This week's Top 5 comes from a discussion that Jim and I were having in the Weird Science Cave, about our love for the 1960's Batman TV show, and how insane it is that over the course of 120 episodes they only had 30 villains. Obviously since we loved the show so much, we really get into the Batman '66 comic series by Jeff Parker. If your not familiar with Batman '66 it's a comic series that continues as if the show had never left the air. Pretty cool right? Well we think so, and as far as we can see it only suffers from a few problems. It relies too much on old jokes, old villains, and doesn't bring anything new to the pop culture phenomenon that the '66 show was, and in our opinion still is. So for this week's Top 5 Friday we're going to take a look at villains in Batman's rogues gallery that pretty much beg to be a part of this series. Now I don't want to catch shit for these choices because some of the villains were created after the show ended, that doesn't matter to us. Criteria for being on the list is character's looks, personality, back story, and pretty much just because I say so. That's right mom I'm in charge now. Oh and Jeff Parker, I'm not saying that I need to be named co-author on any of the Batman '66 issues you get out of this, but I don't think an honorable mention is too far out of line. So let's dive into the list and see "Villains That Should Be In Batman '66".
#5: Killer Croc
Now in trying to be realistic to the show, we obviously couldn't have a giant crocodile man running around Adam West's Gotham. So what does that mean? Well a complete 1960's low budget re-imagining. The way I see it we're looking at a huge strongman type of wrestler named Killer Croc Kowalski, who's tired of wasting his prominent size and strength to simply entertain, and decides to put it to more lucrative ends. Namely crime. No simple "Biff" and "Pow" is going to take this titan down, so Batman and Robin have to use their brains to overcome this crime wave by this mammoth monster of a man. Even better have it be a Batgirl issue where she uses her brain, while the dynamic duo are stuck on the "Bam" and "Kapow". It's not perfect, but it is a start. Moving on.
#4: Maxie Zeus
I guess someone could make the argument that Maxie Zeus is just a re-imagining of the Batman '66 villain King Tut, but if you did you'd be a jerk because he's #4 on our list and I think he makes a great addition to the campy line up of villains. Like in the comics all you need is a nut job in a toga, a need to be a god, and a shit load of Greek goons to take on the Dark Knight Detective and The Boy Wonder. How the story works for me is, a history teacher at Gotham High School is driven mad by low test scores, which he blames on the sensationalism of Batman. So to get the students interested in learning again, he becomes a villain of the Caped Crusader to get the students interested in Greek mythology, and save their academic future. Yes Maxie Zeus is the hero of the story, only going about it the wrong way. In the end Batman appears at the school telling the students the importance of a good education.
#3: Two-Face
I bet your wondering why I used the Batman Forever Two-Face as the picture here. Wait for it....... Because what we had in that very strange 90's mess was close to the version that would of appeared in Batman '66, if they had ever decided to use him. It's odd that we get the top four villains in the Batman rogues gallery, Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman but no Two-Face. His compulsion for twos and doubles would of made for many a ridiculous deductive demonstration for Batman and Robin. What are the chances that this character would have been left out of the classic TV show? Well I say it was 50/50. Ha. I don't know this character just seems built for the popcorn fun the show was famous for, and leaving him out of the Batman '66 comic comes off as criminal. All in all Two-Face and campy over the top fun just seem like two sides of the same coin. See what I did there?
#2: Poison Ivy
The Batman TV Show ran from 1966-1968. What else was happening around this time? Why free love, hippies, and flower power. So how did Poison Ivy get left out of the villain roster? An episode with her could involve any number of things that were popular or even a problem at the time. a satiric look at drug use, Dick Grasyon and other young Gothamites being lured away from the familiar and safe while freaking out the squares, or even tackle people's outrage to Batman's use of violence. A lot of issues, and a lot of beat up hippies, it's a win win. Plus for all of us who were young and impressionable when watching, if we would of had Poison Ivy in the villain roster, we wouldn't have to wait for Batgirl's motorcycle to fly by to get excited. Poison Ivy you were robbed, but you could still have a shot in the comic. Hopefully we'll see you soon. That being said let's move on to our #1 pick for villains that should be in Batman '66......
#1: KGBeast
You might be looking at this picture and wondering what the hell is going on here, but hear me out. 1966, we're still deep in The Cold War. In one corner we have the best that America has to offer; Batman, in the other corner we have Russia's finest; KGBeast. One knock down drag out fight to determine the fate for the two super powers of the world, Rocky IV style. I don't know about you but this is one of the greatest ideas I've ever heard. You're printing money when you announce a Batman boxing match with an Ivan Drago KGBeast. Take my money DC, just take it. For the Batman '66 re-imagining all we need is Ivan Drago's body and KGBeast's mask and we're done. Throw Apollo's shorts on Batman, and what worked for Rocky would work twice as well for Batman. Batman's training montage alone would be worth the cost of a comic.
So that's our list for this week and I hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to check out the ongoing adventures of Batman '66, and make your own choices of villains that should be in the comic, or should of been in the TV series. See you in seven same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel. Boosh!
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