The Batmobile is one of the most iconic parts of Batman’s arsenal. The Bat is well known for his plethora of high-powered, bleeding-edge vehicles, but none are more known and beloved than the Batmobile. Batman’s premier way of getting around and easily the definitive comic book vehicle. There are around a million different Batmobile toys out there, and for good reason, because what superhero-loving kid wouldn’t want to drive their own Batman themed car around? Of course, as iconic and important as the Batmobile is, there’s never been any one design that stuck around forever. The car is changing and evolving as constantly as the Dark Knight himself, and plenty of skilled and talented artists have thrown their hat in the ring of creating their own version of comics’ coolest car. So with that said, let’s take a look at the ten coolest designs the Batmobile has rocked over the years.
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10) Absolute Batman
The newest version of the Caped Crusader fights for a Gotham City that is leagues darker and more hopeless than the original, so he’s been forced to up his game to inspire and stick it to the man. Everything is bigger in Absolute Gotham, from Batman to his iconic ride, and oh boy is this thing massive. It’s less a car and more a heavily-modified earthmover, able to tear through the streets and barricades as easily as it could coast downhill. The normal Batmobile prioritizes stealth and speed, but this one throws that all away to be as bombastic and eyecatching as possible, and I say it does a fantastic job. Absolute Batman is all about making a statement, letting the people of Gotham and its evil puppeteers know that he is here and he is fighting, and this vehicle perfectly encapsulates that goal. Nobody could miss this thing, but I just want to know where he parks it.
9) Dark Knight Returns
Our second heavy-duty machine, this Batmobile is far more tank than bulldozer. It’s the ride for the Batman of The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller’s classic edgy ‘86 Elseworld that showed a fifty year old Batman coming out of retirement to fight for a Gotham City that has forgotten how to hope. The new Gotham is far bloodier and deadlier than the one Batman once wrangled, so he had to step up his game big time. Not only is this bad boy capable of treading over any and all terrain that stands in its way, but it comes equipped with a veritable arsenal of weapons, including a set of turrets that launch non-lethal rubber bullets for when Batman needs to corral a crowd. As un-Batman as using these turrets is, it’s still really awesome, and more than gets a pass. This monstrous design would go on to inspire the monster truck Batmobile that was featured prominently in the unjustly underrated “The Cult” storyline, as well as the Absolute Batman one, obviously.
8) Neal Adams
Neal Adams and Dennis O’Neil are the two most often credited with turning the image of Batman around from the campy do-gooder to the much darker, avenging hero we know him as today. Writers had been laying the groundwork for this change since the end of the 1966 Batman tv show, but this glorious team cemented the new style of Batman beautifully, and that came with total redesigns of how the Dark Knight did everything at the start of the ‘70s. This Batmobile perfectly encapsulates the shift to Batman’s gritter, more grounded characterization, with it being modeled after a Revell’s 1967 Corvette roadster. This sportscar look is meant to blend in and provide plenty of speed, and it does that while also being perfectly recognizable as the Batmobile. The almost hidden Bat-symbol on the hood beautifully stands out and is easy to look past, and of course the car carries plenty of hidden tricks and tools to aid the Caped Crusader. I’ve always been a fan of more fantastical designs, but this one is peak in simplicity and oozes style, and looks like a car just about anyone would love to get behind the wheel of.
7) New 52
The New 52 saw redesigns to everyone and everything in the DC Universe, so of course that means a brand new Batmobile. This one reflects the stylized and futuristic look of the New 52 in general, and it’s exemplified best in the almost alien look to the additions to the car. The Bat-symbol on the front is elongated and sharpened, and there are plenty of jagged accents that stick out and make it look like an actual bat, but as cool as this one is, I’ve always looked at it as a tad overdesigned. Still, this shakes up the usual style of the Batmobile and perfectly fits the atmosphere of the New 52’s take on Batman, and frankly, it has grown on me a lot from its first appearance. It’s not sleek, but it is loud about being the Batmobile, and that’s always great.
6) “Batman R.I.P.”
This is by far my favorite normal-car Batmobile design. It doesn’t do anything groundbreaking, but everything about it is simple and minimalist perfection. The hubcaps’ Bat-symbol is pretty standard for most Batmobiles, but add those on to the wings on the back and slight curve in the front with the Bat-face make it stand out so well against the normal chassis of the car. But what really does the heavy-lifting here is the red windows and lights, which pop so well against the deep black of the car and the dark colors of the Gotham City streets. There’s not much to this car, but everything that is here is utilized perfectly, and I would love to see this one make some more appearances in the future.
