# Ask the comic guy.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415 "2003-01-09T01:53:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/521 "2003-02-19T16:15:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aslan2 \* > \*\*Or, the first marvel black hero, > > **The black Panther** > Also > **Bishop > Brother Voodoo > Captain Marvel/Photon > Murmur > Night Thrasher**\*(lamest name ever?)\*\*\* > Cyborg > Green Lantern(John Stewart)\*\* \*\* **Steel**? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/522 "2003-02-19T16:33:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mockingbird \* > \*\*I think [Giant-Man] easily conforms. \*\* Well, he has something of an afro, but he was featured in the 70’s and early 80’s, when such a hairstyle was popular, not stereotypical. Yes, originally he was called Black Goliath and he had come from poor circumstances, but he was an educated man, didn’t generally speak “street,” and wasn’t part of a typical “buddy” pairing. (Although he was friends with the Thing and appeared most often, after “Black Goliath” was cancelled, in the Thing’s “Marvel Two-In-One,” it was by no means a partnership in the Eddie Murphy-Nick Nolte mode. Also, the Thing isn’t white, he’s orange.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/523 "2003-02-19T16:36:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Askia \* > **In The AUTHORITY, I don’t believe that any incarnation of The Doctor has been a ‘real’ combatant…** OTOH, the Authority’s Doctor is very much part of the team’s typical battle plan. Even though he might not get around to hurting people, he’s on the ground, in the action, turning laser beams into trees or firebombs into a scented breeze. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/524 "2003-02-19T16:42:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aslan2 \* > \*\*If cyclops were to continious shoot his optic beams how long would it last? > Does it have a limit? > What would happen when he reaches the limit? \*\* On a handful of occasions Cyclops has expended the power of his eyebeams. The process exhausts him (and conversely, if he’s tired from normal physical activity, his beams would be weaker and quicker to run out), but nothing bad happens to him – he’s just unable to use the beams until he rests up a little. Probably if Cyclops shot his beams at full power (eyes wide open and unblocked by a visor) continuously it wouldn’t take very long to exhaust them (and him), not more than a few minutes. You can infer this by the fact that on the few occasions we’ve seen Cyclops’ power become quiescent it’s because he’s used it all up in a battle. Since most battles wouldn’t last more than a couple minutes and since even them Cyclops wouldn’t be using his power continuously, his beams would deplete even more quickly if he were purposefully running them down. Of course, he can’t use this in an attempt to have a normal life without his lenses, because as I said, the depletion of his power tires him out, and also the beams seem to take onlya few minutes to recharge, at least partially. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/525 "2003-02-19T17:16:46Z")
I’m beginning to think this was a bad, bad topic for me to bring up, if only because it’s based on the memories of a hilarious website I stumbled across more than a year ago and haven’t revisited since. I assumed you could find a reference to it easily online, but that’s not the case. A comic book web-based columnist used it as fodder for one of his columns and provided a link to the webpage… which would be fine, only I’ll be DAMNED if I can remember who the columnist was, or the website, or the link he provided. It’s not Christopher Priest or Dwayne McDuffie. (He was a skinny black guy with a faux-Africentric sounding name who had been recently married. Hannibal Somebody. I think.) Forty minutes of trawling Google has yielded nothing but annoyance. The answer’s definitely out there somewhere in cyberspace – but it’s probably poor form to ask a question you half-know the answer to anyway, idnit? Anyway. The Black Superhero Algorithm neatly sums up most characters created by Marvel and DC comics since the 60s, as most of them share the following characteristics – and these are the ONLY ones I can remember: 1) grew up in poverty 2) infinitely familiar with the American criminal justice system 3) have the word “Black” as part of their superhero name 4) affiliated with the Olympics. So that nails Black Lightning, Black Goliath, Death the Black Racer, Black Panther and even Luke Cage, Power Man. That stuff about the jive-talking patois and humorous white sidekick might be part of it, but that’s not what I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/526 "2003-02-19T17:30:34Z")
sweet Christmas… ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/527 "2003-02-19T18:16:29Z")
I don’t see how Black Racer conforms, other than the name. He was… mmm. Memory says either an EMT or firefighter trapped in a collapsing building, paralyzed, and then given an offer to be able to move again. Other than the name, of course. And that does match his job, thematically. As far as the others… Storm? ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/528 "2003-02-19T19:48:33Z")
