Another Caped Crusader, Super Tongue in Cheek (Published 2007)

"BATMAN” was to 1966 what Harry Potter was to, oh, last month: a work of pop culture art that inspired an international frenzy. Gotham City was the Hogwarts of its day, and that classic television show’s popularity was far reaching enough in the mid-’60s to land its star, Adam West, on the cover of Life magazine, inspire a Batusi dance craze that John Travolta would ape in at least two movies (“Pulp Fiction” and “Hairspray”) and unleash Batmania on at least three continents.

Boys and girls too young to appreciate fully the live-action camp of a squeaky-clean bachelor in tights (Mr. West) and his “youthful ward,” Robin (Burt Ward), watched instead — or in addition to in my case — a supremely silly 1967 animated series called “Batfink.”

Holy homage!

Originally shown in syndication on children’s shows like “Winchell-Mahoney Time,” which starred the ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his dummy Jerry Mahoney, the “Batfink” adventures comprised 100 five-minute shorts. These were produced by Hal Seeger, who had a network hit with a 1965 Saturday morning cartoon, “The Milton the Monster Show,” a sort of “Munsters” for munchkins.

Like “Courageous Cat & Minute Mouse,” a 1960 animated series in which Batman’s creator, Bob Kane, lampooned his own greatest creation, “Batfink” was pure superhero spoof. In each installment the titular crime fighter used his bulletproof wings of steel and “supersonic sonar radar” — visualized as “beep” flying across the screen — to thwart evildoers like Manhole Manny, Judy Jitsu and Gluey Louie.

These “villainous villains,” as they were called, lacked the panache of the vintage Hollywood stars playing “Special Guest Villains” on “Batman.” Certainly Ebenezer the Freezer was lukewarm compared with Otto Preminger as Mr. Freeze. But “Batfink” bad guys had kid-friendly wiles good for a goofy laugh. The mad scientist Hugo a Go Go, for instance, wielded a “Tickle Stick,” while Skinny Minnie, the world’s thinnest thief, didn’t shoot her rifle; she hid in it.

While not nearly as clever as the pun-laden comedy on which Jay Ward built the Rocky and Bullwinkle shows, “Batfink” still appeals as a cracked parody of the 1960s. Little seen since it went out of distribution in the ’80s, save for a brief stint on Nickelodeon in the ’90s, “Batfink” is back as a four-disc DVD set, lovingly packaged by Shout! Factory. Intended for the under-8 set, it is more likely to find interest among nostalgic 40-somethings, the same cult audience that found the recent superhero parody “The Tick,” both the animated and live-action versions, such a genuine stitch.

Along with an avalanche of alliteration — our hero frequently is called “a valiant vanquisher of vile violence” — “Batfink” blends mid-20th-century pop culture references with the subtlety of a Mixmaster. Batfink’s car, for instance, is a “Batillac” shaped like a pink Volkswagen Bug with wings. His cave is split-level like any good suburban home of the day. When he meets Mama Hubbard in one episode, she’s a dead ringer for that goulash glamour girl Zsa Zsa Gabor. And when ships begin sinking in another episode, his sidekick theorizes that “Lloyd Bridges has finally flipped.”

Who’s up for a “Sea Hunt” joke? Anyone?

It’s the dated portrayal of that sidekick, the “persistent assistant” Karate, that gets “Batfink” into hot water. A spoof of the Green Hornet’s manservant, Kato, Karate is a bumbling, buck-toothed buddy who sounds like a cross between Maxwell Smart and Charlie Chan. After pulling all manner of accouterments from his “utility sleeves” — and usually after karate-chopping down a door — he ends each episode with a dreadful pun. It’s an Asian stereotype, but not nearly as glaring as Eddie Murphy in “Norbit” or Rob Schneider in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.”

Even with that timeworn characterization, “Batfink” is remembered fondly enough to take its place in the belfry of television animation. Boomerang, the Cartoon Network’s sister channel, recently dusted it off for a new generation. Until that Bat-tastic day in the future when the “Batman” TV series is released on disc, “Batfink” stands as an amusing reminder of how wacky ’60s television superheroes could be. FRANK DeCARO