Spider-Man's Vehicles: The Motorbike

[Kirk G]

Very early in John Romita, Sr.'s run on Amazing Spider-Man, circa issue #42, Petey buys himself a motorbike, which is first shaded blue.   Within a few issued, he decides to paint it red.  Of course, the chicks dig it, and his popularity soars for the first time in the series.

The question is, just how long did this fascination with Pete's motorbike last?

This is, from what issue to what issue did the motorbike appear, or can we assume that he has possession of it?  Even if not featured or pictured in a story, if it shows up in issues #45 & 48, we can assume that he had it in 46 and 47.

So, was it ever established what  manufacture or brand this bike was?  Honda?  Kawasaki? Yamaha?

What size bike was it?   125cc?   360cc?  Certainly it couldn't have been more than a 750cc.

We see this bike not only in ASM but also in Spider-Man: Blue including the decision to buy it, heavily influenced by "the gang" passing by.  So, when is the LAST appearance of the motorbike?

 

(And to what extent was it replaced by the Spider-mobile?)

[Doctor Hmmm?]

Dan Slott had some fun with the silliness of the Spider-Mobile in the Spider-Man/Human Torch miniseries awhile back.

[Kirk G]

Oh, I missed that, i guess.  How long ago and how many issues does it run?  Was it collected anywhere?

[ClarkKent_DC]

I think it was six five issues (March-July 2005) with each issue at a different point in Spider-Man's and the Human Torch's association (circa 1964, the '70s, the '80s, modern times, like that). And yes, it was collected in a trade: Spider-Man and the Human Torch: I'm With Stupid.

[Figserello]

ClarkKent_DC said:

I think it was six five issues (March-July 2005) with each issue at a different point in Spider-Man's and the Human Torch's association (circa 1964, the '70s, the '80s, modern times, like that). And yes, it was collected in a trade: Spider-Man and the Human Torch: I'm With Stupid.

It was a real fun read. I heartily recommend. Dan Slott in top form. I guess it laid a base for Slott's work bringing the FF and Spidey closer together too in his Spider-man comics.  So it wasn't just a backward looking exercise in nostalgia - not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Hoy Murphy]

I greatly enjoyed that series, too. My favorite part was when Spidey met Paste-pot Pete and couldn't control his laughter when he heard the name.

 

Hoy

 

[Figserello]

The Spider-mobile marked a particular stage in the development of the use of licensed properties to sell toys.  According to Comics Creators on Spider-man, whoever was in involved with the first Spider-mobile story was told that part of the licensing agreement meant that Marvel agreed to put it in a comic, somehow.  The deal was that it would appear in a SM comic, so once they'd done that, all was square, and they had no other obligations beyond that.

 

So the creators had fun putting all their objections to the idea into the comics.  Spider-man had never been shown driving anything, and obviously couldn't drive, it was impractical for a superhero in Manhatten etc.

 

After the Spider-mobile, the toy companies realised that the comics were incidental and that they could produce tie-in toys that had nothing to do with the comics.  We've all seen Pirate Batman toys and Hulk-mobiles at knock-down prices in the January sales.  (But the fact that they are the ones that are remaindered probably shows that the kids probably still know a bit more than the toy execs.)

 

Mind you the Hulk driving around in his own customised green and purple Monster Truck is a wonderful idea, now that I think of it.  He'd have trouble getting it insured, I'd imagine.

[Hoy Murphy]

I wasn't reading much DC at the time, but I remember a similar situation with the Supermobile in Action Comics. It was probably the same kind of deal with maybe even the same toy company. The writers justified its use by saying Superman had lost his powers and needed it to fight the bad guys. I don't know how long it was kept around.

 

Hoy

 

[George]

Mr. Silver Age said: "It had nothing to do with the Spider-Mobile, which was designed for Spider-Man to use (not Peter). It was a merchandising tie-in pure and simple, with no rational explanation. It did give Johnny Storm and Spidey some bonding time, but otherwise, it was pretty much a joke from start to finish."

 

The two guys from the car company were drawn as caricatures of Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, a signal that it wasn't to be taken seriously.

 

I remember how much I (and everyone I knew who was reading comics) hated the Spider-Mobile. It was a sign that Marvel had "sold out," gone commercial, and was obviously pandering to little kids. We thought such a thing would never happen. The innocence of youth ...

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

George said:

Mr. Silver Age said: "It had nothing to do with the Spider-Mobile, which was designed for Spider-Man to use (not Peter). It was a merchandising tie-in pure and simple, with no rational explanation. It did give Johnny Storm and Spidey some bonding time, but otherwise, it was pretty much a joke from start to finish."

 

The two guys from the car company were drawn as caricatures of Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, a signal that it wasn't to be taken seriously.

 

I remember how much I (and everyone I knew who was reading comics) hated the Spider-Mobile. It was a sign that Marvel had "sold out," gone commercial, and was obviously pandering to little kids. We thought such a thing would never happen. The innocence of youth ...

 

 

...As a more-a-DC-fan who thought Marvel fans/Marvel itself were pretentious in their " the superiority of Marvel " rap I rather thought that MARVEL TEAM-UP - at least after its first 12 issues or so , when it started having rather contrived team-ups with characters who had little , logically , to do with Spidey , which were quite contrived to get them set up and finished in one issue - was " Marvel ' descending ' to the sort of ' DC-style stuff ' they said they'd never do ! " myself !!!!!

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...Oh , and let's remember Romita-Stan Spidey going around barefoot on that cycle , which is REALLY unwise " real world " safety-wise !!...

[Kirk G]

I do remember some controversy in the letters pages when a fan pointed out that Petey was driving the motorbike without a helment.  Shortly thereafter, he was shown wearing an UNSTRAPPED helment of sorts.

[Figserello]

Hoy Murphy said:

I wasn't reading much DC at the time, but I remember a similar situation with the Supermobile in Action Comics. It was probably the same kind of deal with maybe even the same toy company. The writers justified its use by saying Superman had lost his powers and needed it to fight the bad guys. I don't know how long it was kept around.

 

Hoy

 

Coz even superhero vehicles have to have a built in chin-punching feature!

I've seen that toy here and there. Didn't know it had appeared in the comics...