None of Batman’s live films have yet described the Batcave as being as grand as in comics. In the “Dark Knight” trilogy, these are just a few balustrades, platforms and a computer console integrated into the cellar systems of the Manor Wayne. The films of the extended universe of DC, of ”Batman V Superman”, represented the cave as a modernist house with a lot of glass baths. The best reimagination was in “The Batman” by Matt Reeves, which made the batcave look like an abandoned underground metro station – perfect for a Batman who lives and hides in the heart of Gotham City.
The comic strip ‘Batman, however, does not only keep his equipment – from his Batmobile to his BATCE – in the Batcave. He is also filled with trophies of his more memorable adventures. The three biggest trophies, as you may have seen in “Batman: The Animated Series”, are a giant joker card, a giant sou and a life-size T-Rex statue. The last one is particularly difficult to miss. When the flash visits the first visit to the Batcave in “Justice League”, it is amazed: “It’s a giant dinosaur!” (Alfred: “And I thought Batman was the detective.”)
Where did Batman get this beautiful statue? He dates back to “Batman” # 35 of 1946, where Batman and Robin had an adventure on Dinosaur Island.
DC comicsNow it’s not The “real” island of dinosaurs Introduced in 1960, which shelters real life dinosaurs and respiratory. No, in “Batman” # 35, an eccentric showman named Murray Wilson Hart decides to build a theme park of animatronic dinosaurs. He invites Batman and Robin to visit it, but a criminal named Stephen Chase diverts the dinosaurs to try to kill the dynamic duo. It fails, but Dinosaur island is not going; Batman was able to keep the Park Animatronic T-Rex, and he stuck it in the Batcave.
Batcave’s T-Rex statue dates back to Batman’s first comics
What about other Batcave trophies? Do they have just as dynamic origins?
It is quite easy to guess where the Joker card comes from, tapped from the Batman archnemese. Le Penny Géant comes from the “World’s Finest” # 30, published in 1947 (note that the penny is dated this year). This comic strip had a story where Batman and Robin fought the vile villains, the Penny Plunders, who tried to steal the giant sou in a public exhibition. Instead, Batman was able to keep it. “Batman: The Animated Series” made The Penny a Two-Face Trophy, the much more famous villain on the theme of Batman’s coins. As indicated in the classic episode “Almost Got ‘Im”, Two-Face has once linked Batman for a deadly piece flip, only for the black knight to cut himself.
As for why it is the three trophies that most often and regularly appear in the Batcave? They are tall and difficult to miss, which means that they are rooted in the memories of bat fans as important lighting of the Batcave. “Batman: The Animated Series” also presenting them; This show was defined as the final Batman for a generation. In addition, drawing a Batman comic strip generally does not offer much chance of drawing dinosaurs, so maybe artists jump on the occasion.
The exaggerated architecture has always been a characteristic of Gotham City, whether it is the giant toy chest feeling of the money age, dark German expressionism of the “Batman” of Tim Burton, or Art Deco in the middle of the 20th century in “Batman: The Animated Series”. The furniture the size of a Batman dinosaur in the cave he calls at home well in the appearance of Gotham City himself.
