#201 Chip Kidd's Book of Bat-Merch

When the Batman TV show set off Batmania in 1966, a wide variety of toys and other tie-in items, not all of them licensed, hit the market. Since licensers seldom made style guides in the '60s, rights to the actors likenesses weren't available, and some of the onslaught of Bat-crap came from overseas makers who thought Batman's costume would look better in orange, the results are highly entertaining. This time we look at Chip Kidd's 1996 book Batman Collected, a history of Bat-merch from 1938 to 1996. Y'know, we STILL want that Mego Batcave Playset. Plus, the Sheet Music Boss piano tutorial version of the Batman theme, Adam West's reaction to the film Batman and Robin, and your response to our "Women in Season Two" wrapup!   The fruitless search for a guest (see page two for Ben Bentley's explanation of why the rights to Adam and Burt's likenesses weren't available)