Batmania


Batmania was a 1960s fanzine, its title referring to fan activity surrounding the comic book character Batman.
A handful of books written by James Van Hise have been written on the Batman phenomenon under the same title. In addition, a couple of documentaries on the popular 1960s Batman TV series and an album of music inspired by the Adam West-starring series carry the title.

Fanzine

Publication history

First published in July 1964, Batmania was a comics fanzine published by Bill "Biljo" White, produced for "Batmanians" as the unofficial "fanzine for Batman fans." Appearing under the motto "For Batman, we accept nothing as impossible," White's fanzine was released a year after sales on the two Batman titles – Batman and Detective Comics – had "dipped alarmingly." With editor Julius Schwartz replacing Jack Schiff, and "assign his favorite writer, John Broome, to raise the level of the stories, and his most popular artist, Carmine Infantino, to upgrade the visuals," White's fanzine helped revive interest in the character. Schwartz returned the character to his roots, removing much of the "gimmickry" and members of the then so-called Bat-family – Batwoman, Batgirl, Ace the Bathound and Bat-Mite in particular – for a "new look" debut of mid-1964 with Detective Comics #327 and Batman #164, a mere matter of months before White's fanzine debuted.
The title – "no doubt inspired by the Beatlemania that had swept the U.S. earlier in the year" – released by long-term Batman fan and firefighter White from his home in Columbia, Missouri, swiftly became one of comics fandom's most important fanzines. White was himself an "aspiring artist showing considerable potential," who had once written to Batman-creator Bob Kane and produced a regular cartoon during World War II called "The New Bunch." Involved in comics fandom from its earliest days, he contributed to issues of Komix Illustrated, Masquerader, Star-Studded Comics and Alter Ego, among others.
Batmania had the tacit approval of DC, after White sent a copy of his first issue to renowned fan-friendly editor Julius Schwartz, who liked it, and even gave it a plug in the pages of Batman #169, causing the membership of the fledgling "Batmanians" group to grow "nearly 1,000-strong". The first issue, published in 1964, was in such demand that White:

Content

The pages of the fanzine provided, wrote fan historian Bill Schelly for Roy Thomas' Alter Ego revival from TwoMorrows Publishing:
As the 1960s reprints of Golden Age Batman stories did not stretch back to his very beginnings, these articles were crucial in educating new Batman fans about the history of the character - including his early tendencies to both use a gun and kill various of his foes. Batmania also provided a forum for fans to hold forth on topics related to the character in a section called "The Batmanians Speak." Fan Richard Kyle, who coined the phrase "graphic story"/"graphic novel" was one who debated the pros and cons of the "new look", alongside key fellow fandom individuals such as Ron Foss - and in the first annual Batmania poll, 90% of respondents said that they preferred the new look.
Batmania also included advertisements and checklists, occasional non-Batman features, and revealed to fandom the existence of Rutland, Vermont's Halloween Parade, which Tom Fagan led in Batman-garb; the parade — and Fagan — would later feature in several in-comics storylines, most notably in those written by long-term fan Roy Thomas.

Batman creation controversy

Schelly writes that one "key reason for the formation of comics fandom was to provide collectors with data about their favorite comic books. Who were the artists? The writers? For the most part, no one knew, until the information was gradually ferreted out by tenacious fans." Bill Finger's rare appearance at the 1965 New York Comicon began to shed light on his immense contributions to the character of Batman, and his role in scripting – and co-creating – most of the key aspects of the strip, including the character itself. This appearance led Jerry Bails to write in CAPA-alpha #12 about "The Silent Legend Behind the Batman!", namely Finger. Describing Kane's hiring of Finger and likely becoming the first source to state that Finger "put words in the mouth of the Guardian of Gotham," Bails attributed the status of co-creator of Batman to Finger. This led to a "lengthy retort" from Bob Kane himself appearing in the Batmania fanzine, "written just days after seeing the Bails piece," but unprinted until the 1967 Batmania Annual, publication delayed because Finger had communicated to Tom Fagan that he and Kane were intending to talk things through prior to the letter's publication.

