Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

I used to be a massive comic book fan and purchaser. As of the last decade or so though not so much. I don't like this direction comics are heading in. There are too many characters in both DC and Marvel with be all end all powers. I used to enjoy comics when things were more rock, paper, scissors. Where a guy had a powerset that trumped another guy and that was that. Now everybody has galaxy busting abilities and feats. Also too many reality warpers or people who can travel at cross universe speeds.

They tend to be wildly inconsistent also, with people not using powers they have. Take surfer for example. With the power cosmic comes cosmic awareness. With that kind of awareness nothing that isn't top tier marvel should be able to touch him. Also he should be able to know about things from light years away. Yet countless times we see him being hit by slow moving things. Or hey even being depowered by a human missle(how do you not know about it or dodge it?).

With this high amount of people with be all end all powers. Like time and space control or reality control the universe has gone from interesting to down right painful to read. I'll continue this when i'm thinking more clearly and present a better case, but i think you get what I mean.

Well... don't read cosmic crap. Street level characters, especially Batman and Daredevil, and much more interesting than Silver Surfer etc. Also, their power levels are pretty obviously set in stone.

But that's a problem that affects even my favourites like batman and other street level heroes. There stories and timeline and other important things are effected by those other characters. Like someone punching your reality(which makes no sense that someone can punch reality). Also constantly you hear about people with powers who by all defninition should never lose a fight. Yet when you see them fight all you see them do is energy beams or punch.

OH but when a comic book even happens they get all heroic make a speech and bust out said stupid be all end all power(which they go back to not using after). Both marvel and DC universes should have been destroyed ten times over just with the high amount of galaxy and universe destroying beings(many of which are evil).

Razor if you want something different and fresh try this...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superpowers_(comics)

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080701-PSExpansion.html

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://bp2.blogger.com/_5VgL6ZXwkaw/R_p2ozPTN5I/AAAAAAAAGCs/RYHHzRy4SNc/s320/Project%2BSuper%2BPowers%2B2-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://comicbookrevolution.blogspot.com/2008/04/comic-book-review-project-super-powers.html&h=245&w=320&sz=29&hl=en&start=4&um=1&usg=__yFv__MHmwvyUuGOk5IsLvdp-f98=&tbnid=Ur6fA-DXTCZgTM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=118&prev=/ images%3Fq%3Dprocject%2Bsuper%2Bpowers%26um%3D1%26
hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Kid's got a point. What's the point of, say, Batman in the DC Universe when Emo can retcon reality with punches? Or half the Justice League could annihilate the planet?

I enjoyed the original Crisis because it was a multiversal threat from a "Be all end all" character....but it was before such threats were commonplace. Power-ups please the fanboys. But there's a lot to be said for keeping characters more grounded.

In fact I don't even hate people who have great power. I like people who can say control time and do it on a regular.

I think a good depiction of how powers should be used is something like the show Heroes. In that show when someone comes to the limit of their powers a good reason is given. Like a telepath is trying to control a heavy object. The guys with godlike powers in that show use them too. Heck the phasing guy just phased his fist into another guys head. Hiro can stop time, but for once it's used well. The only people you see able to counter his time manipulation are people who have his ability.

In the comic book universe now though it seems everybody has invulnerability to everything. So they have all great powers but everybody seems to be immune to them(which makes no sense).

You guys may think I'm coming off as a comic book hater. I'm not. My 3 favourite heroes of all time are batman, hulk, and spawn. I've read all of spawn can't say that about the other too though becasue they are in a bigger universe with lots of tie ins.

Originally posted by razor4life
I think a good depiction of how powers should be used is something like the show Heroes.
I was totally with you right up until this point.

Why? Also i'm not shouting out heroes I just think the way powers are used and limited is well portrayed. If you disagree based on not liking the show I can understand. If it's based on the point i'm trying to make then explain.

A bit of both.

Heroes is one of the worst shows on television and what you're complaining happens there too just as often as it does in comics.

I can't really think of these moments you speak of, I'm sure they do exist. I'm just sure they aren't as frequent as in comic books. If you could give me a good examples of the heroes one(without CIS) that would be appreciated.

Originally posted by Endrict Nuul
Razor if you want something different and fresh try this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superpowers_(comics)

Superpowers has been a huge disappointment.

Alan Moore put many of the same characters to much better use in Tom Strong and Terra Obscura.

Originally posted by razor4life
I can't really think of these moments you speak of, I'm sure they do exist. I'm just sure they aren't as frequent as in comic books. If you could give me a good examples of the heroes one(without CIS) that would be appreciated.
Off the top of my head

-The entire Peter/Sylar fight

-Sylar stopping multiple bullets in mid-flight using TK and then letting Hiro run after him and stab him in the chest

-Peter using TK on the vault door when he could have just phased through it

All of those are par with your Surfer example.

Not really. Cosmic awareness is for all intents a passive ability(or so I think). Also him tearing off the vault door was him still using one of his abilities. Also Hiros powers are thought activated. So far sylar has no thought manipulation powers. So the two examples you gave me are still showing people using their powers to a logical extent in a battle situation where they don't have time to think of all the possibilities.

Also you made a mistake with comparing the cast of heroes making a mistake every here and there to Surfer making many. Do you forget the insane level of thought speed the surfer has? So him forgetting to do something is much worst than a mere human that has a lot of powers using the wrong one.

