In a meticulously detailed variant cover of Batman #124 drawn by Filya Bratukhin, the Caped Crusader has a gigantic Bat-Mech stored in the Batcave.
In a stunning variant cover for Batman #124 from DC Comics, artist Filya Bratukhin has created a finely detailed portrait of the Batcave containing a giant Batman Mech. The cover is done in the Wimmelbilder style, an art style that features large, meticulously detailed scenes brimming with things to discover. It is fitting for the Batcave, which has acquired a large amount of objects over the years.
The Batcave is Batman’s central base of operations, located underneath Wayne Manor. The Cave is a place for Batman to rest between missions, but it has many other purposes besides that. It contains Batman’s arsenal of gadgets and vehicles including iconic devices like the Batcomputer and Batmobile. In addition, the Cave also contains a variety of souvenirs from Batman’s most iconic cases, such as a giant penny and a mechanical dinosaur. Artists have portrayed the Cave in many different ways over the years but Bratukhin’s variant cover paints the cave in an entirely new light.
While the cover masterfully displays the cavernous size of the space, the truly outstanding part of the cover comes in the meticulous level of detail it includes. The electric wires and hydraulic machinery that power the platforms and electronics throughout the cave lie exposed in a way they rarely appear in other art. Spare tires and machine parts are strewn across the central platform and the Batmobile seems to be in the process of getting a tune-up. The various monitors of the Batcomputer each contain a different image, representing the various threats and emergencies occurring that require Batman’s attention. All of this chaos gives an impression of how many different things Batman has to juggle at the same time to the point where he doesn’t have time to keep his cave neatly organized. And while the various trophies that Batman has accrued lie submerged under all this chaos, perceptive viewers can still find them if they examine the picture closely. More obscure details can also be found this way, such as the rarely used Bat Train and the Justice-Buster Armor that Batman used to defeat the Justice League during Batman: Endgame. But perhaps the most striking part of the cover is the giant Bat Mech towering over everything else in the Cave.
While Batman has used many forms of robotic armor over the course of his crime fighting career, this giant mech easily outclasses all those suits in terms of size. Batman has used a giant robot in both the Batman ’66 comics and in a story written by Nick Dragotta in the Batman Black & White anthology comics, but neither of those stories are canon in the main DC Comics continuity. This mech could be an homage to one of those, or it could be a reference to the DC Mech series coming out later this year. Or it could just be a new Bat Device that Bratukhin thinks Batman should have in his arsenal. No matter why it’s there, nothing changes the fact that it is incredibly cool and is a treat to look at.
Among all the various devices and trophies of the Batcave, Batman appears almost small. But the massive amount of objects in the Cave are a testament to how big his legacy and impact have been. And if he adds the giant Bat Mech featured on this cover to his arsenal, it could enable him to fight threats he hasn’t been able to before, enhancing Batman‘s legacy even more.
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