Questions about the Supermobile...

[pocketmego]

Hi all,

I am curious which story first featured the Supermobile?

Does it have an origin in that issue?

What is the most memorable Supermobile issue?

I ask these questions because the Supermobile was used a few times when I was a kid on the old Superfriends show, but I have never read a comic where it was referenced or used.


I'm very curious as to where it came from and what the logic of its creation was.

-Ray

[India Ink]

There were a few stories where it was used, but I'm too pressed for time right now to give out all the details.

Essentially it was used purely for the purpose of promoting the toy. Superman really never needed a Supermobile.

[Aldous]

Pocketmego, I can tell you more when I get time to rummage through my collection to find the relevant comic books.

India Ink:

Essentially it was used purely for the purpose of promoting the toy. Superman really never needed a Supermobile.

There was a toy?

What India says is more-or-less on the money, then, but for the contrivance of some sort of radiation washing over the solar system which had the effect of draining Superman's powers. I'm not sure if the radiation was Green K or red sun, but whichever.... So the Man of Steel had to build a super-mobile which was pretty much a little space shuttle which he could fly around in. It was made of a super-tough metal that I think (from memory) was ripped off from Adamantium. It also mechanically duplicated most of Superman's powers, ie. it could do what he could normally do naturally with his body, if not for the radiation affecting his super-powers.

That is the "logic of its creation," but I can flesh out the details when I find the mag. What India implies is right, though... I think the super-mobile idea is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. It read (again, from memory) like some sort of attempt to give Superman his own version of the Batmobile... Spidey's car is another of a similar type that springs to mind, but presented more honestly, if I remember rightly.

Anyhow----the gist of it was: Superman couldn't function within this temporary power-dampening radiation, so he had to build a little space shuttle thing to fly around in.

[Brainiac44]

Yes there was a toy - I never got to put my hands on it and, I always wanted a supermobile.  
It's a crazy wish I have - that a Johny Lightning supermobile be made...

[Super Monkey]

There were a few toys :

[Brainiac44]

Man, I wanted the Corgi one in the box.  I know that there are mint ones on Ebay and other places...but it's not the same.  If Dc could only re-issue it but I know - hell will freeze...

[nightwing]

That middle (second) photo is the Supermobile.  You can always spot it by those "fists" that shot out from the sides to punch people.  Sort of like one of those "Boxing Nun" toys. :-)

You can also see it in this Neal Adams-drawn ad at my site: http://nightwing.supermanfan.net/oddities/corgi.htm

As I write there, this was a blatant attempt to sell toys around the time of the movie.  Having a guy who doesn't need a vehicle to get anywhere is a nice, egalitarian fantasy for rich and poor kids alike; all they need is a bath towel around the neck and they're in business.  But when Hollywood decides to make a film of your property, it pays to have some tie-in toy options handy, and Superman -- unlike Batman -- was sorely lacking.  Thus the Supermobile.

And Aldous, I'm not sure what you meant by saying the Spider-Buggy (or whatever it was called) was more "honest." But if my memory's right, it did fit more naturally into the cynical, jaded worldview of Spider-Man.  I think it was developed by a firm that paid Spidey to drive around in it as an advertisement.  And though he wasn't crazy about the idea, he did need the cash...as always...so he did it.  When it finally ended up at the bottom of the Hudson River, I think Spidey was as happy as the rest of us to see it go.

Maybe that's what you meant by "honest"...it's possible the writer and artist were sending us a not-so veiled message that the buggy was being forced down their throats by the guys in Marketing.

[shazamtd]

The only appearances of the Supermobile that I'm aware of are Action Comics #481



And Action Comics #482



I have them both but have never read them.