BEWARE OF...POISON IVY! by Dave Goode

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most imagined episodes of the Batman television series was an adaptation of a story that appeared in Batman No.181 (June 1966). Beware of Poison Ivy was a 12-pager written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by Sheldon Moldoff (pencils) and Joe Giello (inks) "ghosting" for Bob Kane. This was the first of two Silver Age appearances of the villainess Poison Ivy. The character had no origin story back in the 60s. She was simply a comic book seductress. The embodiment of "Comic Book Cliche No.8"... the temptress that attempts to seduce the stalwart hero into a life of crime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the reason so many Silver Age fan-boys wanted to see an adaptation of this story is because the actress we imagine playing Poison Ivy is the one and only Ann-Margaret. One of the most famous sex symbols of the 1960s , Born Ann-Margaret Olsson in Sweden she came to America with her parents at age 6. She would study at Northwestern University before heading to Las Vegas to begin a career as a singer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovered by George Burns she would go on to a triple threat career as a singer , dancer and actress. She would become a Top 10 Box-Office star appearing in movies like BYE, BYE BIRDIE, VIVA LAS VEGAS and KITTEN WITH A WHIP. Oddly enough Poison Ivy's creator Robert Kanigher reportedly modeled the character's look after legendary pin-up and fetish model Bettie Page.

Kanigher's original story was just as campy as anything that appeared on the television series. I can see it easily adapted to the small screen with a few minor tweaks. One of the things that needed to be kept in the story was the inclusion of Poison Ivy's rivals Dragon Fly, Silken Spider, and Tiger Moth. They could have been portrayed by Edy Williams, Marilyn Hanold, and Sivi Aberg who played Liberace's henchwomen in the Batman episodes The Devil's Fingers and Dead Ringers.

I myself imagine Burt Ward's second wife Kathy Kersh playing the Tiger Moth character. Miss Kersh would appear on the series in the episodes The Impractical Joker and The Joker's Provokers. Hmmm. Batman might have had to take Robin's advice from the comic book to "take a cold shower".










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Alias... Dick Grayson by Dave Goode

I had just started reading Batman and Detective comics a couple of years before the Batman television series premiered. I was introduced to Batman through a crossover story in one of the Superman titles and thought the character was pretty cool. So I started picking up titles that featured this other " caped crusader ". When I did I discovered a character that over the years would become my favorite comic book/comic strip hero. Robin, the Boy Wonder...alias Dick Grayson. Actually I liked him as Robin, Nightwing, or just Dick Grayson. As a kid when playing Batman with friends I got to be Batman because I was the tallest. But I secretly wanted to be Robin.

Honor student, top athlete and wholesome boy next door. Dick Grayson was the ultimate big brother even if there was no Tim Drake or Jason Todd during the Silver Age to look up to him. Seriously I imagined Tony Dow portraying him.

That is until the Batman series premiered.

There is a certain gold standard when it comes to casting comic book /comic strip heroes and heroines. It starts with Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon and continues with Irish McCalla (Sheena of the Jungle) , Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) and Burt Ward as Robin , the Boy Wonder. Actor Burt Ward as Robin looked like artist Carmine Infantino's  Boy Wonder come to life. Burt Ward (born Bert Gervis Jr.) was a sort of " boy wonder " in real life. At age two he was billed as the world's youngest professional figure skater.








The publicity department for the Batman show had put out some press releases describing him as as a brown belt in karate. As part of his audition he demonstrated some ukemi and tameshiwari techniques so these claims might have had some validity.

The funny thing is that in a 3-part story that ran in Batman No.234 (Aug.1971) , Batman No.235 (Sept.1971) and Batman No.236 (Nov.1971) written by Gary Friedrich and illustrated by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano Robin gives a karate demo at a commune where writer Friedrich describes Robin as being a karate brown belt. Hold the phone! Robin was only a brown belt in karate? This was as bad as Barbara " Bat-Girl " Gordon in her first appearance in Detective Comics No.359 (Jan.1967) written by Julius Schwartz and drawn by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson being described as a brown belt in judo.

I can't understand why any writer would depict someone fighting a guerrilla war against crime in the streets as being anything less than a 5th dan black belt. Perhaps this was writer Friedrich's way of of paying tribute to Burt Ward's martial arts skills. I wonder if there was some story during the Silver Age where Robin was described as a black belt?

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