Batman has been played by many actors since his first on-screen appearance in 1940s serials, but two portrayals have always stood as the most defining moments for the character. Adam West became one of the most prolific Batman stars, with his camp and colorful 1960s TV series, while almost 30 years later, Michael Keaton became the first big-screen Dark Knight in 1989’s gothic blockbuster. Now these two iconic eras of Batman adaptations will be going head-to-head in Prop Store’s Summer Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction at the end of August. The chest emblems from these two very different takes on Gotham’s vigilante will battle it out to find out which iteration comes out on top when pitted against each other. Early bidding on both items has already suggested that the showdown is going to be a tight finish, as who wouldn’t want to own one of these pieces of comic book history?
At the time of writing, it is Keaton’s Caped Crusader who holds the upper hand. His rubber chest emblem from Batman currently sits at a bid of $4,000, right at the bottom of its $4,000 to $8,000 estimate. West’s emblem, taken from the 1966 television series, is not far behind at $3,250, having already pow-wham-boffed its $2,000 to $4,000 estimate into submission. The gap is narrow enough that either item could end up stealing a win when the auction finally comes around in a few weeks. However, with Keaton’s emblem sitting with an estimate double that of West’s, there is a clear favorite in the influential and groundbreaking Tim Burton movie. That being said, West’s emblem has been around for much longer and could end up going much higher than its estimates as a result. Either way, it is going to be a Batman duel that will be hard to call until the hammer falls.
The two emblems tell the story of how radically Batman evolved between West’s years and Keaton’s first movie under the direction of Burton. West’s version was memorably bright, colorful and unapologetically fun. It made Saturday mornings a time for heroes, with a fully embracing comic book aesthetic, including those on-screen action sounds in loud, sharp speech bubbles, and a rogues’ gallery of Gotham villains that were mostly played for laughs. His emblem was a fabric patch attached to the front of that unforgettable tight fabric suit, with first a black cape and cowl, then a purple one. Keaton’s emblem is by design a symbol not only of the Bat, but of the harder and darker movie it is from. Made of hard rubber, the black-and-yellow design perfectly captures Burton’s vision of the character, and has become the most iconic version of the emblem to date thanks to it dominating the marketing for the movie.
Batman has always been one of DC Comics’ most bankable characters, more than Superman or any modern characters created in the last several decades. That is part of the reason why any Batman memorabilia will always catch the attention at auction. These emblems may be just a small part of the Batman costumes that fans have grown up with, but the Bat motif is one of the most recognizable pieces of iconography in pop culture, so owning that in itself becomes a huge deal for a serious collector. Throw in the added allure of getting hold of a screen-used piece of that pie, and both pieces could easily top $10,000. For those with a bit more money to throw at this Prop Store sale, there are also several full Batman costumes, including Keaton’s Batman Returns Batsuit, which is expected to bring in more than $100,000. Whatever the final prices of any of these items, Batman’s continued place among the comic book elite is still a sure thing.
