Another Dr. T classic - The "Sprang" Batmobile.

by Dr. Terrific 

The “Sprang” Batmobile (Detective Comics #156, 1950):

“Batmobile Crash Leaves Batman An Invalid!” was the shocking headline in Gotham, after a group of two-bit gangsters take an RPG to the Batmobile.  Batman survives with a broken leg, and spends his recuperation time designing a new car “ten years ahead of anything else on wheels!”.

The chrome pieces were stripped and re-painted silver metallic.  The pre-painted metal body was also stripped and re-painted midnight blue. The front bathead stayed black to keep a design consistency across decades of bat-cars. A bat symbol was added into the spotlight.

The best commercial model of any version of the Batmobile was Johnny Lightning’s 1950 Batmobile kit.  The kit included the interior crime lab and dashboard (complete with accessories straight from the car's comix book debut). 

I scanned in the artwork to make custom decals of the console monitor and scanner screens. I had to use a very small mechanical pencil to detail the dials, ruler, and map.

This work of art was designed by Dick Sprang, the first artist working under the “Bob Kane” house style to be singled out for his interpretation of the Dark Knight.  For decades, Dick was known to fandom only as “the good Batman artist”.

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