An ever-popular trope of superhero comic books/cartoons/TV shows is the headquarters/retreat/home base that the superhero can visit when he/she is stressed out and needs down time, or do homework on supervillains, or what have you. The Bat-cave is perhaps the most famous example, but I brainstormed a list of headquarters. What are your favorites? What ones are the most interesting, what ones would you like to visit/own?
I am purposely leaving the parameter definitions of ‘superhero’ and ‘sanctuary’ vague and expansive; I’d say that the one qualifier is that it must be place the hero/villain goes to inhabit and “get away from it all.” For example, the TARDIS would count because the Doctor essentially lives within it and uses it as a retreat from the universe, as well as uses it to travel; while say the Milllenium Falcon is not Han or Chewie’s home - it’s just their mode of transportation.
Here’s my shortlist. Please feel free to add examples I may have overlooked:
Fortress of Solitude (Superman)
Batcave (Batman)
Paradise Island a.k.a. Themyscira (Wonder Woman)
Flash Museum (Flash)
Planet Oa (Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps)
Atlantis – DC Version (Aquaman)
Arrow Cave (Green Arrow)
Secret Sanctuary (Justice League America – Silver Age)
JLA Satellite (Justice League America – Bronze Age)
JLA Bunker (Justice League Detroit)
JLI Embassies (Justice League International)
JLA Watchtower (Justice League – Morrison Age)
Hall of Justice (Super Friends)
Titan’ Tower (Teen Titans)
Dream Realm (Sandman)
Rock of Ages (Captain Marvel / Shazam Family)
Baxter Building (Fantastic Four)
4 Freedoms Tower (Fantastic Four)
Fantasti-Pier (Fantastic Four)
Avenger’ Mansion (Avengers)
Avenger’ L.A. Compound (Avengers West Coast)
Avenger’ Tower (Avengers)
Atlantis – Marvel Version (Sub-mariner)
Asgard (Thor)
Olympus (Hercules)
Sanctum Sanctorum (Dr. Strange)
Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters / Xavier Institute (X-Men)
Wakanda (Black Panther)
Attilan (Inhumans)
Watcher’s Dome / Blue Area of the Moon (Uatu the Watcher)
Olympia (Eternals)
TARDIS (Doctor Who)
High School Library (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Hyperion Hotel (Angel)
Supervillains don’t tend to have especially noteworthy sanctuaries, but here’s a few examples I could think of:
Lex-Corp HQ (Lex Luthor)
Crooked House in the Null Zone (Prometheus)
Un-named skull-shaped hideout / spaceship (Legion of Doom)
Latveria (Dr. Doom)
Worldship (Galactus)
Negative Zone (Annihilus / Blastaar)*
Morlock Alley (Morlocks)
Dark Dimension (Dormammu)
Hell-mouth (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Wolfram & Hart offices (Angel)
*OK, so the Negative Zone doesn’t exactly belong to Annihilus or Blastaar, but they are so closely associated with that specific place I’d say it qualifies as “their” sanctuary.
I’m not sure I’d agree that places like Asgard, Atlantis, Olympus, and Wakanda count. There places where some superheroes live but they aren’t really bases as such. If they are, you might as well call New York City a base.
True, but that’s why I left the parameters vague. Wakanda or Paradise Island may have other inhabitants, but they are primarily associated with particular super-heroes. If you read a Black Panther or Wonder Woman comic book, there’s a pretty good chance their respective ‘nations’ would be featured in the storyline. But if you’re reading a Superman comic in which, for some reason he visits Paradise Island, there’s a 100% chance that Wonder Woman will make a guest appearance - because Paradise Island “belongs” to her.
(And before anyone jumps in and nitpicks - yes I know the Avengers visited Wakanda in “Age of Ultron” and no-one mentioned Prince T’Challa. But still, their visit there was a deliberate move to set up the upcoming Black Panther movie; including introducing the guy who will certainly be one of the principle antagonists.)
Asgard and Olympus may be a little more iffy, because they have longtime mythological roots. But still, if a Marvel Comic is going to feature characters going to Asgard, there’s a safe bet that Thor will be somehow, even tangentially related to the plot.
New York City on the other hand is a well-known all-purpose setting. Any hero in the MCU can go there, have adventures and not be expected to connect with another specific hero. I even left out cities such as Metropolis or Gotham because those locales each have numerous superheroes who operate there. The FoS or Bat-Cave are for the exclusive use of a selet few. Even Robin or Batgirl don’t use the resources of the Bat-cave if they aren’t working in direct partnership with Batman.
Of course, down in the Antarctic, Ozymandias had Karnak, with the gymnasium and the swimming pool and the wall of televisions and the big art collection.
Back when The Green Hornet was on TV, I used to love the way Britt Reid would ride his car into the garage, the clamps would grab the wheels, and the floor would spin, bringing the Black Beauty into use, but I always wondered what being upside-down did to the engine oil in his car or the BB.
Over the years, Magneto had a number of lairs. My favorite was the one on a tropical island, dotted with ancient ruins, apparently built by Cthulhu-worshipers.
I like Doc Savage’s Manhattan HQ.
It was in two parts.
the top of a skyscraper, where Doc Lived, had his secret basement garage, & his penthouse labs, & office.
and, via a secret, high-speed pneumatic elevator
The Hidalgo Trading Company warehouse, on the river, where Doc hid his submarine, the Helldiver, his seaplanes, and his Zeppelin.
Please forgive the correction, but it was/is actually ‘Pier Four’…and believe me, that name too was bad enough. I’ve always regarded Pier Four as easily the worst of the Fantastic Four’s HQs. Although, I’ll take the fact that was the worst thing about the team during the quite dreadfully short Scott Lobdell/Alan Davis FF three issue ‘run’* versus the other worst things in FF (and there have been quite a few of them) that have come in the last eighteen years.
Anyways to semi-end this on a more sunny note, the Baxter Building has always been my favorite of the FF’s HQs and in general just because you pure and simply can’t beat the classics. And with honorable mentions going to Asgard if it counts and Spector Manor, home of my most favorite underappreciated comic character in Moon Knight.
I’ll never forget the fateful day I came home from middle school (eighth grade) to find out that Lobdell amscrayed from the FF and Marvel for Hollywood to help with a TV series (that, IIRC, never exactly got off the ground)…the IMO wretched Chris Claremont run that followed (and really, the majority of the years since then) was and will always big time salt on this FF lover’s wound.
I agree with those who argue an entire country does not count as a base or HQ. Yes, Wakanda and Themiscyra are associated with particular characters, but they’re still very different from a Batcave or Baxter Building (which are my two favorites HQs – perfect matches for the heroes using them).
Dr. Fate used to have an ominous stone tower in Salem, Mass., that was cool-looking. I don’t know if the interior was ever shown in enough detail to judge it.
Supreme had a flying fortress hidden within a cloud.
The Challengers of the Unknown operated out of Challengers Mountain.
During the Joker’s short-lived series in the 70s, his base of operations was the Ha-Hacienda.
