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UPDATES....

March 7, 2010:

Wow - can't believe it's March already. Progress on the book has been slow since I've been teaching at Columbia College, but I'm still making progress nonetheless. With today being Academy Awards day, I have a pop quiz question: Of the actors who have played Batman, who is the only one to win an Academy Award (though not for playing Batman)? The answer is below.

I recently came across some articles which will help flesh out the portion of the book about the 1966 Batman feature film, and am tracking down the truth behind rumors of a proposed Batman TV series that was to have begun in the early 1960s with an actor other than Adam West.

And who was that Oscar winner? George Clooney, who won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for 2005's Syriana.

December 5, 2009:

I wish I could report that I've completed another chapter, but truthfully, I've done precious little with the Batman book in the past week. Now that the holidays are here, finding time to write has become very difficult, so I don't expect to make much progress until after the New Year.

Consequently, I'm going to take a break from the website and Batman eBlog until January, so I can focus what little spare time I do have on the writing of the book.

In the meantime, attached is a little Christmas gift.

May your holidays pass without any Dark Knights!

November 8, 2009:

This Tuesday at 9:30 PM, KSAV will air Part 2 of my interview with Wes Britton about "Superman on Film, Television, Radio & Broadway" on their program "Dave White Presents." And Chapter 6 of BATMAN ON FILM AND TV, about the Batman animated cartoons of the 1960s and 70s, is progressing slowly but nicely. To see an episode of Filmation's 1968 Batman cartoon series, click here.

November 1, 2009:

My thanks to Wes Britton and Dave White for featuring Part 1 of my interview with Wes about "Superman on Film, Television, Radio & Broadway" on last Tuesday's "Dave White Presents" show on KSAV. You can hear the show by clicking here. Part two of Wes Britton's interview with me will air Tuesday, November 10, same time, same channel.

In Batman news, I'm happy to report that the first draft of Chapter 5 of BATMAN ON FILM AND TV is FINALLY finished. I wrapped it up last night while handing out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters. The chapter came in at 80 single-spaced pages, including the 300+ footnotes; it will undoubtedly be the longest chapter in the book. Now it's on to the 1968 Batman Saturday morning cartoon and Superfriends, with the immortal Olan Soule as the Caped Crusader and Casey Kasem as Robin, the Boy Wonder.

October 24, 2009:

Part one of Wes Britton's interview with me about "Superman on Film, Television, Radio & Broadway " will be broadcast this Tuesday on KSAV's "Dave White Presents" show. The same show will feature Dave White's interview with Eddie Cantor's daughter, Janet Gari. I interviewed Janet a couple of years ago for a documentary that appears on the DVD "Rose of Washington Square," part of Fox's Alice Faye Collection. It's an honor to be sharing airtime with her. The show debuts at 5:30 PM Central Time and can be hear by visiting www.KSAV.org. The full 90 minute show will be available for download beginning Wednesday at www.audioentertainment.org/dwp. Part two of Wes Britton's interview with me will air two weeks later, on Tuesday, November 10, same time, same channel.

October 19, 2009:

And I'm STILL on Chapter 5 of BATMAN ON FILM & TV—but close to finishing it! Today, I'm writing about Yvonne Craig, and I've added a link to her website on the BATMAN page, where you can order an autographed copy of her book, "From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond." Also, this past Tuesday, I was interviewed about Superman for KSAV's "Dave White Presents" show. The interview should appear on KSAV in the next couple of weeks, so I'll post a link when it's up.

September 26, 2009:

Still on Chapter 5 of BATMAN ON FILM & TV—and loving it! Today, among other things, I'm writing about the merchandising spawned by the TV show, including a novelty record called "The Riddler Song," composed and arranged by Mel Tormé with vocals by Frank Gorshin. You can listen to it here.

September 7, 2009:

I've now completed four chapters of BATMAN ON FILM & TV. The fourth chapter covers the 1949 Columbia Pictures serial starring Robert Lowery and Johnny Duncan. For the past few weeks, I've been researching and writing Chapter 5, about the 1966 TV series. There's such a wealth of great material related to the TV show that this chapter is taking much longer to get through than I'd expected. In anticipation of chapters to come, last week I interviewed Michael Uslan, producer of the Batman movies from Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" to 2008's "The Dark Knight."

August 4, 2009:

The first three chapters of BATMAN ON FILM & TV are finished, covering the Caped Crusader's creation, the 1943 serial, and Batman on radio. Now I'm working on the next chapter, covering the 1949 serial. Thus far, I've conducted interviews with Michael G. Wilson (whose dad, Lewis Wilson, was the first live-action Batman), Bob Hanks (son of the second serial Batman, Robert Lowery), and writers Lorenzo Semple Jr., Tom Mankiewicz, and Sharmagne Leland-St. John (whose godfather was the first live-action Robin, Douglas Croft). Looking forward to the next chapter—Batman on TV. Holy nostalgia!

May 17, 2009:

Okay, I've been VERY lax in updating the website... but keep checking back for updates on my NEW book, which will be available (if the publishing gods smile on me) by Summer 2010!

"QUANTUM OF SOLACE" - JAMES BOND 007 AT THE WILMETTE THEATRE, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 8:30 PM
Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, tel. 847-251-7424
I'll be signing copies of my book James Bond: The Legacy, co-authored with John Cork, before and after the 8:30 PM screening of Quantum of Solace, the new 007 adventure starring Daniel Craig. Following the 8:30 screening, I'll join film critic Bruce Ingram of the Pioneer Press for a discussion of James Bond films past and present.

