Yesterday we covered ten through six, now fasten your seat belts for the final five. Think you've figured them out already? Think again!
Samson's Chronomobile: I run hot and cold on the stories of Grant Morrison, the avant-garde metatextual shaman of superhero comics. Some of them, like Final Crisis, I find insufferably esoteric... yet others, like his All-Star Superman, I find fresh and wildly entertaining. Using the sprawling Superman mythos of the Silver Age (1960's) as his inspiration and template, Morrison celebrated many of the character types and situations the Superman of that far away era often encountered...such as his routine befriending of historic/mythological heroes! In issue #4 of All-Star Superman, Biblical strongman Samson showed up in the time-traveling Chronomobile (along with his Greek mythology pal Atlas) to challenge Superman to a friendly contest of strength (as mythic strongmen are known to do). Now, the Chronomobile appeared for only a panel or two, but the thought of Samson gallivanting through time in a cosmic hot rod just delights me to no end. Enough to earn it the vaunted number five slot.
The Fantasti-Car: As the first official super-vehicle of the modern Marvel universe, the original Fantastic-Car
was quickly dubbed "the flying bathtub" for obvious reasons (click on the inset to the left for a closer look). Later on,
F.F. leader Reed Richards designed a much more dynamic and useful
Fantasti-Car, one which could fly as either a single unit or detach into
four separate "scout" modules. Ideally, a comic book vehicle should be a good thematic fit with its respective character(s), and the Fantasti-Car's bulky "family vehicle" feel and somewhat corny name did exactly that for Marvel's First Family!
The Goblin Glider: The villain who ultimately became Spider-Man's greatest enemy made his rather inauspicious debut with a goofy plan and an even goofier vehicle. Thankfully, by his second appearance, the Green Goblin's original mode of transportation was replaced by the sinister Goblin Glider! Faster and more maneuverable, the bat-shaped flying platform belched out dark clouds of smoke, adding flagrant disregard for the environment to Norman Osborn's long list of crimes! Years later, the Goblin Glider would play an important (and hugely ironic) role in one of the most dramatic scenes in comic book history, perfectly justifying its place at #3.
The Golden Age Batmobile: Although I'm fond of most Batmobile designs from Batman's seven decade run, I'm particularly drawn to the earlier Golden Age (1940's) models featuring the spooky "bat head" mounted to the grill. If criminals weren't already scared of Batman himself, the Batmobile's eerie "sunken eyes" barreling toward them would send them shrieking for the safety of the nearest police precinct. I also get a kick out of how the Golden Age Batmobile always seemed to be drawn from a dramatic 3/4 "worm's eye" (ground-up) perspective, with the looming bat-head and windshield area swiftly tapering back and down toward the much smaller back fenders (as you can see in the examples below). Eternally classic and forever cool.
At this point. you might be wondering what could possibly supplant the Batmobile for #1? Well, believe me, I went round and round with this in my own head...and ultimately decided to make my top pick:
Kal-El's Rocketship: Surprised? Yeah...in a way, I was too (and I made the dang list)! Sometimes I just don't know where these things are going to take me...but the more I thought it through, the more it made sense to move it all the way to #1.
You see, unlike the other vehicles on my list, this pick has nothing (or very little) to do with visuals or high concept and everything to do with the pure pop-cultural significance of the rocket that delivered baby Supes to Earth. Put another way, it's "historical significance" (if you'll permit me to use such a grandiose term) within the world of superhero comics seems to trump the more visually appealing vehicles on my list...even one as iconic as the Batmobile!
After all, the crudely-drawn rocketship appeared in the very first panel of the very first Superman story in Action Comics #1 in 1938 (left), and..in one form or another...has remained a crucial part of the Superman story ever since. Of all the rocketship designs, I suppose a sentimental favorite would be the Silver/Bronze Age version (lower left below), but like I said, it's looks are less important than its place at the head of the comic book history parade. So...what do you think? Am I off my rocker for my #1 pick? Did I make a huge mistake by omitting a certain comic book vehicle? Or am I right on the mark? Leave a comment and let me know!
Maybe not comic booky enough (more comic strippy) but I always liked Dick Tracy's flying trashcans.
Posted by: Pat Curley | August 13, 2009 at 01:10 PM
What no Avengers Quinjet? No X-Men Blackbird?
Posted by: Ramone | August 13, 2009 at 08:17 PM
Those two must not have made as much of an impression on me as the ten I chose. The Quinjet seemed pretty standard-issue, and the Blackbird seemed to be little more than an Air Force jet.
Posted by: Mark Engblom | August 13, 2009 at 08:56 PM
Didn't the "flying bathtub" also detach into 4 separate sections?
