I once did a quick interview with Batman star Adam West when he was doing an appearance at Comic Con in San Diego. I saw that later that day he’d be selling autographed photos with his Robin sidekick Burt Ward. I joked with his manager, “I’d like to snag one of those pictures.”

He laughed and said, “I’ll hook you up.”

I never took him up on it, but would’ve gladly taken it if he had given one to me.

I thought about West today when I heard an unusual story. He’s selling paintings he did of various villains from the show. They’re at an art gallery called Gilman Contemporary Art in Ketchum, Idaho. It’s a resort town where he now lives and fights crime (and he’s still tough at 88-years-young).

The series is called “Criminals on Canvas,” and I’m not sure what price they’re going for. He said they capture the humor, zaniness, and depth of the villains, as well as the Freudian motivations of Batman. Hmmmm. I just thought sometimes a superhero is just a superhero.

I think that any family member associated with the actors that played the villains (Penguin, Cat Woman, Joker, Riddler, etc)...should buy one. There’d be nothing cooler to have on the living room wall than a painting of a character your family member played. And painted by the man who gave him a “POW” and “BAMM!”