While Rik Vollaerts’ early draft of The Bookworm Turns was very different from what was broadcast, surely the final script is exactly what we saw? But no, that’s never true; some changes always occur at the hands of the director, and perhaps the actors. A significant scene (and significant henchman) disappeared from this story as broadcast. Was it simply cut for time, or were there questions of taste? In the latest BAT BITS, Tim and Paul discuss the differences and what may account for them.

Listen to Bat Bits and follow along with a PDF of the script by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins me to examine individual Batman stories from the 1950s and 60s! Come on over to patreon dot com slash decon comics to join the fun!

A lingering question from the Bookworm arc of Batman, as broadcast, is: Why was a Commissioner Gordon impersonator seemingly shot at the opening of the bridge? As we conclude our look at the draft version of the script, we finally get an answer!

Listen to Bat Bits and follow along with a PDF of the script by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins me to examine individual Batman stories from the 1950s and 60s! Come on over to patreon dot com slash decon comics to join the fun!

On the latest episode of Bat Bits, Paul and I move into the second half of the early draft of Rik Vollaerts’ script “The Bookworm Turns”! We can see the vague outlines of this script in the broadcast version, including the use of the Bat Magnet! But does it make sense for Bookworm to steal “industrial diamonds”? And, if an implement is called a Bat Cutting Torch, wouldn’t it be better for us to actually see it cutting?

We also notice how this version of the script keeps repeating the same themes!

Listen to Bat Bits and follow along with a PDF of the script by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins me to examine individual Batman stories from the 1950s and 60s! Come on over to patreon dot com slash decon comics to join the fun!

Now live on Patreon - part two of our look at the draft Bookworm script, featuring an overlong, over-complicated deathtrap scene!

Join us on Patreon to hear our discussion and follow along with the script!

On the latest Bat Bits, we begin a multi-part look at an early draft of The Bookworm Turns! It contains some concepts seen in the broadcast version that may ring a bell, but there’s no Big Benjamin bell in this script!

Join us on Patreon to hear about Rik Vollearts’ early shot at Bookworm and follow along with a PDF of the script at patreon dot com slash decon comics. Part one is available now!

We’re back for a look at the first two draft scripts for The Joker Trumps an Ace/Batman Sets the Pace. As usual, scripts bring to light connections that the filmed episode didn’t quite make, lines we never heard clearly, abandoned bat-turns and wardrobe business, an absent moll, and much more.

PLUS: we experience one of the better “surf rock” versions of the theme, read mail from listeners, and hear Adam West in 2014 discussing the newly-released Batman DVDs and BluRays!

Read the scripts here

Batman shooting dates! Scott Sebring and Ben Bentley have pieced together the best info available

About the J.P. Patches Show

Mick Beaulieu's surf-rock version of the Batman theme

Adam West Previews New York Comic Con

For our final BAT BITS of the year, we return, after a two-year hiatus, to the BATMAN ’66 comics series, digging into issue 12. It’s certainly not the greatest issue of the series, but in its faults, it helps us identify aspects of how the TV show works. Listen for a clip from the show!