SInce June 2012, writer-director-actor and Batman fanatic Kevin Smith has hosted "Fat Man on Batman," an online "smodcast" series, with one-on-one interviews between Smith and major figures from Batman's history.  
Guests over the summer have included Batman: The Animated Series veterans like Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, and Tara Strong.

But on September 15, at Stan Lee's 2012 Comikaze in Los Angeles, the self-proclaimed "Fat Man" got to conduct a "Fat Man on Batman" interview live, in front of the entire convention hall, with a legendary figure from his childhood- Adam West.

When introducing the iconic actor, Smith shared that the 1960s series had a significant impact on his childhood and taught him, at an early age, to develop a moral code.  Meeting his childhood hero on Saturday was clearly a fanboy dream come true and the event was only made sweeter when Adam West announced, "Fat Man.  Batman.  The Dynamic Duo," inciting cheers and applause from the audience.

During the interview, West shared several behind-the-scenes anecdotes, revealing that the people behind the show originally wanted him to act more like Clayton Moore from The Lone Ranger.  West, however, wanted to do his own approach, which included the constant pausing that was recently imitated by Nicolas Cage's Big Daddy in Kick-Ass.  West shared that he believed a character like Batman, who's constantly investigating and tracking criminals, would need time to muse and think, so his famous pausing was a sign of Bruce Wayne's restless thought process.

While some of the television execs objected to his take and wanted more of a Lone Ranger feel, it was executive producer William Dozier who defended West and believed that he could bring the Caped Crusader to life.

The television series, of course, became a huge hit, running for three seasons, producing a feature film tie-in in 1966, and engraining itself into pop culture history.  

A couple years later, however, the series was cancelled.  When Smith asked West if he felt he should've done Batman for another five seasons, the actor replied, "I didn't want to do it for another five minutes!" and confessed that in the show's final season, he had grown tired of wearing the uncomfortable tights and wanted to move onto new projects.  Unfortunately, after the show ended, he soon discovered that he had been typecast, causing him to resent Batman's effect on his career.  Yet soon, it was the fans' love for the series that ultimately changed his attitude and made him realize that the role had brought joy to so many people.  As a result, West "began to love Batman again" and ultimately embraced being part of the character's legacy.

Since the final season of the TV series, West has returned to the cape and cowl in the Legends of the Superheroes special, voiced the character in three different cartoon series (as well as the fan film Batman: New Times), and revisited his time on the 1960s series in the television movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt, though West confessed that he was disappointed in the film as he felt that it had been "done too quickly."

Later in the panel, West announced that he's been working on a new book to follow up on his Back to the Batcave memoir, titled Climbing the Walls, which not only refers to the iconic Batman and Robin climbing scenes from the 1960s series, but also indicates the struggles he's had to face as an actor in the entertainment industry.

At the end of the panel, Kevin Smith invited Adam West to his home to do a full "Fat Man on Batman" smodcast in the future and talk more about his accomplished career, to which the Batman actor excitedly responded, "You would make the best therapist!"  

if you're interested in hearing episodes of Kevin Smith's Fat Man on Batman, you can visit Smith's "smodcast" website at http://smodcast.com/channels/fatman-on-batman/ or subscribe to the show for free on iTunes.