Saturday, July 25

TWO DAYS BEFORE THE PANEL

On Thursday, July 23, which happened to be the day after my birthday, I was walking through the large, noisy Comic-Con exhibit hall when I received a phone call. "This is Adam West." He made a joke about John D. MacDonald's fictional detective Travis McGee before we lost the connection. I was still glaring at the phone and promising myself I would stop using such a cheap cell phone when he called back. He blamed his crummy phone.

An hour later, we met at the Adam West Enterprises booth to discuss our panel and other topics.

Photo by Adam's wife Marcelle. Here Adam has just asked where the panel will convene. I explain that the Comics Arts Conference (the scholarly conference within the convention) gets the worst location in the entire convention center.
 

THE PANEL

1-2. Packed house: The photos do not convey the size of either room or audience. Standing room only.

3. I start the panel.

4. Dr. Robin Rosenberg explains psychopathy. Along the way, she shows relevant clips of Cesar Romero, Mark Hamill (cartoon voice), and Heath Ledger playing the role. Here, we're watching a large screen with a clip of Romero playing the Joker in the 1967-1969 Batman TV series.

5. My turn again: I explain how a character might be psychotic and yet legally sane.

 Jerry describes the process by which he created the Joker.

Peter Coogan, who co-founded the Comics Arts Conference with HSU professor Dr. Randy Duncan, holds a phone up to a microphone. Steve Englehart, having originally intended to join us live, instead had to talk to us from afar. He talks about a story he once wrote in which the Joker tried to copyright fish. To this day, many people still cite that one story as proof that the Joker character is insane. Although not everyone agrees, Steve feels the Joker is clearly insane.


Audience members ask questions after I caution them that if they're asking about things that aren't logically connected to the topic, I will treat them like my students (that got a laugh) and ask the other panelists all the questions myself.

Dr. Robin Rosenberg answers a question. We listen.

Film producer Michael Uslan answers a question.

1-4. Adam talks.

5. Adam talks about me.

6. I talk.

7. The full-sized image is blurry, but I still like it.

We laugh after Michael Uslan talks about how exciting it is to sit between the Joker's creator and the 1960s Batman. With apologies to the audience's younger members, he says the kid in him is exclaiming, "Holy s***!"

I answer a question about how anyone could become a psychopath. Robin follows up.

IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD

1. The picture at the far left is important because Adam had never met Jerry before this panel, and wanted to make a point of speaking with him afterward.

2. I'm thanking Jerry for joining us.

3. Adam and I discuss a possible future panel.

4. Adam laughs at something I said.

5. The panelists, left to right: Dr. Robin Rosenberg, The Dark Knight producer Michael Uslan, Dr. Travis Langley, Adam West, Jerry Robinson.

DEPARTING

1-2. Adam signs a DVD cover for HSU undergraduate Tommy Cash.

3. Our whole group escorts him downstairs so he can get to the Adam West Enterprises booth without getting swarmed by a crowd. That's right, our students got to be Adam West's entourage, a.k.a. Batman's bodyguards.

Along the way, Adam asked if I as a psychological professional think Batman is crazy. I've actually given this a lot of thought and have even written most of a chapter to discuss it. He liked my answer: "For the world in which he lives, no." The character is excessively driven about some things and, being human, has his shortcomings, but Batman is sane.

4. When we entered the exhibit hall, Adam wanted to stop to say hi to Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk). In this photo, Lou reaches to shake a student's hand. One of the students has a much better photo which shows Adam shaking Lou's hand while asking Lou, "Do you know Travis?" Lou looked me over like he wondering, "Are you somebody I ought to know?"

5. Adam teased the students more than once about taking so many pictures.

6. HSU alum Katrina Hill meets with Adam to discuss twitter and so he can pick the winner of a contest for her website, actionflickchick.com.

OUR UPDATES

Catch Us at Comic-Con 2009 (with Adam West update)
Interview: Meet the Joker’s Maker, Jerry Robinson (part 1)
Interview: The Joker’s Maker Tackles The Man Who Laughs (part 2)
My Conversation With Batman (Robin Couldn’t Make It)
Joker Panel Interview: Steve Englehart on The Laughing Fish
Comic-Con International Panel Excerpt: Would the Joker Date?
Comic-Con International Joker Panel: Actors Playing the Card
The 2nd Most Surreal Moment of My Day: Batman and Papa Llama Meet the Incredible Hulk
Adam West (@therealadamwest) Picks Worst Superpower

SOME OF THE EXTERNAL COVERAGE

Arkadelphia Siftings-Herald: At Comic-Con International, Henderson professor, students probe mind of The Joker by Dan Marsh
Batman on Film: Joker Panel by Sean Gerber
Comic Link: Comics Arts Conference/Comic-Con 2009, part 2 by Peter Coogan
Graphic Novelties: Liveblogging San Diego Comic-Con: Day 4 by graphicnovelty
Stray in the Land of Paradox and Irony: Happy Wednesday! by Darc_Oso