Is Batman even fully equipped without a sick ride?
The first Batmobile created showed up in Detective Comics #48 is 1941. Aside from
the gold bat on the hood, the Cord Roadster look alike made it hard to tell
that the car belonged to The Bat.
The next, most famous, Batmobile was based
off the Lincoln Futura in the 1960’s Batman television show starring Adam West.
George Barris customized the car to have numerous gadgets to fit Batman’s every
need, such as the Batphone, Bat smoke screen, mobile Batcomputer, Bat-ray, and
Anti-theft switch. George Barris built five Batmobiles for the series. The
first four were bought and sold for prices ranging from $225,000 to $4,620,000.
George Barris kept the fifth car for himself in Southern California.
The 1970’s
Batmobile in the show “Superfriends” was the first car to feature the iconic
Bat-logo.
In 1978 the Batmobile was designed to have a huge mask covering the
front end of the car.
In “Batman Forever”, the Batmobile was
made to have neon lights on the undercarriage along with numerous defense
gadgets, such as the four-wheel steering and grappling hook.
The “Batman &
Robin” film featured a car based on classic roadsters. It was over 30-feet long
and was said to have been road tested to go 140 MPH.
Christopher Nolan’s sega introduced the Tumbler as the new Batmobile. The
Tumbler was a tank that appeared in camouflage in “The Dark Knight Rises” film.
In the trailer of “The Dark Knight Rises” there appears to be an entirely new
Batmobile seen at the end that is never mentioned.
In the video game “Arkham
Asylum”, the Batmobile takes elements from The Bat’s 1989 ride and the roadster
from “Batman & Robin”.
The Batmobile for the 2016 “Batman V Superman: Dawn
of Justice” film was recently released on Zack Synder’s Twitter page, and let
me just say, it’s wicked cool.
Fast Facts:
The Batmobile appears in 1238 issues of DC Comics.
It is the fastest automobile in the DC Universe that's not supernatural.
The
Batmobile's design changes based on whatever Batman's needs may be in
the current story. It has also changed to keep up with the times, as
have superheroes as a whole. So how did a classic car turn into a tank?
Well the Batmobile was always thought to be this bulletproof,
indestructible machine and the most indestructible means of
transportation in today's worl are military tanks. On the same note, it
is hard to justify the need for superheroes when the every day military
men use these high tech gadgets and tanks themselves. In order for
Batman to remain a hero to everyone, including men and women who are out
there fighting everyday, Batman had to get some pretty upscale gadgets
to maintain the look of being unstoppable. Do the new cars and gadgets
show that Batman is fighting in a more violent world? Perhaps. But he
still manages to fight justily, without killing.
So cool to watch the car evolve over the years. And with Nolan trying for a Batman universe that general audiences would find believable, it makes sense that he would choose a tank over some of the more aesthetically out there options. And the tank definitely comes into play when considering Batman authoritarian approach to justice and the idea of the police state.
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