Earl Cooper

Earl Cooper was an auto mechanic who designed and built the Batmobile for Batman. Earl originally worked for a large automobile company until he discovered the designs of their cars were faulty, and the company bigwigs tried to have him killed before he could inform anyone. He was saved by Batman. However, his reputation as a whistle-blower ensured that he could not get a job anywhere, but Batman saved him again when he commissioned Earl to design him a new Batmobile to replace his old, broken-down one. Batman set Earl and his daughter Marva up in a high-tech, secret garage, and he and Robin would routinely stop by so the father-and-daughter team of mechanics could tune up the Batmobile or fix any damages.

Things went smoothely for a while until Earl's auto-part supplier, Arnold Rundle, caught on to just what the specialty parts Earl was always ordering were for, and told the Penguin. It wasn't long before the Penguing and his henchmen Falcone, Eagleton, and Sheldrake came to pay Earl a visit, threatening to kill Marva unless the mechanic made it possible for the Penguing to control the Batmobile by remote. With no other choice, Earl complied, and was left in the care of Eagleton while Penguin and his other two henchmen took Marva in their limo as 'insurance' and began wreaking havoc with the Batmobile.

Earl, feeling immensely guilty, was devastated when the Penguin (somewhat prematurely) phoned Eagleton to inform him of the success of their mission and Batman and Robin's demise, causing Earl to fly into a rage and overpower his only guard. Batman and Robin survived, though, and rescued Marva and took care of Penguing and his remaining henchmen, although the Batmobile was completely destroyed in the process. Following this, Batman arranged for Earl and Marva to move to a new garage where the Penguin would never find them, and in return Earl rebuilt the Batmobile.