what's the most plausible superpower in comixdom?

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i guess i mean the power that violates the least amount of laws of physics, thermodynamics or whatever. inspired by the wolverine thread!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

you can take this to mean the power itself, its origin, or both!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

have fun with it. there's some dinner in the fridge & i shouldn't be home too late.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

Hmm, that's a toughy. It would probably be some psychic character.

― chap who would dare to kill all the threads (chap), Friday, 14 October 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

Are there any characters from, like the 30s or 40s whose powers/abilities have since been realized by science? Like maybe Thermo-Man, who has the power to bake a potato in five minutes!
or Faxotron!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:05 (twenty years ago)

THE TELEGRAPHIST

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:06 (twenty years ago)

MICROWAVE MAN

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:06 (twenty years ago)

Isn't Airwave just a dude with a cell phone?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

in that superman showcase there's a panel (in the "super-sergeant" story) where he's trying out this amazing new super-helmet that can instantly send messages over hundreds of miles!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

"Are there any characters from, like the 30s or 40s whose powers/abilities have since been realized by science?"

Is this what you had in mind?

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

crossie-postie

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:09 (twenty years ago)

X-actly.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:11 (twenty years ago)

how about the thing? skin condition and super-strength? could happen!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:12 (twenty years ago)

The power to look good in a fedora, however, is now lost to myth and legend.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:12 (twenty years ago)

...or is it?

http://pages.zdnet.com/hallowsunday/issarged/issarged_pix/book_joey.jpg

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:13 (twenty years ago)

Looks like it is.

― Leeeeeeeeee (Leee), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:16 (twenty years ago)

Aside from the radar, Daredevil's enhanced senses are just an exaggeration of the real thing, baby.

― Leeeeeeeeee (Leee), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:17 (twenty years ago)

very true!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:18 (twenty years ago)

can i apologize for the way i worded the thread-initiating question?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:26 (twenty years ago)

What's wrong with? It's fine!

― chap who would dare to kill all the threads (chap), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

"the least amount of laws of physics" is such an ungainly phrase!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

moving along though... pre-blue&hairy beast was just a guy who was... beastly, right? and acrobatic?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:32 (twenty years ago)

I like it so much I'm adopting it as my new user name.

xpost

― chap who would dare to violate the least amount of laws of physics (chap), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:33 (twenty years ago)

Hourman invented ska.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:42 (twenty years ago)

Batman - he's rich, beyotch! Rich and crazy!

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:42 (twenty years ago)

He's like Richard Branson+Charles Bronson. With Goth overtures.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:47 (twenty years ago)

The X-Statix actually have a lot of plausible powers!

Guy Smith aka "Mr. Sensitive" aka "The Orphan": Hyper-sensitive skin!
Tike Alacar aka "The Anarchist": Sweat! Except he can shoot it at people and kill them.
Zeitgeist: Puke!

Does anyone remember what the Alcoholist could do?

― Leeeeeeeeee (Leee), Friday, 14 October 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

batman is immaterial because he doesn't have a superpower!!

what was the blue beetle's power? did he have one?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

The first one was superstrong when he rubbed his scarab. The second one was just nerd with cool toys.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 14 October 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

when he rubbed his scarab, eh?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 14 October 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

"Bow before the might of ONAN! Oh yeah. Ummmmm... gimme a minute here."

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Friday, 14 October 2005 19:41 (twenty years ago)

Cypher had a pretty plausible power - basically, he could just intuitively understand languages, patterns, and codes.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 14 October 2005 19:46 (twenty years ago)

He sounds autistic.

― Leeeeeeeeee (Leee), Friday, 14 October 2005 20:13 (twenty years ago)

Callisto wins. Because her superpower is... er... um...

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Friday, 14 October 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

Most of Section 8 had totally plausible powers! Dogwelder is the only really iffy one, as long as Bueno Excellente's were left mysterious.

