Batman: The Sandman Cometh & The Catwoman Goeth

The Sandman Cometh

"Sweet dreams, Sandman."

It's incredible to think but, more than halfway through the second season and, indeed, more than halfway through overall, everything up to and including this story, broadcast on 28th and 29th December in the USA, was first screened in 1966, just one calendar year- and yet sixty-eight episodes and a movie were crammed into that time, which is extraordinary.

Also notable is that the wonderful Julie Newmar is back, probably by now having appeared enough times that she can finally be considered as one of the perennial returning villains. This is a very good thing, as Julie Newmar is sexy and awesome. Also awesome is the excellent Michael Rennie as promising new villain Sandman. And yet...

In teaming the two villains up- including a new villain who needs room to breathe- the result is that we feel short-changed with both baddies, neither of whom gets enough screen time. It's also obvious that Catwoman was crowbarred into an exiting Sandman script at a late stage, not a good thing from any perspective.

A shame, as the underlying story is solid, and this is far from a bad episode, just an overcrowded one. I love the character of J. Paul Spaghetti, but all Catwoman actually dos here is lie on a mattress while Sandman drives a plot clearly themed around him. What she does, unfortunately, with Julie Newmar being amazing, is completely ruin this promising new baddie.


The Catwoman Goeth

"Where's Robin?"

"Who...?"

This episode is better, with Robin in Catwoman's cramped looking maze and the hilarious sight of a run down factory being called "Run Down Factory"- and Batman getting into near-trouble for traffic violations. There's a rather perfunctory cliffhanger escape, but that's nothing new. I love the description of J. Pauline Spaghetti's previous husbands and their absurd deaths. We even get a by-now rare outing for the Batboat.

And yet we still have the same problem- Catwoman ruining what should be Sandman's story by outshining him. Yet again there's some delicious Batman/Catwoman flirting, and Alfred hilariously giving Batman a lift on his silly "Alf-cycle". Behind the ill-advised inclusion of Catwoman there's a decent couple of episodes here, but alas that's not what reaches the screen.