james_nicoll: Superheroing

james_nicoll (

james_nicoll) wrote,
@ 2005-06-08 14:12:00

Superheroing
A belated reply to Mr. Wisse

http://www.cloggie.org/wissewords/

In particular the 5 June 2005 entry:

"If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? (Assume you also get baseline superhero enhancements like moderately increased strength, endurance and agility.)"

I'd like to be an intelligent cloud of utility fog, please [1]. Being able to assimilate and recreate any item I touched seems like it could be fun. No more misunderstandings: if confused, I could simply digest the other person's brain [2], recreate them afterwards and keep an emulation of them running to enhance communication.

Plus it comes with free shapeshifting, the Swiss Army Knife of Super-Powers.

"Which, if any, 'existing' superhero(es) do you fancy, and why?"

Hmmm. Jo Nah. No idea why, except that I liked that unlike the rest of the Kal El Clone Squad in the LSH, his abilities required thought to use well.

Ralph and Sue Dibny.

Oddly, I recently discovered I had a fond affection for the old Marvel villain, the Owl. His abilities were that he was a bit stout, had silly weapons and given a good updraft, could glide. Despite all this, he managed to become a fairly successful crime lord.

"Which, if any, 'existing' superhero(es) do you hate?"

All the Punisher-type characters.

"OK, here's the tough one. What would your superhero name be? (No prefab porn-name formulas here, you have to make up the name you think you'd be proud to mask under.)"

No idea at all. Perhaps I'd just use my own name and the screams of my admirers:
Ralph Dibny seems to have done ok as Ralph and as the Elongated Man.

"For extra credit: Is there an 'existing' superhero with whom you identify/whom you would like to be?"

Nope.

"Pass it on. Three people please, and why they're the wind beneath your wings."

I tap Carlos Yu for reciprocity, lovecraftienne for perspective and j_shelbourne for experience.

1: Non-flammable, please. I have no desire to be Fuel-Air Explosion Lad. Also, no vulnerablity to high winds, please. Nothing is more unimpressive than being dispersed by a stiffish breeze.

2: It's like a less explody version of Kid Apocalypse's Heisenberg Vision (7d6 RKA plus a big detect/analysis, limited by the amount I exceeded the target's BODY by).

(Post a new comment)

	lovecraftienne 2005-06-08 06:51 pm UTC (link)
	Hmmm...that's a little different. Okeydoke. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	james_nicoll 2005-06-08 07:24 pm UTC (link)
	Sometimes heroism requires eating the odd brain. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	malada 2005-06-09 03:10 pm UTC (link)
	I love love love your icon! May I add you to my friends list? -m (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	lovecraftienne 2005-06-09 03:11 pm UTC (link)
	It would be my pleasure. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	shimgray 2005-06-08 06:52 pm UTC (link)
	Clouds of super-powerful fog. Huh. Now I'm thinking of Fred Hoyle's great unwritten superhero stories. (I may be missing something, but Carlos Wu?) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	james_nicoll 2005-06-08 06:58 pm UTC (link)
	Yu! Yu! I meant Yu! Unfortunately I can't claim typo but nivenization of the cerebral cortex. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	lovecraftienne 2005-06-08 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	Nivenization? :D Lovely, Luwee. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	shimgray 2005-06-08 07:01 pm UTC (link)
	I won't ask what cunning shorthand description you were nivenised into accidentally using... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	carloshasanax 2005-06-09 09:46 am UTC (link)
	Could be worse; you might have gotten my first name as "Wellington". [1] Carlos [1] Y'all know, the doctor in Dune? "Yueh, Yueh, Yueh! A million deaths were not enough for Yueh!" Note to self: when the time comes, do not make the embittered celibate princess married purely for dynastic reasons into your court historian. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	thebitterguy 2005-06-08 07:45 pm UTC (link)
	You heard what happened to Sue Dibney, right? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Shutupshutupshutup! james_nicoll 2005-06-08 07:50 pm UTC (link)
	Fucking short-sighted, unimaginative, woman-hating hack-writers. "Wait! Wouldn't Nancy Drew be even better if we chopped her up and put her into a fridge?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Shutupshutupshutup! thebitterguy 2005-06-08 08:17 pm UTC (link)
	I take that as a yes. I didn't even read Identity Crisis. I did read The New Frontier, which is probably one of the best superhero stories ever. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Shutupshutupshutup! james_nicoll 2005-06-08 09:38 pm UTC (link)
	I haven't read that. Disinclination to give DC money that they will only use to print more WIR stories. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Shutupshutupshutup! thebitterguy 2005-06-09 03:57 am UTC (link)
	I strongly suggest picking up a used copy, if you wish. It is really That Damn Good. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Shutupshutupshutup!

carloshasanax
2005-06-09 09:38 am UTC (link)

I second this.