5) Springer and Novick
As mentioned above, Dennis O’Neal and Neal Adams are most credited for changing Batman’s image to its modern, dark interpretation, but their work couldn’t have gone as well as it had without Frank Robbins, Frank Springer, and Irv Novick laying the groundwork two years before the legendary duo worked on the title. Artists Springer and Novick took the beloved Batmobile design from the then recent Batman tv show and modified it to work with the grittier take on the character, including a fresh all-black paint job. This simple twist on such a classic design was an instant hit, and while other designs would take up temporary stays here and there, this became the de facto look for the Dark Knight’s car for nearly twenty years, not being totally replaced until the multiversal reset in Crisis on Infinite Earths and Batman’s entire character was rebuilt practically from the ground up. It’s the Batmobile that bridges two eras, and definitely has earned its place here.
4) Dick and Damian’s
This is easily the most out-there Batmobile redesign, taking it from being a suped-up car to a futuristic, UFO-looking spaceship that flew. Instead of a muscle or sports car that was all hard lines, this one was clean, round, and featured prongs that jutted out like a bat’s wings. This was introduced as the main Batmobile of Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne when they took over as Batman and Robin respectively, and it perfectly matches the reto-futuristic, edge-of-tomorrow energy that their entire series exuded. Batman had been fundamentally changed and evolved, so it only makes sense that the Batmobile had to change with him. It also had a great narrative purpose, being designed by Bruce before his apparent death, then perfected and built by Damian after he became Robin. It shows Damian’s growth into a hero, and reflects how Dick made Batman into a character that literally lifts Gotham City up. An absolutely classic design.
3) Classic ‘50s
Speaking of classics, this Batmobile design was the main look for the Caped Crusader’s ride for the 1950s and it is easily one of its best. If I had to pick just one classic design to put on this list, then this is the one that I’d choose, because it has everything that made that era of the Batmobile so great. The giant fin in the back is essential to the old-school look, and the bulbous fishbowl style glass the Dynamic Duo rode within is just so Silver Agey, it’s fantastic. And who can forget the Bat-face on the front? Batman said that this beauty was ten years ahead of anything else on the road back in the ‘50s, and while plenty of time might have passed since then, I guarantee you that this Batmobile design has aged beautifully and can still run with the best of them.
2) “Prey”
This look for the Batmobile debuted in the spectacular “Prey” storyline, which depicted Batman’s first tangle with the villainous Hugo Strange. The doctor attempted to prove that Batman was insane, and even the Dark Knight started to believe him as he had a nervous breakdown, but as always Batman pulled himself back up, and symbolically did so by completing work on his first Batmobile. This is an absolutely beautiful machine, being both extremely sleek and incredibly stylized with the hook-like, bat-ears design on the front. This looks like a Batmobile straight out of your dreams, like a rocket shooting forward to chase down crime. This Batmobile is just plain sexy, and there’s no better word for it. It is a darn shame that this one hasn’t been used more over the years, but even without that it is a fantastic and top tier look.
1) Rebirth
There can only be one best Batmobile, and that title belongs to the Batmobile of the Rebirth era. This style is very reminiscent of the absolutely classic look the Batmobile sported in Batman: The Animated Series, and that’s very much on purpose, as it made its comic book debut at the start of Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen’s run on Detective Comics. Dini is the co-creator of The Animated Series, and this design perfectly translates the iconic look into the comic books. It has the shape and style of the tv show, along with the added details to make it feel more real than its animated counterpart. It is the Batmobile that reintroduced the classic Bat-face on the front of the car after being absent for years, and in general has a fantastic aura. It is both imposing and sleek, with its long body promising that it will be picking up massive amounts of speed, even if it looks like it would have trouble turning. This is the Batmobile design that people imagine when they hear the name, and is fantastic in every regard.
So there we have the ten best designs for the Batmobile over the decades. This is certainly a contentious list, and I couldn’t blame you if you wanted to swap out any place on this list with a different car. The original Batmobile with the red line is incredible, and even the first red convertible Batmobile is funny enough to deserve a spot here. Do you agree with this list, or would you rather see a different Batmobile sit at the top of the list? Let us know what your favorite Batmobile is in the comments below!