Of the changes made to the mythology in the
first Chris Reeve Superman movie (Krypton as a ice planet, Jor-El wearing the S, Clark spending 12 years in the FOS getting "educated", "thousands of years" passing since K's destruction, etc.), I liked the art deco chandelier rocketship the least. I always loved Kal's little red and blue ride with the window and the blankets (later his costume) inside, all in keeping with the color scheme. He seemed like an infant when they shot him off, but a toddler by the time he reached Earth. Of course, many en route adventures, like EVAs and alien encounters, were added in the silver age.
Posted by: zubzwank | August 14, 2009 at 07:54 AM
"Didn't the "flying bathtub" also detach into 4 separate sections?"
Maybe it did. Still....preferred the T-shaped (or vaguely 4-shaped) version that came after it.
As for the movie spaceship, I've never been fond of it, either. However, the aspect I *do* like about it is how it conveys a more advanced and alien aspect of Kryptonian civilization. The fact that it looks absolutely nothing like what we (on Earth) would imagine as a space vehicle made Krypton seem all the more distant and inscrutable. A recognizable rocketship conveys a commonality between Earth and Krypton that Donner may have been hoping to downplay or eliminate.
That said, I think they still could have made a more "alien" looking craft without going the "Christmas ornament" route.
Yeah, the blankets were a great touch. Did you catch them in young Clark Kent's backpack when he was at the North Pole? It's one of my favorite randomly cool moments from the Superman movie.
Posted by: Mark Engblom | August 14, 2009 at 08:38 AM
I am an art deco collector, including comic covers. I love that early Fortress of Solitude door. One of the books on art deco shows a chandelier exactly like the "ornament" ship.
I am a silver ager in comic life heading for his golden age in real life. I love your column/blog, one of the highlights of my day.
Keep up the great work!
Posted by: zubzwank | August 14, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Oh yeah, for those interested, EVA stands for Extra Vehicular Activitiy.
Little Kal, apparently passing by a yellow star, took a couple of space flights (and fought off some evil aliens) on his way to Jonathan and Martha in the silver age.
In the 90's, a DC writer/artist felt the need to show Superman with an oxygen mask in space, for the sake of "reality" I guess. Dumb idea. C'mon, this is SUPERMAN! I mean, he's SUPPOSED to have powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.
I did like some of the alienity of movie Krypton, which in the comics was kind of a (cool) futuristic Earth; missed the floating ghost-looking Phantom Zone prisoners, though.
OK, that's all for today.
Posted by: zubzwank | August 14, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Zubzwank:
Glad you like the blog! Thanks for making a daily stop (even though I'm pretty much on an every-other-day schedule).
Regarding Kal-El's "extracurricular activities" on his way to Earth: I recall that there was ONE story that claimed Kal-El was detoured into another dimension, grew to adulthood, got married, had kids, then somehow was de-aged and returned to his rocketship to resume his journey to Earth. Freaky-weird stuff...and glad it was mercifully dropped from the canon. (what are some of these writers ON, anyway?) Anyone remember that same story...or would know which specific issue I'm talking about?
Posted by: Mark Engblom | August 14, 2009 at 10:41 AM
That one's easy: Action Comics #370, December 1968, "100 Years... Lost, Strayed or Stolen": http://www.dcindexes.com/database/story-details.php?storyid=22998 . Very weird story.
Posted by: Allen | August 14, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Yes, Mark, that's Action #370. It contradicts or is contradicted by so many stories before and since that you have to think Weisinger was starting to lose it already. The only worse Superman story of that era was the Black Zero one from Superman #205, where we learned that Jor-El was wrong, that Krypton would not have exploded.
Posted by: Pat Curley | August 14, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Personaly the vehicles that always made the biggest impressions on lil Bear were the spaceships that soared thru the stars in the Marvel universe. I remember being blown away by the very cool design of the Starjamers vessel and the massive Shiar cruisers that were always chasing them in Chris Clairmont's run. A vehicle from a more recent time is when the Inhumans turned their home on the Moon into an interglatic war ship powered soley by Blackbolts voice. Talk about over the top, but hey isn't that why we read comic books.
Posted by: Bear Carson | August 15, 2009 at 10:00 AM
One thing I love about the original Flying Bathtub version of the Fantasticar is that it sticks around, still in the Baxter Building garage, ready for use in its "backup" role.
For instance, it wasn't uncommon to see Ben Grimm use it in Marvel Two-In-One when the other three were off on some other adventure with the "new" car.
Posted by: suedenim | August 16, 2009 at 09:47 AM
HAS to be the Goblin Glider- smoothest mode of transportation ever seen!
Posted by: Driving Offences | December 08, 2009 at 07:02 AM
I agree the older batmobiles are the best!
Posted by: Billy Leasing | September 22, 2010 at 03:57 AM
Thanks for sharing your top 10! The Goblin Glider is great.
Posted by: стикери | August 29, 2011 at 04:36 AM