Pop Culture from an Alternate Dimension

      Before January was through, I wanted to add one more pairing of the World's Finest. Sadly, we could have never had a meeting of the television versions. George Reeves played the title character in The Adventures of Superman from 1952 to 1958. Adam West was Batman on the television series from 1966 to 1968. As fun as it would have to see these two paragons of virtue join each other, Reeves died seven years before the West series started.       Apparently, I'm not the only person to think about this. Look at Alex Ross' interpretation of the meeting.   

       The first live-action adaptation of Batman was a 15 chapter serial in 1943. It did so well that another one was made a few years later. Superman had a popular serial in 1948 and a sequel two years later. The producer of these serials was Sam Katzman, who knew how to make movies cheaply and turn a profit. What if, instead of a sequel, he decided to put the heroes together in a serial to get more people watching. Around that time Superman, Batman and Robin palled around with each on the covers of World's Finest comics but not in the stories inside. However, starting in 1945 Batman and Robin did join Superman on his radio show so it would have been a treat for the kids (and some adults) of time to see them fighting together on the screen. Fun fact for fans of The Flash: an actor named Wally West is in the serial "Atom Man vs Superman". You can see what the original serials looked like here: Batman And Robin (1949) Episode 1 Batman Takes Over Atom Man vs Superman ...

       My last music blog was based on the A. Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes. As he is inextricably linked with the violin. I decided to put together another music post on him. In the first Holmes' story, "A Study in Scarlet", Watson mentions "that he could play pieces, and difficult pieces, I knew well, because at my request he has played me some of Mendelssohn's Lieder, and other favourites." In "The Red-Headed League", Holmes and Watson attend a concert of Sarasate at St. James' Hall. In "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" Holmes say he is going the other room to play the Hoffman Barcarolle on his violin. Sherlock often plays pieces by Bach or Mozart, he prefers German music to French or Italian, he tells anecdotes of Paganini and he wrote a monograph about Orlando di Lasso. In "Dressed to Kill" Rathbone's Holmes plays "Londonderry Air" (not London derriere), also known as "Danny Boy"...

       Christopher Reeve's final appearance as Superman was the low budget disappointment Quest for Peace  in 1987. When Batman  came out in 1989 with Michael Keaton, it was huge. Keaton and Reeve did team up in 1994, but it was for the rom-com Speechless . I felt Batman Returns  had too much going on so I removed the Penguin and combined his story of running for mayor and Max Schreck's character and gave them to Lex Luthor so that would bring Superman into the story.

             These are songs that remind me of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes. I open the album with a song named after him, but instead of the original from Sparks, I used a cover version. I followed Holmes with Watson. Then to the street where they rent a room from Mrs. Hudson. Queen Victoria, I felt should be represented if only for Holmes' indoor shooting practice in "The Musgrave Ritual". Reichenbach Falls was the site of Sherlock's death (don't worry, he got better). When thinking of Holmes and Watson I imagine the foggy streets of London Town where these private eyes are looking for clues. Of course, for Holmes it's elementary. It's so simple that I included a song of the same name from a stage musical called Baker Street  starring Fritz Weaver. I wrap up the whole affair with the title music from BBC's "Sherlock". You can listen to my choices here:  Sherlock Holmes: a Musical Portrait - YouTube

       With Batman Begins  starting a new series of Batman movies in 2005 and Superman Returns  promising a new series of Superman movies 2006, comic fans thought we might see the "dark knight" and "the man of tomorrow" joining forces in the 2000s. It did happen in 2016 but not with Routh and Bale. For the main villain of this "what if" version I chose The Riddler. After Christopher Nolan made his first two Batman movies, the plan was to have The Riddler be in the third installment. There were rumors that Leonardo DiCaprio (with whom Nolan made I nception ) was to play the character. I used a fan image someone posted online for the back cover.