Batman Floors It in the Batmobile

About this drawing

Batman in the Batmobile has thrilled fans for generations. Batman's car showed up early in his comics and grew into the most famous vehicle of any superhero.

At first it was just a dark sedan, but it soon gained a long nose, a bat-head hood ornament and big tail fins. In the 1960s TV show, the Batmobile was a black convertible with red trim, fun and flashy, and today it is a prized collector's car.

In later movies, the car got darker and tougher. Some versions look like stretched-out race cars, while others are armored machines on giant tires that look more like tanks than ordinary cars.

Every Batmobile has one thing in common: it is packed with tricks. Armor plating, escape systems, grappling hooks and pursuit gadgets help Batman chase down villains. He keeps them in the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor and takes them out whenever he needs to reach a corner of Gotham fast. For many fans, seeing a new Batmobile design is almost as exciting as seeing Batman himself. Toy companies have made models of nearly every version, and some full-size replicas tour car shows around the world.

• batman
• batmobile
• cars
• dc comics