― kit brash (kit brash), Friday, 14 October 2005 23:25 (twenty years ago)

how plausible is superman? in any way at all?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 15 October 2005 04:56 (twenty years ago)

i guess on a very basic level moving to another planet might give you abilities that would seem super to its inhabitants. ie if you moved to a planet with lower gravity

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 15 October 2005 04:56 (twenty years ago)

flying though... nobody's come up with a good explanation for anyone who straight-up flies without any kind of propulsion

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 15 October 2005 04:57 (twenty years ago)

it would be good if superman et al had to kick and use their arms like they were swimming!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 15 October 2005 04:57 (twenty years ago)

wonder woman's lasso could be feasible

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 15 October 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

do any of batman's main villains have superpowers?? joker - no, penguin - no, mr. freeze - machine-based

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 15 October 2005 05:00 (twenty years ago)

Wait, what the hell was Callisto's power?

― The Yellow Kid, Saturday, 15 October 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)

Poison Ivy talks to plants. But I guess she could just be a really empathic hippy.

Clayface, then?

Explain Wonder Woman's lasso! Do you mean as part of some S&M fetish?

Callisto: "Superhumanly keen senses of sight (including night vision), hearing, smell, taste, and touch."

― Leeeeeeeeee (Leee), Saturday, 15 October 2005 06:10 (twenty years ago)

Faxotron!

The first fax machine was sold in 1861. Oddly enough, it's an older technology than telephony.

― Gold star for robotboy! (Chris Piuma), Saturday, 15 October 2005 06:17 (twenty years ago)

didn't superman at first just jump really high and stuff; that would be plausible... i think it was a while before he became the planet-guzzling, time-travelling behemoth that he is now.... it would be pretty neat if every time cyclops fired his eye beam, he was shoved back in the opposite direction.

― dave k, Saturday, 15 October 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

I think Cyclops' eye beam is laser or something, so there shouldn't be any recoil.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Saturday, 15 October 2005 13:51 (twenty years ago)

Has Scott Summers ever had one eye gouged out or otherwise damaged, so he can live up to his callsign more accurately?

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Saturday, 15 October 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

Not that that would be the motivation for the injury-to-the-eye motif within the comic, but it'd give the writer a chance to wallow in deliciously terrible irony and talk about Homer's Oddysey and blahblahblah.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Saturday, 15 October 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

if he's using the beam to bust through walls and whatnot, he should be kicked back! they could have the whole team behind him propping him up and stuff... i think superman in space has similar issues.

― dave k, Saturday, 15 October 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

cyclops's beam usually comes out as one solid blast, right? has there ever been a comic where he winked or otherwise only used one eye?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 15 October 2005 14:14 (twenty years ago)

I'm no X-pert, but doesn't he occassionally get ambushed when he's only wearing his 'civvie' shades and have to squint at stuff to fire, and aim by relying on teammates?

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Saturday, 15 October 2005 14:20 (twenty years ago)

I think Cyclops' eye beam is laser or something, so there shouldn't be any recoil.

Definitely not any kind of laser. It's a "force" beam. ClaremontClops has gently pulsed it in the past to break his and others' falls. (Yes, gently pulsed makes you wonder what else he could do that might be special.)

It doesn't knock his head clean off b/c he absorbs its energy the same way he absorbs Alex's: implausibly, but wtf it's a funnybook.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Saturday, 15 October 2005 16:03 (twenty years ago)

haha, this brings back memories of the X-Men Fan Club c.1980 and its fanzine Cerebr0, wherein the man who started the club, who called himself Ge0ff L@mprey (I don't want him coming here) each issue explained by science the superpowers of our heroes. Scott's was all down to drawing power from an anti-matter dimension, I believe, but I might be getting this explanation confused with the others, since that's what almost all of them were. I said to him once that this had no more to do with science than just saying 'it just is, that's all' and he claimed to have shown his articles to a scientist friend of his, who assured him they all made good sense. The suggestion that he had a friend rather undermined the credibility of this even if you knew 0 about science.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 15 October 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

:ahem: a brief performance of the scene Martin describes above, with The Marvel Directory playing the role of GL...

