Gadget Spotlight: Jor-El's Hologram

The trouble with doing a blog like this is that sometimes things are so well known that you think you've covered it already, but you actually haven't! This happened to me last week when talking about Krypton's prison rings; I mentioned an example and went to link to it, only to discover I'd never written about it before. Luckily, I needed a post for this final week of the year, so it works out. And that example - which you already know if you've read the title - is Jor-El's hologram.

See, everyone knows that Jor-El sent a baby Superman to Earth in a rocket to save him from the exploding Krypton. And for a long time, that was the story. Superman eventually learned about Krypton through time travel, Phantom Zone criminals, and various things that fell to Earth, but it was something that happened over time.

That was not the case in Superman: The Movie (1976). This depiction that Clark come to Earth with a crystal that, when dropped into the Arctic Circle for whatever reason, formed the Fortress of Solitude. Inside the Fortress was a hologram of Jor-El that could tell Superman pretty much anything he wanted to know about Krypton or any other location in the 28 known galaxies.

Originally, this did not affect the comics at all. In fact, even when Superman's origin was updated in the 80s, it would've been impossible because Superman's ship was a "birthing matrix" that housed an unborn Kal-El. There was nothing that would hold a crystal or anything else. But when they updated his origin again in Superman: Birthright (2003 - 2004), we see that - perhaps because they reverted to the rocket of the classic origin - Jor-El packed a tablet in the rocket that acts as a Kryptonian encyclopedia. However, despite the tablet passing a very brief message from the adult Superman back to Jor-El and Lara, it does not allow for a Jor-El AI to act as a surrogate father figure, as in the movie and Smallville versions.

That all changed in Action Comics #844 (October 2006), around the same time the Fortress of Solitude came to resemble the one from the movies. Now Jor-El was a fully interactive hologram.

Thankfully it didn't stick. My personal belief is that Superman should have as little interaction with Jor-El as possible; my ideal version of Superman considers the Kents his real parents and has an alive Jonathan (and Martha) to talk to when he needs help. It seems a lot of people disagree with me on this point, however.

Batmobile Through the Ages

The Batmobile has been a mainstay of Batman's world since its inception, and it pretty much always has a very distinctive look in adaptations, which goes on to influence the Batmobile designs in the comics, when not outright being featured (usually as a cameo in a garage scene). I've posted about Batmobiles on this page before, but for my 300th post, I thought I'd try to do something a little more thorough. I don't pretend it's comprehensive, and it probably can't ever be, but it does give a pretty full picture regardless.

Batmobile '66

This vehicle from the 1966 Batman tv series is arguably the most influential and well-known of all the Batmobiles, its impact can still be seen today. Although rarely brought into the comics as-is, it changed how Batmobiles were drawn for a long time. Some examples:

Detective Comics #356 (Aug 1966)

Brave and the Bold #68 (September 1966)

Batman #204 (June 1968)

Detective Comics #362 (Feb 1967)

Detective Comics #371 (Nov 1967)

Detective Comics #377 (May 1968)

The top left picture was a slow beginning, mainly taking the "double bubble" aspect of the tv car. And the Brave and the Bold example mainly highlights the addition of the rear afterburner, which becomes a design mainstay, especially in adaptations. But after that, it really takes shape.

Also, the 60s Batmobile does appear in a show-accurate form a few times:

Superman/Batman #2 (September 2003)

Detective Comics #850 (Nov 2008)

Nightwing #152 (Jan 2009)

(Prime Earth) - Batman Beyond #14 (Nov 2017)

Batmobile '89

If the 60s Batmobile isn't the most influential, then this one is. Actually this one may have that one beat, since some of the following Batmobiles - each with their own share of influence - are ultimately based on this one as well. Some examples:

Legends of the Dark Knight #29 (Feb 1992)

Batman: Run, Riddler, Run #1 (Mar 1992)

Batman: Black & White #2 (May 1996)

Legends of the Dark Knight #64 (July 1994)

Legends of the Dark Knight #95 (Apr 1997)

Legends of the Dark Knight #156 (June 2002)

Catwoman #35 (Sep 2004)

Superman/Batman #21 (May 2005)

Batman: The Return (Nov 2010)

Batman & Robin #25 (July 2011)

Just like with the 60s Batmobile, although the design is almost never 100% authentic, you can clearly see how the shape of these Batmobiles is inspired by Anton Furst's Batmobile. And occasionally a film-accurate design does emerge:

Batman & Robin #19 (Jan 2011)

Batman #1 (Sep 2011)

Batman: The Animated Series

This Batmobile is inspired by the one above, but as you can see, it went in its own direction. And since many people consider Batman: The Animated Series (1992) to be best depiction of Batman, you better believe it's influenced comics designs. Interestingly, the cars based on this design tend to be more accurate overall than most of the other ones.

