About a minute and a half of Batheaven outside the supermarket… Once upon a time, I lived in a place called Ocean Township, N.J. I was quite young and loved Batman to no end. Nearby, on Route 35, there was a Grand Union supermarket, and right outside the door was the Batmobile. Not the exact one on the TV show starring Adam West, mind you, but one that was close enough: a junior-size ride with bubble windscreens, pointed fins, open canopy, yet with a somewhat different paint scheme or decoration. (It may have been black with yellow trim, though perhaps that’s my imagination.) I’d get in the driver’s seat, Mom would put a coin or two into a slot box — a dime? a quarter? I don’t remember — and that baby would take off. The car wouldn’t actually go anywhere, of course. Just stay planted on a big box, moving forward, up, down, and back, over and over, attached to its gyrating struts, accompanied by a loud, thrumming mechanical sound. In my mind, though, I was chasing the Joker, or the Riddler, or the Penguin, or whoever. It was the best 90 seconds of the day. I don’t know what made me think of these coin-operated wonders recently, but it sent me on a quest to find pictures of 13 different ones, some with similar body types, all with different designs. Their ages are unclear but some are clearly refurbished with modern flourishes. Nevertheless, they’re all the Batmobile and, damn, I wish I could ride in one of them again. — MORE — The Day the 1966 BATMOBILE Came to My House. Click here. — I Rode in the Original BATCOPTER — and It Was Everything I Hoped. Click...
Blue moon, you saw me drinking alone… Once upon a time, our pal Chris Franklin did a piece about 1976’s DC Comics “moon glasses,” released in a deal with Pepsi. We timed it to a full moon, because obviously, and have reprinted it a few times since. But we’re big fans of the Marvel series What If? so we were quite taken by fan Dean Galgano’s mockups of Marvel moon glasses, which never existed. (Marvel did have other glasses.) He posted them online, and so here we are with 13 1970s MARVEL MOON GLASSES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. (We’re starting off with Ms. Marvel because it also happens to be a Blue Moon.) Far out! — MORE — The TOP 13 DC Comics Pepsi MOON GLASSES — RANKED. Click here. — 13 Far Out MARVEL SLURPEE CUPS of the ’70s. Click...
The celebrated comics writer and his renowned artistic partner, Jan Duursema, are in the home stretch of their awesome-looking Kickstarter — and they have bleak futures on their minds.
13 QUICK THOUGHTS on a brilliant comic book.
