I read last night that yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman, released in (obviously) the summer of 1989. I am not a “comic book guy,” but I do remember the movie’s premiere quite well.

Superman, the motion picture starring Christopher Reeve, hit theaters in 1978. Not longer after we had Superman battling General Zod in Superman II, Richard Pryor in Superman III, and Nuclear Man in Superman IV. Somewhere in the middle of all that Supergirl fought her way through a terrible film. The popularity of those movies didn’t spawn a ton of other films starring comic book characters.

In the late 80s, rumors began circulating of a new Batman film. I had never (and still haven’t) read a Batman comic in my life, so all I knew of the Caped Crusader came from the campy 60s television show starring Adam West. All I knew was that this new Batman film was being directed by Tim Burton, who I knew from Beetlejuice and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Based on those films, I had NO idea what to expect.

Batman fever was in full pitch. Jeff, Andy and I were all working down the street from Taco Bell at a baseball field concession stand. After work the three of us would often swing by Taco Bell for dinner. With the purchase of a large drink you could get a collectible plastic Batman cup (see above). All the employees wore black t-shirts with Batman logos on them. Batman was everywhere even before the movie came out.

I too wanted a Batman shirt, so I picked one up at the local flea market. It was a bootleg shirt so the logo looked “mostly” like the Batman insignia, but not exactly right. The t-shirt was white until I washed it with a red pair of shorts, which turned my white Batman shirt pink. All the girls I knew were jealous; none of the guys I knew were.

On opening night, Andy, Jeff and I all went to go see Batman at the Yukon movie theater. (And yes, I wrote that pink shirt.) The movie was a fantastic mix of fun, action, and drama. By the end of the night all of us had experienced the new Batmobile, a wonderfully sadistic Joker, and the following image:

Burton’s Batman film led to several sequels, and (in my opinion) the success of the franchise helped launch several other comic book based franchises and, in a bigger scope, helped mesh nerd culture with pop culture.