Take it up with George Perez, it was his idea.
In DC continuity, the Greek and Roman pantheons are separate and independent, so there’s both a Hermes and a Mercury. Although IIRC Hermes was killed off a couple decades ago during a “War of the Gods” mini series.
Hermes died? Great gorilla of Manilla!
IIRC he telkinetically directed the force of his scream backwards.
Jack of Hearts directed explosive force from his hands, flying like a rocket.
Meteor levitated a big rock while standing on it.
Valkyrie rode a winged horse.
Will o the Wisp could dissipate his mass into a glowing aura, and fly by moving it around IIRC.
Two members of Guardians of the Galaxy were made of light. Aleta flew by standing on solid discs of light and Starhawk just zipped around, as far as I can recall.
She can command the wind to carry her! You think that’s lame???
Yes.
You think that’s lame??? You probably hate the Ray, too, who does something reminiscent of that. Or maybe he’s more like Cannonball, from the New Mutants, who “blasted” his way around. In each case, the lower body seems to go to speed lines, & the boy moves at high speed.
Which means, apparently, he actually jumped using his upper body strength!!
In the beginning, Brian used the “Star Sceptre,” which apparently had been borrowed from the Knight family in Starman.
*These *you think are cool. What I find weird is that you consider it “technology.”
Apparently, “technology.” Yes, the ring is cosmic. Also, Rogue flies by the power of having mondo coolness. And the Flash should never ever fly, & any story where he does is wrongedy-wrong-wrong.
Well, since Byrne fused the Greek & Roman gods back together in his Wonder Woman run, it’s sort of moot now.
Didn’t Wolverine fly into battle a few times via Colossus?
So… both Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman are given the power of flight by Hermes’ shoes?
Who’s left and who’s right, then? And what would happen if Hermes ever needed to fly anywhere at the same time? Presumably the gods have a more efficent messaging service these days, if Hermes could use his shoes to routinely power superheroes instead.
Red Tornado (the non-Ma Hunkle one) flew via tornado, I believe.
Also I seem to recall from somewhere that, no matter what method you use, it’s considered *extremely bad form * among the superhero community to fly around in an upright position. I wouldn’t risk it, anyway.
How about **The Human Bullet ** from The Tick? “Fire me, boy!”
Now I know The Tick was satirical, but what “real” (or I should say, non-satirical fictional) superhero was THB based on? It seems very familiar but I can’t put my finger on it.
Back in the day there was a hero called Bulletman whose costume was somewhat similar to Human Bullet’s. Bulletman wasn’t fired out of a cannon though; he had a “gravity regulating helmet” that not only allowed him to fly but “magneticly” attracted bullets to it.
The Legion’s Cosmic Boy could also fly via magnetic fields. Since all the Legion had flight rings, he didn’t do it too often. The original Legion had clumsy “flight belts,” which were even lamer.
I think that Light Lass could have used her powers to make people glide, though I don’t think she ever did.
Mon-el & Ultra Boy could also fly via super-power. Dawnstar had wings.
What the…?! What is the deal here with all the flight snobbery? For crying out loud, people! It’s flight! The ability to fly! How is this a lame power under any circumstances?
Fine, I tell you what… anybody who comes across any means of gaining flight powers whatsoever, that they feel is just *too * insufferably lame for words, well you just pass that bad boy right on over to me. Clunky belts, magic rings, footie discs, a cosmic medallion from the hummingbird god… I don’t care. I, for one, will take what I can get.
Um… well, except possibly for the flight ability of Rainbow Boy. If the costume and appearance are an integral part of the effect, then… I think maybe I’ll just pass on that one.
Or Fartman.
That sounds like a winner of an idea. “I’ll have a helmet that will attract bullets to my head! Genius!”
No. They were given the power of flight from Hermes. Hermes used sandals, but the Big Red Cheese was able to have his power of flight without them, because Hermes could fly.
Given the choice, would you rather have bullets flying toward your:
A) Bullet-proof helmet; or
B) Non-bullet-proof torso?
Of course if I were writing the strip, one of those magneticly attracted bullets would hit him square in the face.
[Arthur Carlson]
As God as my witness, I thought Hermes could fly.
[/AC]
That’s a good one. I’ll add her under Elementals.
OK, I’m still not getting getting what you mean about Green Lantern. He controls his ring through force of will, right? And it’s the ring that provides flight? Or he flies by force of will alone? If his ring were depleted of energy, can he still fly by willpower? I’m trying to figure out how to categorize his flight ability. Is it a cosmic power, or technology, or do I need a new category for “force of will?”
I know the original Starman is from the 40’s and predates Firelord, so I’ll go ahead and add him to my cosmic list, but in general, I’m only looking for one example of each method of achieving flight.
Atom’s ability to float on air is pretty much already covered.
I’ll add Spectre under magic as an example of generalized “magic flight,” which should then also cover Dr. Fate, Wonder Woman and the original Captain Marvel.
Now this Air Wave guy has got me thinking. Like the female Captain Marvel, I’m now of the opinion they don’t belong on my list. I know it’s nit-picky, but transmitting yourself as energy is more like teleportation, not flying. And before someone points it out, I realize that very few superheroes actually fly. That is, using a winged surface to generate lift. But still, teleportation is too different from “flying.”
Or for that matter, how they breath when everything passes through them.
A quick google search reveals there are two Mr. Terrifics, and the second one doesn’t appear to fly. Did the first one fly?
Now that’s a little difficult to categorize, but definitely counts as a unique method.
Jack of Hearts was pretty powerful as I recall. Was his power cosmic level, or something else?
Meteor’s flight method is covered.
Will O’ The Wisp is good. Unlike the Vision, who shunts his mass extra-dimensionally, Will O’ The Wisp disperses his molecules in this dimension, and produces thrust by expelling excess molecules behind him.
Originally I excluded Valkyrie on the grounds she was using a “flying vehicle” but I always did love Aragorn so I’ll make another category for creature assisted flight. That way I can add Ant Man/Yellowjacket since as I recall, he used to fly around on ants.
I’ve got Starhawk under cosmic powered flight and I’ll add Aleta, since her light discs are unique. I always liked those two and their stories. Especially when Vance Astro fell in love with Aleta and then she got stuck with Starhawk’s male body and Vance had to decide if he could still love her. Damn dirty ape dumped her, and I can’t believe she took him back once she got her female form back.
Anyway, now she’s known as Starhawk II? Does she still fly on light discs, or just a general cosmic powered flight?
The power ring is technology. It channels energy which is directed by will power. If the ring is depleted of energy, it will not function and the GL in question can’t fly.
As Ant-Man, correct. As Yellowjacket, he had a flying suit (and the vibrations from the wings also powered his disruptor blasts; why he never gave himself bio-electric “stings” like he did the Wasp I don’t know).
Another energy-based flyer is Halo or The Outsiders. She’s a human girl who died and was merged with an alien energy being, one result of which was she could glow in the colors of the rainbow, each color corresponding to a different power. Don’t remember which color but she could negate gravity for herself and others, allowing her to fly.
Now where would one put Inspector Gadget? He had helicopter blades that came out of his head.
Obviously it’s a mental power.
(And that WKRP reference was perfect. Made my day. 
)