Book Review: Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 by Marc Andreyko

Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77
by Marc Andreyko [YA PB (Graphic Novel) Andreyko]

I’ve previously reviewed volumes in both the Batman ’66 and Wonder Woman ’77 graphic novel collections for the Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide, and having jokingly said “I wonder if they’ll ever try to cross over these two comic book series?”, not thinking that they would, considering the 10+ year difference in their setting. And yet, here we are — they did, indeed cross them over. Batman ’66 is a series of comic books in which the comic writers/artists try to recapture the tone of the campy late-1960s Batman TV series, starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin. The stories are set in that same era, and feature “comic-book” fight scenes (“POW!” “BAM!”) and Adam West’s typical super-serious Batman dialog to Robin’s young gee-whiz reactions. Similarly, the Wonder Woman ’77 comic books recapture both the era, and the style of the Wonder Woman TV series, in which Lynda Carter starred as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (after an initial season in which the Wonder Woman stories were set in the World War II era).

In this multi-part storyline, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman first encounters a very young Bruce Wayne at an event in Gotham City in which Bruce is still just a boy. Later, she encounters him again in the late-60s era in which the Adam West Batman series takes place. And still later, in the era of her own late-70s TV series, Wonder Woman must call the embittered and retired Bruce Wayne out of a self-imposed retirement back to active status, as well as former Robin (now Nightwing). All these storylines cross over with a single villain — Ra’s al Ghul. This legendary leader of the League of Assassins constantly seeks out rare spots where a rejuvenating elixir can be found, which bring him back his youth.

The fact that the over-arching storyline in this multi-comic-book-issue graphic novel covers decades of time is intriguing. The art is excellent. My one major complaint is that the writer takes the relatively light-hearted nature of the 60s Batman show and tries to make it super-serious, overlaying some of the more “dark” themes of the comic book onto something that was always supposed to be light and comical. Basically, they try to turn what Adam West always called “The Bright Knight” into “The Dark Knight” more familiar to recent comics fans. It’s a glaring change in tone and somewhat difficult to adjust to.

None-the-less, it’s both fun and intriguing to see the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman and the Adam West Batman co-exist in the same “reality”, in a storyline that makes logical sense. Ignoring the sudden and drastic change in tone for the Batman ’66 characters, I really did enjoy this title overall, and recommended it for fans of both TV series! The covers are particularly gorgeous, and are reprinted in a gallery at the back of this trade paperback collection.

[ Wikipedia pages for Batman ’66 and Wonder Woman ’77 ] | [ Marc Andreyko on the Comic Books Database site ]

See Scott’s review of Batman ’66 Meets the Green Hornet
See Scott’s review of Wonder Woman ’77 and Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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