Batman, the seminal 1966 – 1968 series which originally ran on ABC-TV and became a zeitgeist sensation with its camp and tongue in cheek humor, while still based on Bob Kane’s comic book, is finally getting the nod on DVD.

As Tweeted by talk show loon Conan O’Brien and later confirmed by WB, the series, which had been plagued for years with likeness rights and a sundry amount of other business related issues which held up a firm and proper release, will be released via Warner Brothers Home Entertainment later this year as a complete box set. Details to follow, but this is cause célèbre for legions and generations of fans who have waited in earnest and with extreme patience for this series to finally come to home market fruition.

Starring Adam West as the deadpan, titular almost satiric caped crusader, and along with his ever faithful and wide-eyed innocent sidekick Robin, played by Burt Ward, the two crime fighters went up against a slew of guest villains during the show’s run, a virtual who’s who of Hollywood. They consisted of people like Cesar Romero (as the Joker), Frank Gorshin (as the Riddler), Burgess Meredith (as the Penguin), and Julie Newmar (as the best remembered Catwoman) among many, many others.

The program also entered the mid-’60s pop cultural fabric with many of the show’s visual cues, such as the bold, garish in color and expressive interjections (Bam! Pow!) via title cards, which flashed during the “action” sequences of the show, in a kind of early visual psychedelic pitter-patter, and the show’s dialogue, delivered straight-laced yet consisting of the most arcane and corny syntax in television land at the time, and that’s really saying something.

Nonetheless, these factors helped to contribute a charm to a program in which remains a benchmark for the entire nerdist, geek-laden comic book culture, in essence, one of its holy grails, a formerly just out of reach prize which now can have the trumpets sound and the bells peal, finally, as Batman: The Complete Series, hits the marketplace later this year. Details to come, stay tuned.

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