The Bat-Blog was recently blessed with a preview of a brand-new illustration by famed Graphic Designer Christopher Franchi. He's the Art Director for Metaluna 5 Media, which handles a lot of licensed properties like: KISS, Bettie Page, Alice Cooper, Star Trek, Superman, Spawn, Peanuts, Evil Dead, Betty Boop and the list goes on & on. Here is an EXCLUSIVE & Super-Awesome 1966 BATMAN WALLPAPER Chris created for the BAT-BLOG! Well, he did all the artwork & I put the Bat-Blog Logo on it, ha! Now, of course, this image relates to the 1960's BATMAN MOVIE because it shows Lee Merriwether as Catwoman. Plus, it's got the other Super-Evil Villains: The Joker ( Cesar Romero ), The Penguin ( Burgess Meredith ), The Riddler ( Frank Gorshin ), and the Hero himself, BATMAN ( Adam West )! The artwork is extremely amazing! The illustrations were all done on Cold-Press Art Board with Gouache and Colored Pencil. Then, they were scanned and assembled digitally. I like how each character has their own colored-outline, to make them sort of pop-off the page. There is also that "light ray" effect that's pretty freakin' cool!! ( Thanks Christopher, I know everybody is going to totally love this incredible Bat-Art!! )
Check out this great music video. Well, there really are not any visuals, just a still photo, but the audio is good. This is Burgess Meredith, as the Penguin from the 1966 BATMAN TV Show, singing his "Penguin" song titled "The Capture". Also pictured up above is the original paper sleeve cover for the super-rare 45rpm record. The music is actually pretty decent, WWAACCKK!
A friend turned me on to this website the other day Called BATTLE ROYALE WITH CHEEZE & I have to admit that I'm very impressed with it so far. Basically, it's the online artwork portfolio of a Graphic Artist named Steve Willaredt and it looks like he has been doing a tribute to the old 1960's BATMAN TV Series. He's doing some very funny caricatures of the characters from the show & they really look like the actual actors. In fact, the art is pretty cool! As an example I'm showing just a few here but please be sure to visit his site to see the rest, click HERE!
OK, anybody who has been reading my Bat-blog for longer than 2 weeks has got to know that I am totally crazy for the cool Vintage Batman Toys! To be honest that's the total reason I created this blog. I know we try to cover all the Brand-New Products, Merchandise, & other Batman-Related News but it's the "Vintage Stuff" I'm really goo-goo for! Here's just a small example of some really great "Super-Rare" Memorabilia I have seen lately. The 1st item is a 1960's BATMAN Inflatable Pool Toy. I love both the Retro-Style Graphic & the shape of the thing. You know this would be really cool to hang on the wall for display! The next item is awesome too & beyond super-rare! It belongs to a Good Friend named Saul & he said he's been looking for this thing for many years. It's a Wooden Skateboard with Cool Batman Artwork. It was made by the Mettoy Company in England back in 1966. Yeah, this was only sold in the UK & is ultra-hard-to-find! I mean, it's practically a "Museum-Piece". He said it's one of his favorite pieces in his collection & that really means a lot because he has a TON of incredible bat-stuff from all over the world. The last pic is something that's not as rare but it's still pretty cool. It's an old 45 rpm Record with The Penguin telling a story with Burgess Meredith's actual voice. The graphics on the Record Sleeve are really great stock art drawn by Carmine Infantino & it also has an actual photo from the TV Show, all in one. Whew! I hope you guys liked some of these pics & if you have any ultra-rare pieces of Bat-Memorabilia you would like to share then please send us a photo today! Our e-mail button is always on the top right-hand side of this page.
This week I thought I would post some "Blast from the Past" Batman Wallpapers! So, here are some Desktop Wallpaper Background images from the Classic 1966 Batman Movie! The fun thing is we get to see Batman ( Adam West ), Robin The Boy Wonder ( Burt Ward ), The Joker ( Cesar Romero ), The Riddler ( Frank Gorshin ), & Penguin ( Burgess Meredith ) in all their crazy-zany glory...IN COLOR!!
Here's a pretty cool video I came across & I can't help but think this is our old friend Martin from the UK. He was really into collecting Custom Dolls & Action Figures, especially ones that were related to the 1966 Batman TV Series. Hmmm, I need to contact him & see. Either way this video is very interesting. In it this toy collector showcases his collection of Custom Toys that were made to resemble 4 Bat-Villians who were known as THE UNITED UNDERWORLD in the BATMAN feature film of 1966. The evil group included The Riddler ( Frank Gorshin ), Catwoman ( Lee Merriwether ), The Penguin ( Burgess Meredith ), & The Joker ( Cesar Romero )! Now, before you freak-out & start asking, "where do I buy these?", ha ha. These Mego Dolls are all custom made, even the display boxes. But you have to admit they're all extremely well-done. The head sculpts of each character look almost exactly like the real-life actors. The costumes are very accurate too & the display boxes are just a total bonus! Martin, if these are yours please contact me.
