Holy American hero, Batman! What do you get when you mix devilish good looks, a rugged physique and gray spandex? Beauty, that’s what. Or rather, Adam West, television’s original caped crusader and current pop culture icon. Sure, William Shatner got to be Captain Kirk, but look where that got him. Priceline Negotiator? The only thing we’d negotiate is how to get those horrid commercials off the air. Adam West is one of the 20th century’s enduring actors, able to leap out of the shadow beset by his stint as Batman and become an interesting figure in his own right. After all, not just anyone can be the mayor of Quahog on ‘Family Guy.’ Just the mere mention of the guy sends chills down our spine.

And is it just us, or does every word he speak make our hearts melt like butter? Heads up, Christian Bale, if you don’t want to sound like you just gargled broken glass and used diapers in the next ‘Batman’ movie, have a sit down with good old Adam. He might not have been the most buff Batman (we saw that belly lying underneath his bat suit), but we’ll be damned if he didn’t have the smoothest voice out of every actor. And seeing as how George Clooney is on that list, that’s kind of a big deal.

Sure, he admitted that he used the ‘Batman’ gig to score ladies back in the day, but who wouldn’t? There’s no greater pickup line than, ‘Hey ladies, want to slide down my Bat-Pole?’ But we digress. West’s reputation in modern American history should be that of a man who knew what he wanted and took it by force. What’s that? You want a series of statues based on your likeness to be produced? Say no more. DC Direct, the collectible division of DC Comics, will whip those up in a jiffy. Oh, and while we’re at it, we should make numerous documentaries about you, too? Well, since you said so, why not? Just don’t whip out that anti-shark repellent bat-spray and you’ll always be America’s No. 1 media darling. Sorry, Kirk.

— Compiled by Flash Steinbeiser, feature editor, ansteinb@syr.edu