DC Database
Register
Advertisement

The Whirly-Bat was a small one-man helicopter used by Batman and Robin.

History

Batman and Robin developed this vehicle after having mastered all methods of transportation. The main purpose of the Whirly-Bat was to give the heroes an aerial advantage to chase criminals. The Whirly-Bat was first used right after it was recently finished. When a criminal from the future wrecked the Batmobile, the Dynamic Duo were forced to use their Whirly-Bats in order to chase the crook. Unfortunately, the futuristic weapons used by the thief were too powerful and the Whirly-Bats were destroyed on their first field mission.[1]

The Whirly-Bats were soon reconstructed and used once again by Batman after he suffered an accident that left him unable to walk for a short period of time. During this time, Batman used the Whirly-Bats, which were improved to patrol Gotham and capture large gangs of criminals without the need of using his injured legs.[2] Shortly after his legs were healed, Batman and Robin used the Whirly-Bats to follow the notorious criminal, Mister Zero to his hideout. Unfortunately, Zero used his ice gun and froze the Whirly-Bat's rotor blades, rendering them useless.[3]

The Whirly-Bat was later upgraded and made portable, so it could fit on the truck of the Batmobile. Using this new version, Batman chased the unstoppable satellite weapon, but was unable to stop the machine. Instead, Batman and Robin used the special capability of the Whirly-Bat of creating smoke screens to get away. After this, the heroes managed to capture some of the crooks involved in the satellite scheme using the Whirly-Bats.[4] Shortly afterwards, the Whirly-Bats were used to neutralize a deadly cloud from space, but once again, they were destroyed by some Robots.[5]

Following the tradition of broken Whirly-Bats, the next time the vehicles were wrecked was when Batman and Robin confronted their old nemesis, the Penguin, after he returned to crime, several years from his retirement. Penguin used a magnificent blimp to get away and the Dynamic Duo tried to capture him with the Whirly-Bats. The Penguin used his blimp as a weapon and wrecked Robin's whirly-bat in mid-air, forcing Batman to save his partner and allowing the Penguin to escape.[6]

Following the streak of broken Whirly-Bats, the next time one of those was destroyed was when Batman was chasing a gang of super-fast humans and he was forced to crash the whirly-bat against a building.[7] Later, a model exclusive for Robin with the "R" symbol on the vehicle was designed.[8]

Modern Developments

Later, Batman included a silencer device in the Whirly-Bat, which allowed him to use the vehicle on stealth type missions.[9] During a confrontation with Clayface III, the Whirly-Bat was damaged as a result of Clayface's attack on the Batmobile. Fortunately, Batman managed to repair the main motor and the Whirly-Bat became at least operational and capable of flying.[10]

Batman designed a new experimental whirly-bat, which included a helicopter board and seat for better protection of the pilot. Unfortunately, this prototype was destroyed by Calendar Man during his second criminal spree.[11]

When Hush broke into the batcave, he found himself outnumbered and tried to escape using the whirly-bat. However, the bandages from his face got tangled in the main rotor, which caused him to lose control of the vehicle and crash on the ceiling of the cave, leaving no trace behind.[12]

Capabilities

  • Batman eventually incorporated a grapple cable that allowed the Whirly-Bat to grab objects below.[9]

Onboard Equipment

  • The experimental version of the whirly-bat included a couple of smoke grenades to prevent criminals from escaping.[11]


See Also

Links and References


Advertisement