I actually drew this back in June, in honor of the passing of Adam West. I’ve just been behind in getting things up on the blog, even though I’ve still been creating a lot of different things the last few months.

As a kid in the 1970s, I remember the old Batman TV show coming on around 4:30m or so every day. I didn’t get to watch the show in its original run, but I got to watch it every day! It was a fun show and had lots of actors I recognized seeing in other places too. I know for a while the campy fun of this version of Batman kind of fell out of favor with fans… or at least casual fans… but there has been a recent surge with the Batman ’66 comics and the release (finally) of the classic TV show on home video.

It’s also been fun to hear Adam West as the mayor on Family Guy. He is a big part of that show. Not just there because Seth MacFarlane liked him, which of course is also true… but Mayor Adam West on the show is tied up in lots of shenanigans on that show and his voice will be missed there.

I’ve also long campaigned for DC to have made a live-action Batman Beyond movie with Adam West cast as old Bruce Wayne mentoring the new young Batman. I think Adam West’s acting skills are often overlooked because of his jovial personality and how well he slid into the camp of the classic Batman… but I have no doubts he would have been stellar as a more serious version as well, and it would have been a nice nod to his stint in the role back in the 1960s… but now, unfortunately, we will never know.

There was a recent home video classic-style Batman animated movie with Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, and others… and my understanding is Adam West had already completed his voice-over work for a sequel to that… so we will get to hear him one final time as the caped crusader in the future. It’s a shame he is no longer with us, but it’s nice that he went out on many high notes with a whole new generation of fans appreciating him once again.

My illustration, incidentally, is hand-drawn on a 7×10 in. comic backing board. It’s not an exact likeness of course, but I tried to get a little Adam West in there so that it wasn’t just a generic Batman bust illustration. I generally like how this one turned out. Let me know what you think.

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