Batman was first seen in the cinema in 1943 and this film was followed by a Batman and Robin movie in 1946. Adam West’s Batman arrived on the big screen in 1966 in a movie that was based on the television series. Many readers will remember the tights worn by Batman and Robin and the ‘POW’, ‘BAM’, ‘SMACK’ exclamations that accompanied the fight scenes. Posters for these films are, of course, highly desirable, rare and expensive.
In the past 40 years there have been many films beginning with Michael Keaton’s 1989 portrayal of Batman in a Tim Burton directed film. A new image was created for Batman, which is reflected in the logo in this poster, and the film was outstanding. Many will agree that there have been ups and downs since that with the 3 Christopher Nolan films (Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012)) being nothing short of phenomenal.
We probably don’t need to tell you any of this so now to the posters…. In particular which Batman poster from the past 40 years captures the most interest, and why? For us it is the poster showing Heath Ledger’s Joker you see at the top of your screen. No actor has captured the rebel spirt and menace required for a Batman ‘bad guy’ quite like this character. Joker’s line ‘Why So Serious?’ may be the most memorable line from the Nolan Trilogy. The tagline was used in 2 different posters (this is the other one) for The Dark Knight. In this one the Joker appears to be standing behind a glass screen on which he has written the tagline ‘Why So Serious?’ in blood. Tragically Heath Ledger died in 2008, the year the movie was released, which probably adds to the allure of the poster.
It is an outstanding image which looks even more brilliant when seen up close. It is also the only Batman poster from the last 40 years we know to have been reproduced. There are many fakes of this poster circulating. The reproductions are double-sided (as one would expect from an original poster), however the dimensions of the fakes are slightly smaller, the paper is less glossy and the colour’s are not as deep. In short the quality of an original, which you can zoom into in more detail here, is noticeably better. Robert Pattison is next hope to don the cape in ‘The Batman’, and let’s hope a poster this good is produced for the film.
