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Post by Dullahan on Nov 23, 2010 14:59:46 GMT -5
What? I'd kill for that power.
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Post by WildKnight on Nov 23, 2010 15:02:13 GMT -5
What? I'd kill for that power. In real life, maybe. But if you lived in the DC Universe, you'd be mighty lame by comparison to the real players.
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Post by Dullahan on Nov 23, 2010 15:04:23 GMT -5
......Ok, fair enough. Being able to summon dolphins when your friend can toss around planets does take away the cool factor, doesn't it?
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Post by WildKnight on Nov 23, 2010 15:05:20 GMT -5
......Ok, fair enough. Being able to summon dolphins when your friend can toss around planets does take away the cool factor, doesn't it? Something like that. I'd rather be Batman than Aquaman, and Batman supposedly has no super powers.
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Post by Dullahan on Nov 23, 2010 15:07:19 GMT -5
Yeah, but then you'd have to deal with that nutso clown, the guy in the ice suit, and the lousy riddles.
It'd be cool for awhile, but I think it'd get old.
But yeah, I'd like to be Batman!
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Post by takewithfood on Nov 23, 2010 15:21:08 GMT -5
I have to agree that, while it would be neat if I could talk to dolphins, it makes for a terrible comic book character. Every power, no matter how meh, can have it's crowning moment of awesome, but you can't really write that kind of scene more than once.
I was going to argue that a really interesting character can make a lame power seem cool, but that isn't really the case. At best, I think an interesting, well-written character can be cool despite a lame power, but the power itself doesn't add much.
~TWF
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Post by raynorn on Nov 23, 2010 15:25:07 GMT -5
An otherwise lame power may be cool if wielded in an interesting way by a fun character. I beg to differ. A lame power is always a lame power. That's why, no matter how well-written they may be, some characters will always be third tier in the comic book world. Aquaman has had some BRILLIANT writers work on him over the years. He's continually subjected to bottom rung status because, quite frankly, being the dude who can telepathically control dolphins, is stupid. I will take well written Aquaman comic arc over poorly written Batman, Superman, or X-Men comic arc any day of the week. Edit: and he is cooler than the Wonder Twins, who arguably have a much cooler power. Edit 2: I have not seen Smallville Aquaman, but one of my friends swears he is one of the best guest stars on the show.
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Post by Beacon on Nov 23, 2010 16:46:25 GMT -5
I have to agree that, while it would be neat if I could talk to dolphins, it makes for a terrible comic book character. Every power, no matter how meh, can have it's crowning moment of awesome, but you can't really write that kind of scene more than once. I was going to argue that a really interesting character can make a lame power seem cool, but that isn't really the case. At best, I think an interesting, well-written character can be cool despite a lame power, but the power itself doesn't add much. ~TWF Define “lame power”. One of Marvel’s biggest characters is a short guy who heals quickly and has claws. Sure the healing is useful but it isn’t as showy as a guy like Spider-Man and the claws are downright uninspired. I’d actually rather breath under water, talk to sea life, and be KING OF THE OCEAN than be Wolverine. Or manipulate paper telekinetically and be a SECRET AGENT. (Then you have the characters like Squirrel Girl where the joke is that she’s an unstoppable force despite having a ridiculously stupid power set)
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Post by WildKnight on Nov 23, 2010 18:17:53 GMT -5
No, Squirrel Girl is a bad joke that has gone way too far. Like Deadpool.
Wolverine's power is anything but lame. The ability to recover almost instantly from any wound, combined with enhanced speed, strength, and senses, would be far more useful to your average person than the ability to breathe underwater and call sealife to do your bidding.
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Post by Beacon on Nov 23, 2010 19:28:00 GMT -5
No, Squirrel Girl is a bad joke that has gone way too far. Like Deadpool. …what do you have against fun? (Though I half agree with you on Deadpool. The problem with him is that they’ve oversaturated the market with him lately and most of his writers aren’t very funny. Gail Simone’s Deadpool was fantastic but not so much with Dan Way’s.) I won’t deny that Wolverine’s healing factor is useful. However it also acts as an open invitation for both the writers and the in-universe characters to mostly just use him as a punching bag and that gets real old real fast.
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Post by WildKnight on Nov 23, 2010 19:41:11 GMT -5
I have nothing against fun. I don't find slapstick or over-the-top nonsense to be remotely "fun."
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Post by takewithfood on Nov 23, 2010 20:29:06 GMT -5
That's definitely up to individual interpretation. ~TWF
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Derex.Ceasar
Puny Human
I came, I saw, I conquered
Posts: 11
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Post by Derex.Ceasar on Nov 24, 2010 6:46:06 GMT -5
Lame: swinging through New York on a piece of string in your tights.
I like spider-man, but their are definitely people who think that ^ and think that he's pretty stupid. 100% an opinion question.
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Post by WildKnight on Nov 24, 2010 7:45:16 GMT -5
Yes, but those people are probably the same people who think that a show about someone who commands paper with the tensile strength of steel are cool. Ergo, their opinions don't matter.
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Post by takewithfood on Nov 24, 2010 9:12:34 GMT -5
I feel the need to reiterate that a well-written, interesting character can still be cool despite lame powers; it's just that the powers, if they're kinda dumb, don't add much. Someone who thinks Peter Parker has the dumbest powers in the history of time might still like the character, the themes, the writing, the look, etc.
But if you give the coolest power you can think of to the dumbest character you can think of, you're still going to have a dumb character.
Powers alone do not make a character very interesting.
~TWF
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