GL:
"Cyclops possesses the mutant ability to project a beam of concussive, ruby-colored force from his eyes. Cyclops's eyes are no longer the complex organic jelly that utilizes the visible spectrum of light to see the world around it. Instead, they are inter-dimensional apertures between this universe and another, non-Einsteinium universe, where physical laws as we know them do not pertain. This non-Einsteinium universe is filled with particles that resemble photons, yet they interact with this universe's particles by transferring kinetic energy in the form of gravitons (the particle of gravitation). These particles generate great, directional concussive force when they interact with the objects of this universe.

"Cyclops's mind has a particular psionic field that is attuned to the forces that maintain the apertures that have taken the place of his eyes. Because his mind's psionic field envelops his body, it automatically shunts the other-dimensional particles back into their point of origin when they collide with his body. Thus, his body is protected from the effects of the particles, and even the thin membrane of his eyelids is sufficient to block the emission of energy. The synthetic ruby quartz crystal used to fashion the lenses of Cyclops's eyeglasses and visor is resonant to his minds' psionic field and is similarly protected.

"The width of Cyclops's eye-blast seems to be focused by his mind's psionic field with the same autonomic function that regulated his oriinal eyes' ability to focus. As Cyclops focuses, the size of the aperture changes and thus act as a valve to control the flow of particles and beam's relative power. The height of Cyclops's eye-blast is controlled by his visor's adjustable slit. His narrowest beam, about the diameter of a pencil at a distance of 4 feet has a force of about 2 pounds per square inch. His broadest beam, about 90 feet across at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of about 10 pounds per square inch. His most powerful eye-blast is a beam 4 feet across which, at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of 500 pounds per square inch. The maximum angular measurement of Cyclops's eye-blast is equivalent to a wide-angle 35mm camera lens field of view (90 degree measured diagonally, or the angle subtended by holding this magazine's pages spread open, upright at 9.5 inches from your eyes). The minimum angular measurement is equivalent to the angle that the thickness of a pencil would subtend at 4 feet (3.5 degree, about a quarter of an inch viewed at 4 feet). The beam's effective range is about 2,000 feet, at which point a 1-inch beam has spread out to 10 feet square, and then has a pressure of .38 pounds per square inch. Cyclops's maximum force is sufficient to tip over a filled 5,000 gallon tank at a distance of 20 feet, or puncture a 1-inch carbon-steel plate at a distance of 2 feet.

"The extra dimensional supply of energy for Cyclops's eye-blast is practically infinite. Thus, so long as Cyclops's psionic field is active (which is constantly), there is the potential to emit energy. The only limit to the eye-blast is the mental fatigue of focusing constantly. After about 15 minute of constant usage, the psionic field subsides and allows only a slight leakage of energy to pass through the aperture. Cyclops's metabolism will recover sufficiently for him to continue in about an additional 15 minutes."

Scientist Friend
"yes, yes, this all makes very good sense. now i'm going to back away slowly, as you're scaring me and i can smell you"

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

cyclops's beam usually comes out as one solid blast, right? has there ever been a comic where he winked or otherwise only used one eye?

yes

― Jonothong Williamsmang (ex machina), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 02:08 (twenty years ago)

and? was it awesome?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 07:05 (twenty years ago)

What about Hawkman? He at confronts physics, albeit in a supercilious way.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

Has Scott Summers ever had one eye gouged out or otherwise damaged?

eeyup. AoA. cf. "has wolverine ever had a hand permanently blown off?"

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 17:08 (twenty years ago)

Huk - how plausible is NTH METAL?

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

I don't even know what unit you would use to measure plausibility.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)

On a scale of 1 to 10 SAD IDENTITY CRISIS FACEs. Or SICFACE, if you will.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

I rate Nth Metal:
http://www.comictreadmill.com/CTMBlogarchives/images/IdentityCrisis7.jpg

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

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