Exclusive Preview: TV's Classic Caped Crusader Blasts Off the Page in Batman '66

Holy revival, Batman! DC Comics has brought the Caped Crusader's iconic 1960s TV show back to life in a weekly digital comic book series. Batman '66 debuted last week with new vibrant adventures of Batman and Robin, famously played by Adam West and Burt Ward on the ABC series.

Though the show is often remembered as a camp classic, Batman '66 writer Jeff Parker wants to be clear: "We're not making fun of Batman. We're going with the look of the show, but at the same time we're acknowledging there's something really cool there." That said, expect an earnestly heroic version of the Dark Knight, who refers to a nemesis as "dastardly fiend."

The colorful series features layered art on the panels, with each ta of the screen advancing the story and adding new elements, including dialogue, figures and, of course, the show's trademark booming text "sound" effects ("POOMF," "KABOOM," "POW," etc.).

The first arc, "The Riddler's Ruse," features the same Bat-villain who appeared in the TV show's premiere episode. "Frank Gorshin was amazing," Parker says of the actor who created the role (and earned an Emmy nomination in the process). "If you go back and watch it, he really established so much, in the way he acted, that [the show] used for all the villains, even the Joker. His whole manic energy [was] inspired. He was a real physical guy."

New chapters of Batman '66 are available each Wednesday for download at readdcentertainment.com and via the DC Comics app, the iBookstore, Nook Store and Kindle Store. (Chapters will be collected in monthly print editions as well.) For an exclusive first look at chapter 2 of "The Riddler's Ruse" (illustrated by Jonathan Case) click here.

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