Customer Reviews

The Official Batman Batbook: The Revised Bat Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The "Batbook" offers an embarrassment of riches for fans of the 1960s Batman TV show. It includes all the essentials -- synopses of every episode, a good overview of the show's origins and casting, loads of photos of heroes and villains, and the lowdown on the 1966 Batman feature film. There are also tons of tidbits you never needed to know: A compendium of every "Holy...!" utterance that ever escaped Burt Ward's breathless lips, for instance, and an inventory of the bat-gadgets used in each episode.

What's best about the Batbook, though, is the behind-the-scenes insights gleaned from original interviews with Alan Napier (the show's trusty Alfred), several writers, and bit actors who played henchmen to the featured baddies. Alas, Eisner didn't get access to the Dynamic Duo or any of the big-name villains, and relies for their perspectives on excerpts of previously-published interviews. Nonetheless, it's an amusing read for anyone ZAP-ped by the mid-60s bat-bug.

Being a Big Bat Fan for as long as I can recall (sitting too close to the screen during several of the "Colored Gas" scenes seems to have altered my Bat-Memory a bit), I looked forward to receiving/reading this book with breathless anticipation. And while 'anything Batman' (the TV series in particular) is cool with me, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed (not enough to begin throwing my other books around like an angry Bookworm, but stil ...) in this Bat-Tome. Here are the two main reasons for my disappointment:
1. I had read Adam West's "Back To The Batcave" several years ago, and I guess I was expecting a larger, more detailed version of THAT book. Well, this version is definitely larger, but I found it sort of lacking in the type of details that I had expected. Don't get me wrong - I loved the notes from many of the stars who had appeared on the show ... It's just that there seems to be something lacking when it comes to too many of the "Bat-Memories" portions of the book. Of course, I realized going into it that Adam West and Burt Ward weren't connected to the book (and how great would THAT have been?!?!), but there's still something missing here that I can't quite seem to put my Bat-Gloved finger on ...
2 (as in the second reason for my disappointment in this book): It looks as if it was edited by a first grader! I am an English teacher, and I have seen better grammar and punctuation on the bathroom walls at our school!!! HOLY PROOF READING! Didn't ANYONE look at the text of this book before sending it out for publication? If The Joker had printed something this error-filled (perhaps with the evil intention of 'dumbing down' the residents of Gotham City), The Dynamic Duo would have risked life and limb (and cape) in order to thwart his wicked scheme! And Commissioner Gordon would have called him "That Crowned King of Criminal Composition!"
But even with all of this negative critique (because nobody's perfect -- except for Batman, of course), I still give this book an "Okay," and I would definitely recommend it it to any hardcore Bat-Fan who can't get enough of all things Caped Crusader ... particularly if that hardcore fan failed High School English!

I'm totally unbiased in my review. Yes, this volume is not as "slick" as the first edition as it doesn't have any colored pictures and perhaps some of the pictures may appear to have some distortion due to the layout,but I would certainly recommend this book. I had two copies of the previous edition that fell apart; this new volume appears sturdier.
Besides material from the first edition, there are numerous new pictures, many of them not previously published in a trade paperback format. In addition, there is new information that will appeal to even the most hard-core fan. I especially liked the Dozier / Guest Villain communiques.
In short, if you are a Batfan, forget the controversy and buy this volume.

Wonderful information for any true Batfan. This book has every episode in detail and has a listing of all the episodes. Interviews from many performers on the show ( not Adam West or Burt Ward (: ) Great book but hard to find.

Dont buy this book. If you want the best version, buy the first version used! This version adds very little and the pciture quality in it is terrible. Its like buying a kids coloring book! AVOID!!

I wanted the first one, but this is better. I've broken my review into five parts.

1. Pictures - sloppy, out of proportion, looks like a small child got them off the internet and used Word to make them bigger but still fit the page. -1*

2. Text - looks as though typed with an unresponsive space bar and over-active period key, the mistakes are really pathetic. -1*

3. Content - interesting trivia, nice overview of every episode. Plus guest stars, salaries, and bat-gadgets. +1*

4. Enjoyment - I was expecting a more kid oriented book, more trivia and less episodes, but you can't blame the book. +1*?

5. Overall - It isn't what I was expecting, but is full of good reference
and okay pictures. +1*

* = star

Well, I received my revised Bat Book yesterday and here's my personal take on it.

COVER
Good color, adequate layout, minimal originality. Good clarity except for the show logo, which is noticeably fuzzy. A photo or illustration of the shows stars might have been a nice addition.
*** 3 bats (out of a possible 5)

CONTENT:

Layout -
Gives the appearance of being laid out in a word processing software, such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect. These are NOT professional tools used for laying out a book, or any other printed work for that matter. The text is readable and very informative, though dreadfully uninteresting in how it's presented. Feels like reading through an owners manual for a vacuum cleaner or other such household device.
** 2 bats

Graphics -
Absolutely atrocious. In this age of quality desktop publishing, to use images of such poor quality is inexcusable. Many of the images (which are all black and white in this case) have almost no detail and look as though they were applied to the pages using a rubber stamp. Others show the same low resolution, Internet formatting that was never meant for printed materials. Top this off with one of the print communities cardinal sins: NEVER stretch an image out of proportion or aspect ratio unless there is an artistic reasoning behind it, which in this case, there is not.

There are some instances where the photos presented, though unusual, are simply uninteresting. One feature that might have helped in some cases is captions. I spied none. If you are looking for a Batman picture book, keep looking.
* This one receives 1 bat, only because it has some unusual photos. If not for those, it would receive none.

Information -
Pulled mostly from the original version, the information is quite comprehensive and complete. This is probably the best part of this edition. Everything that any Batman fan would want to know, and maybe even more than any fan would want to know. There are some facts and figures that, although striving to make this edition a more "completists" reference, would fall flat in importance to the general fan. Never the less, a great wealth of information.
***** 5 bats

SUMMARY -

This revised edition of the Bat Book is, at best, sub-par to it's earlier incarnation. Though for new-found fans of the series, it is the only one currently in print. This reason alone is enough for these new fans to grab a copy right away. For long-time fans who still get out their tattered and dog-eared original Bat Book for perusal, save your hard earned dollars and steer clear of this pretender to the Bat-throne.

* Stand-alone overall rating: ** 2.75 bats
* Compared to previous version overall rating: * 1 bat

The Official Batman Batbook is about the 1960s Batman tv series. It has an episode guide, and it looks and the cast and crew, as well.

The book talks about the origins of the series, the environment it was created in, and the place it held in the culture at the time, and now.

If,like me, you,re a fan of the sixties Batman tv series then this book is right up your street.Every episode is documented in detail with loving care by the author,who is obviously as big a fan of the series as I am. The detail is superb with everything from bat fight words to every holy word uttered by Robin the boy wonder! In short this is a treasure chest filled with every thing you wanted to know, and surprising things you didn't know!,about this legendary series.Cast interviews,guest villains,producers, hundreds of rare and never seen before bat photos and a guide to the 1966 batman movie all add up to make this a superb collectors item. Happy Reading Bat fans!

This is the best Batman book I have ever seen. So jam-packed with information.