Detective Comics #784 (July 2003)

Detective Comics #840 (Jan 2008)

Batman & The Outsiders #14 (Dec 2008)

Batman #1 (June 2016)

Batman Forever

This Batmobile was designed by H. R. Giger for Batman Forever (1995), with some Schumacher neon added, but at its heart, it's still has a lot in common with the previous two Batmobiles. Although as striking design, it has - to my knowledge - only inspired one Batmobile, the toned-down version seen below. But it has also appeared in group shots, as you can see at the bottom of the page.

Batman 80-Page Giant (2011)

Batman and Robin

This one has not yet appeared in the comics on its own or inspired any comics Batmobiles, but it does appear in a group shot below.

The New Batman Adventures

This one is possible my favorite Batmobile design, but again, it's essentially the Anton Furst Batmobile. Really, it's the back half of '89 with the front half of Batman and Robin. But hey, whatever works. It's appeared twice in somewhat modified forms.

Legends of the Dark Knight #208 (July 2006)

Batman #5 (Oct 2016)

Tumbler

Batman Begins (2005) took a different approach to the Batmobile. For one thing, it wasn't called that. For another, it was originally created as a military vehicle and then modified by Bruce Wayne. So it has more of a tank-like appearance than the sports car look it usually has.

Surprisingly, as successful as Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman films has been all around, the Tumbler hasn't made much impact on the comics. But that's not to say it's never appeared, and the one time it did (and was actually used, I mean) was pretty faithful.

Detective Comics #20 (July 2013)

DCCU Batmobile

Like the Batman & Robin Batmobile, this one has not yet appeared in the comics on its own or inspired any comics Batmobiles, but it does appear in a group shot below.

Group Shots

Occasionally, artists will like to do a wide shot of the Batcave featuring a wide variety of vehicles from Batman's history. I believe the first people to do this were Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee in Batman: Hush (seen below). In any case, these shots always include at least one screen Batmobile. I've provided three examples below. I don't believe these are the only time a shot like this is done, but they were the only ones I could find.

Batman #615 (May 2003): (bottom left) Batman Forever (1995), (top middle) Batman (1989), (bottom middle) Batman (1966), (above Batman '66) Batman: The Animated Series (1992), (above Batman: TAS) Batman & Robin (1997)

Detective Comics #850 (November 2008): (L to R) Batman (1989), Batman Begins (2005), Batman: The Animated Series (1992), and The New Batman Adventures (1998)

Detective Comics #988 (September 2018): (L to R) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Batman (1989), Batman Begins (2005), Batman Forever (1995)

Vehicle Spotlight: The Milano

I've been waiting to feature this one for almost a year, but I could never find visual proof...until now.

Many people don't know this, but the film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) took a lot of liberties with the property. Although the main cast matches the post-Annihilation version of the team, a good chunk - possibly a majority - of the rest of the movie is original to it, even including some of the main characters' personalities and backstories. One such example is the Milano, Star-Lord's personal Ravager ship.

In the comics, the Guardians used a much different ship. However, beginning in All-New Guardians of the Galaxy, the team was suddenly using the Milano - name and all, despite the fact that the name is pretty dependent on Quill's man-out-of-time-who-grew-up-in-the-80s persona that doesn't really jib with the backstory of the comics version. The ship first appeared in All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (May 2017).

Its origin is given a couple days later in Free Comic Book Day: All-New Guardians of the Galaxy 2017 (May 2017), where we learn the Guardians' ship was impounded by the Nova Corps, and they went to steal it back but decided to take the Milano instead.

Gadget Spotlight: Iron Man HUD

I hate when I don't have a definitive first appearance, but I'm confident about this one, so here we go.

In the movie Iron Man (2008), we frequently cut to Tony's face inside the helmet, using a HUD that tells him power level, altitude, and lots of other information. I think it's pretty safe to say that this style of shot was created for the films as a way to get their lead actor on screen without having to take his mask off (although they do their fair share of that as well).

It doesn't really make sense visually - I'm sure he has a HUD, but I imagine it'd be localized to his eyeholes - but it's more of an "illusion of reality" type of thing. It gives you the information you need to know, but makes it more visually appealing for the audience.

Of course, being such an iconic visual, it made its way into the comics as well. I first noticed it in Invincible Iron Man #1 (October 2015), and thought it was an All-New, All-Different Marvel Now! change, like the quinjets.

But I did some digging, and I was able to find one in Iron Man #1 (October 2012).

Now, I can't be certain without looking through every appearance of Iron Man from 2008 to 2012, but I'm willing to say this is the first appearance for a few reasons:

1) This would put it after The Avengers, which means there have been three movies to cement in the minds of the general audience that this is how Tony interacts with his armor.

2) This issue features him trying out an experimental armor, which is a good place to introduce a new feature such as this.

3) This issue is part of Marvel NOW!, which is also a good place to introduce new features like this.

4) This was the last panel of the first issue, which definitely says "hey! look at this new thing!" to me.