Tell that to Edward Elric. The current Firestorm, currently, has some handle on his powers, but isn’t very good with the nuclear alchemy. Kinda like the Steinless Ronnie.
I was going to quote, but I’ll just do it freehand.
Martian Manhunter - 1.) he’s not dead. 2.) He doesn’t have Superman’s suite of sensory powers or super-breath. Strength, Flight, Invulnerability, and Energy-Vision. 3.) The “classic” Manhunter could only use one power at a time, but did have intangibility.
Flash - Unless there’s recent evidence to contravene it, Wally still blows thing up when vibrating through solid objects.
Wolverine - Agreed on the muscle issue - sharpest knife in the world isn’t going to shread a tank very well.
Green Lantern - That should be #1 most powerful weapon in the universe, if I’m recalling DC One Million correctly. I think the ring is being handled very well in the two current GL series.
The Spectre - in his final retcon-revised form, he’s not very suitable as a Superhero at all. Either he’s allowed to intervene, and wins, or he’s not allowed to intervene. Minor exceptions for when someone has one of the dozen or so magical items that actually gives him trouble. So I’d just as soon see him relegated to ‘Aloof Cosmic Being’ status.
Firestorm - Ronnie Raymond version couldn’t effectively transform organic matter, which keeps him from turning someone’s bones to sulfur. Both versions plagued by hesitation and uncertainty, but once resolved - yes, very powerful.
Hawkeye and Green Arrow - Yes, the trick arrows are silly, but overpowered? Please.
Captain Hero. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been watching an episode of Drawn Together and thought “why doesn’t Captain Hero do such and such?” Instead it’s always someone like Foxxy Love or Ling Ling who’s saving the day.
I dunno, I really think that the DC heroes are all meant to be rediculously powered, and that it takes away something to make less powerful.
How strong is Superman?
How fast is the Flash?
How versatile is Green Lantern?
As much as they need to be, no more, no less.
I do think that the Martian Manhunter’s physical strength and speed should be toned down to Aquaman levels (or lower, but still superhuman), and the writers should concentrate on his shapeshifting and telepathy instead, but that’s mostly to make him more distinct from Superman/Wonder Woman/the Marvel Family.
I also agree that the mystics need to have slightly harder limits. I never got the impression that Zatanna is considered as much of a powerhouse as Green Lantern or the Phantom Stranger, but is there anything she can’t do? Give mystics a limited repeptoire of spells, or slow casting times, or make spells physically draining or somehow self-limiting (I can’t turn Doomsday to stone because I just healed Green Arrow, if I stop concentrating on that, his injuries will return and he’ll probably die!).
Now, I can think of a few Marvel characters I’d like to depower, but that’s because Marvel tries to pull the “Underdog” card, which works better the less powerful you are.
Wolverine- I’d slow down the healing factor considerably. As it stands, it sometimes looks like a bloodier version of Superman-esque invulnerability. He’ll get back up, eventually, I’d even hint (but never confirm) that he’s actually unkillable, but a good pounding or a burst from a conventional firearm will put him down for the count, at the very least. Wolverine is the guy who never want to count out or turn your back on, but he’s not unstoppable in a stand-up fight.
Rogue- Power/life stealing only. No permanent strength, flight or invulnerability. Make her play to her unique gimmick and weakness.
You know, oddly, Captain Marvel (the Big Red Cheese) seems just right, somehow.
Can’t really say why.
I mean no offense, but I utterly despise this school of thought. Nothing iritates me more than to have my favorite heroes abruptly change what they can do from one book to the next just because the writers are hacks and couldn’t come up with a decent story.
It’s the only rational solution when characters are so divorced from actual physics and so above normal humanity as even the weaker versions of Flash and Superman are.
I disagree; I think the writers should pick a power level and stick with it. I see nothing wrong with that solution.
Because then Superman wouldn’t fly.
I think I would depower the following:
The Flash. Infinite Mass Punch? Clearing out an entire city in one second? Good grief.
The Silver Surfer. He’s Jesus Christ on a surfboard. Nothing short of a cosmic being can even hurt him. He’d beat Superman in about a pico second (yes, he moves that fast). If it wasn’t for plot-induced stupidity most of his fights would last about one second.
Wolverine. Imho the worst character in comics in the last 20 years.
Batman. Yea, we get it. With prep he is invincible. At least the Adam West Batman was funny.
Thor. He’s currently Rune Thor meaning he can do pretty much anything he wants. Not very interesting beyond one story arc.
Rogue has already lost her Ms. Marvel powers (although she has since gained Sunfire’s powers.)
I do find it amusing that every time you mention the Surfer you use that phrase.
I will add here that I respectfully disagree about the Surfer’s speed - while he, like the GL Corps, can cross vast distances at transluminal velocities, their reaction speeds are demonstrably slower.
I thought he was currently Dead Thor. Did I miss the comeback?
That… really doesn’t make any kind of sense to me. Why would they take away Superman’s flight?
Well, if they had never changed his powers, he wouldn’t fly. He didn’t have that ability from the beginning.
Shaman did lose his bag in later issues. Last I saw him, he had the ability to summon spirits who he may or may not be able to convince to help him. (IIRC, it has been a while.)
It just fits with his powerset. I think you are wrong about his speed. This, for example, is not the Surfer merely crossing vast distances:
Nor is his fight with Deathurge at faster than light speed or his fight with Gladiator in pico seconds (where the Surfer figured out Gladiator’s weakness to a certain radiation, created said radiation and ended the fight). While a GL’s reaction speed is clearly slower, the Surfer’s is not.
Thor’s status is up in the air. The writer, Mike Oeming, of his final arc had Thor entering a cosmic sleep at the end of the series but has stated on message boards that he is not dead. He may even have appeared in the recent Beta Ray Bill series. Joe Quesda (sp) of Marvel, however, has pronounced that Thor is dead. Ymmv.
I can’t really add too much to any discussion of current comic reality (having given up reading in the early 90’s), but the good old Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe had a scale for reflexes. Spiderman was the exemplar for the second-from-the-top, with “Can dodge automatic weapon fire.”
Silver Surfer was the example given for the top of the scale: “Can dodge laser beams.” At that time, he was supposed to have superluminal reaction speed. Of course, most writers would rarely want such an ability in their story, so it probably isn’t used much.
I don’t know that that panel implies an actual physical search, or, for example, the Surfer flying up and “scanning” the planet from orbit.
Saltire’s evidence is much more convincing, though I don’t recall the Surfer being commonly depicted as reacting that swiftly in the extensive run of his own title that I have.
Well, I think it’s fairly clear that he does an actual search. Even if he doesn’t, he still gets into orbit and scans the entire planet in less time than it takes Strange to speak a sentence. His mind and reactions are clearly faster than a GL’s.
He fights deathurge at faster than light speed. He tags Ganaymede (sp) who fights at light speed as well as Gladiator. Also, what about the prison break when he springs Nova. That’s up there with nearly anyhing the Flash has done.
I don;t mean they couldn’t ever change his powers, but they should not vary them just for a story or issue. When they do change powers, it needs ot be for a reason, and it needs to be a continuing change.