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For JOKER WEEK… and CATWOMAN WEEK!
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Welcome to JOKER WEEK! One of the greatest characters in comics history debuted 85 years ago, in Batman #1, on April 24, 1940 — and we’re celebrating with a series of features saluting the Clown Prince of Crime, just like we did with CATWOMAN WEEK. For the complete index of JOKER WEEK features, click here.
But since this is the actual anniversary of both of their first appearances, we’re trotting out Walt Grogan’s CATWOMAN WEEK banner again — and bringing you this groovy piece about the Batman ’66 team-up between the Clown Prince of Crime and the Feline Fatale.
Some are born to greatness, others have it thrust upon them.
Me, I’m asked to write articles about Batman ’66 episodes. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.
Dauntless Dan Greenfield dropped into my Inbox one day to inquire as to my willingness to watch and comment upon the third-season two-parter “The Funny Feline Felonies/The Joke’s on Catwoman.” I said, “Sure, it’s, y’know, third season and all, but anything to celebrate two eternal characters of the Bat-persuasion,” and pulled out the ol’ Blu-ray set to dive right in.
Lots of thoughts on this one. Thirteen to be precise. You’ve been warned.
Oh, and Happy Birthday, Selina Kyle and whatever your name is, sir, the one with the ghastly pallor…
The illustrations are from Bill Crabb’s Batman ’66 Season Three card set. Click here for more on that!
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Yada Yada, Warden. This story marks the penultimate Batman appearance by actor David Lewis as Warden Crichton, he of the “liberal penological practices.” That’s a shame because Lewis helped beef up an otherwise sparse recurring support cast in the series. That said, the Joker’s cigar really should have blown up before they went to the commercial.
Mufti Makes the Madcap Man. How often in Batman do we see Joker in anything other than his normal, garish outfit? Not often. I mean, he had a Pagliacci disguise in his first appearance—beyond that, his bland gray suit in this one stands as a rare deviation from usual purple togs.
He even got an action figure in the outfit!
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Pussy Wagon. Catwoman’s Kitty Car makes its one and only drive-by here. I guess it took Eartha Kitt for the producers to provide some serious ride for the Catwoman Who Has Everything. Also, William Shatner posed with the very same car during his Star Trek days, minus the tail and the kitty-face, of course. Cool wheels, though.
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Titanic Team-Up. You know me; I love the team-ups. While Joker and Catwoman don’t exactly compliment each other well in the story—she does call him “handsome” at one point, admittedly—this is the first time since the ’66 feature film they shared scree -time. Odd that she would partner with the Clown Prince of Crime here, seeing as how she seemed to get along better with Penguin in the movie.
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The Bat Creeps. A note must be made here for the one-and-done Bat-Belly-Boards used by the Dynamic Duo while under fire in Gordon’s office. On one hand, they’re damn silly, but on another hand… I kind of dig ’em. The production staff deserves a little credit for the idea, a unique one in the series. I wonder why they were never used again.
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Daredoll Not a Team-Player. Batgirl’s a strange one. She’s coy and flirty and sometimes doesn’t hesitate to try and help Batman and the Boy Wonder, but she also has her moments of “I’ll just keep things from them for no good reason!” Point of fact: In this story she scoops up an important clue without telling her Bat-chums just so she can follow “a woman’s inborn desire to outsmart men.” Hey, them’s Batman’s words, not mine, amigo.
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Ooh! Ooh! Funny guy Joe E. Ross is almost completely wasted here, stepping in only momentarily to deliver his trademark “Ooh! Ooh!” and then disappear quicker than a pint of Guinness down Chief O’Hara’s gullet, begorrah. Character actor Ronald Long as Karnaby Katz doesn’t fare too well here, either, for that matter.
Joe E. Ross
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Can Batman Escape the… Oh, Wait. Maybe it was a sign of the series hitting bottom in Season Three that they didn’t hit viewers with a death-trap cliffhanger at the end of “Funny Feline Felonies.” I mean, sure, the next part wasn’t on the next day at that point, but it was tradition for Batman at that point, dammit!
The Joker’s Dumb as Well as Wild. This story is very much Catwoman’s time to meow. It’s not a Joker joint. In fact, it’s not a very good turn for Cesar Romero. Joker’s almost constantly in a daze, asking a lot of stupid questions, and generally not holding up his side of the team-up. Again, why Catwoman chose to bring him in on the caper is a bit of a head-scratcher. “The Joke’s on Catwoman”? Indeed it is.
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Keep the Keepers. One of the lowest points of the story, in my opinion, is the inclusion of Louis Quinn and Christine Nelson as Mr. and Mrs. Keeper, respectively. They add nothing to the narrative and honestly, the “upstairs bedroom” joke got unfunnier the more it was trotted out.
That Attorney’s No Actor. No, in fact he’s Pierre Salinger, whose career has to be seen to be believed. (As I’m sure you know. If not, Google him to see what I mean. Dude was standing right there near Bobby Kennedy when he was shot and killed, only a few short months after this story aired. Yow.
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Bat-Fight, Cat-Fight. Don’t blink or you’ll miss the delicious little tussle between the Dominoed Daredoll and Princess of Plunder as Yvonne Craig and Eartha Kitt gave the audience about three seconds of what they really, really wanted. Then, Stafford Repp tried very hard not to place his hands on the wrong spots of Lurex and risk getting his eyes scratched out. Go to 5:11 in the video:
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Fourth Wall No More. There’s an odd moment right at the end of this story, right after the Bat-fight, where Adam West smashes right through that old Fourth Wall and addresses the viewers directly. Commissioner Gordon did it in an earlier episode, so I guess Batman wanted to get in on that action. It’s a fun bit, very much of its time.
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MORE
— Dig These 13 Fabulous BATMAN ’66 SEASON THREE Illustrations. Click here.
— Dig the All-New BATMAN’S HOT-LINE! Click here.
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JIM BEARD has pounded out adventure fiction since he sold a story to DC Comics in 2002. He’s gone on to write official Star Wars and Ghostbusters comics stories and contributed articles and essays to several volumes of comic book history. His prose work includes his own creations, but also licensed properties such as Planet of the Apes, X-Files, Spider-Man, Kolchak the Night Stalker and Captain Action. In addition, Jim provided regular content for Marvel.com, the official Marvel Comics website, for 17 years.
Check out the three Batman ’66 books of essays he’s edited: Zlonk! Zok! Zowie! The Subterranean Blue Grotto Essays on Batman ’66 – Season One, Biff! Bam! Ee-Yow! The Subterranean Blue Grotto Essays on Batman ’66 – Season Two and Oooff! Boff! Splatt! The Subterranean Blue Grotto Guide to Batman ’66 – Season Three.
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