Fantasticar flows off comics page onto film

The mileage is great, because it doesn't use any gasoline. And traffic isn't a problem, because it can zoom along at 30,000 feet.

About the only problem with the Fantasticar is, well, it doesn't exist — at least in real life. It will, however, make its long-awaited debut in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which gets its first look here.

The vehicle, a staple of the Fantastic Four comic books, ranks right up there with the Batmobile and Ghost Rider's flaming motorcycle as the wheels of choice among comic devotees.

But translating the flying car from the page to the big screen was no small effort, says Tim Flattery, conceptual artist for the Fantastic Four sequel, which hits screens June 15. He showed several designs to director Tim Story, including one based loosely on the Batmobile, which he designed for 1995's Batman Forever.

But Story rejected the designs as "too aggressive," Flattery says. "He wanted something that looked less like a predator and more friendly. That's always been the Fantastic Four theme."

That family-friendly tenor helped the original movie rake in $155 million domestically and $330 million worldwide.

Flattery looked for more tranquil inspiration from the sea. He based the final design on manta rays and stingrays. "They have a natural flow and grace. We wanted something that looked like it could glide as easily as they do."

Of course, stingrays don't have to haul 500 pounds of superhero on their backs. The Fantasticar is built to hold four crime fighters: Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic.

In the movie, the Fantasticar is powered by a proton accelerator, can hover, fly at 500 mph and break into separate flying machines. And while the 4,000-pound model doesn't move without the assistance of a crane or casters, it's still an impressive piece of space-age polymer.

Flattery worked 10 months designing and building the Fantasticar, which will enjoy a life after the movie in sequels and on the auto-show circuit.

"It was like Christmas morning when we first saw it," says Jessica Alba, who plays Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman. "With all the dials and joysticks, we wanted to fly it. It's the ultimate toy."

For fans, though, it's something much more, says Fantastic Four producer Avi Arad.

"There aren't many vehicles that play a big part in the (comic) books," Arad says. "So you have to get it right. We wanted it to look futuristic, but plausible. For fans, the car can be as important as the characters."

Justice League to TV, Buffy to comics

By Colin Mahan
Published: December 7, 2006 at 12:14:00 PM

Buffy fans can feast on comic book version of eighth season; CW might bring DC super team to tube.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer lives! Just not on TV. But the success of Superman series Smallville may have paved the way for a spin-off featuring fellow DC Comics mainstays Justice League.

Comics Continuum reports that the League, which is featured in an expensive upcoming episode of the CW Superman series, will also be appearing in a second episode later in the season. Smallville producer Al Gough has denied that any League spin-off is in the works, but Continuum insists that a second episode featuring the team will act as a launching pad for a possible series.

Smallville spin-offs don't always come together as planned. After Aquaman became a hit guest star with Smallville viewers, an Aquaman pilot was put into production. As preseason hype built, Aquaman was shelved at the last minute for undisclosed reasons.

As League makes its way to the tube, a former genre hit is moving to the printed page. Joss Whedon is talking about the upcoming eighth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which will make its debut as a Dark Horse comic book next March.

"I basically said, 'We could do something, and for once we could make it in the canon. We could make it officially what happened after the end of the show,'" Whedon told TV Guide this week. "Let Buffy not only address certain themes that slipped between the cracks of the show but also really be a comic book."

Whedon assures fans the story will be up to his exacting standards.

"I'll be writing the beginning, the first four, the last four, and I'll definitely be doing some others," he said. "I have a bunch of other writers--comic book heavies and former writers from the show--who are going to write the other issues. I'll be overseeing the whole thing, and they've all got my giant mission statement about what the giant arc is about."

Whedon says a comic book allows for a larger canvas that the financial constrictions of TV never did.

"With a comic, you have a mandate that you have to do it a little bit bigger. Buffy's just living on a bigger scale. It is a comic book, and it has to step up in terms of kind of being epic."

Quote from: Razor on December 08, 2006, 01:42:40 AM

How in the hell do they think they can top the DCAU version of "Justice League and JLU".  Hell the whole Cadmus arc from the 4th season was some of the best stuff Ive seen on an animated series. 

Plus, Justice League just wouldn't be the same without Superman and Batman.

Quote from: Xero on December 08, 2006, 09:16:11 AM

Quote from: Razor on December 08, 2006, 01:42:40 AM

How in the hell do they think they can top the DCAU version of "Justice League and JLU".  Hell the whole Cadmus arc from the 4th season was some of the best stuff Ive seen on an animated series. 

Plus, Justice League just wouldn't be the same without Superman and Batman.

Pretty much my thoughts.  Though some of JLU's best episodes were hardly Superman-centric.  Now correct me if Im wrong but on Smallville its "Green Arrow" who wants to start up the Justice League yet isn't he normally a "part-timer" like Batman?

Quote from: Razor on December 10, 2006, 01:02:18 AM

Quote from: Xero on December 08, 2006, 09:16:11 AM

Quote from: Razor on December 08, 2006, 01:42:40 AM

How in the hell do they think they can top the DCAU version of "Justice League and JLU".  Hell the whole Cadmus arc from the 4th season was some of the best stuff Ive seen on an animated series. 

Plus, Justice League just wouldn't be the same without Superman and Batman.

Pretty much my thoughts.  Though some of JLU's best episodes were hardly Superman-centric.  Now correct me if Im wrong but on Smallville its "Green Arrow" who wants to start up the Justice League yet isn't he normally a "part-timer" like Batman?

I think he is a part timer, I'm sure someone will correct us on that. But Smallville is it's own continuity, and I don't mind them mixing things up a bit.