Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: October 4, 2016
Price: $16.95
Creator: Cyril Pedrosa
Format: 84 pgs., Full-Color, 8-1/4"x8-1/4", Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-7832-9469-5
Age Rating: N/A
ICv2 Rating: 3 Stars out of 5
While this is a cute little trivia book about the 1960s Batman TV show, there are so many odd omissions that it becomes a little frustrating. For example, there is a whole section on the celebrities who portrayed villains on the show, but the list then leaves out the names of many of the actors and actresses, including some whose pictures are used in the book. Zsa Zsa Gabor, Roddy McDowall, Art Carney and many others aren’t named, although their villain roles are. Since half of the book is devoted to the villains, this kind of thing seemed odd.
The first half, devoted to the Dynamic Duo and their support staff, both at Wayne Manor and in Gotham City, was better handled in some ways, with nice bits of information about the gadgets, but almost none about the actors and actresses or the settings. If you don't know Alan Napier from Stafford Repp by sight, this book won't help in the least.
What the book does have, in abundance, are odd but interesting statistics about what went on during the show. You can find out what models of motorcycle were used for the two different versions of the Bat-Cycle, or how many times Batman and Robin climbed buildings in each season. There's even a list of how many times Chief O'Hara used different bits of Irish-Americanisms in his dialogue. Barbara Gordon's pet parrot is identified by variety, sort of. And that's the real problem. Everything is superficial and "sort of," because you just have to trust the facts and numbers presented, unless you want to go and count the dialogue references yourself.
This book would be most useful for fans of the TV show who just want a lot of photos from it, not someone interested in serious information.
--Nick Smith: Library Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.
