To tell you the truth, that series (despite it being the first) was probably the worst thing to happen to batman. It firmly set the character in the realm of whimsy.
Look at the very first issues of Batman from 1938-1939, the character portrayed there is much more close to what Frank Miller did in the 80s rather than what soon came after it: the remake of the character when the people started burning comics because of their distastefulness.