Bookworm

Bookworm's History

The Bookworm was a villain created for the 1960s Batman television series. The character was identifiable by his thick glasses and dark brown leather suit, made to match rare old book bindings. He had an affinity for books and centered many of his schemes around them.

The Bookworm appeared in two consecutive episodes of the 1960s television show, "The Bookworm Turns" and "While Gotham Burns." Little was disclosed of Bookworms origins or motivations over the course of the show, other than the fact that he had an apparent vendetta against Batman and Robin and committed crimes inspired by literary plots. Like the Riddler, he left clues to lure the caped crusaders to the scene of his next crime -- the clues, of course, always inspired by books. He also carried knockout gas in trick books, usually the boring type that "put people to sleep," like the Congressional Record. By the end of the story, it was revealed that his ultimate objective was to steal a heavily guarded stockpile of valuable books.