Batman diehards gather to celebrate the Caped Crusader’s 75th anniversary

From the outset, it was a batty idea.

To honor the 75th anniversary of “Batman,” William Binderup invited anyone and everyone to his Overland Park comic book shop to enjoy everything Caped Crusader. He asked local artists to come by and set up booths, he got a DJ, and he highlighted the day with a gathering for the largest-ever photo of Batman mask-wearing individuals.

“Why ‘do’ when you can ‘overdo’?” Binderup mused Saturday as the plan came together.

Indeed, the Overland Park strip mall that houses Binderup’s Elite Comics was a veritable Gotham, as several hundred diehards packed the mall’s parking lot and surrounding sidewalks. Many dressed for the occasion.

There were Batman costumes and Batman T-shirts. Batman masks and Batman messenger bags. Batman paintings and Batman stuffed animals and Batman Legos and Batman beer holders.

Binderup has a reputation in the local comic world. He’s held popular theme parties at Elite Comics in the past, and he co-founded Kansas City’s Planet Comicon back in the mid-1990s.

But Saturday’s turnout, he admitted, was the largest to date at the shop; as many as 1,200 people came through the door at some point in the day, Binderup estimated.

Twelve hundred people? For a Batman party?

“I was expecting a crowd,” said Dick Daniels, a Kansas City artist who recently retired from Hallmark. “I’m not really surprised. I know from past events that (Binderup) gets a crowd.”

“(People) can relate to Batman, because his power is his wits,” said Allen T. Hickmon of Kansas City, a professional Lego builder whose 14,000-piece Batman work would serve as one of the artistic highlights of the day.

At 1 p.m., the group gathered for a photo. The goal, according to the pre-event hype, was to take a record-setting photo — and Binderup had procured 700 paper Batman masks for the occasion.

Asked who he intended to send the picture to to verify its legitimacy, Binderup replied, “It’s all in the wording: we’re going to set a record, not break a record. Then the rest of the world can catch up.”

And so it was.

This story was originally published July 26, 2014 at 8:32 PM with the headline "Batman diehards gather to celebrate the Caped Crusader’s 75th anniversary."