Absolute Batman's Version Of The Batmobile Has A Wild Arsenal

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Batman may not have superpowers, but he does have a utility belt filled with any gadget he might need. In the 1989 "Batman" film, even the Joker (Jack Nicholson) asks, "Where does [Batman] get all those wonderful toys?"

What's Batman's coolest toy of all? His grapple gun? His batarangs? Or his Batmobile? Without super-speed or flying powers, Batman favors a sweet ride. The Batmobile has been redesigned over many different iterations of Batman, and the car's design should reflect the aesthetic of the Batman it belongs to and tell you something about his character. While most Batmobiles are lean and long cars, Christian Bale's Batman drove a repurposed military vehicle, the Tumbler, because director Christopher Nolan wanted to depict Batman's equipment with realistic functionality.

One of the first Batman artists to reimagine the Batmobile was Frank Miller, who depicted it as a literal tank with treads, cannons, etc., in "The Dark Knight Returns."

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Miller's burly Batman wasn't focused on speed, but on brute strength. The shadow of "The Dark Knight Returns" envelops the Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's ongoing comic "Absolute Batman." Like Miller's block of muscle in a Batsuit, "Absolute" Batman is, well, absolutely huge — a 6 foot 9 inch, 421-pound crimefighting giant.

For a Batman like that, the only appropriate Batmobile is an enormous haul truck or the kind of giant dump truck used for mining operations (with tires that dwarf human beings and a ladder affixed to the front grill). Dragotta specifically based the "Absolute" Batmobile on a Caterpillar 777, albeit painted black and with two modifications; metal bat wings affixed to the bed of the truck and a Bat-themed plow attached to the front. This Batmobile leaves an instant impression, but it's got more beneath its enormous exterior.

Batman debuts his car at the end of "Absolute Batman" #2, when he and MI6 agent Alfred Pennyworth are cornered by Black Mask's gang, the Party Animals. Issue #3 picks up from there with the series' first Batmobile chase scene. During the chase, Bruce reveals he also modified the truck to transform into a speedier, more compact shape for situations like this; in Alfred's narration, he describes the transformation sound as a "rumble of six hundred tons of steel shifting on its chassis."

In its transformed state, the Batmobile has the rocket boosters you'd expect any Batmobile to have. There's also an armored gunnery seat, which Alfred operates to blast some of their pursuers. (Think Luke and Han blasting TIE fighters on the Millennium Falcon in "Star Wars.") Bruce gets the Party Animals off the Batmobile's tail by dropping a chained wrecking ball from the truck's rear, which swings around widely and demolishes all the Party Animals' vehicles.

Once the chase is over, it turns out the Batmobile is even built to run underwater, with Bruce diving into the Gotham river to escape. Then, in "Absolute Batman" #14, Bruce brings the Batmobile (driven by Alfred) to his fight with Bane. Once Batman leaves Bane nothing more than a pile of (living) bloody mush from a Venom overdose, he actually uses the Batmobile as a dump truck to carry and drop Bane into the Gotham river.

"Absolute Batman" has made many changes to the Dark Knight, including rewriting Bruce Wayne's backstory so he's not a child of privilege. "Absolute" Bruce isn't the CEO of a multinational corporation, he's a city engineer. Thus, a construction vehicle is the perfect fit for his Batmobile.

Changing Batman from a billionaire to a working man isn't just a charged political choice; it better testifies to his determination and ingenuity. His day job as an engineer also complements his character. If Bruce Wayne was neither a billionaire or a vigilante, that's probably what he'd be doing, i.e. using his skills to help maintain Gotham City in another way.

While Batman is well-known as "The World's Greatest Detective", he's also a great engineer, and "Absolute Batman" shows that because Bruce has to design and manufacture all of Batman's tools himself. This isn't like the "Dark Knight" trilogy, where Bale's billionaire Bruce has Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) inventing or refining tech tools for him to be Batman.

"Absolute Batman Annual" #1, published in October 2025 and written/drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson, flashes back to show how Bruce got the biggest tool in his arsenal. During his early days as Batman, Bruce drives to the city Slaughter Swamp to buy various black market weapons. While there, he discovers a white supremacist gang is planning an attack on a refugee camp, so he ambushes the attackers as Batman. Batman takes a knocked down Neo-Nazi's keychain and discovers an enormous dump truck hidden under a tarp. To rip the problem out at the root, he drives the truck straight through the Neo-Nazis' hideout, practically flattening the whole building. 

Even blood spilled to protect others leaves stains, though. The issue ends with Bruce sitting beneath the dump truck, his head in his lap, wondering if his father Thomas would be proud of how he's trying to change the world with his fists. Evidently, Bruce brought the truck back to Gotham with him and gave it a new paint job.

"Absolute Batman" #4 (drawn by guest artist Gabriel Hernández Walta) is another prequel issue. It shows how Bruce designed his caped persona and tools, following the ethos that bats adapt to their environment. There's a meta-touch, too; Bruce working out the best way to be Batman reflects Snyder and Dragotta reinventing the hero for "Absolute Batman." When interviewed by Comix Asylum at Original Art Expo 2025, Dragotta discussed one way he and Snyder chose to make "Absolute" Batman stand out: "Rather than the utility belt, this is the utility suit," i.e. every detail on the suit serves some practical purpose as a tool for Batman.

Batman's bulky chest emblem isn't a fashion statement; it's the detachable head of a battle axe. When Bruce first wields it in "Absolute Batman" #1, he slices a man's arm off, showing this is a more brutal Batman. "Absolute" Batman's cape is also prehensile, functioning like an actual bat's wings; the cape doesn't just let Batman glide; it also allows him to hang and grapple from buildings, grab and throw enemies, and even walk on its tethers like a bat.

The ears on Bruce's cowl are similarly detachable knives, which he can either throw or use as handheld weapons. In "Absolute Batman" #6, Batman headbutts Black Mask, ramming his ear-knives through the villain's eyes. As Dragotta's "Absolute Batman" concept art notes, the detachable ears also mean he can draw the Batsuit with either long or short ears, combining the "best of both looks."

When Bruce is imprisoned by Bane in "Absolute Batman" #10, he also breaks out tools hidden within his body, even ripping out several of his teeth to make spiked knuckles. With or without his "utility suit," "Absolute" Batman's a living weapon.