--- title: Batman v Superman: When Batman Graced the Cover of LIFE description: The current obsession over "Batman v Superman" parallels a similar phenomenon, in the 1960s, reflected in Batman's LIFE cover in 1966. canonical: https://time.com/4251611/batman-superman-1966-cover/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-24T13:00:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:43:38.693Z og:title: How Batman and Superman Conquered America Decades Ago og:description: The current obsession over "Batman v Superman" parallels a similar phenomenon in the 1960s og:url: https://time.com/4251611/batman-superman-1966-cover/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9b8410c7467c7ad/69888a33e20a870a5da8fe26/batman-life-magazine-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Batman Cover og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Batman and Superman Conquered America Decades Ago twitter:description: The current obsession over "Batman v Superman" parallels a similar phenomenon in the 1960s twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9b8410c7467c7ad/69888a33e20a870a5da8fe26/batman-life-magazine-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Batman and Superman Conquered America Decades Ago  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 24, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  March 11, 1966 cover of LIFE magazine. March 11, 1966 cover of LIFE magazine.Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 24, 2016 1:00 PM UTC [_Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice_](http://time.com/4267487/batman-v-superman-everything-to-know/), which hits theaters around the world on March 25, is shaping up to be the first epic cinematic event of 2016\. The eyes of box office analysts seem to grow wider every day—even if [reviews](http://time.com/4268724/batmanvsuperman-review-movie-ben-affleck-henry-cavill/) aren’t necessarily glowing. And though the inspiration for the madness this time around might be inspired by a new movie, the madness _itself_ is nothing new. In March of 1966, exactly half a century ago, Batman graced the cover of LIFE magazine. The grinning hero who donned a batsuit for photographer Yale Joel was, more specifically, the actor Adam West, star of the new TV show _Batman._ The masked vigilante had entered the DC Comics universe in 1939, one year after his flying counterpart Superman. But the mid-1960s brought them both new levels of mainstream fame, as the headline declared: “The whole country goes Supermad.” LIFE’s description of the superhero obsession that gripped the nation could almost describe the same phenomenon today: --- > “” --- But in other ways, the craze was a phenomenon of its time: _Batman_ had quickly found a sizable audience as one of the top ten shows on television. Meanwhile, Bob Holiday brought a singing Superman to Broadway in the musical _It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman_, with tunes like “Pow! Bam! Zonk!” The animated series _The New Adventures of Superman_ would debut on CBS that year, and _The Batman/Superman Hour_ would follow suit two years later. In San Francisco, a superhero-themed night club called Wayne Manor attracted patrons with dancers dressed in Robin costumes. In Detroit, a hairstylist began offering the “Bat Cut,” a hairstyle in which the eyebrows were shaved and the bangs cut into a V-shape to emulate the Dark Knight’s mask. And across the country, children donned capes and stamped out the villains they dreamed up in their own imaginations. And the new depictions of Batman and Superman, and in particular the campy nature of the _Batman_ TV series, intersected uncannily with the growing influence of pop art. “Pop art and the cult of camp have turned Superman and Batman into members of the intellectual community, and what the kids used to devour in comic books has become a staple in avant-garde art,” LIFE explained. “In a world that often looms confused and loony, it helps clear the air to see it portrayed that way.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4251611/batman-superman-1966-cover/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4251611/batman-superman-1966-cover/"},"headline":"How Batman and Superman Conquered America Decades Ago","datePublished":"2016-03-24T13:00:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:43:38.693Z","description":"The current obsession over Batman v Superman parallels a similar phenomenon fifty years ago","url":"https://time.com/4251611/batman-superman-1966-cover/","keywords":["Culture","movies","photography","Superman","Batman","LIFE Magazine","1966"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9b8410c7467c7ad/69888a33e20a870a5da8fe26/batman-life-magazine-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9b8410c7467c7ad/69888a33e20a870a5da8fe26/batman-life-magazine-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Batman Cover","caption":"Batman on the cover of LIFE magazine, 1966","creditText":"Yale Joel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4251611/batman-superman-1966-cover/","name":"How Batman and Superman Conquered America Decades Ago"}}]}] ```