xhonzi said:

twister quoted Bob Kane:

Without the Adam West TV show, the books probably would have been cancelled.

That might have been preferable. I think the damage that show did to the West's perception of "comic book" or "graphic novel" is still being overcome.

Sorry- didn't finish my thought here. It's entirely possible that the books would have been cancelled and that they would have been renewed at a later date but would have been less, uh... molested. Comics are cancelled all of the time and then brought back. Being cancelled is far from the end of a major comic book/characters's life. But being made extremely goofy often is.

I think Batman recovered all right. But "Comics" are much more accepted as a viable storytelling medium for all stories for people of all ages in other parts of the world. I can't help but wonder if Adam West's Batman show saved the comics from 3-4 years of cancellation but caused 40 years of public opinion about the comics.

Kind of like The New Deal.