So really you just hate Surfer? I'll co-sign that. Stupid silver pacifist is way overrated.

313

Actually I love surfer. I just wish he would be portrayed with his powers. Right now he just shoots energy beams. He is one of my favourite characters but for the love of God use your powerset.

So you think Sylar being fast enough to stop bullets and yet being stabbed by a short, chubby Asian guy running at him very slowly is acceptable but Surfer getting caught off guard every now and then is terrible?

So your putting bullet catching on par with the power cosmic and all it entails? Also the bullet catching thing can be explained easily with a kenetic field around him or something. True it wasn't stated to my knowledge but telekenetics catching or manipulating bullets is nothing new or impressive. Also telekenetics is blown away by time control(with a thought no less).

To drive it home further. Surfers abilities make him think and calculate faster than any supercomputer. So don't compare a regular guy using his POWERS even if it's not the one you'd prefer. In the heat of battle to someone who can think thousands of times more thana human being per second. Also Hiros physical appearance has nothing to do with his abilities. Don't let your hatred of the show blind you.

Originally posted by razor4life
Actually I love surfer. I just wish he would be portrayed with his powers. Right now he just shoots energy beams. He is one of my favourite characters but for the love of God use your powerset.

Ha.

Welcome to the world of anyone over meta-level, razor. Name me a character that is close to Surfer in power, and I will show you CIS for the fair majority of their showings from not utilizing all of their powers.

You hate Surfer not using his full power set at all times? Try reading the Authority. Actually, don't. God help me, I can't stop but I shed a small tear every time Doctor and/or Jenny gets PIS'd out of a story, or doesn't end a fight quickly.

The powers are ancillary to the story. The former facilitates the latter. This is true of any character who is so powerful. Your complaints are valid, but they exist everywhere there are powerful characters (not just comics), and so you indeed might be able to stomach street-levelers more easily.

Originally posted by DigiMark007
So really you just hate Surfer? I'll co-sign that. Stupid silver pacifist is way overrated.

313

Actually, one of the things I don't like about the Surfer is that he is way too versatile. A simpler, more basic powerset would've been more realistic as herald, IMO, and it would've avoided his apparent jobbing over the years. It would also explain why he tumbles everytime he's knock off his board.

Originally posted by razor4life
...but i think you get what I mean. Yes. Yes I do.

Originally posted by razor4life
I think a good depiction of how powers should be used is something like the show Heroes.

Ben10 does a better job.

Originally posted by razor4life
So your putting bullet catching on par with the power cosmic and all it entails? Also the bullet catching thing can be explained easily with a kenetic field around him or something. True it wasn't stated to my knowledge but telekenetics catching or manipulating bullets is nothing new or impressive. Also telekenetics is blown away by time control(with a thought no less).

To drive it home further. Surfers abilities make him think and calculate faster than any supercomputer. So don't compare a regular guy using his POWERS even if it's not the one you'd prefer. In the heat of battle to someone who can think thousands of times more thana human being per second. Also Hiros physical appearance has nothing to do with his abilities. Don't let your hatred of the show blind you.
What I'm saying is if you're fast enough to stop bullets, you're fast enough to take a step a to the left when someone tries to stab you but that isn't even the point.

You're saying PIS doesn't exist in Heroes. I'm saying it does. It does in practically every episode. It's unavoidable in anything that has to do with superpowers.


What you're describing is PIS. What I'm describing is PIS. What you're trying to argue now is which is a bigger example of PIS than the other.

At what point did I say PIS doesn't exist in Heroes? In fact if you read what I've written I even said that it's there. So don't say I said otherwise. I just said it's not on the scale of comic books. When a mere human being with many powers to choose from using the wrong one i might be more understanding.

When something that verges on Godlike does though it's not understandable. Something that could think a thousand times more information than you per second should more or less always come up with the right choice.

Along these lines, I was originally upset when the Justice League cartoons were ridiculously underpowered (later seasons became truer to the comics). But then I was like "Hell, it doesn't seem so bad that they don't end every conflict in 2 seconds." It was actually more enjoyable when Superman couldn't just speedblitz entire compounds of enemies or something similar.

Originally posted by razor4life
At what point did I say PIS doesn't exist in Heroes? In fact if you read what I've written I even said that it's there. So don't say I said otherwise. I just said it's not on the scale of comic books. When a mere human being with many powers to choose from using the wrong one i might be more understanding.

When something that verges on Godlike does though it's not understandable. Something that could think a thousand times more information than you per second should more or less always come up with the right choice.
Can't say I have any interest in arguing semantics with you.

Originally posted by DigiMark007
Along these lines, I was originally upset when the Justice League cartoons were ridiculously underpowered (later seasons became truer to the comics). But then I was like "Hell, it doesn't seem so bad that they don't end every conflict in 2 seconds." It was actually more enjoyable when Superman couldn't just speedblitz entire compounds of enemies or something similar. Though it took me a while to get used to Superman on his animated series, that he wasn't so be-all-end-all did make him a more interesting character.

bump

Ya once spawn became god and created a new earth with MoM it should be the end of the series imo. That kind of leap for a character should sum up the end. Closing the gates of heaven and hell and for the most part making the earth a better place to live because now people know what's at stake.