Could you pinpoint the eras where Batman was campy?

[Mutant 77]

I would like to know the EXACT years where comic book Batman was "campy" and "colorful" (like all Silver Age characters) and spiritually closer to the TV counterpart. From 1939 to 2019... could you exactly pinpoint these eras in the Batman timeline?
Thanks.

[Aahz]

I would like to know the EXACT years where comic book Batman was "campy" and "colorful" (like all Silver Age characters) and spiritually closer to the TV counterpart. From 1939 to 2019... could you exactly pinpoint these eras in the Batman timeline?
Thanks.

Thats hard to tell, since it was a relatively slow change, the height of campiness was probably from the mid 50s to mid 60s. But there were already campy stories in the 40s, and early 50s, there continued to be some till the start of the Bronze Age very late in the 60s (and even after that there there could still occasionally be one).

[babyblob]

I agree with the above. Mid 50s to Mid 60s was pretty campy for Batman. I mean I have read an issue Where Gordon orders Batman to take a vacation. I mean can you see that kind of thing flying with the 90s Batman?

[Jackalope89]

I agree with the above. Mid 50s to Mid 60s was pretty campy for Batman. I mean I have read an issue Where Gordon orders Batman to take a vacation. I mean can you see that kind of thing flying with the 90s Batman?

Yep. I mean, just look at Adam West during his run as Batman. Campy, corny, funny, and Batman dancing with the best of them. Not to mention, he and Robin were actually deputized and carried badges. So, not even technically vigilantes.

[oasis1313]

Wasn't he doing "The Batusi"? (for young folks, there was a dance back in ancient times called "the Watusi").

[TravelerInTheDark]

Basically pre-O'neil.

[Jim Kelly]

Camp is a state of mind. If you come at something as camp, then it's camp to you. When I was a little kid reading comics in the 1960s, the stuff that people called camp was usually not that for me. There were some instances when even I would pick up on something being so foolish that it only could be seen as camp, but those comics were rare.

The 1966 BATMAN series was called camp by the adults, right from the beginning. But very few of the comics from that time seemed camp to me and I don't think they were being deliberately camp.

On the other hand, if you read the letter columns, sometimes a college student will write in about a story and say it was so camp. I think, at that time, college kids were all about calling everything camp (just like today people call everything "random") and they bought comics to be ironic about them. So to them any comic book was camp and they read it like that.

It didn't matter if it was Marvel, DC, Dell, Archie, Harvey or Gold Key--comics were camp. And if you read those comics, a lot of writers like Stan Lee and John Broome built humour into their comics. They were writing on a few different levels, knowing that older readers would get a kick out of seeing something like the Flash turned into a puppet, but at the same time a younger kid could read the same story and take it seriously.

I'm always frustrated with readers who don't see that what is ridiculous and funny in those comics is meant to be so (it's not because the writers were stupid and didn't know what they were doing). And it's strange that Marvel readers took their comics so seriously. If anything, I think Stan was being more over the top bonkers than most DC writers (with maybe the exception of Arnold Drake)--and if you're taking his stories so seriously, then you're missing all the fun.

Getting back to Batman, while there are a lot of comics that you could read on those multiple levels, there are only a few that I think are deliberately and almost exclusively "camp": "The Joker's Original Robberies," BATMAN 186; "The Eraser Who Tried to Rub Out Batman," BATMAN 188; "The Blockbuster Goes Bat-Mad," BATMAN 194; "The House the Joker Built," DETECTIVE COMICS 365; "Alias the Bat-Hulk," THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 68; and "Batman Meets Jerry," THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY LEWIS 97.

I absolutely hate "The Joker's Original Robberies"--it's an example of John Broome trying to write like the TV show and doing terribly at it. I didn't know how to feel about "The House the Joker Built" when I read it as a little kid, because I felt like it was mocking me and my love for Batman stuff--but now I think it's one of the greatest Joker stories of all time and it has a bit of influence on the Joker we will see later--this is an example of John Broome savagely critiquing Batmania and sending it up.

I really hated "Alias the Bat-Hulk"--I felt attacked--I don't know what I did with my copy that I got at the drugstore--maybe I threw it in the garbage, but I know I quickly got rid of it because I couldn't stand that comic. Now I don't mind it--it's ridiculous but not that bad. And those other stories I listed are a lot of good fun, too.

edit: Since the OP asked for the year, the years of those stories were 1966 - 1967.

[babyblob]

I used to hate the camp that was the dc world in the 60s. I always read Marvel. But in the last couple of years I have embraces the camp. I always read comics as an escape from real life and what better escape could there be then The Flash fighting the cloud people or Batman having a Bat Squad like in the Brave and the Bold. If anything I enjoy the camp of the early 60s more then the uptight I know every thing Batman of today. I enjoy The Batman being an agent of the police rather then the lone crime fighter. I enjoy the light hearted banter that he has with Robin. I liked that he was friends with the other Superheroes rather then the man who had plots to take them down.

[CrazyOldHermit]

The pinnacle is probably when Batman went sci-fi, which would be from the mid-50s to 1964.

[Mutant 77]

Camp is a state of mind. If you come at something as camp, then it's camp to you. When I was a little kid reading comics in the 1960s, the stuff that people called camp was usually not that for me. There were some instances when even I would pick up on something being so foolish that it only could be seen as camp, but those comics were rare.

