13th Dimension’s team of artists brings you a weeklong 60TH ANNIVERSARY tribute to the seven iconic Silver Age Bat-pinups by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson…
Welcome to BATMAN PINUPALOOZA, a 60th anniversary celebration of the seven seminal 1966 Batman pinups by penciller Carmine Infantino and inker Murphy Anderson that in large measure became the definitive versions of the Dynamic Duo and their venal villains for years to come.
This is a 13th Dimension theme week like we’ve never done before: Each of our artists — Kerry Callen, Bill Morrison, Des Taylor, Walt Grogan (who did that fab banner), Chris Franklin, Dakota Alexander and Franco — will reimagine at least one of the pinups every day this week, with equal parts reverence, whimsy and humor, starting Sunday. Chris also has a feature brewing on how these images were used on merchandise over the years.
I’ve seen all the art and, man are you in for a good time. Kerry kicks us off here and we’ll be adding links to each entry at the bottom of this post as the week goes on.
To put it all in perspective, here are the pinups, along with a brief history of their impact:
As has been documented and chronicled up the wazoo, 1966’s Batmania launched due to the overnight success of the January debut of the Adam West Batman show on ABC and a key aspect of it all was merch, merch, merch.
Every company that could put out something featuring the Caped Crusaders and their rogues gallery did so, leading to an enormous wave of kitschy collectibles that helped define an era in Batlore — and 1960s pop culture.
DC Comics itself decided to get in on the act by producing a set of six mail-away, 11″ x 14″ pinups featuring the art of Infantino and Anderson, their own artistic Dynamic Duo. For a mere 50 cents you could by one of three sets of two prints, featuring Batman and Robin on a rooftop; the Caped Crusaders in the Batmobile; Batman swinging over Gotham; and portraits of the Joker, Penguin and Riddler. If you saved your allowance, you could get all six for a buck.
Check out the house ad:
A seventh pin-up — Batman and Robin standing before a bat silhouette — for whatever reason didn’t make the cut. It was, however, used as a centerspread in April 19’s Batman #181, which also featured the debut of Poison Ivy:
Over the long haul, all seven of the pinups became iconic, a term that’s overused but is perfect here: For years after, the illustrations popped up on toys, games, action figures, school supplies, you name it. The Batman and Robin standing poses were adopted as part of DC’s trade dress. They comprised, in essence, a de facto style guide before the DC Style Guide was a thing.
Released Sept. 26, 1968
Interestingly, the Batmobile shot never quite caught on the same way, likely because the TV version of the car was so much more popular. But the others became ubiquitous, especially the Batman and Robin rooftop vigil, which we’ve written about many times over and which, to this day, is considered one of the greatest Bat-images of them all. (By the way, it made its first appearance nine days after the standing pose, as a similar centerspread in April 28’s Detective Comics #352.)
As far as the mail-in pinups go, you can get your hands on the two-packs in the collectors’ market, with prices ranging fairly widely. A full set of three — all still sealed — recently sold on eBay for about $112.
But now it’s time to get BATMAN PINUPALOOZA moving in earnest. Dig the links below, which, again, will be updated every day this week.
“Holy Pin-Ups!” indeed.
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LINKS
— When BATGIRL Crashed BATMAN and ROBIN’s Famous 1966 Portrait, by KERRY CALLEN. Click here.
