Top 10 Comic Book Supervillain Lairs

The Mole Man may have a thing about conquering surface dwellers, but he keeps his own hideout safely underground. His lair is located underneath New York City, part of a planetwide network of underworld caverns and tunnels known as Subterranea. As a result, he can travel almost anywhere in the world, setting up a temporary hangout wherever he goes. As is appropriate for a man who is a brilliant, if mad, scientist, Mole Man’s home is filled with monitors, computers, and all sorts of gadgets to keep the little deranged genius occupied.

When you’ve escaped from Arkham as many times as the Joker, you know that you can’t afford to put down roots or you’ll be too easy to find. Thus, the Ha-Ha-Hacienda refers to any number of hideouts that the Clown Prince of Crime has utilized. They usually are located in a site that has some connection to comedy or clowns, such as an abandoned circus or a decrepit amusement park. Joker gives them his own special decorating touches, of course, that fit his own outre sense of style.

Norman Osborn is a millionaire several times over, so it figures that he has a range of lairs from which to plot his crimes as the Green Goblin. Whether in his penthouse apartment, his cool mansion or his offices, Osborn has everything he needs for luxurious daily living. He also has secret rooms where he can get all Goblin-y when the mood strikes him. This is where he cooks up his range of pumpkin bombs or does repair work on the trusty old goblin glider. Being rich definitely has its perks.

The leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants wisely selected an asteroid as his home base. Not only did this make finding him more difficult, but sneak attacks are virtually impossible. With his own ability to control metal, his asteroid is also impossible to shoot down so he is basically untouchable. Plus, how cool is it to just hang out on a freaking asteroid? Most versions of this base boast awesome features like an observation deck, plenty of hangars for launching ships and rockets, and the latest mutant-based medical bays.

This lair has a life of its own – literally. Ship is a sentient hunk of architecture created by the Celestials, an alien race that liked to butt their noses into everybody else’s business. It was left here on Earth to be a silent spy for the Celestials. But when Apocalypse, a heavy duty mutant bad guy, found Ship…well, the dude just had to have him for himself. Ship is filled with lots of fancy mega-impressive alien technology, including a cloaking device that came in very handy. Blessed with artificial intelligence, Ship is not quite like any other hideout around.

A guy with an ego as big as Lex Luthor’s needs a hang-out to match. The offices of LexCorp are in the tallest building in Metropolis. A little compensating going on here, maybe? From LexCorp, Luthor runs the legitimate business interests of his multi-billion-dollar company. But he also conducts illegal scientific experiments and develops weaponry for his own nefarious purposes as well. Because Superman is his greatest enemy, Luthor also took the wise precaution of lining all of the walls with lead. Even the windows have a thin layer of lead, so that no prying x-ray vision can take a peek inside.

If you want cool, there’s no place that matches that description like the Antarctic. That’s where Ozymandias, the hero-villain of the Watchmen series, chose to construct his stunning little lair. Named Karnak, after an ancient Egyptian temple complex, the hideout is a massive structure that includes living quarters, servants, an enclosed atrium, a control room and some rather interesting pets. Karnak is the perfect place for the world’s smartest man to plot the destruction – or was that the salvation? - of the world.

The folks at Cobra are hell-bent on world domination – and they picked a lovely little island from which to carry out their schemes. Located in the Gulf of Mexico, Cobra Island has everything a power-mad dictator could want, including a volcano. All of Cobars weapons and supplies are buries safely in the mountain, accessible via underground tunnels. Of course, the main attraction here is a fortress called the Terrordrome that’s perfect for all manner of evil plotting. Who could ask for anything more – except total control of the world, that is.

The Penguin may be one odd bird, but he sure knows what appeals to Gotham City’s “it crowd.” Pretending to have turned over a new leaf, Penguin opened up the Iceberg Lounge, a two-story restaurant that features ice sculptures, seals and, of course, a few of those Antarctic birds. Behind its legit exterior, it also serves as a base for Penguin’s full-scale criminal operations, of course. Just as Luthor uses a real business to front his more questionable activities, the Penguin’s trendy hot spot offers him protection – for a while, at least.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

The Hall of Doom
The Legion of Doom

Tower Zemo
Baron Zemo

Mephisto’s Realm
Mephisto

Dark Dimension
Dormammu

If you’re going to commit evil on a massive scale, it helps if you have diplomatic immunity. As the ruler of the country of Latveria, Victor Von Doom can be just as evil as he wants with fear of only limited reprisal. The seat of Latverian government is Castle Doom, Victor’s ancestral home. With 110 rooms, there’s space for everything a dictator could need. And having been built in the 16th century, it’s full of medieval comforts as well as one of the must state of the art laboratories in the world. Located high on a mountaintop and protected by Doombots, Castle Doom is asupervillain’s dream home.


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