An informal poll. Both hero and villain vehicles count.
Best
The Batmobile
'Nuff said. But only as long as it’s not the one from the Joel Schumaker movies. ::Shudder::
The Blackbird/X-Jet
Mostly the newer versions…older ones tended to look like stubby-winged lawn darts.
Worst
Magneto’s Silver…uh, spheres from “X-Men: Evolution.” I almost called them “Magneto’s Silver Balls” just now, so you can see that they’ve got one weakness right off the bat. Otherwise…efficient as they may be, there’s just not a lot of grandeur in flying around in a windowless, unpowered. and very cramped metal sphere. Especially if you’re not the one who gets to control or power it.
The Spider-Buggy is generally counted as being pretty dumb…but hey, it’s still a dune buggy. It’s got a little (if still not very much) intrinsic coolness right there.
Any other suggestions?
Fantasticar/Flying Bathtub
Serpentor’s Flying Cobra Chariot
Goblin Glider
Jack O’Lantern’s Pogo Platform
Silver Surfer’s Surfboard
Taa II (it’s a friggin World Ship, for crying out loud)
Ghost Rider II’s motorcycle
Worst:
Invisible Jet
Rocket Racer’s skateboard
Punisher’s Battle Van (he’s better off with a small arsenal and not a computerized war room on wheels)
But the number one thing I’d like to ride: She-Hulk
The Arrow-Car: I know Green Arrow needed transport, but it’s been a running gag that GA doesn’t have anything that Batman didn’t invent first.
The Hulk: I can’t imagine how anyone survives a ride on him. (No, really: the Hulk’s been shown carrying people in his mammoth arms while leaping.) There must be an incredible jolt when he touches down, and, IIRC, he tends to go at least a mile up and several miles over. At the very least, I’d wager that his passengers lose a few teeth. And how the hell do they breathe?
On a similar note…
Superman: He’s carried folk, too. One of the most believable portrayals had him wrapping Lois in his cape for a transatlantic flight. Makes sense. Anybody else riding in his arms must be either really cold or really breathless.
BEST: The Batmobile, hands down. Survived in one form or another for more than fifty years, on sheer coolness factor.
WORST: Well, the Invisible Jet made me wonder more than once. As has the Supermobile, a sort of rocket-ship thingy with little arms with fists on them and Superman’s “S” logo on the stabilizer. Seemingly invented for no other reason than to have one more thing to sell after “Superman: The Movie” came out.
…but ultimately, I’d have to vote for the Spider-Mobile. What the heck were they thinking? True, Spider-Man didn’t need a car any more than Superman needed a rocket ship, but at least it was a ROCKET SHIP, not a friggin’ dune buggy… and in NEW YORK? Jeez…
BEST: The Batmobile, hands down. Survived in one form or another for more than fifty years, on sheer coolness factor.
WORST: Well, the Invisible Jet made me wonder more than once. As has the Supermobile, a sort of rocket-ship thingy with little arms with fists on them and Superman’s “S” logo on the stabilizer. Seemingly invented for no other reason than to have one more thing to sell after “Superman: The Movie” came out.
…but ultimately, I’d have to vote for the Spider-Mobile. What the heck were they thinking? True, Spider-Man didn’t need a car any more than Superman needed a rocket ship, but at least it was a ROCKET SHIP, not a friggin’ dune buggy… and in NEW YORK? Jeez…
The Carrier, from the Authority. It is a 50-mile long “shiftship,” a sentient trading vessel from a parallel universe, meant to sail and explore the Bleed, the space between all universes. It has unlimited power, apparently given by a “caged baby universe.” It has all sorts of weapons and defense systems, plenty of rooms and facilities for the Authority (including a place where they carried thousands of refugees), and the means to link the team together telepathically for field missions, and to allow them to teleport anywhere at any time just by saying the activation word “Door.” Also, the Midnighter used it to bulldoze a super-villain’s palace once.
I also have a soft spot for Blue Beetle’s Bug (a large airship that can also be a submarine), and on a related note, the second Nite Owl’s Owlship from Watchmen (which even had a coffee machine). Both vehicles had ample room to carry rescue victims from burning buildings.
Green Lantern’s power ring is a vehicle… he uses it to fly all over the galaxy.
For versatility, it’s hard to top a vehicle that will literally do whatever the user can think of… and the yellow weakness is gone, so no more worry about crashing into a tiny particle of yellow space debris at warp 47.
Best: Sure the batmobile is cool now, but I gotta say the batmobile from the Dark Knight Returns is even better. I love that scene where we see it for the first time. It is also way more powerful than the current one.
Worst: Not even in the same league as the Spider-mobile, but I always the thought the Ultimate X-men plane was sort of weak, yes I know it’s based on that real military plane (whose name I’ve forgotten), but I never really liked it’s design.
Just to balance out all the “best ever” votes for the Batmobile, I’d like to offer a special thumbs down to the so-called “New Batmobile” design from Batman: The Cult. Up until it gets introduced, the story is progressing nicely as a psychological study - and then, for some reason, Batman brings in a giant monster truck (with a missile launcher welded on top of it), and just starts shooting at people. Not only does it throw the whole story off, it’s painful to see Batman praising the thing as superior to the old model. Luckily, it never showed up again.
And if we’re gonna bring in Cobra’s arsenal, then I have to ask if Transformers count? 'cause Omega Supreme would mop the floor with most of the nominees…
Some Guy, the thing to know about the vehicle from Batman: The Cult is that the “story” was written by Jim Starlin right after The Dark Knight Returns was a big hit, and that Jim Starlin, unlike Frank Miller, has zero talent as a writer.
My vote for best: Flash’s Cosmic Treadmill, because you could go just about anywhere on it, and it’s just so weird a concept.
Just for looks, if they ever did a comic book, was Voltron. I always thoguhtt hat was the coolest looking thing when I was a teenager; a really creative idea.
Of course, now that I add that, it probably was only on TV. But if it was, it should have been a comic book.
I never was into the action adventure comic books, though, so I can’t comment too much on any others, except to wonder if maybe Superman put some fort of force field around people to keep them from getting too cold or out of breath before taking them on a long flight. Something that would be good for them to invent, even now, it could always be a retro explanation for things.
I always quite liked the Avengers Quinjet, particularly if it came with a flycycle. Having said that, the Flycycle looked a bit cold. I’ve even seen Captain America fly to the Artic in one. Its only got a windscreen.
Worst, I always hated the Fantasticar (the bathtub). Again, its open top, so when the FF fly to monster island or latveria, they’re lucky not to die of exposure. Also, how can they speak to each other when they are all as far apart as you can get and with all that wind rushing past. What happens if it rains? Does it literally double as a bath tub.
