Michael Karberg knows! You know what I want, what I really, really want? A Batmobile kiddie ride. Of course, I wouldn’t fit in it, I wouldn’t want to shell out for one, and I have no place to put it. But the heart wants what the heart wants. Well, Indiana Batman supercollector (and dealer) Michael Karberg has… hold on (checks notes)… SEVEN of them — with one that sold for $1,722 (including buyer’s premium) at auction Saturday. Waaaaoow. I just had to ask him all about it, so I could live vicariously through his Batmobile adventure. — Dan Greenfield: How many Batmobile rides do you own? Did you get them all at once or did you assemble the collection over time? Michael Karberg: We currently own seven of these; they were found in a warehouse in central California. We will be restoring five of them and returning them to their Bat-glory! — Dan: What’s your best childhood memory of these rides? Mike: I was born in 1965 and was six months old when the Batman TV show debuted. Some of my earliest 1960s Batman memories involve the Model grocery store in Harvey, Illinois. It was there that I remember purchasing Batman comics out of a comic book vending machine, which were super rare even then, and then getting to ride in a vending machine Batmobile ride just like ours! — Dan: This is a very specific type of collectible. What got you into these — and are they the only rides you own? Mike: They are the only rides that we own. I’ve collected and sold 1966 Batman items for over 40 years; I also sell and restore antique advertising items so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to restore a group of 1966 Batmobiles! — Dan: How much work have you done to preserve these? Who designed the paint schemes? Mike: We just received them so nothing yet, the paint schemes appear to be six-decade-old evolutions, as up close you can see many layers of paint on each ride. — Dan: Do you rent them out or just collect them? For example, tell me about the pictures with the five on a trailer. Mike: The five were on the trailer because we were transporting them from California to Indiana where I live and where they will be restored....
MORRISON MONDAYS! — UPDATED 10/12/26: Bill is traveling — he’s back next week — so we’re presenting this perfectly timed reprint from March, 31, 2025! Dig it! — Dan — By BILL MORRISON Yesterday marked the 86th anniversary of the first appearance of my favorite character of all time, Batman! So, in honor of that Earth-shaking event, I’m presenting a six-page story that I wrote and drew in 2003, all about my decades-long obsession with the Caped Crusader and his enthralling cast of characters, and my cosplay quest for the perfect Batman costume! Most of what’s portrayed in the story happened as presented, though some scenes were enhanced for comedic effect. And a word about the art style. This was my first autobiographic story, and I was experimenting. I looked to Dan DeCarlo’s work on the Willie Lumpkin newspaper comic strip for inspiration and I confess I borrowed heavily from it. This story was created for and published in the anthology, Autobiographix, edited by the great Diana Schutz, and appears here by special permission of Dark Horse Comics. The collection features other autobiographical stories by such talented creators as Will Eisner, Frank Miller, Stan Sakai, Sergio Aragonés, Matt Wagner, and many more! A hardcover edition is still in print, and I highly recommend it! — Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below! — MORE — A Trip to the One (and Only) Real-Life SIMPSONS HOUSE. Click here. — FUTURAMA’s Fab Riffs on Classic Comic Book Covers. Click here. — Eisner winner BILL MORRISON has been working in comics and publishing since 1993 when he co-founded Bongo Entertainment with Matt Groening, Cindy Vance and Steve Vance. At Bongo, and later as Executive Editor of Mad Magazine, he parodied the comics images he loved as a kid every chance he got. Not much has changed. Bill is on Instagram (@atomicbattery) and Facebook (Bill Morrison/Atomic Battery Studios), and regularly takes commissions and sells published art through 4C...
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