PLUS: A 60th ANNIVERSARY INSIDE LOOK at its sister book — BATMAN VS. 3 VILLAINS OF DOOM… — The Adam West Batman theatrical movie was released 60 years ago, on July 30, 1966! For this 60th anniversary, we’re doing something slightly different: a review of the novelization, as well as its sister paperback — both the first books of their kind! Jim Beard’s got it all below, but we also have a few faves from the vault to offer too. The links are at the bottom of the post. Dig it! — Dan — By JIM BEARD Leave it to the 1966 Batman theatrical film (and the TV series) to make pop culture history, but then to have said history obscured and even buried over the decades. That year saw the release of two paperback tie-in books, both of which were the first of their kind, but forgotten today in the heady deluge of Bat-product. That’s sad because Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom and Batman vs. The Fearsome Foursome stand as publications that led the charge toward bigger and better things for the Caped Crusader. Both books were written by Winston Lyon and released in April and August of 1966, respectively. Ostensibly, 3 Villains of Doom seemed to support both the newly minted TV series as well as the then-upcoming summer movie release, and The Fearsome Foursome was absolutely connected to the film, being a novelization of Lorenzo Semple’s screenplay. The two today are odd side-hustles of the greater Batman ’66 saga, but also significant in more ways than one. I want to correct or perhaps clarify something I said about Batman vs. 3 Villains of Doom in a past 13th Dimension article. There I noted that the novel “aligns itself far more with the comic book characters than the television versions of same.” Upon my re-read of the book for this article, I realized it is a far more balanced proposition between those two foundations. Published, as I said, in April of ’66, the book is arguably the very first original Batman prose novel — if World Distributors of England hadn’t already published the first installment of their Batman World Adventure Library before then. I’m afraid I just don’t know, due to little exact release info on the British offerings, so let’s just say for certain that...
A 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: Holy cheering throngs! The film opened with a parade and screening in Austin, Texas, on July 30, 1966… — UPDATED 7/30/26: The Adam West Batman theatrical movie was released 60 years ago, on July 30, 1966! For this 60th anniversary, we’re doing something slightly different: a review of the novelization, as well as its sister paperback — both the first books of their kind! Jim Beard’s got it all here. But we also have a few faves from the vault to offer too — like this one from the anniversary in 2024. The links are at the bottom of the post. Dig it! — Dan — American movie premieres in the ’60s were usually in Los Angeles or New York, but when the 1966 Batman movie debuted, it was in… Austin, Texas?! Yep, Austin — and not because of the Alamo Drafthouse. Or SXSW. They wouldn’t exist until decades later. Nope, it’s because Glastron, the company that built the ever-snazzy Batboat, was headquartered in the Texas state capital. According to KVUE, the local ABC affiliate, “It’s been reported that the company didn’t want to be paid any money for fabricating the boat. Instead, they asked the movie’s producers to host the film’s premiere in Austin.” So, members of the cast moseyed on down to the Lone Star State and thousands turned up, a few days before the annual Austin Aqua Fest was scheduled to kick off. “Austin went batty before the actors even touched down, with swarms of fans mobbing the airport to greet them,” according to Austin Monthly magazine. “At the Crest Inn (now the Line Hotel) where (Adam) West and Lee Meriwether (Catwoman) were staying, throngs of people arrived to kick off the festivities. In total, almost 30,000 spectators paraded alongside the cast down Congress Avenue to the Paramount Theatre.” Not much in the way of video or photos exist online, though there is a brief clip posted of Congress Avenue (renamed Batman Boulevard for the festivities) by the Austin History Center: Also attending were Cesar Romero (the Joker, natch) and Burgess Meredith (the Penguin, also natch), and the Batboat was on display inside the theater. Want more on the classic flick? Dig the links below. — MORE — THE BATMAN ’66 MOVIE AT 60: The Flick’s Groovy Novelization Is Anything But a Bomb. Click...
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