E-Sabbath: According to my copy of JACK KIRBY’S NEW GODS – Sgt. Willie Walker was a quadriplegic Vietnam vet who was living with his sister and brother-in-law in the ghetto of Metropolis when he witnessed an Intergang mob hit. The killer was about to kill him, too, when the Death the Black Racer conveniently intervened and merged with Willie’s human form. As long as he’s needed as a New God, he is the nigh-omnipotent Racer – the rest of the time he’s this paralyzed soldier who can’t move or speak. So you got the name thing and the poverty thing, there. Storm grew up a pickpocket and thief in Cairo, remember? ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/529 "2003-02-19T20:33:48Z")
How about Bishop? ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/530 "2003-02-19T20:57:58Z")
Well it took ALL DAY but I finally[found it!](http://www.operative.net/archive/columns/word/15-blackheroorigin.html) I misremembered one factor – it’s not that they have the word ‘BLACK’ in their name, it’s that they were inspired by white heroes. Which lets Black Panther back in – which is good, since he’s the ONLY Marvel superhero currently on the list. Bishop is disqualified for being Aborigine – and if that’s his character’s personal cultural identification, I’d agree. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/531 "2003-02-19T21:21:18Z")
Legion of Superheroes question: How old are they supposed to be? Teenagers? If the entire legion is composed of teenagers, what do they do when they turn 20? Have they grown up? Wouldn’t you be embaresed by a name like “Sun Boy” when you’re 36 years old and married with two kids? Next Question: I used to love the New Mutants back in the 80s and early 90s, but stopped buying comics pretty much about the time they were cancelled and shuffled off to various other X-Teams. Can someone who has followed Marvel continuity since then give me a run down on the subsequent fate of the New Mutants? ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/532 "2003-02-19T21:35:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Askia \* > **Bishop is disqualified for being Aborigine** Wow. I never knew. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/533 "2003-02-20T00:27:44Z")
Lemur866: > [@](#): > > Legion of Superheroes question: > > How old are they supposed to be? Teenagers? If the entire legion is composed of teenagers, what do they do when they turn 20? Have they grown up? Wouldn’t you be embaresed by a name like “Sun Boy” when you’re 36 years old and married with two kids? They started out as teenagers. While they definitely (pre-Zero Hour) grew up and matured during the run of the book, none of them (prior to the end of the Levitz Legion series, in 1989) changed their code name, probably because they were so well-recognized by their code names, it wasn’t cause for embarrassment. In the following series, written by Tom & Mary Beirbaum and Keith Giffen, the adult Legionnaires, since retired for a while, used their real names (except for Brainiac 5 and Valor (the hero formerly known as Mon-El - long story), whose names don’t really reflect age anyway) and spoke half mockingly, half wistfully of the “silly” code-names of their youth. The post-Zero Hour Legionnaires are still teenagers. Chaim Mattis Keller [Legion-Reference-File](http://omega.animefringe.com/lshhlp/) Lad ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/534 "2003-02-20T00:36:01Z")
> [@](#): > > I used to love the New Mutants back in the 80s and early 90s, but stopped buying comics pretty much about the time they were cancelled and shuffled off to various other X-Teams. Can someone who has followed Marvel continuity since then give me a run down on the subsequent fate of the New Mutants? Oh, yeesh…is that a mouthful of a loaded question. Off the top of my head: Cannonball eventually ended up with X-Force, was killed, learned he was an immortal, and later “graduated” to the X-Men itself. He’s been off their roster since Morrison’s revamp of the book a few years ago. Wolfsbane: ended up with X-Factor during the 1990s X-Men revival. No idea where she’s been since. Shadowcat: Quit the X-Men after Colossus died. She’s returned to college and been on her own since. Magik: Killed by the “Legacy Virus” a few years ago. An alternate-universe counterpart of hers has recently joined the _Exiles_ comic. Cypher: Killed, but somehow merged with the remans of Warlock to combine into the “Douglock” entity. No idea where they are. Moonstar: Beats me. Sunspot: Also joined X-Force back in the 90’s, or was at least involved in that book. No idea where he is. There’s a _new_ New Mutants title debuting in April or May. It’s more 80’s revivalism, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/535 "2003-02-20T07:12:18Z")
**ResIpsa** : Shadowcat was never actually in the New Mutants, though, was she? I seem to recall there was a bit of friction between Kitty and a couple of the NMs, because of her status as one of the “full-fledged X-Men” despite being the same age as most of the NMs. (I didn’t think she was _ever_ a member of the junior team, but now I’m beginning to doubt my powers of recall.) I don’t know about Colossus dying (is this something recent?), but when most of the X-Men were believed dead by the world at large, Shadowcat, Rachel Summers and Nightcrawler ended up in the British based\* Excalibur for quite a while. Hey, speaking of which… whatever happened to Lockheed? Is he even remembered in the current X-Continuity? \*[sub]Admittedly, they spent a majority of their time lost in various other dimensions, but they did _start out_ living in a lighthouse on the British coast.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/536 "2003-02-20T08:18:42Z")
Colossus is quite dead, and Marvel hasn’t even bothered with a Spider-clone “Ha-ha, we were just kidding” way of undoing it. Seems that the only way to cure the Legacy Virus that killed his sister was for a mutant to be exposed to it; it’d kill him, but cure the disease otherwise. Colossus was dumb enough/noble enough to use it on himself. I recall the comics industry largely reacting with a collective “um.” ---