September 16, 2008:

Looking for a low-cost copy of Superman on Film, Television, Radio & Broadway? Check out BudsArt Books.com (formerly Bud Plant.com). They're currently selling the book for the amazingly low price of $29.95, $20 off the cover price!

September 2, 2008:

On August 24th, the terrific movie website Popcorn N Roses did a three hour podcast about Superman called "Truth, Justice and the Superman Way." TC Kirkham interviewed me for a segment of the podcast, which can be heard at the Popcorn N Roses website.

June 30, 2008:

To see an interview with me conducted by Steve Younis of the Superman Homepage at the 2008 Metropolis Superman Celebration, click here.

June 26, 2008:

During the weekend of June 13-15, I traveled to Metropolis, Illinois for the annual Superman Celebration, where I met Metropolis's new official Superman, Josh Boltinghouse (see above). It was great catching up with friends I've met at other events, and finally meeting in person many of the people whose websites were a boon to the writing of my book, such as Steven Kirk and Steve Younis. I arrived Friday evening, just in time for the 1940s Ball honoring Noel Neill. The next day, I autographed books and chatted with fans at Artists Alley. I also took a spin through Jim Hambrick's amazing Superman Museum, which is a Mecca for Man of Steel acolytes. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, I was unable to stay for Sunday's record-breaking "Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Superman." According to Super-fan Charley Levi, there were 122 people decked out in the blue-and-red, including Superman comic book artist Murphy Anderson (see the photo below, courtesy of Stephanie "Superwoman" Perrin). As always, I had a grand time, and I look forward to next year's celebration!

June 11, 2008:

Over the weekend of June 6-9, I was at the Memphis Film Festival in Olive Branch, Mississippi. This was my first visit to the Memphis Film Festival, but it won't be my last. Ray Nielsen and the other organizers did a terrific job and made me feel very much at home. Besides leading a panel discussion on Superman, I also got to participate in a Lone Ranger radio broadcast re-creation.

LEFT: Here I am hosting the Superman panel, with guests Gregory Moffett, Noel Neill and Jim Nolt. Gregory Moffett appeared in "The Stolen Elephant" episode of "Adventures of Superman." Jim Nolt is a Superman fan who ran the website "The Adventures Continue" for many years before handing the reins to Lou Koza, who was also at the Film Fest.

RIGHT: Noel Neill meets Rex Luthor, Lex's crazy uncle - otherwise known as Jeff "Rock" Scivally (my brother).

LEFT: Richard Potter and Bruce. Richard wrote a tribute song to George Reeves, "Oh, George," which can be ordered from his website - click here. RIGHT: The Cagle brothers - Don ("Lone Ranger"), Ken ("Rooster Cogburn"), and Gary ("John Wayne) - chat with David Rothel, author of "Who Was That Masked Man," one of the best books ever written about The Lone Ranger.

March 4, 2008:

This past weekend, I went to the Metropolis Comic Show in Metropolis, Illinois, where I met a lot of fantastic Superman fans, like Charlee "Superman" Chartrand (with book, below) and Stephanie Perrin (a/k/a Superwoman):

Tim Gardner did an excellent job of organizing the show and making the special guests feel welcome. It was a pleasure to talk to the Super Fans who came out to the event, and I look forward to seeing many of them again this June at the Superman Celebration in Metropolis!

February 7, 2008:

I've just confirmed that I will be attending the The Metropolis Comic Show in Metropolis, Illinois, where Superman's 70th birthday will be celebrated on February 29! See the BOOKSIGNINGS page for more info!

January 27, 2008:

Recent weeks have brought major developments in both the Superman and James Bond worlds.

First, on the Superman front, Variety reported that Warners Bros. had (for now) pulled the plug on their proposed Justice League movie. Since the film was announced last fall, there has been much speculation on internet sites about who would be cast as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, with WB reps indicating that Superman and Batman would be played by actors other than Brandon Routh and Christian Bale. Apparently, the studio was treating this as a franchise separate from their already begun Superman and Batman films. In the end, the studio decided the script needed more work, so the project became a casualty of the ongoing writer's strike. There were other factors influencing the decision, including the studio not getting an official response on tax breaks they wanted for shooting in Australia, and the options on the actors running out.

On the 007 front, the title of the new James Bond movie was announced this past week: Quantum of Solace (see the BBC Website announcement). It's a title likely to leave a lot of folks scratching their heads going “What does that mean?” It comes from a short story Ian Fleming wrote for Cosmopolitan magazine that appeared in the May 1959 issue, and the following year appeared in the short story collection For Your Eyes Only. As Bond stories go, it's a trifle, with no derring-do. Instead, James Bond attends a dinner party which he finds dreadfully boring, and during which he is told the tale of a romance gone awry. On the BBC website, Daniel Craig explained, “Ian Fleming had written about relationships. When they go wrong, when there's nothing left, when the spark has gone, when the fire's gone out, there's no quantum of solace. And at the end of the last movie, Bond has the love of his life taken away from him and he never got that quantum of solace."

Speaking for myself, after the exciting rebooting of the series with Casino Royale, they could call the next one “Ham on Rye” and I'd still be lining up on opening day to see it.

December 10, 2007:

I recently received a call from Fred Shay, who was VERY instrumental in getting the transcription discs of the old Superman radio show out of the DC Comics vaults and transferred to tape. Fred was also a friend of Kirk Alyn's, and helped get Alyn's two Superman serials released on videotape. He also uncovered the rarely-seen "Superboy" and "Superpup" pilots. It was a pleasure speaking to Fred, and I'm sure that if there's a second printing of "Superman on Film, Television, Radio and Broadway," I'll be picking his brains to update the book! To see James Lantz's interview with Fred on the Superman Homepage, CLICK HERE!