Originally published June 8, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

“BATMAN BEGINS” BUST
• Sculpted by Scott Whitworth of Formation Designs.
• Produced by WebbHead Enterprises.
• 1/4 scale, about 10 inches tall.
• Two resin parts.
• The kit in the pictures was painted by Steve Riojas of Denver.

Back in my preschool days, late ’60s until about 1970, the world was all about the campy “Batman” TV series. While grown-ups were laughing at those silly “POWS!” and Robin in tights, little kids like me were taking the show dead seriously and making capes out of bath towels.

Move to my elementary school days and Batman was still an important character, but he was the Batman, a dark hero battling villains such as the maniacal Joker and the exotic Ra’s Al-Ghul.

Jump to college. Comics remained an occasional interest, but mostly as bathroom reading and the only titles that came into the house were stuff Dad found at garage sales. In 1985, I was buried in pretending to do homework and most of the fiction I read was what my teachers assigned. That’s when I happened on a story in the newspaper about Frank Miller’s “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” a four-issue series about the Batman coming out of retirement in his 50s. Like millions of others, I checked them out and loved them. Those comics were hugely popular, as was the follow-up “Batman: Year One,” also written by Frank Miller and presented in four issues of the ongoing “Batman” comic book.

Of course, Warner Bros., owner of DC Comics, couldn’t help but notice that the Caped Crusader was more popular than ever and decided to make a movie. Tim Burton’s original “Batman” – starring Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Michael Keaton as Bats – debuted on the big screen in 1989 and generally pleased fans like me, even though the story pretty much fell apart in the last hour. It was followed up in 1992 by “Batman Returns,” featuring Michelle Pfeiffer as an interesting Catwoman and Danny DeVito as a disgusting Penguin. Fans are split on that one; I didn’t care for it and found Joel Schumacher’s follow-up – “Batman Forever” (1995), with Val Kilmer as the title hero and Chris O’Donnell as Robin – an improvement despite the forgettable villains and increased camp. However, I’ll never forgive Schumacher for the fourth movie in the series, “Batman and Robin” (1997), a film that failed so spectacularly further Bat-projects were shelved for years.

Those of us who liked Frank Miller’s vision of Batman found things to enjoy about some of these Batman movies, but… Read the rest