This is for those of you in the Los Angeles area…or at least, the part that isn't on fire…
You all know the actor-cartoonist Dick Gautier. Dick starred in a great comedy show called When Things Were Rotten, and he played Hymie the Robot on Get Smart, and he's done more guest shots on comedy shows than anyone I can name. I always thought that when he was younger, he was the perfect guy to play Will Eisner's character, The Spirit.
But he has played some great heroes. He was the voice of Serpentor in the G.I. Joe cartoon series. And he was, briefly, Batman. In 1974, long after the Adam West series was off the air, a public service announcement was filmed that revived the roles from that show. Burt Ward played Robin again, Yvonne Craig returned as Batgirl and producer William Dozier, who'd served as narrator of the series, did the honors once more. Mr. West, however, declined to don the cowl again. Dick Gautier took over and did such a fine imitation that most folks didn't realize it wasn't Adam West. You can see this spot below.
But before we get to that: There's this monthly event down at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A., right across from USC. It's the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention and next Sunday, September 13, Dick will be a special guest as part of a G.I. Joe voice cast reunion that will include B.J. Ward, the voice of Scarlett, and Zack Hoffman, the voice of Zartan. Also appearing will be Gregg Berger (Spirit, Iron-Knife, Ripcord, Firefly, Cutter and Sparks) and Michael Bell (Duke, Major Bludd, Xamot, and several others). Furthermore, there will be an appearance by Larry Hama, writer of 149 of the 155 issues of the Marvel comic book G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. It says here in the press release that he will also be signing autographs and doing sketches at a reasonable rate. The voice actors will, I assume, be selling photos and autographs, as well.
And Dick Gautier will be signing a newly-discovered photo of himself as Batman. How's that for another reason to go? Wouldn't you like a signed picture of someone who was Batman for about forty seconds? Hey, don't knock it. That's forty seconds longer than you were Batman.