Batman 66 #44 Review

Written by: Jeff  Parker
Art by: Brent Schoonover
Cover Price: $1.99
Release Date:October 1, 2014

Egghead Unbound

When you think back to the classic property that is Batman 66 it's hard not to immediately default back to thinking to the series biggest baddies including Caesar Romero's Joker, Frank Gorshin's Riddler, Burgess Meredith's Penguin, and the ever-changing Catwomen in Batman's life. What the classic William Dozier Batman series was even more well known for was the never ending cavalcade of celebrities that guest starred as the series villains. One of my favorites from the old  series was Egghead, expertly played by horror cinema legend Vincent Price. When I saw Egghead was the star of the latest Batman 66 arc, I was overjoyed. I went into this issue with high expectations and it delivered.


The story starts out with Batman and Robin on their way to a call in the middle of the city where there was a report of a UFO. When the Caped Crusaders get on the scene there's a giant egg sitting in the middle of  the city. In all honesty, at this point in the story I was kinda hoping that the Egghead cover was a red herring and that I was standing smack in the middle of a Batman 66/Mork & Mindy crossover.  Sadly that was not to be as the egg promptly exploded, turning the better part of the scene into something out of a Denny's commercial gone awry.

Right up to this point there's one thing I can give this whole series (not just this issue) credit for and that's the perfect  writing of every character. Jeff Parker has to be a  fan of the classic Batman property, as something this campy, colorful, and goofy is not easy to write if you don't love the property. Combined with Brent  Schoonover's art I genuinely felt like Adam West, Burt Ward,  and Vincent Price were together again and  that's something I really appreciate, especially as I prepare to go back and watch all 120 remastered episodes of the series as soon as that set is released.

So Egghead is back and he's improved himself--using a special system he created he's managed to advance his physical and mental state to thousands of years beyond the present day homo-sapiens. His first order business? To turn the Dynamic Duo into a couple of primitive apes, literally! Now say what you will about upping the camp factor--if they could've turned Batman and Robin into apes in 1966 they would've an you know it.

The art in this book continues to be fantastic as it fully captures the spirit of Batman. The colors in this series continue to pop off the screen (or page, if you're a print reader) and the framing is fantastic. Based on what I've seen, special care goes into recreating the classic Batman experience for a new generation. Aside from that I'm thrilled to read the next part, which I assume will be the adventures of Bat-Ape and Robin. 

Bits and Pieces

Batman 66 is a series that continues to thrill and delight both children and fans of the vintage series. The writing and art both work together to perfectly re-create the Batman 66 experience and the title is particularly moving as a digital title. Dare I say it's....eggcelent. (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.) 

8/10