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/537 "2003-02-20T08:35:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \* > \*\*Oh, yeesh…is that a mouthful of a loaded question. Off the top of my head: > > Cannonball eventually ended up with X-Force, was killed, learned he was an immortal, and later “graduated” to the X-Men itself. He’s been off their roster since Morrison’s revamp of the book a few years ago.\*\* Actually, he has shown up as part of the X-Corporation: London, in Morrison’s books, along with Monet and Darkstar, amongst others. Sam’s always been one of my favorite characters, and a few years ago when Joe Mad! was pencilling, he took on Gladiator one on one and won. \*\* > [@](#): > > Wolfsbane: ended up with X-Factor during the 1990s X-Men revival. No idea where she’s been since.\*\* She was a member of X-Facor, then Excalibre for a while, and had somehow gained the ability to let her hair grow out in the latter’s books. \*\* > [@](#): > > Shadowcat: Quit the X-Men after Colossus died. She’s returned to college and been on her own since.\*\* She’s been featured in “X-Men: Unlimited” for a couple of short stories featuring her here and there on her life on campus. \*\* > [@](#): > > Magik: Killed by the “Legacy Virus” a few years ago. An alternate-universe counterpart of hers has recently joined the _Exiles_ comic. > > Cypher: Killed, but somehow merged with the remans of Warlock to combine into the “Douglock” entity. No idea where they are. > > Moonstar: Beats me.\*\* Dani Moonstar became a member of SHEILD, and infiltrated the Mutant Liberation Front as an undercover agent. When that mission was done, she spent some time kicking around with X-Force \*\* > [@](#): > > Sunspot: Also joined X-Force back in the 90’s, or was at least involved in that book. No idea where he is.\*\* He quit the team to study with an External named Gideon, who thought that he, not same was an immortal. Turned out it was indeed Sam, and Gideon started to push 'Berto around until he went and joined X-Force. He stayed with X-Force for a long time, and eventually became locked in his powered up Sunspot form. Boomer, or Boom-Boom, or Meltdown, stayed with X-Force pretty much through it’s whole run, occasionally changing her name. And Warlock, who wasn’t mentioned, was killed by Cameron Hodge inorder to steal the transmode virus from him. 'Lock was reduced to a small silicone slab. \*\* > [@](#): > > There’s a _new_ New Mutants title debuting in April or May. It’s more 80’s revivalism, I think. \*\* There was also a 3 issue, “New Mutants” mini series that was released in the late 90’s pencilled by Bernard Chang that has the old team travel into the future as their present incarnations were home for a reunion that was pretty good. If you want better rundowns of what happened, I highly recommend this site, [www.uncannyxmen.net](http://www.uncannyxmen.net) , as one of the most in depth resources for Marvel mutants comics. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/538 "2003-02-20T08:39:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skeezix \* > \*\ ***ResIpsa** : Shadowcat was never actually in the New Mutants, though, was she? I seem to recall there was a bit of friction between Kitty and a couple of the NMs, because of her status as one of the “full-fledged X-Men” despite being the same age as most of the NMs. > > (I didn’t think she was _ever_ a member of the junior team, but now I’m beginning to doubt my powers of recall.)\*\* She never was. Xavier tried to demote her, and she threw a tantrum, proved herself, and got to stay as an X-Man. But her best friend at the school was Illyana, so there was a lot of crossover stuff. \*\* > [@](#): > > Hey, speaking of which… whatever happened to Lockheed? Is he even remembered in the current X-Continuity? \*\* Lockheed is residing in res with Kitty at University, and has appeared in X-Men: Unlimited in the past coupla years. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/539 "2003-02-20T11:23:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by New & Improved Scott \* > \*\*She {Shadowcat} never was {in the New Mutants}. Xavier tried to demote her, and she threw a tantrum, proved herself, and got to stay as an X-Man. But her best friend at the school was Illyana, so there was a lot of crossover stuff. \*\* Extremely minor nit-picky quibble: She technically _was_ in the New Mutants for a few weeks, comic-time, one issue real-time. In the storyline you mentioned, Professor X actually did demote her. As you said, though, she whined about being stuck with the “X-Babies” (which didn’t win her any points with them), pouted, argued, then eventually proved herself by beating up one of…um…The Brood, IIRC with Prof. X watching. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415/540 "2003-02-20T17:10:08Z")
It wasn’t a brood, but this big, never seen before or again, Ash type deamon that had a head that kinda looked like a brood head, that tried to kill her. She was in tha mansion alone, and in beatin this thing, she managed to trash the damger room, the blackbird, and countless other sections of the school. It was good enough to prove her mettle. (And they were sick of her whining about it). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-comic-guy/147415.md?page=28)