1. Here’s a quick, subjective survey
of the live-action movies and TV
shows Batman has inspired:
BATMAN (1943): This 15-part,
Saturday matinee serial was the
first live-action interpretation of
the comic strip. It starred Lewis
Wilson as the Caped Crusader
and Douglas Croft as Robin. There
was an anti-Japanese, wartime
propaganda vibe to it, and it
apparently showed the Batcave
before it appeared in the com-
ics. I’ve seen a few episodes,
and remember them looking like
something I could have made in
my basement – and that Robin
needed a haircut.
BATMAN AND ROBIN (1949):
Another 15-chapter serial, unseen
by me, with the slightly better
remembered Robert Lowery and
Johnny Duncan playing the title
roles.
BATMAN (1966-1968): The TV
show that defined Hollywood’s
conception of camp — and its
generation of producers’ clueless
disdain for all things comic book —
was a huge hit at first and reviled
by just about everybody within two
years. Still, even us comics fans who
hated the series’ dismissive tone
retain soft spots for its marvelously
deadpan stars Adam West and Burt
Ward. And why wouldn’t we? We
still watched every episode.
BATMAN — THE MOVIE (1966):
Big-screen version of the TV show.
BATMAN (1989): Yay! Finally, a
big-budget Bat-movie by an A-list
director (Tim Burton) who should
get it. Not so yay: The thing
has all the energy of a museum
installation; Jack Nicholson’s
Joker is even campier than Cesar
Romero’s; and comedian Michael
Keaton as the Dark Knight detec-
tive? Really? Oh well.
BATMAN RETURNS (1992):
Keaton’s still starring and Bur-
ton’s in the director’s chair again,
but they really seem to have gone
back to the draw-
ing board for this one and made a
more kinetic, borderline noirish and
better movie. Superb casting of
Michelle Pfeiffer as a kooky/kinky
Catwoman and Danny DeVito as a
truly repulsive Penguin made this
the most distinctive Batshow yet.
BATMAN FOREVER (1995): As
one wag accurately said at the
time, was that a title or a threat?
The seemingly surefire casting
of Jim Carrey as the Riddler and
Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face
didn’t prove nearly as effective
as the previous film’s rogues’
gallery had. Adding Robin to the
proceedings was just distracting.
Vulgarian director Joel Schum-
acher convinced us once and for
all that, yeah, Burton must really
be an artist. Val Kilmer was a
more interesting Bruce Wayne
than Keaton was, though.
BATMAN & ROBIN (1997): Since
Schumacher couldn’t stand Kilmer,
he replaced the actor with George
Clooney for his second Batfilm.
The gracious Clooney has taken
personal responsibility for killing
the series, but really, the only thing
he did wrong was agree to wear
that Batsuit with the erect nipples.
Everything else about this movie
was much, much worse.
CATWOMAN (2004): Asked the
burning question: Is Halle Berry
hotter than Julie Newmar, Eartha
Kitt, Lee Meriweather or Pfeiffer?
The answer was impossible to
determine from this lifeless mess
of a movie.
BATMAN BEGINS (2005): With
nothing left to lose, DC’s corporate
cousin Warner Bros. gave up-and-
coming English indie director Chris-
topher Nolan creative carte blanche
to reboot the franchise. The result
was the darkest, most serious Bat-
man movie yet, with Christian Bale
evoking the angst that drove the
comic book Wayne, finally, onscreen.
THE DARK KNIGHT
(2008): For their
second outing, Nolan and
Bale simply made the greatest
comic book movie of all time. It’s
powered by Heath Ledger’s incom-
parably imaginative take on the Joker
and a script that processed the new
century’s greatest fears through a
prism of pop-culture mythology.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
(2012): Nolan tried to keep it
relevant and Bale dug deeper into
the damaged soul, but bloat and
hubris is evident in this trilogy
closer. Still lots of great stuff,
but it’s unwieldy at the very least,
pretentious at its worst.
BATMAN V.
