"Penguin's Submarine" is a watercraft and mobile base of operations fashioned to resemble a penguin. It is owned and operated by Oswald Cobblepot.
History
The submarine was used by the United Underworld as a mobile lair and later used to attack the Batboat. Catwoman, Riddler, Joker and Penguin eventually fought Batman and Robin on top of the submarine, with the Dynamic Duo ending up victorious.[3]
Mister Freeze and the Penguin later teamed up to create an iceberg floating in the harbor of Gotham City, which they declared to be an independent nation called "Penguinia". The Penguin had his submarine mooring the iceberg in place at the city's docks, allowing him and Schivel to extract heavy fees from merchants. As Penguinia carried official recognition from the United Nations, the Gotham City authorities were helpless to stop Penguin. After Batman was captured by Cobblepot, Robin used the Bat-Sub to dive to Penguin's Submarine below the iceberg, where the Boy Wonder destroyed the mooring lines with the Bat-Sub's net cutters. Penguin, Mister Freeze and their thugs lost their diplomatic protection when Penguinia started to drift out of Gotham Harbor, ending the iceberg's legal status as a "nation".[4]
Other Versions
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
The Penguin stole a submarine from the Navy and used it as his mobile lair. Batman and Aquaman pursued the submarine and managed to defeat the Penguin.
Gotham
A more realistic version of Penguin's Submarine is built by the Riddler and Penguin in order to leave Gotham City when it had become apparent that the city wouldn't be restored from its No Man's Land status anytime soon. It features a sonar to detect mines in the Gotham River and has enough room to hold all the treasures Penguin stole in the abandoned city. Even though the submarine was built by Nygma single-handedly and from scratch, Penguin claimed ownership of the vehicle by referring to it as "my submarine"[5] and adding a portrait painting of himself to the side of the watercraft.[6]
Cobblepot and Riddler made a deal with Barbara Kean and allowed her to leave the city with them.[7] While Edward built the submarine, they came under attack from the Ventriloquist and Scarface, who tried to take control of the submarine after Nygma revealed it to "them", but eventually failed.[8] The submarine was later stolen by Nyssa al Ghul, who used it to escape Gotham after her plans to avenge Ra's al Ghul and destroy the city with the help of Bane had failed.[9]
Notes
- Penguin's Submarine may have been inspired by the story "The White Whale", first published in Batman #9, in which the antagonists use a submarine disguised as a giant white whale.
- During the Golden Age and the Silver Age, Cobblepot owned a visually similar penguin-shaped blimp, which might have been another influence.
- A DCAU version of Penguin's Submarine appeared in the book The Dark Knight: The Penguin's Crime Wave, also known as The Dark Knight: Batman vs. The Penguin.
See Also
- Appearances of Penguin's Submarine
- Vehicle Gallery: Penguin's Submarine
- Catalogued images related to Penguin's Submarine
Links and References