Robin in Bookworm Turns (4/20/1966) & While Gotham City Burns (4/21/1966)

 

Robin the Boy Wonder is the eager, youthful sidekick of Batman, the Caped Crusader, the vigilante crime-fighting alias of millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne.  Introduced in 1940 as orphaned acrobat Dick Grayson in the DC comic book series Batman, Robin was played by Burt Ward in the 1966 television series on ABC.

As played by Burt Ward, Robin has a cute, boyish face, clean-cut, brown hair, and a compact, athletic physique which fits perfectly with his character's acrobatic background.  His colorful outfit, with his dark green mask, gloves, and booties, his bright, red shirt, his shiny, yellow cape, his tight, green panties, and his form-fitting, flesh-color leggings, certainly catches the audience's attention.

Due to his youth, inexperience, and smaller size, the Boy Wonder is clearly the weak link in the Dynamic Duo, which their opponents often seek to exploit.  Robin is also cocky, enthusiastic, and overly eager to prove his independent crime-fighting abilities, especially to Batman.  He is often in trouble and in need of rescue.

This week's villain is Bookworm.  

In the first episode, Bookworm's moll Miss Limpet tricks the Boy Wonder into opening a booby-trapped book which sprays sleeping gas on the young sidekick's face.  Then, Robin is tied to the clapper of the Wayne Memorial Clock Tower waiting for the bell to ring midnight.

In the next episode, Batman uses a bazooka to place hooks onto the arms of the clock, which he then magnetically charges in a way that repels each other, thereby preventing the bell from ringing midnight.

Favorite shots:  

Once again, the Boy Wonder underestimates the wiles of a tricky moll.  The first time was in "True and False Face".

In the first episode, the Dynamic Duo find Miss Limpet bound and gagged in a bookmobile.  Suspecting a trap, they spray her with bat gas, take her to the Bat cave, administer a lie detector test on the sleeping moll, return her to the bookmobile, and awaken her.  She reveals a fake plot which is intended to lure Batman into a trap.  

The Caped Crusader pretends to fall for the trap, leaving the Boy Wonder in the bookmobile with Miss Limpet.  However, Robin inadvertently calls the moll by her real name, which he does several times, forgetting that he really should not know her real name, which he only found out  with Batman at the Bat cave.  She tricks wonder boy into spraying himself with sleeping gas.   

Bookworm ties Robin to the clapper of the Wayne Memorial Clock Tower bell, which is due to ring at midnight.  Fortunately, in the next episode, the Caped Crusader rescues the Boy Wonder from some serious head banging.  

This blog is intended to promote the appreciation of Burt Ward's portrayal of Robin in the 1966 television series "Batman".  You may purchase both episodes at the following link:

https://www.amazon.com/Hi-Diddle-Riddle/dp/B00OLZVMY8/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=batman+1966&qid=1620375265&sr=8-3

Previous blog:  

Robin in Curse of Tut (4/13/1966) & Pharaoh's in a Rut (4/14/1966)

Next blog:  Robin in Death in Slow Motion (4/27/1966) & Riddler's False Notion (4/28/1966)