Evolution of the Batmobile 102
Posted
by
CmdrTaco
from the mostly-four-wheels dept.
from the mostly-four-wheels dept.
I noticed this sweet graphic tracking the evolution of the Batmobile that I just spent a fairly ridiculously long time staring at. I've read my share of Batman, but there are tons of designs that I'd never seen.
If we could only get the instructions (Score:4, Informative)
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Dullam has even been contacted by defense contractors about using their transparent aluminum in the windows.
WTF? Captain, there be whales...!
Yawn Comics (Score:4, Insightful)
I've never really liked comics books, but wow, I never realised they could also be so consciously boring visually. Most of the 70s, 80s and 00s designs for the car are appallingly uncreative. Many are virtually or totally unaltered versions of existing cars. In fact the most unique, fresh and striking designs come from the TV, movie and cartoon adaptations.
I guess if you want creativity, you don't look at a medium that recycles the same characters for 70 years.
Re:Yawn Comics (Score:5, Insightful)
I've never really liked internet comments, but wow, I never realized that one specific instance represents the entire spread. Most of the .coms, .orgs, and .net sites for social interaction are appalingly uncreative. Many posts are virtually or totally unaltered versions of existing comments. In fact the most unique, fresh and striking ideas come from Fox News, CNN, and Glenn Beck.
I guess if you want intelligent discussion, you don't look at a medium that connects millions of people from around the world together in live discussion.
Re:Yawn Comics (Score:4, Funny)
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OMG! Comic book artists can get lazy and use the real world as a model for their art!
My common sense is tingling! [myopera.com]
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This one is better:
http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2010/11/29/corvettes-on-ebay-1978-batmobile-replica/#more-4577 [corvetteblogger.com]
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Many posts are virtually or totally unaltered versions of existing comments.
I agree. In fact, many posts are virtually or totally unaltered versions of existing comments.
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The DC artists seemed to have a sort of childish dream car thing going on.
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There is one bat mobile I do not see on that list, and it happens to be one that has some resemblance to the tumbler. It was very tank like, I don't recall exactly what series it was from though, one where he was an old man.
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Thats the one. Big, wide, giant wheels.
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*SPOILER*
That's the one that shot Superman in the face. Gotta love that, for all the (non) effect it had.
Re:Yawn Comics (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Yawn Comics (Score:4, Funny)
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I was noticing that too. Also, why is he getting in on the wrong side of the car? Is he driving in England?
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I've never really liked comics books, but wow, I never realised they could also be so consciously boring visually. Most of the 70s, 80s and 00s designs for the car are appallingly uncreative. Many are virtually or totally unaltered versions of existing cars. In fact the most unique, fresh and striking designs come from the TV, movie and cartoon adaptations.
I guess if you want creativity, you don't look at a medium that recycles the same characters for 70 years.
Imagine that, you found a datapoint that reinforces your expectations.
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Parent may be marked Troll - possibly thanks to the subject line - but he does have a point, doesn't he?
I'm not even sure "Evolution" applies given that it's just snapshots of what a batmobile was in a given period of a year - there's no natural progression from one to the other, let alone 'Evolution'. Sure there's some recurring themes - the double-bubble, the 'bat wings', the mask on the front - but they appear and disappear at random.
Similarly they go back and forth between 'bland' (1970 Corvette-based
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"Hey Batman, your vehicle isn't visually impressive enough!"
I dare you.
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Show up in some of those cars and you might just get laughed at by the criminals.
That definitely not what Bruce was going after.
The car should inspire fear and awe as much as he does.
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I agree. The standard car, is quite boring. I mean batman is supposed to be over the top. Some of those cars would be fine for Bruce Wane, but not for Batman. Some of those cars almost look like a gremlin. When I think batman I see a car when it drives up the bad guys go oh crap it is Batman. Not hey look it is a random guy driving up.
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I didn't think it was boring, but an interesting sign of the times. However, I can't help but think that the 2000 version (that shows the Batman getting in) looks like he has been forced to drive a rental car. I imagine that it would have the bumper sticker "My other car is actually cool". It would have sensible gadgets like a drink holder and an AM/FM radio to get news reports.