SUPERMAN — DAWN
OF JUSTICE (2016):
We’ll see how Ben Affleck’s
Caped Crusader stacks
up. But the project already
sounds pretty overstuffed,
and director Zack Snyder has
previously demonstrated some
of Schumacher and Burton’s
unhappier tendencies.
— BOB STRAUSS
TIMELINE>>
BATMANINMOVIESANDTELEVISION
Batman (Val Kilmer, left) and
Robin (Chris O’Donnell) in
“Batman Forever” (1995).
Christian
Bale
portrays
Bruce
Wayne and
Batman
in a scene
from “The
Dark Knight
Rises”
(2012).
By Vernor Rodgers
vernor.rodgers@langnews.com
@vernorsticket on Twitter
The Batmobile made its first appearance
in Detective Comics No. 27, the first Batman
story; it originally was a simple red convert-
ible with no special features. The vehicles
went through many changes over the years
in the comics, adding batlike designs and ac-
cessories.
For the 1960s television series, car cus-
tomizer Dean Jeffries was contracted to
build a Batmobile, but time limitations
forced him to back out, and George Bar-
ris took over the project. He based it on the
1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. The even-
tual vehicle was nearly 19 feet long and 7 ½
feet wide, powered by a 390-cubic-inch Ford
FE V-8 engine. Its gadgets included a nose-
mounted aluminum cable cutter blade, bat
ray projector, anti-theft device, detect-a-
scope, bat scope, bat eye switch, antenna ac-
tivator, police band cut-in switch, automatic
tire inflation device, remote bat computer —
a radio linked to the main Batcomputer in
the Batcave — a bat phone, emergency bat
turn lever, anti-fire activator, bat smoke and
bat photoscope.
When the Batman movie series began, the
Batmobile was built from a Chevrolet Impala
chassis, almost 22 feet long and powered by
a jet turbine. Its weaponry included bombs
that could be deployed from the sides of the
vehicle, as well as two M1919 Browning ma-
chine guns that were hidden behind flaps in
each fender. Other gadgets included chas-
sis-mounted shin-breakers, oil-slick dispens-
ers and smoke emitters. Inside, the two-seat
cockpit featured aircraft-like instrumenta-
tion, a passenger’s side monitor, self-diag-
nostics system, CD recorder and voice-com-
mand recognition system. This vehicle was
featured in “Batman” (1989) and “Batman
Returns” (1992).
Some updates were added for “Batman
Forever” (1995): Decorative lighting was
added to the vehicle’s rims, sides and front
edge, and the wing-shaped fins were taller.
New gadgetry included a grappling hook al-
lowing the Batmobile to drive up walls, as
well as a maximum speed of 330 mph with
booster to make long jumps from surface
to surface on elevated freeways or gigan-
tic statues.
The Batmobile really grew for “Bat-
man & Robin” (1997); it expanded to
33 feet in length and was powered
by a Chevy 350 ZZ3 engine. It was
equipped with dual-mount, sub-
carriage rocket launchers, front
and rear grappling hooks, mul-
tipoint infrared and laser-
scan tracking units, ante-
rior/posterior wheel-based
axle bombs, catapult ejec-
tion seat, and disguised
central carriage, which could detach to be-
come an emergency road vehicle. The single-
seat cockpit featured a two-way videoconfer-
encing screen, radar unit and Redbird com-
munication switch.
The latest Batmobile in “Batman Begins”
(2005), “The Dark Knight” (2008) and “The
Dark Knight Rises” (2012) is greatly influ-
enced by the tanklike vehicle from Frank
Miller’s “Batman: The Dark Knight Re-
turns” comic book series. Bruce Wayne uses
the prototype vehicle known as the Tum-
bler, which was designed by Wayne Enter-
prises’ Applied Sciences Division as a bridg-
ing vehicle for the military. It includes weap-
onry and the ability to boost into a rampless
jump. The Tumbler’s armor is strong enough
to break through concrete barriers without
sustaining significant damage. Now back
down to a more reasonable 15 feet in length,
it is powered by a 5.7 liter GM V-8 engine ca-
pable of 500 horsepower with an additional
propane-fueled jet engine.
