If you asked certain people who their favorite Batman character is, there are more than a few who would say the Batmobile. And we can’t really blame them for it. The car is objectively really cool. The problem, though, is that it’s a really cool, really unique, and presumably really expensive thing in Gotham City. Which means, even factoring in its intimidating owner, you’re going to see it get stolen. A lot. In fact, we were able to put together a rap sheet of no less than ten times the Batmobile has been stolen through the years. No matter how much Batman does to lock it down, it just keeps happening. Maybe the whole themed car thing is a bad idea?

No. Forget we said that. The car is cool. Why else would so many people try to steal it?
 

World’s Finest #19

Year: 1946
Guilty Party: The Joker

If you’re looking for the first criminal to ever abscond with the Batmobile, look no further than the Joker, who daringly used Batman’s signature wheels as his own prison getaway vehicle. After the Joker stages a breakout in “The League for Larceny,” found within World’s Finest #19, Batman and Robin are called to the scene to apprehend their arch-foe…only to find that the Joker has hopped into their own car for a clean getaway. Let it not be said that the Joker has never made a fool out of Batman.
 

Detective Comics #334

Year: 1964
Guilty Party: The Grasshopper Gang…and Alfred Pennyworth

Tragedy struck Wayne Manor in 1964 when Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson’s most stalwart ally, Alfred Pennyworth, appeared to sacrifice his own life to save their own. But in the months that followed, Batman and Robin found themselves hounded by villains armed with all too familiar knowledge of their routines and modus operandi. This included the Grasshopper Gang, in Detective Comics #334, where one Grasshopper manages to steal the Batmobile right out from under the Dynamic Duo, circumventing the safeguards they presumably put in place since the last time the Joker pulled this stunt.

How did he do it? As it turns out, the villains of this period were receiving their instructions from a mysterious new arch-foe known only as the Outsider…in truth, a partially amnesiac Alfred Pennyworth who had turned to villainy, using his specialized knowledge of Batman and Robin against them.
 

Detective Comics #341

Year: 1965
Guilty Party: The Joker, again

A good comedian knows when to take his act on the road. A great comedian, on the other hand, knows the dangers of repeating himself. In Detective Comics #341, the Mountebank of Mirth returns to a twenty-year-old gag by attempting to make off with the Batmobile while Batman and Robin are away…but soon discovers that this time, it’s been outfitted with an alarm to keep from a repeat of the Grasshopper incident. The Joker should’ve known to quit while he was ahead, and remembered that Batman always gets the last laugh.
 

Batman Returns

Year: 1992
Guilty Party: The Penguin

Perhaps the most notorious incident of Bat Theft Auto, we’d be remiss to leave the Penguin’s remote hijacking of the Batmobile in Batman Returns off our list. Batman helplessly trapped in the Batmobile’s cockpit while the Penguin plays with it “like a harp from hell” is a roller coaster ride of a scene, literally taking control out of Batman’s hands in a film where the overarching lesson, if anything, is that even in Gotham City, it’s not always about Batman.
 

Detective Comics #717-718

Year: 1997
Guilty Party: Gearhead

Considering how much of Batman’s appeal comes from the Batmobile itself, it was only a matter of time until the Dark Knight attracted a car-centric villain. One of these, Gearhead, uses his advanced cybernetic limbs to hack his way into the Batmobile in Detective Comics #717. But like Oswald Cobblepot before him, he doesn’t merely take off with it. Rather, he converts the car itself into a deathtrap, ready for Batman the next time he uses it. Of course, this is Batman we’re talking about, and escaping death traps happens to be something of a specialty.
 

Robin #106

Year: 2002
Guilty Party: Freeway

Here in the DC Universe, we’ve got multiple Mad Hatters, at least three Jokers and more ice-themed villains than you can fit in a walk-in freezer. So why not double down on car-themed villains? In the aptly named “Joyride” from Robin #106, Tim Drake first encounters a criminal simply called “Freeway” whose wily ways with the automobile allow him to get behind the Batmobile’s steering column unscathed. Commandeering an old beater car to catch up with the thief, Batman and Robin prove that in a real chase, it’s the driver that matters far more than the car.
 

Injustice: Ground Zero #10

Year: 2016
Guilty Party: Harley Quinn

What does the Injustice comic tie-in series detailing the events up to the video game do when it reaches the time frame of the game itself? It retells the story…with a twist. Injustice: Ground Zero is the story of the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game, but from the unique perspective of Harley Quinn—meaning we get to see what she gets up to during her absences from the original game. And boy, is it rich…including, you guessed it, a triumphant heist of the Batmobile right from under ol’ Batsy. But at least this time, it’s for a good cause.

In chapter ten of the digital first series, Harley steals the Batmobile from the Batcave itself, commandeered at the time by the tyrant Superman’s regime. Does it count as stealing if you’re stealing it back from an unelected government, or is that a war crime? I suppose it depends on your perspective. From Harley Quinn’s, it’s just awesome.
 

Batman Annual #2

Year: 2017
Guilty Party: Catwoman

Tom King and Lee Weeks’ “Some of These Days” is one of the most romantic Batman stories ever told. Detailing the very first and very last days of Batman and Catwoman’s epic romance, in Batman Annual #2, we see what may be the very moment Selina first captured Bruce’s heart: when she audaciously stole the Batmobile from its garage. Merely popping a hubcap off was enough for Batman to take Jason Todd in. How might he react to someone taking off with the whole darn thing? The answer, in Selina’s case, is a love unrivaled and supreme.
 

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #5

Year: 2019
Guilty Party: Batman’s Nemesis, Jimmy Olsen

In their 2019 Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen series, Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber address one of the most common questions about the Daily Planet: in the modern media landscape, how does a crusty, daily print newspaper stay afloat? As it turns out, it mostly comes down to Jimmy Olsen, whose viral stunts keep readers checking in.

Always pressured to outdo himself, Jimmy relocates to Gotham City in issue #5 to instigate a prank war with the scariest superhero in the Justice League—one that culminates in a joyride in the Batmobile’s driver’s seat. As retribution, Batman arranges to have Jimmy’s name legally changed to “Jimphony.” That’s canon.
 

Suicide Squad #6

Year: 2020
Guilty Party: Wink

Meet Wink.

Wink is a revolutionary metahuman kleptomaniac with the power to teleport. Which means there’s no car she can’t get into if she really wanted to. That includes the Batmobile in Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Suicide Squad #6.

Batman doesn’t want to talk about it. So, we won’t. But it’s hilarious.
 

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Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.