Bob Kane's creation assertion

Kane's 6-page letter was written on September 14, 1965, and after congratulating White on Batmania aims to rebut the various "myths" surrounding the creation of Batman. Opening his attempts to "explode the myths" about the creation of Batman, Kane writes:
The letter sparked a debate among comics fandom over the contributions made by Kane, Finger and Jerry Robinson, a debate that continues to the present day. The letter itself, while much less charitable towards Finger than Kane would later be, appears carefully worded to rebut "the impression that he and not myself created the "Batman," as well as Robin" rather than to address Bails' issue of co-creatorship. Part of Kane's logic hinges on Finger's signature/by-line not appearing on the strip, even though such anonymity and relinquishing of credit was commonplace in the comics industry of the 1930s and 1940s. Kane further threatens legal action against Jerry Bails, asserting that, while Finger "was influential... in shaping up the strip", the idea was conceived solely by him prior to bringing Finger in to script the work, and therefore was created solely by him. Batmania – and other forums – have since debated whether the "influential" assistance of Finger was deserving of more credit than Kane was – at the time – willing to apportion him.

TV News

Batmania was perfectly poised to receive the news in 1965 that a television series was being produced about Batman, and "January 12th, 1966, fans across the country gathered at their TVs" to watch the first episode of the Adam West and Burt Ward-starring Batman series. Soon after:

Circulation

Batmania eventually rose to a circulation of c. 1000 copies, all produced on a mimeograph machine by White, and purchased by Batmanians from all over the world "in such Far Eastern countries as Australia, Thailand, and India, through England and Italy and so on," while "Batmania material... reprinted in both England and Italy."
After "the 1967 Batmania Annual, White ceased publication to take a well-deserved break," although the fanzine and name did not cease. Moving "from mimeograph to professional photo-offset printing," it was continued by Rich Morrissey for a further six issues until 1978, before DC "withdrew its permission to use the title," whereupon "it ran still more issues under the name Behind the Clock, an allusion to the entrance to the Batcave."

Legacy

With Batmanias's first issue cited by "the father of comics fandom" Jerry Bails as one of the "major events" in comics fandom, Schelly concurred 30+ years later, writing that:

Books

The title Batmania was used in the late 1980s and early 1990s by a couple of books written by James Van Hise, detailing the history of the character and covering both memorabilia associated with the comics and TV series and the TV series itself.
The first volume was released in 1989 to tie-in with the release of Tim Burton's Batman film, and featured interviews, articles about the then-upcoming revival/reunion of the 1966 Batman TV series cast in syndication repeats and newly filmed material, articles on the Batmobile and pages on various Batman-related collectibles. It was edited by Hal Schuster, as one of many books published by him on popular culture under various book imprints.
A second volume followed three years later, just prior to the release of Batman Returns, similarly featuring articles and interviews, details on the Batman serials of the 1940s as well as on the comics, TV series and the 1989 film.
A third volume, collecting material from the first two books, was published in 1995.
The late-1980s/early 1990s revivals/reunions of cast members from the 1966 Batman TV series spawned several documentaries, two of which were released on VHS using variations of the series' "Holy" catchphrase and the term "Batmania". These served both as retrospectives on Batman as well as acting as trailers for the upcoming films.
A separate "Batmania"-entitled VHS documentary was released by Anchor Bay in September, 1989 for much the same purpose.
"Batmania" entitled VHS releases include:
In 2004, Image Entertainment released a DVD entitled Holy Batmania!, which included four documentaries: on the 1966 show, on Adam West, on Cesar Romero and on Julie Newmar. Culled largely from the earlier VHS releases, the re-release was designed in part to tie-into the hype and Bat-releases surrounding the then-upcoming Batman Begins movie.

Album

In July 1997, in part to tie in with the theatrical release of the live-action Batman and Robin film, and in part the debut of The New Batman/Superman Adventures TV series, Varèse Sarabande released an album entitled Batmania, featuring "Songs Inspired By The Batman TV Series," consisting in large part of songs by various cast members. Burt Ward's "Boy Wonder, I Love You" was notable by its absence.

Track listing

  1. "Batman Theme" – Neal Hefti
  2. "The Story Of Batman" – Adam West
  3. "The Capture" – Burgess Meredith
  4. "Batman To The Rescue" – LaVern Baker
  5. "Batman Theme" – Al Hirt
  6. "Ratman And Bobin In The Clipper Caper" – The Brothers Four
  7. "Batman A Go Go" – Combo Kings
  8. "Miranda" – Adam West
  9. "That Man" – Peggy Lee
  10. "Batman Theme" – Davie Allan & The Arrows
  11. "The Joker Is Wild" – Jan & Dean
  12. "The Riddler" – Frank Gorshin
  13. "The Escape" – Burgess Meredith
  14. "Batman And Robin" – Adam West
  15. "Batman Theme" – Joel McNeely/Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus