Bat Signal vs. Bat Phone (or, Batusi vs. Bat-Dance)

So I grew up with the Adam West Batman (remember when Batman used to dance?). As we all know, that series is considered to be the stupidest possible representation of Batman there has ever been. But there is one thing it has over almost every other Batman in every other medium: NO BAT SIGNAL. In those days, Batman was summoned by use of a translucent red phone known as the Batphone. Which made sense to me (and was cool looking when it went off).

I started thinking about this last night at the movies when I saw a trailer for The Dark Knight. There’s a quick cut of a scene where the Joker caves in the Bat-signal with an axe. And I was all like” hooray!” because the Bat Signal made no sense.

Like for example, what if someone decides to commit a crime on a cloud-free night? What is the Bat-Signal reflecting off of then? It’s just a beam of light in the sky. What if it’s a club night and they’re all using those Hollywood sky-spotlight things?

More than that, Batman’s whole thing is to stop crime in Gotham with his rep. Having Gordon throw up the bat-signal is a good way to tell every criminal in the city “hey, Batman’s gonna be over here for a bit so, uh, just…just try to not commit a crime or anything, OK?” He might as well hang a “back in 5 minutes” sign from the front door of the police station.

I have too much time on my hands, I think.