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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132303
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| Posted: 13 April 2018 at 7:40am | IP Logged | 1
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...Superman has a skin tight field... ••• We all do! It's what keeps us from being constantly covered in a layer of dust and grime. Superman's is stronger.
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Warren Scott
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 July 2016
Posts: 201
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 5:32am | IP Logged | 2
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I think some have missed the point of what Brian was saying. Wonder Woman doesn't have to be as powerful as Superman to be a great character. No one expects Batman to be equal to Superman.
As for the Spider-Man/Transformer story, if other readers really have to justify it, they could think of it as taking place in a universe where both exist. That's how the creators of the old Spidey/Superman team-ups approached it.
There are a lot of books where classic characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Dracula meet and no one questions it.
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Warren Scott
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 July 2016
Posts: 201
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 5:48am | IP Logged | 3
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One more thing: Aquaman's old trick of calling on aquatic life for help was very much like Tarzan's ability to communicate with jungle animals. It may seem unrealistic now but it wasn't just him "talking" to fish.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132303
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 6:16am | IP Logged | 4
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One of the most destructive words that have infiltrated superhero fandom is "realistic". I'm not really sure when it started, tho in the earliest days of convention attending I noticed some folk who demanded "realism" at the same time they were talking about characters who fired energy beams from their eyes, or picked up buildings, or came from alien planets.As the story goes, Richard Donner, when directing SUPERMAN - THE MOVIE, posted signs on the sound stage reading "THINK VERISIMILITUDE". In other words, believability rather than "realism".
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Adam Schulman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 July 2017
Posts: 1717
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 10:28am | IP Logged | 5
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Most of the time I don't have a problem suspending disbelief when reading superhero comics. It goes along with the territory. Even when some characters find a way to bend the laws of physics I can sometimes just go with it. How can Hank Pym or Ray Palmer get around the square-cube law? They just found a way. Forget about how, just enjoy.
Sometimes I admit I have trouble. Take Iceman. He's a mutant with "ice powers"? Cool. He can create ice out of nothing, regardless of how much (or little) moisture there is in the air?
I'm afraid with Bobby Drake I just have to "get off the bus." I'm old, I guess.
(Sadly, even with Spider-Man I'm kind of "old." I can believe Peter Parker is a genius who can create web-fluid. But...he can create web-fluid out of materials so ordinary that all he needs is a modest Daily Bugle salary to put it together? I still love old Spidey stories written by Stan Lee, Roger Stern, a few others, but I have to deliberately not think about that part.)
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 11:18am | IP Logged | 6
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Sometimes I admit I have trouble. Take Iceman. He's a mutant with "ice powers"? Cool. He can create ice out of nothing, regardless of how much (or little) moisture there is in the air?••• Actually, no. If there is not enough moisture in the air, Bobby runs a risk of serious dehydration.
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15805
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 12:18pm | IP Logged | 7
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I would struggle to think of any power that is useless.
I think most powers are useful, and would almost always come under the bracket of 'better than nothing'.
Only rarely do you have something like Rogue's power of absorbing talents, where it's an actual hindrance (because it precludes any kind of normal physical contact). Even in such a case, there would be a multitude of scenarios in which it could prove useful, so that the term useless seems an unhelpful misdescription.
There are plenty of powers that in combat might be less useful, but it says more about the imagination of the writer/reader if these powers seem useless just because of a lack of utility in a dust-up.
As JB posted earlier in this thread, the ability to instantly understand and speak any language would be a brilliant ability to have (one I'd love to have!), but it takes some thought as a writer to weave such an ability into tales that are often about X fighting Y.
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Drew Spence
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 February 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 225
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 12:22pm | IP Logged | 8
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but it takes some thought as a writer to weave such an ability into tales that are often about X fighting Y.
That power would go to the bad guy and he would translate for the different aliens/races/cultures and start massive planetary wars.
His name is The Evil Interpreter!
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132303
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 12:33pm | IP Logged | 9
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"...the poor Babel Fish, by breaking down all barriers of communication between all races, has caused more and bloodier wars..."
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Michael Hogan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2052
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| Posted: 14 April 2018 at 1:30pm | IP Logged | 10
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Like you, JB, I have always thought the ability to comprehend any language would be supremely useful. Over the years, giving it more thought in a comicbook sense, I extrapolated it to be the ability to decode anything, as foreign languages are almost like code.
Edited by Michael Hogan on 16 April 2018 at 7:42am
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Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
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| Posted: 15 April 2018 at 11:39am | IP Logged | 11
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Peter M. - I could think of a dozen powers off the top of my head that are pretty useless, but they'd be extremely silly (e.g., the power to project darkness... but only during a solar eclipse.)
You mentioned the situation of "in combat", and you're right. There are a lot of heroes whose powers wouldn't be very useful in a battle situation.
But there are more situations in comics than combat. Espionage, intelligence, reconnaissance, support, first aid, crowd control, communications, etc.
And even situational battles could change effectiveness. If the Justice League is battling Amazo in Denver, Aquaman might not be so useful. If the Avengers are fighting the Skrulls in a zero-gravity environment, Hawkeye could be somewhat limited (thanks to equal and opposite reactions.)
You're right; it depends on how clever the writer is to make the heroes effective. Hell, if there a confrontation on Krypton or in Kandor, Superman might not be as big a contributor as Wonder Woman.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132303
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| Posted: 15 April 2018 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | 12
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...foreign languages are almost like code...••• A popular misconception. Foreign languages, except those with the same roots, can be utterly impenetrable. Remember, for instance, that it was the accidental discovery of the Rosetta Stone that opened Egyptian hieroglyphics to us, after literally centuries of fruitless study.
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