FOUR COLOR RADIO meets BATMAN ’66 WEEK! — Welcome to BATMAN ’66 WEEK, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the beloved TV show starring Adam West! All week, we’ll be presenting daily tributes and features, leading up to Jan. 12 — the premiere date itself — when we’ll roll out a brand-new TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 EPISODE COUNTDOWN, voted upon by a panel of the most knowledgeable Bat-experts around. Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX. — Dan — By PETER BOSCH Hey, everybody, since we’re celebrating BATMAN ’66 WEEK here at 13th Dimension, I thought it would be fun to discuss the first time the Dynamic Duo made it through the airwaves into your home — 21 years earlier, on the radio program The Adventures of Superman. The February 28 to March 15, 1945, storyline “The Mystery of the Waxmen” had Superman meeting Robin first and then Batman. Highly regrettable is that only two episodes of that radio serial survive: In 1981, however, Roy Thomas incorporated a condensed version of the story (pencilled by Rich Buckler and inked by Frank McLaughlin) into World’s Finest Comics #271, a special anniversary issue (cover by George Perez): Don’t despair, though, about those missing episodes. There were at least 15 other shared radio adventures before the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel first teamed up in the comics, in 1952’s Superman #76. You can find links to those old-time radio shows below. Sometimes, though, Batman and Robin took center stage, with their own adventures on the program. Why? Remarkably, because of Kryptonite, which was invented for the series. The prevailing belief is that the radioactive rock was created to give Superman a vulnerability. Perhaps, but it was also devised to give Clayton “Bud” Collyer (Superman and Clark Kent’s voice actor) a chance to have some vacation time. Kryptonite appears, Superman collapses, unable to speak, and Bud is off. Batman and Robin take over. Batman was portrayed by three different actors from 1945 to the last appearance of the Dynamic Duo in 1948. They were Stacy (Stacey) Harris, Matt Crowley, and Gary Merrill, who went on to appear in a number of noteworthy Hollywood movies, including the 1950 Bette Davis classic, All About Eve, playing her fiancé in the film. (He was also that in real life, marrying Davis that same year.) The role of Robin was played in all adventures by the capable radio...