Batman Turns 80

The Caped Crusader. The Dark Knight. The Batman.

One of the greatest masked crime fighters in all of comics turns 80 this month, and his masters at DC Comics have published a ninety-six page comic to commemorate the occasion. Detective Comics #1000 is now for sale at your local comic book shop, and if you're a fan of the character and his world then you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.

I first met Batman through Tim Burton's 1989 film adaptation, which my father purchased on VHS from a grocery store when I was a very little boy. The dark, stylistic setting and the operatic characters of the movie were astounding to me. I eagerly watched from a hunched position in front of the television, memorizing scenes and occasionally trying out my version of the, "Batman voice." Movie tie-in toys followed as holiday and birthday gifts, and I was able to create my own Batman scenarios upon the floor of my bedroom.

I next officially encountered the character, shortly after, on the shelves of the comic book shops to which my Uncle Jeff and grandmother would take me. The comics were magical and immediately felt sacred. There was a power in the images of those books and the stories they told. As far as I'm concerned, Batman began in that four colored world, and he will always be at his best there, no matter how banal and idiotic the ideas and decisions of the writers at his publisher have been or currently seem to be.

After experiencing the comics I would occasionally see the Adam West Batman rerun on cable. The wackiness of the old Bill Dozier series felt off to me from the start, but it was nice to see any version of the character I had come to admire. I couldn't get over the quality issues and the camp, though. I mean, Batman once bested King Tut's brainwashing by drinking copious amounts of buttermilk, if I remember correctly. Even to a kid, the natural reaction was, "What the?!"

Next to the comics, the most powerful interaction I had with the character was through Batman the Animated Series. Bruce Timm, Paul, Dini, Alan Burnett, and so many others expertly crafted a show which was deep, rich, and spellbinding. The city and character designs, the atmosphere, and the average story quality were above anything else on television at the time. To this day, the influence and success of this series drives superhero animation at Warner Brothers, but things have fallen off in terms of quality and direction, it seems. It's too bad they lost sight of where they were so right not that many years ago.

At 80 years old, Batman is still with us, and he's still changing the lives of his fans through various forms of media. The character might not always feel like he's in the best hands, and many mistakes have been made with his handling over the years, but I feel that the core of who and what the character is will always see him through.

Here's to another 80 years of Batman!

Joe Bob Briggs

I remember Monstervision. It was one of the few programs on cable television which really meant something to me as a kid. Along with early Nicktoons, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, MTV's Liquid Television and Oddities, and Mystery Science Theater 3,000, it created an atmosphere unlike anything else I had encountered. Altogether, through tone, aesthetic, and rich content these shows provided near endless entertainment and helped drastically shape who I would become.

The host of Monstervision was one of those personalities who boldly stood out on the ridge of excellence above the depressingly mediocre valley of TV content. Joe Bob Briggs was the charming, witty, and insightful guide to a world of some of the strangest, worst, and best horror films to have ever been printed upon celluloid. His Southern qualities made him seem disarming and familiar while his knowledge of cinema astounded many who happened upon his program. The set for his show, a kitschy sort of trailer, which almost seemed like a less surreal Wayne White design, was incredibly enchanting, and it made me long for such a trailer in a movie set-like desert landscape where I could one day move and contemplate film.

Unfortunately for many of us television viewers, Joe Bob eventually moved on from Monstervision after TNT altered and eventually brought it to an end. He continues to write with an entertaining voice and an admirable outlook on life and movies. In the last year he made a return to a sort of televised host position, reprising the role of himself on Shudder where he once again takes the time to talk to an audience which is settled in for the best and worst of exploitation films and horror cinema.

Television and cinema history owe a debt of gratitude to the work Joe Bob did and continues to do. He's one of the more qualified and reliable voices which expresses itself in regard to film and film history. If you're someone who needs a compass to guide you toward worthwhile viewing experiences, you can't go wrong with Joe Bob's recommendations.

Reaching for a tonally appropriate quote with which to draw this brief blurb about a beloved Southern television host and movie critic to a close, allow me to paraphrase and slightly alter a line spoken by Sam Elliott's "The Stranger" in the movie The Big Lebowski: "Joe Bob Briggs abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there."

Joe Bob Briggs, back in the Monstervision days.

The beginning of a daily routine designed to go on forever...

It has been some time since I wrote anything, especially here. That's mainly because I lost a lot of hope and a lot of faith in myself, which lead to the loss of a great deal of time. Too much time.

Today I decided to fix that. I decided to make daily writing a mandatory exercise. It's time to get to work. It's time for regular output. It's time to get to going somewhere different than I've been.

I'm continuing here on Random Verbosity, because I hope that putting the new beside the old will allow readers to see some development over time. Seeing that development might explain some things about who I am or who I became. It might be like a useful copy of a marked, notated, and raggedy map from some great journey.

I'm here to write. I can't think of any other reason why I was born or why I continue to live. So I will write. I must.

I hope that you'll join me and read.

Thank you.