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I guess if you want creativity, you don't look at a medium that recycles the same characters for 70 years.
While the characters and (origin) stories are recycled, the audience is always changing--as with grand opera and Shakespeare--and, in this particular instance, you can see how those changes are reflected in the styling of the car.
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I saw something different. I saw two distinct stylistic approaches depending on the storylines surrounding the designs. Some cars looking like the vehicles of the day to help the reader identify with the owner of the batmobile. Usually more for the noir and detective stories. Others so outlandish and advanced, as to underline the more fantastic and outrageous elements of superhero storlines.
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That's not such my concern as:
1) This series isn't so much an "evolution" as a total reimagining of the car in every iteration. Heck, there's a 2000 car that looks like the 1980s Porsche-inspired one.
2) Some of the 70s-80s artists were terrible. The cars look impractical and out of proportion.
3) The Barbara Ling cars are stupid and hideous. I mean, we had tacky, huge tailfins that flapped homo-erotically to go with the homoerotic Batman costume.
Very Cool (Score:2)
Oddly enough for something like this there aren't any goofy ones.
There are some retro car inspired ones, but nothing too wierd.
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Some *very* boring ones....
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It's also interesting how many of the features are persistent. There is a face mask and single tail fin in v2-4 that keep coming back in the future versions. In fact, these two features are really the only thing that really distinguishes the early versions from a normal car.
Amazing imaginations of the illustrators (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Amazing imaginations of the illustrators (Score:5, Funny)
Those illustrators are great, thinking what cars would have been like if they existed before the 1950's.
Wait, what? And modded +4 interesting right now, to boot.
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I'm hoping the parent was trying to be funny. Sadly, I'm not sure how this is informative though. Interestingly cars have been around since the 1800's and most of the first were in fact steam powered. Here's an interesting read about just how far steam powered cars advanced: http://www.damninteresting.com/the-last-great-steam-car [damninteresting.com]
It makes you wonder what could be done with today's tech.
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A good article to read, thanks for the link.
What a brilliant statement! (Score:5, Funny)
I just spent a fairly ridiculously long time staring at.
I could say the same thing about source code, but my manager would not get the joke.
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I just spent a fairly ridiculously long time staring at.
I could say the same thing about source code, but my manager would not get the joke.
He'd probably just spend a fairly ridiculously long time staring at you.
Man, he must be seriously tough on his cars! (Score:3)
Re:Man, he must be seriously tough on his cars! (Score:5, Funny)
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Pay the contractors and builders in cash while dressed up as Batman?
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They are missing one (Score:5, Funny)
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And another one... (Score:2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dr_EjKV5CM [youtube.com]
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The Batman and Robin who ride in that thing really are gay!
How many times do you have to fold that . . . (Score:3)
. . . to get it back in the middle of the magazine?
Missing the Dystopian Batmobile (Score:5, Informative)
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Just in case it's slashdotted... (Score:2)
Just in case the page gets slashdotted, here is the pic: http://www.multiupload.com/9DUI40ATQT [multiupload.com]
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Holy 7MB .jpg over SSL Batman! (Score:2, Funny)
Taco, are you trying to take it down faster than $evil_villain at the end of the comic.
http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net/2011/01/batmobile_page.jpg [nyud.net]
Batman Beyond (Score:3)
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The site [batmobilehistory.com] the graphic's creators ripped off lists the Beyond Batmobile [batmobilehistory.com] under 'Alternate Timelines'.
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Score:1)
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advertising (Score:3)
This is the kind of advertising I don't find offensive. Well done.
George Barris (Score:4, Interesting)
George Barris [barris.com] did some really amazing work, including the 66 Batmobile, the Munster's coach, and a huge list of other slick creations. In the 60's he had a car driven by a joystick in the center console.
Check out his site... pretty fun stuff there.
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Thanks for the link. I used to see the original Batmobile being driven around Burbank Ca. in the 60s. And yes, I'm older than dirt :)
Evolution of campy (Score:2)
With the pending release of the Green Hornet we get a new Black Beauty. Where once the Green Hornet and Kato tore about the city in the sleek, supercharged car, which must have turned a bit over 100 HP, we're in for something which will have to make even the Batmobile look like yesterday's Fiero.
