a certain kind of magic and mystique in these short-lived programs, like STAR TREK for example. Ask around and I bet that a lot of people would say that SMALLVILLE’s gone on for way too long and is only a pale shadow of its former self. Heck, just about every single super-hero show after BATMAN ’66 has tried to not be like it – which in a way is good. Nothing could be like it.

In today’s pop landscape, Batman is one of the most widely recognized icons – how much did the TV show impact this?

All evidence on-hand says that BATMAN ’66 saved its source material – the comics – from cancellation. Peter will and does attest to this in his essay. And consider this: the 1970 O’Neil-Adams Batman came about as a conscious effort to put the nail in the coffin of Bat-camp once and for all. Without the show, who knows what exactly would have become of the Caped Crusader? Would his books have been cancelled? Would Denny and Neil have waxed poetic about the “good ol’ days” of the Darknight Detective and jonesed to “return him to his roots”? Would we have the Grant Morrison Batman – probably the most perfect melding of the Dark Knight and the Light Knight ever – today? I think perhaps not, but mileage will vary.

In the same vein, do you think Batman the series planted the seeds that allowed the success of the modern movies and animated series?

Yes. BATMAN & ROBIN is a big-screen remake of the TV show. Nolan and Bale are operating much like O’Neil and Adams, in the sense of crafting something that purports to be the anti-Adam West. And because of that, we have BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT. Which is great! And lets’ not forget BATMAN: THE BRAVE & THE BOLD, a passionate love-letter to the 60s show. Vive la différence!

I think a hero is only as good as their villains.  Who was your favorite villain from the show an why?

Hands-down, it’s the Riddler for me. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid because of his appearances on the show, but it’s only more recently I’ve realized it’s not just because of that green costume – my fave color – but mostly Frank Gorshin’s performance. Chuck Dixon’s says it much more interestingly in his essay, but suffice to say that Gorshin makes the Riddler easily Gotham’s most insane villain…and a deliciously scenery-chewing one at that. After him, I really dig the George Sanders Mr. Freeze and Roddy McDowall’s whack-job Bookworm.

Shameless plug time – Any projects coming forth?

I’m currently writing the 1970s volume of the AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES for TwoMorrows and just starting work on a new creator-owned project with my GHOSTBUSTERS: CON-VOLUTION writing partner Keith Dallas. I also write regularly for Marvel.com and the Toledo Free Press.

Jim thanks for talking with us!  Watch for the second part of my call to Gotham City when I talk with comic book historian Peter Sanderson!