Diana , daughter of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta, lived a peaceful life with her sisters on Paradise Island for thousands of years. That peace was broken when a pilot named Captain Steve Trevor found his way to their home and spoke to them of the greatest war the world had ever known. A tournament was held to choose a champion to accompany Captain Trevor back to Man’s World and aid in the battle against evil. Despite her mother’s forbidding her competing, Diana entered the contest in disguise and proved her worth, going on to become the champion of women everywhere…Wonder Woman!
Orphaned at a young age after a mugger gunned down his parents, Bruce Wayne swore to devote his life to fighting crime and protecting his hometown of Gotham City. In time, he found a partner in his quest—a young circus acrobat named Dick Grayson, whose parents were killed as part of a protection scam. Adopting the young man as his ward, the two would become the scourge of Gotham City’s underworld as The Caped Crusaders, Batman and Robin!
For years these heroes have fought their respective battles for Truth and Justice without crossing paths…until today!
Now, the tales can be told of how Batman and Wonder Woman joined forces. How a 10-year-old Bruce Wayne faced Nazi robbers at a party that was also being attended by Diana. How Batman and Robin once traveled to Paradise Island, with Catwoman as their chaperone, to thwart one of their greatest enemies. And finally how, in a not-too-distant future, Wonder Woman urged Bruce Wayne out of retirement for one more battle against their mutual foe, the immortal Ra’s Al Ghul!
Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77 is the culmination of the dreams of many a comic-loving fan. Astonishing as it may be to younger readers in these days when superheroes dominate cartoons, movies, and live-action drama, there was a time when there were incredibly few representations of superheroes in media outside of comics. Crossovers between them were even rarer, with Batman and Robin’s brief meeting with The Green Hornet and Kato being the furthest things ever went in the 1960s.
Writers Marc Andreyko and Jeff Parker do a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of both Adam West’s Batman and Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman. There’s plenty of the campy humor that abounded in the classic Batman show but there is drama to match it as well. This is particularly true of the final chapter, which also pays tribute to the Batman Beyond cartoon with Bruce Wayne manning the Bat-Computer and lending advice to Dick Grayson, at this point known as Nightwing, and going into battle in the classic “disco suit” from George Perez’s Teen Titans comics. The writing is full of little Easter eggs like this, but should prove equally entertaining to novice comic fans that don’t get all the jokes.
The artwork is similarly full of sight-gags but is also as action-packed as one might hope. Artist David Hahn skillfully caricatures all of the original cast from both TV series (all three versions of Catwoman put in appearances) but also streamlines their designs as well. This creates a unique aesthetic that is both cartoon-like and yet unmistakably tied to both of the TV shows that inspired this comic.
This volume is rated 12+ for teen audiences. I consider that a more than fair rating, as this comic is as wholesome and family-friendly as the shows that inspired it. Indeed, younger children with advanced reading skills should be able to handle this book with few problems.
Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77
by Marc Andreyko and Jeff Parker
Art by David Hahn
ISBN: 9781401273859
DC Comics, 2017
Publisher Age Rating: 12+
