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Adam West, T.V.’s first Batman, dies at 88

By Charles Evans

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Adam West has passed away at the age of 88, but he will live on in the hearts of the kids who loved him as the original Batman.

I didn’t see Adam West’s Batman when it originally aired, but when I was growing up in the 1980’s the campy superhero series was still airing in syndication. Adam West’s Batman wasn’t the dark knight of Hollywood, but a funny and sunnier version of the Batman. This was a Batman true to his comic origins, a Batman for children.

The series was bright and silly, with ridiculous villains and a hero to match. West never laughed at what was happening though no matter how preposterous a situation he was put into, he played Batman as the straight man. This of course only made the show more fun. We needed Batman to take the threat of Eggman seriously.

As a kid, I knew that the show was silly, but that didn’t mean I didn’t love it. I remember asking my mom if I could stay up to watch just one more episode. The only other show I cared that much about was Star Trek. The 1960’s Batman and Star Trek had something in common, they were both bright wonderful adventures. Both shows were basically a child’s imagination run wild; one was just set in Gotham and the other in space.

Adam West with his navy blue Batman costume, with eyebrows drawn on the mask, of course, was everything that’s great about comic books put into a television show. I’m not saying there isn’t a place for the dark and mysterious Christopher Nolan-style Batman films, I’m just saying we shouldn’t forget how much fun Adam West made Batman as well.

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When I think of Batman I’m always going to think of the “POW!” of Adam West, first. To me, Adam West will forever be the Batman. Rest in Peace, Caped Crusader.

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