RIP Adam West

[Gwangi]

Man, this is hard news to take. Everyone has their favorite Batmen. Mine will always be Mr. West.

[lhb412]

I've been fearing this for a few years now. West was definitely the definitive Batman for me, and I'm glad he got to experience the resurgence of interest in the last few years. Not just because WB and Fox straightened out the rights issues making the show widely available again, but I feel people really came back around to appreciating his interpretation after several decades of dismissing it in favor of the dark version.

Love you, Adam

[Benjamin Haines]

Terrible news. As a kid, my first exposure to Adam West was this 1997 episode of Johnny Bravo in which he voiced himself:





I subsequently saw a lot of episodes of his Batman series on Nick at Nite. That Johnny Bravo episode was co-written by Seth MacFarlane, who went on to create Family Guy and ended up casting Adam West as the mayor of Quahog, a fictionalized version of himself with the same name and appearance. West's take on the mayor as both single-mindedly determined and positively unhinged was hilarious and unforgettable, and MacFarlane made it a point not to typecast West. Even though that Johnny Bravo episode was full of Batman homages, MacFarlane forbade the Family Guy writing staff from making any Batman-related jokes with the Mayor Adam West character so he could build his own identity.





R.I.P. Adam West. You paved the way for the Caped Crusader in live-action and your sense of humor was a gift to this world.

[sentaison]

I grew up with the 1966 Batman tv show, both in first run broadcast and tons of reruns as a kid. Adam West was Batman to me as a kid, and my purchase of the Blu Ray set has reinforced that belief, campy humor and all.

RIP

[canofhumdingers]

Sad news. I have great memories of watching '60's Batman reruns after school during the Batman'89 hype. As much as I loved the new Batman and got many of the toys and merch, my parents (rightly) deemed it too violent and scary for a seven year old. So Adam West was my live action Batman.

I was so happy to get the show on bluray and have been having a blast sharing it with my own sons. They're really still too young for it in some ways (trying to explain how Batman is still a good guy, even though he punches people, to a three year old is much harder than I expected...) so we mostly just stick to clips of things like the batmobile, bat cave, etc. But they're already hooked and I'm sure as they get older we'll work our way through the entire series.

Glad he made it long enough to see the popularity of his work come back around. For me, it never went away.

[mr.negativity]

[william newell]

Sad news indeed...another piece of my childhood gone. Farewell, Mr. West.

[O.Supreme]

Wow, that is sad. Glad however he brought so much joy to so many people. He never abandoned the role of Batman. he was able to contribute his voice talent many times to various DC animated projects. My son has been playing Lego Batman 3 in which Adam West actually has a pretty significant role oddly enough. He will be missed for sure. Wonder if when Justice League comes out in September, there will be an "In memory of" credit at the end for Adam West. There definitely should be, probably on most DC shows also when they return for the fall I would think.

[The Shadow]

Sad news... Adam West was Batman for me too growing up, not just reruns of the T.V. show, but all the voice work he did for animation as Batman. Farewell Mr. West.

[O.Supreme]

You know I'd been on the fence for a long time about getting the original Batman TV series on BRD. I mean I watched plenty of episodes in syndication, but never desired to own them like I have all the DC animated series. Yet I've had the Batman 1966 on DVD for years. I think very soon I'm going to make a decision. Hopefully this sad news will not drive the prices up for this set, though no doubt it will increase its popularity/demand.

[mbozzo]

His Batman was family friendly, which made his character better than the later Batmen. He will be missed by all his fans.

[Jinzo Ningen]

How freaking awesome is this!?! What a perfect and genuinely touching way to honor Adam West. I admit I got teary-eyed when I read about his passing last weekend. This tribute got me a little choked up, too.

So long, Old Chum.

[lhb412]

Respect for them making their bat signal exactly the symbol on Adam West's costume.

Well done.