1 thought on “MARY JANE AND THE SPIDER-MOBILE BY JOE QUESADA”
I LOVED the Spider-Mobile!! Why COULDN’T Spidey have a tricked-out ride-??? Seems to work okay for Batman! That first issue, ‘Amazing Spider-Man’#130, where the Human Torch ( who so graciously built the car for his pal Spidey ) discovered the hard way that Spidey couldn’t drive, ( “Hey! I’m a Noo-Yawker!! Who needs to drive-??!” ) was hilarious!! I knew Marvel wasn’t going to let Spidey keep it. Why-?? Why, for the same exact reason I knew Marvel wasn’t going to let the Sub-Mariner keep the outfit that Mr. Fantastic built for HIM!! ( and in the same year-1973- come to think of it!! ) Because I LOVED it!!! Also, I figured, at the time, since Spidey’s precise legal status with the law was “wanted for questioning”, blasting around Manhattan in a loud Dune-Buggy would most likely get him pulled over and BUSTED, especially since he couldn’t even drive it!! Too bad. Of course, the car wasn’t technically built for Spidey to use anyway- it was built as a prototype-car for an automotive concern called ‘Corona Motors’, ( I am absolutely staggered by my ability to recall that little detail, since it’s been a half-century since I last read the 1973 Gerry Conway ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ run- I would love to revisit those issues, particularly the issues which immediately followed the death of Gwen Stacy, especially his battles with the Man-Wolf in #’s 124 and 125, and his little dust-up with a pre-‘Power Man’ Luke Cage in#123 ) and the expectation was that Spidey would deliver the car to them upon it’s completion- I believe Spidey was forwarded an advance development fee of a cool million ( you know how much money a MILLION DOLLARS was in 1973-??? A HELL of a lot more than it is NOW!!! Yessiree!!! ) which, at least most of which probably went into the research and development of the car, including a nice little cut for the Human Torch, who actually built it. Wonder where the rest of the money went, if any?? I wonder if they ever said??? I really must reread those issues! Guess I’ll have to sell off some of my back-issues of ‘X-Men’ to buy them! Also: Did Joe Quesada REALLY draw this-?? I didn’t know he had any artistic talent! All I know about Joe Quesada is that he was Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics at least around the turn of the century, when John Byrne was producing his very X-cellent and underrated ‘X-Men’: The Hidden Years’ series, which Quesada, as Editor-in-Chief, made the idiotic decision to CANCEL, in spite of reasonably good sales, simply because the first ‘X-Men’ movie was about to premiere, and he didn’t want any confusion on the part of the comics-buying public with the Original X-Men, and the characters in the movie!!! THREE of which, were, of course, charter members Professor X, Cyclops, and “Jean Grey”, as Marvel Girl was, of course, referred to in the movies. ( groan ) This single poorly-considered decision was what killed Byrne’s relationship with Marvel Comics. It would’ve pissed ME off, too. ( come to think of it, it DID!!! ) Lastly, I believe we CAN assume that is, indeed, the Amazing Spider-Man, in the background, trudging off in search of go-go juice! I suppose in some alternate Marvel reality, Parker got to keep his Spidey-Mobile!! Good move!! Undoubtedly comes in handy for picking up hot redheads, I would think!! Word up!!
I LOVED the Spider-Mobile!! Why COULDN’T Spidey have a tricked-out ride-??? Seems to work okay for Batman! That first issue, ‘Amazing Spider-Man’#130, where the Human Torch ( who so graciously built the car for his pal Spidey ) discovered the hard way that Spidey couldn’t drive, ( “Hey! I’m a Noo-Yawker!! Who needs to drive-??!” ) was hilarious!! I knew Marvel wasn’t going to let Spidey keep it. Why-?? Why, for the same exact reason I knew Marvel wasn’t going to let the Sub-Mariner keep the outfit that Mr. Fantastic built for HIM!! ( and in the same year-1973- come to think of it!! ) Because I LOVED it!!! Also, I figured, at the time, since Spidey’s precise legal status with the law was “wanted for questioning”, blasting around Manhattan in a loud Dune-Buggy would most likely get him pulled over and BUSTED, especially since he couldn’t even drive it!! Too bad. Of course, the car wasn’t technically built for Spidey to use anyway- it was built as a prototype-car for an automotive concern called ‘Corona Motors’, ( I am absolutely staggered by my ability to recall that little detail, since it’s been a half-century since I last read the 1973 Gerry Conway ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ run- I would love to revisit those issues, particularly the issues which immediately followed the death of Gwen Stacy, especially his battles with the Man-Wolf in #’s 124 and 125, and his little dust-up with a pre-‘Power Man’ Luke Cage in#123 ) and the expectation was that Spidey would deliver the car to them upon it’s completion- I believe Spidey was forwarded an advance development fee of a cool million ( you know how much money a MILLION DOLLARS was in 1973-??? A HELL of a lot more than it is NOW!!! Yessiree!!! ) which, at least most of which probably went into the research and development of the car, including a nice little cut for the Human Torch, who actually built it. Wonder where the rest of the money went, if any?? I wonder if they ever said??? I really must reread those issues! Guess I’ll have to sell off some of my back-issues of ‘X-Men’ to buy them! Also: Did Joe Quesada REALLY draw this-?? I didn’t know he had any artistic talent! All I know about Joe Quesada is that he was Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics at least around the turn of the century, when John Byrne was producing his very X-cellent and underrated ‘X-Men’: The Hidden Years’ series, which Quesada, as Editor-in-Chief, made the idiotic decision to CANCEL, in spite of reasonably good sales, simply because the first ‘X-Men’ movie was about to premiere, and he didn’t want any confusion on the part of the comics-buying public with the Original X-Men, and the characters in the movie!!! THREE of which, were, of course, charter members Professor X, Cyclops, and “Jean Grey”, as Marvel Girl was, of course, referred to in the movies. ( groan ) This single poorly-considered decision was what killed Byrne’s relationship with Marvel Comics. It would’ve pissed ME off, too. ( come to think of it, it DID!!! ) Lastly, I believe we CAN assume that is, indeed, the Amazing Spider-Man, in the background, trudging off in search of go-go juice! I suppose in some alternate Marvel reality, Parker got to keep his Spidey-Mobile!! Good move!! Undoubtedly comes in handy for picking up hot redheads, I would think!! Word up!!