Supercar?

When some old-timers here the name Supercar, they think of Gerry Anderson's British Supermarionation TV series:

But some of us may think that Superman's driving for Uber.

Hey, wait a second! Why does Superman have to drive around? And why does he get to have such a cool Supermobile? We assume he's driving because he suddenly can't fly or something, but why isn't he, like, stuck in a Honda Civic?

The reason the Supermobile above is so cool is that it was from 1955, when cars still looked cool, instead of the homogeneous lumps we drive around in now. In that issue of World's Finest, Superman loses his powers through the machinations of a villain and Batman accidentally gets them. So, for the duration of Superman's powerlessness, Batman makes him a Supermobile to use for his heroics. Probably the first time Clark Kent ever had to worry about parking.

But that wouldn't be the only time Superman had to deal with a vehicle. During a multi-issue run of Action Comics in 1978, red sun radiation bathes the Earth and causes him to lose his powers, just as the evil android Amazo is running amok. What's a Kryptonian to do but build a Supermobile that can mimic his own powers of flight, superstrength, and so on?

The goofiest thing about this is, of course, the fists. I have no evidence to support this but I am pretty sure the whole reason DC ran this story was because Corgi had come out with a line of superhero car toys, including....

I wondered what the connection was -- did Corgi bribe DC with a suitcase full of British pounds? -- and so had a look on the Wikipedia page for the Supermobile, because of course Wikipedia has a page for the Supermobile. No mention of bribery. I remain suspicious.

Hot Wheels and Matchbox have also had Superman-themed cars, but as far as I know they did not manage to get a multi-issue storyline based on them.

More cars should have capes.

Various Metropolis vehicles. Don't know what the gray van is for.
Luthor's creepy kidnapping van?

I give props to Cary Bates, who wrote the Supermobile series, for working it into the plot. Writers have always liked stories where a powerless Superman has to be heroic, and Amazo was one tough hombre, with the powers of all the members of the original Justice League of America. Bates managed to make the Supermobile a logical part of Superman's plan.

Still, when Spider-Man had to have a car -- the Spiderbuggy -- possibly as part of another Corgi underhanded deal, he hated the idea.

I joked about Clark Kent, but for Spidey, parking would really be an ordeal. He winds up using the car because he needs the money that the creators of the car will pay him, which is why we all loved Spider-Man back in those days. He was the first flat-broke hero.

Spider-Man lost the car in the river; it was later fished out by Deadpool, who turned it into the Dead-buggy. But that's another story.

Anyway, here is the Corgi version.

Looks more like an army jeep than a dune buggy, doesn't it? Maybe there was another version I haven't seen. There are newer versions.

Anyway, guys, as much as I would have loved to play with those Corgi toys when I was a kid, I think you heroes ought to leave the -mobile stuff to Batman. He's the only superhero who really knows how to use a vehicle effectively as part of his crime-fighting mission (although he did once almost have his tires stolen). And I think we can all be glad that no one was dumb enough to come up with the Hulkmobile, right?

Uh-oh.