It is loaded with extras: rear flaps to as-
sist brakes, dual front auto-cannons, rocket
launcher, hook for landing stabilization and
integrated fire-extinguishing system. Also
included is a stealth mode, which turns off
the car’s lights and cuts off the main engine.
The vehicle is powered by an electric mo-
tor, making the car very hard to find in dark
places. Explosive caltrops are deployed from
the rear of the vehicle, which can take out
any vehicles that make contact with them.
The front of the vehicle is heavily armored,
so the car can ram as a practical offensive
attack. Both front wheels can eject when the
vehicle is damaged to form the Batpod, a
motorcycle-like vehicle. Also available are a
set of missile launchers and a retractable ar-
tillery cannon on a turret.
As to who performs maintenance on the
Batmobile, that remains a mystery. Obvi-
ously Wayne cannot have a staff of mechan-
ics on the payroll, as it would increase the
possibility of Batman’s identity being re-
vealed. The best guess is that Wayne does it
himself. If not, Alfred may be getting his fin-
gernails a little grubby. Or maybe Wayne has
a covert arrangement after hours with the
local quickie-lube business.
HISTORY
BATMOBILEOVERTHEYEARS
BATMAN 75TH ANNIVERSARY
Unlike the majority of superheroes, Batman doesn’t have any special powers. He instead uses his
wits, prowess in martial arts and a vast arsenal of unique tools and weapons to fight crime. We
picked our top five “Bat toys” for their usefulness and coolness.
BATMAN’STOP5>>TOOLSANDWEAPONS
Batman using the Bat-Grapple and wearing
Shock Gloves.
1 Batarang: A bat-shaped
boomerang-type throwing
weapon. The basic model cuts
ropes and immobilizes villains.
There are several other types,
including one that contains
explosive material, another
that has electrical power,
and even one with a
camera that Bat-
man can steer to
its target by
remote
control.
2 Bat-Lasso: A composite-
nylon cord that is thrown
around villains’ feet to keep
them from fleeing the scene
of the crime. The lasso also
can be electrified when used
in tandem with Shock Gloves
(see below).
3 Bat-Grapple: A projectile
with a bat-shaped hook or
magnetic end, which aids Bat-
man in scaling large surfaces.
By 1991, it had replaced the
Batarang and rope combi-
nation used in the comics.
The Bat-Grapple is not to be
confused with the Batclaw, a
similar projectile that is used
by Batman to pull objects
to him.
4Shock Gloves: These
gloves emit a nonlethal
electrical charge and can
be used to stun villains and
jump-start electronically
controlled gates and lifts.
They can electrify objects
from Batman’s arsenal of
tools, such as his Bat-Lasso,
to make them more effective.
5Shark Repellent Bat
Spray: A gas Batman
keeps at the ready to ward
off sharks. It may sound
silly in the middle of Gotham
City, but it never hurts to be
prepared.
— MICHELLE J. MILLS
$6.9
billion
The Wayne family’s esti-
mated net worth, according to
Forbes magazine’s list of rich-
est fictional characters.
$2.8
million
Annual cost of being Batman,
according to Centives.
$1.06
million
Cost of Batman’s costume,
according to DC Cinematic
Universe.
BRUCEWAYNE’SWEALTH>>THECOSTOFBEINGBATMAN
2003BATMAN COMIC COVER
ART, ISSUE 615 — JIM LEE
AND SCOTT WILLIAMS /
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY
KAY SCANLON/LANG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the 1960s Batman television series, Batman and Robin cruised through Gotham City in a Batmobile that was a 1955Lincoln Futura concept car
customized with a host of anti-crime devices.
The Batmobile from “Batman Forever” includes
a grappling hook to drive up walls.
The Batmobile from “Batman” and “Batman
Returns” is powered by a jet engine.
The Tumbler Batmobile from “Batman Begins,”
“The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”
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