You know how Busiek's Marvels was basically the story of a normal reporter in a Stan Lee universe (poor bastard)? New Frontier is the reverse. The Silver Age of DC in Eisenhower's universe, and beautifully cinematic. Probably the local maximum of the concept for today, just as Walter Jon Williams' novella was the local maximum for the eighties.

(Granted, everyone will have to be out of town November 22, 1963, but that's OK. Wonder Woman bursting out of her pink suit in Dallas and deflecting Oswald's bullets with her bracelets would be a bit much.)

(And Hal Jordan uses the word "pieface" once. Once.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Shutupshutupshutup!

wdstarr
2005-06-09 12:03 pm UTC (link)

"New Frontier is the reverse. The Silver Age of DC in
Eisenhower's universe, and beautifully cinematic. Probably the local
maximum of the concept for today, just as Walter Jon Williams'
novella was the local maximum for the eighties."

What WJW novella is that? (I'm almost certain you mean "Witness,"
but I figure I should ask.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Shutupshutupshutup! carloshasanax 2005-06-09 12:35 pm UTC (link)
	That's the one. (Reply to this)(Parent)

austin_dern
2005-06-09 01:46 pm UTC (link)

Hadn't heard, myself, but I slip terribly far behind these comic book things, and I have eclectic and unpopular tastes to start with (I've still got New Universe comics). What happened? At a blind guess, it was humiliating and horrible.

``Utility fog'' is a good choice of power. I like the superpowers that reward creativity and imagination. My top three superheroes were always Plastic-Man, Green Lantern¹, and Aquaman, so, see above comment about eclectic and unpopular tastes.

¹ Admittedly, the Saturday morning cartoon version, as in, not particularly prone to psychotic rages involving blowing up local supergalactic clusters.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	thebitterguy 2005-06-09 01:48 pm UTC (link)
	She was murdered as part of Identity Crisis, and it was revealed there were bad happenings to her in the past. (Reply to this)(Parent)

amberdine
2005-06-08 10:27 pm UTC (link)

1: Non-flammable, please. I have no desire to be Fuel-Air Explosion Lad. Also, no vulnerablity to high winds, please. Nothing is more unimpressive than being dispersed by a stiffish breeze.

Giggle!

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	james_nicoll 2005-06-09 01:50 pm UTC (link)
	One thign years of Champions has taught me is that one should always be specific, because if you do not specify things, the GM will. Also, never say "I call my mother." (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mmcirvin 2005-06-08 11:07 pm UTC (link)
	"If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?" Sad fact: the first time I read this line I interpreted "superpower" in the geopolitical sense. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Me too garmacottar 2005-06-09 11:59 am UTC (link)
	And it annoyed me to only have a hyperpower and budding superpowers to choose from (Reply to this)(Parent)

cincinnatus
2005-06-09 12:26 am UTC (link)

I really liked Garth Ennis' run on Punisher. I don't think he really counts as a superhero but I think he's a lot more interesting than the other super-powered goofballs running around. Not so much for his motivations or whatever, although Ennis manages to do interesting things even with that, but because his lack of powers makes him into a tactician. And with Garth Ennis behind the pen you know you're going to get some crazy crazy shit- and it's funny that he makes Daredevil his bitch.

Berard

(Reply to this)(Thread)

(Anonymous)
2005-06-10 04:51 pm UTC (link)

I never much cared for the Marvel Knights Punisher (he's a gun toting vigilante, he's a happy go-lucky spider-bitten guy, together they fight crime!) due to the mismatch in feel between Frank and the rest of the Marvel Universe. The new MAX series though, where Frank's basically completely divorced from the rest of Marvel and is obviously completely, tragically, mentally damaged, is much better. Darker, but it's obvious to anyone reading that Frank is not a healthy person at all.

Stephen Shevlin

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

cincinnatus
2005-06-10 08:24 pm UTC (link)

It could have a lot to do with how I don't read the other Marvel Knights or really many other comics at all, but I really enjoyed the MK Punisher, especially when he's dealing with (and by dealing with I mean pwning) other superheroes. The Max series' writing I like, but I really really don't like the drawing and wish he would go back with Dillon, but I think I might be a minority in this.

Berard

(Reply to this)(Parent)

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