BATMAN 43

We were the last generation to really see the old movie serials regularly on television. Even then they were on the way out, but they were there. Sometimes it was on a grainy UHF channel, sometimes on the syndicated stations, sometimes they still got shown at drive-in movie theaters before the feature presentation. And at the very end of the 1980s, they began showing up on home video. Cheap home videos that is, in the first budget bins of the medium. 

This is how I was introduced to this in probably 1986 or 1987?

My mom came home from K-Mart one day with this Batman serial on VHS for me. My mind was blown that there was live action Batman going back this far. As I had not seen the Superman serials with Kirk Allen, I assumed the George Reeves Superman television show was the earliest live action Superhero fare. The serials I had seen up to this point were mostly science fiction, westerns, and that Captain America one where he has the gun, no shield, and isn't Steve Rogers.

I had a real fascination with golden-age and silver-age comics, and the lore and history of it even at that young age. Naturally then, this thing catapulted me into a whole new world. I think what appealed to me about it, was that if Batman was real, isn't this what it would probably look like?

To an extent yes, to another extent, I hope not. The actual costumes for Batman & Robin from the neck down don't look bad. The cowl though, and Robins' Lone Ranger mask kinda drag the whole thing down because they're so tacky and badly made. It baffles me because a lot was put into this serial to make an honest effort for what Batman was in 1943. It's important to remember that the world of Batman we know now took decades to build and the character was not even yet 5 years old when this was made.

The classic Batman villains are absent, most of them had yet to be created at this time. So we get the usual serial villain of an offensive Japanese racial stereotype since this was made during the war. He is menacing enough, and you do want to see Batman win against him. If you're easily offended though, I recommend skipping this one. It will upset you, and none of us really want to hear about it on Twitter 😉😉😉.

The fight scenes are surprisingly well coreographed in this, and it's obvious that they're doing their own stunts. Wayne Manor is there, Alfred is there. Climbing buildings and breaking through windows is there. The Batmobile is just a car, but that's what it was in the comics at that point as well. The Batcave is there. There's no "branding of the Bat", but they do put little Bats on the foreheads of the bad guys they tie up for the police. 

The Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are convincing enough for beign the golden-age. They look better than they do in the masks.

All this made for a really intriguing watch. Eventually my friends took an interest in it as well and it became the party favor I brought to slumber parties all the time. It might sound funny that a couple of pre-teens in the 80s were watching 1940s serials, but it wasn't uncommon in those days. There had only been a couple decades of modern entertainment at that point (depending on your definition) so to go before that era wasn't uncommon.

It isn't perfect, it isn't amazing, and yes it gets very repetitive. But we shouldn't overlook its importance in the history of our culture. When it came to getting the 1966 show made, I'm sure the success of this serial was a factor. It is a marvelous curiosity, and one that every Batman fan should see at least once.