To The Batpoles! Batman 1966

“The Impractical Joker”/“The Joker’s Provokers” is Charles Hoffman’s rewrite of a draft by Jay Thompson, and it’s a bit of a kludgefest: interesting ideas are introduced and abandoned; Joker’s strategy and goals (related to keys — sometimes) are a muddled mess; they even botch a chemistry reference. But, as always, there ARE enjoyable nuggets to be found, and Tim and Paul list some of them. Also, admiring a Robin dummy, the problem with a gasoline-sharing Dynamic Duo, and the luscious, distracting Kathy Kersh. PLUS: David McCallum’s version of the Batman theme, another Adam West memoir assertion disproved, and your mail about the Otto Preminger Mr. Freeze!