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Re: (TV) Townsend & Link Wray / Batman / R. Lloyd + James Bond/ Q/ U-2 Rev isited
BE WARNED - MOSTLY OFF TOPIC:
Leo wrote:
From about age 7-14, I collected Batman comic
books (then all the stories and artwork were
done by Batman's creator Bob Kane, nothing'
like the comic and 'novels' of Batman now,
which I don't read).
Don't be fooled by the signature, Leo. By that point (late '50s to mid-'60s
or so?), "Bob Kane" was as much a trademark as an individual. Although he
did some of the art, a great deal of it was done by folks such as the
wonderful Dick Sprang (my favorite early Bat-artist), Sheldon Moldoff,
Winslow Mortimer, Lew Sayre Schwartz (whose existence I only learned of
recently), and Jerry Robinson. (Robinson, who claims to have had a large
hand in the creation of the Joker - though that history is hotly disputed -
may actually have jumped ship before you came aboard. Among his other
cartooning accomplishments, he created the syndicated Sunday comic strip
"Classroom Flubs 'n' Fluffs," which always used to tickle me when I read it
on visits to my mother's spinster aunts Anna and Martha.) Compared to most
of these others, Kane was a fairly crude artist - though his work has its
primitive charms.
And Kane never did much, if any, of the writing. Most of the early Batman
stories were scripted by Bill Finger, who reportedly even had a large
influence on Batman's costume: Prior to Finger's input, Kane had given
Batman a "domino" mask (similar to what Robin would later wear) rather than
the cowl with ears. I'd have to do some research to see who was doing the
writing at the time you were reading. But I doubt Kane had much to do with
it; he was by then largely a "packager" who oversaw the work of others.
Kane, unlike, say, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman's creators, was a
reasonably canny businessman, who did not give up the rights to "his"
creation for a song. (In the mid-'70s, writer Siegel and artist Shuster -
by then nearly blind - were practically destitute, but largely through the
activism of comic book artists and writers then working, DC was convinced
to give them half-decent if not stellar pensions.) Thus Kane's name
continued to appear for a long time on the comics. I presume that Finger
was not given any formal credit as creator because he was brought in after
Kane had initiated the idea, and perhaps worked under contract to Kane.
And then when I get to watch the first tv-episode
I was crushed----I hated it; it was cheesy and
the totally camp angle was a big no no (another
one of my vices I hate(d) camp in music esp.
rock---say, The Dictators--Oopps! probably
just insulted someone else---I'll take my
music straight thank you---if I want camp I'll
read Susan Sontag :>) .
I can perfectly well understand that reaction, but as I said, since I was
younger than you, it didn't register with me the same way.
Speaking of soundtracks/themes, there are a couple
of live recordings of Television in which (I'm
pretty sure it's Lloyd)---between songs, to kill
time so Tom can fuss with his pedals[?]---plays that
James Bond theme, the spooky guitar riff (the
1960's Bond movies' version), and at another
concert (again I think it's Lloyd, although the rest
of the band plays along for a few seconds) there is
a snippet of the more modern (Pierce Brosnan-era)
Bond theme.
Do you mean at times other than as the lead-in to (very secret-agenty)
"Call Mister Lee"?
- Jesse
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