And in about 2 more years Green Hornet Returns will have yet-another iteration of the famous Black Beauty.
Honestly, where do you park a car like that while you're in the building fighting with gangsters, where nobo
Re:Evolution of Hearse (Score:1)
Batman has to die...right....so before I do I have to see the Bathearse!
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My father had an AMC Hornet station wagon.
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Wasn't there a TV series or movie, where the Green Hornet had a green AMC Hornet?
My father had an AMC Hornet station wagon.
That would certainly be a large step down from what the Black Beauty was all about. I've seen AMC Hornets. It may have been tongue-in-cheek advertising.
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http://homepage.mac.com/christopher.z/hobby/Courtesy/72-HornetSticker.html [mac.com]
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everything about the green hornet looks horrid.
I recently re-watched some of the original. yeah, a ,lot of the filming technique s are 'dated' or immature by todays standards; however Bruce Lee is awesome fast, no special effects.
For you batmobilephiles... (Score:3)
Remember the Corgi model? (Score:5, Interesting)
If you were a kid growing up in the '70s then chances are you or one of your friends had one of the Corgi Batmobiles, and if you did my Grandfather played a small part in your childhood.
My grandfather was a "skilled metal worker", his specialty was the dies for casting metal, and later, plastic parts. His last job before retirement was over a decade with a small design shop in Worcester (UK) that contracted to Corgi. Many of the elements of the Batmobile were done by him and his friends.
Over a decade later he still called the Batmobile design his best work.
He passed away in 2002 at the age of 88 and I can tell you that even in his final months he was still passionate about craftsmanship. In one of the last conversations I had with him he told me about hanging out with his own grandfather who was a basket weaver and being taught how to weave reeds.
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I had one of those, it was really cool, even as a kid you could see it was designed better than most other toys. Thanks for the back story.
Missing the 2009 model (Score:2)
They're missing the 2009 model [pcgameshardware.com].
Still the classic! (Score:2)
The TV series car based on the 55 Futura is still burned into my mind as the classic implementation. I love the list of futuristic features in the article's image:
* Nose mounted chain slicer (WTF is that?)
* Atomic turbine engine (Mr. Fusion)
* On-board telephone (As Steve Jobs says: It's magical!)
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Forgot some (Score:2)
Saw this on Jalopnik Last week (Score:2)
That said, it's not every batmobile. But the discussion has some interesting things!
Where are the cars from the 1940's Batman serials? (Score:1)
Black and white, no sissy 3D or color!
Lucky we had sound I tell you.
Alfred driving Batman around in a big ol' limousine.
That was crime fighting!
Now get the heck off my lawn.
Tumbler? HA! (Score:2)
That's nothin'. You want a real Batmobile, you want a completely unmodified '49 Mercury [wikipedia.org].
Wrong movie for Tumbler (Score:2)
They appear to have mixed up The Dark Knight and Batman Begins...
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the tumbler was in both movies. I guess its kinda weird they used a colon instead of a slash to separate batman begins and dark knight, but whatever.
The best one was from the 1989 movie (Score:3)
I've never been satisfied with any of the other batmobiles. The Tumbler from the reboot is a very cool vehicle but it doesn't say "batman" to me, just generically awesome.
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Agreed. Dark Knight replaced the Burton Batman films as my favorite, but the Batmobile didn't seem like the Batmobile - just another of Batman's "wonderful toys".
Evolution of the Batmobile (Score:2)
Nice Touch (Score:1)
...but missing the most important Batmobile (Score:1)
No Dark Knight Returns tank.
For those who might not know - Dark Knight Returns is as big as it gets and one of the most important graphic novels of all time
Not including the extraordinary batmobile from DKR is like missing out Tom Baker in a Doctor Who chart.
clickety-clickety-click (Score:2)
I'm not much of a batman fan, but enjoyed this anyway. Mostly because the author put the whole thing on one diagram, instead of doing what EVERYONE else is doing now: putting each of 60 diagrams on a different page and making you click through them, one by one, with a new ad on each page.
Kudos to this guy. The rest of the web is slowly turning to crap thanks to this "get as many ads across you as possible in one session" mentality.