Thanks to everybody who joined in for the first Reel to Reel: Icons week. I thought Batman would be a good choice to launch the project, as he’s about as recognizable a character as there is, and he’s had so many interpretations that it was simple to find a few to talk about. I barely touched on the Val Kilmer or George Clooney versions (because these were terrible), and I didn’t look at the many different versions that have come out in recent years in Warner Premiere’s direct-to-DVD animated films (most of these have been pretty good). I didn’t even talk about the excellent film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (although that’s kind of acceptable, as Batman is Terry McGuinness and the aged Bruce Wayne is again played by Kevin Conroy, who most certainly got his due in this project).

What are my conclusions about Batman? Well, basically, I reaffirmed what I felt about the character already. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, is one of the most enduring characters in media because he’s such a simple concept that can be played with  number of different ways. You can go silly, like Adam West did, or super-serious like Christian Bale. You can have loads of fun with the concept (see the Batman: The Brave and the Bold TV series), you can take the route of Scott Snyder in his Batman: Death of the Family comic book storyline and go almost to the edge of being straight-up horror, courtesy of the Joker. You can have your Batman, and I can have mine.

Mine is, admittedly, a little rougher. Mine is the dauntless crimefighter, the driven hero of Gotham City, the man who saw something terrible once and has dedicated his life to trying to prevent anyone else from suffering that same fate. Some people see Batman as being as crazy as his enemies, to me, he’s the sanest man in the room. My Batman always, always knows how to get rid of a bomb.

As for the Reel to Reel: Icons project, I very much enjoyed this. As I expected, it was way less intense than trying to rack up an entire month’s worth of articles at a time, and it gave me a chance to get some real content here without taking six or eight months in-between. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I’ll never do a major Reel to Reel like the first three again, just that stuff like this will make it easier on me in-between the huge things.

That does it for March, guys. Keep your eyes peeled, because there’s more content to come here at ReeltoReelMovies.com, and before the end of April I’ll be back with the next Icons week. From the gritty streets of Gotham City we’re going to the glittering streets of the Emerald City. The next project will be Dorothy Gale Week, with five very different journeys to the land of Oz!