The 1966 BATMAN series was called camp by the adults, right from the beginning. But very few of the comics from that time seemed camp to me and I don't think they were being deliberately camp.

On the other hand, if you read the letter columns, sometimes a college student will write in about a story and say it was so camp. I think, at that time, college kids were all about calling everything camp (just like today people call everything "random") and they bought comics to be ironic about them. So to them any comic book was camp and they read it like that.

It didn't matter if it was Marvel, DC, Dell, Archie, Harvey or Gold Key--comics were camp. And if you read those comics, a lot of writers like Stan Lee and John Broome built humour into their comics. They were writing on a few different levels, knowing that older readers would get a kick out of seeing something like the Flash turned into a puppet, but at the same time a younger kid could read the same story and take it seriously.

I'm always frustrated with readers who don't see that what is ridiculous and funny in those comics is meant to be so (it's not because the writers were stupid and didn't know what they were doing). And it's strange that Marvel readers took their comics so seriously. If anything, I think Stan was being more over the top bonkers than most DC writers (with maybe the exception of Arnold Drake)--and if you're taking his stories so seriously, then you're missing all the fun.

Getting back to Batman, while there are a lot of comics that you could read on those multiple levels, there are only a few that I think are deliberately and almost exclusively "camp": "The Joker's Original Robberies," BATMAN 186; "The Eraser Who Tried to Rub Out Batman," BATMAN 188; "The Blockbuster Goes Bat-Mad," BATMAN 194; "The House the Joker Built," DETECTIVE COMICS 365; "Alias the Bat-Hulk," THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 68; and "Batman Meets Jerry," THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY LEWIS 97.

I absolutely hate "The Joker's Original Robberies"--it's an example of John Broome trying to write like the TV show and doing terribly at it. I didn't know how to feel about "The House the Joker Built" when I read it as a little kid, because I felt like it was mocking me and my love for Batman stuff--but now I think it's one of the greatest Joker stories of all time and it has a bit of influence on the Joker we will see later--this is an example of John Broome savagely critiquing Batmania and sending it up.

I really hated "Alias the Bat-Hulk"--I felt attacked--I don't know what I did with my copy that I got at the drugstore--maybe I threw it in the garbage, but I know I quickly got rid of it because I couldn't stand that comic. Now I don't mind it--it's ridiculous but not that bad. And those other stories I listed are a lot of good fun, too.

edit: Since the OP asked for the year, the years of those stories were 1966 - 1967.

Terrific insight. Thank you, truly.

So what truly happened from 1965-1967 to 1985? Batman became less sci-fi and more dark?

[Jim Kelly]

The trend toward more sci-fi stories happened in the late '50s and early '60s when that was the trend in pop culture in general. So the editor, Jack Schiff, was trying to ride that trend. There was also a lot of stories about the extended family.

Then in 1964, DC moved their editors around and Julius Schwartz ended up as editor on BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS, with Mort Weisinger editing WORLD'S FINEST COMICS. Schwartz introduced some new innovations to the Batman franchise--this was called the "New Look"--and he wanted to take Batman in a more mystery oriented direction. Also I'd say that Schiff was appealing to younger readers, while Schwartz was trying to bring in older readers (relatively speaking). And Schwartz brought with him his usual gang of creators--John Broome, Gardner Fox, Bob Kanigher, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Sid Greene, Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane. Although old guard creators like France Herron, Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff and Chic Stone, still were contributing.

While there were a few science fiction based stories and the traditional villains were featured, the "New Look" stories were more sophisticated. However, because of the BATMAN TV show, Schwartz was pressed to do more stories that played to that audience. Something that the old readers complained about loudly in the letter pages. Still, given that sales were near a million for some issues, Schwartz really had no choice but to follow the trend. And other DC books would display Batman on their covers, to drive up their sales, as well.

However, by 1968, Batmania was a bust. The TV show was cancelled and people turned against camp. The sales fell drastically and DC moved around creators. Frank Robbins, Irv Novick and Bob Brown were brought onto BATMAN and 'TEC. And during this phase, there was less of the costumed villains and the stories returned to telling mysteries, making Batman the detective again. This culminated in late 1969 with Dick Grayson leaving to go to college and Batman closing down Wayne Manor to move into the city--in his penthouse apartment on top of the Wayne Foundation building. The creators were inspired to return Batman to the creature of the night he had been in his early days. Joining Robbins, Novick and Brown were Denny O'Neil, Len Wein, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano.

I think that there was a mini Return to Camp around 1977, when CBS featured the cartoon show THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN with Adam West voicing Batman and Burt Ward voicing Robin--which also featured Batgirl and Bat-Mite in the cast. And meanwhile on ABC, there was a different Batman and Robin on the SUPER FRIENDS. The BATMAN title at this time became lighter in tone, with stories by David V. Reed (an old guard Batman writer) and artist Ernie Chan (aka Chua). And BATMAN FAMILY and WORLD'S FINEST COMICS had brighter stories, as well. But DETECTIVE COMICS and THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD stayed true to the direction they had followed through most of the 1970s.

And you could also count the Joel Schumacher Batman movies from the late 1990s as trying to revive Camp, but without much success.