# Ruin a Superpower **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034 "2021-03-16T16:30:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/21 "2021-03-16T18:59:19Z")
But does Flash really perceive things moving slowly? Here’s one answer. > **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Flash](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/flash)** > > Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Flash ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/22 "2021-03-16T19:15:39Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Louis Lane Lois had a brother? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/23 "2021-03-16T19:16:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Super strength- without invulnerability. > > Picking up heavy things would crush you. See also the SNL skit depicting the “all-drug olympics,” in which a 'roided-up Phil Hartman rips his arms off trying to deadlift several thousand pounds. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/24 "2021-03-16T19:18:02Z")
Wouldn’t most any superhero “activities” result in the superhero being stripped naked?\* (That is, of course, unless “superfabrics” are a thing.) \*A feature, perhaps, and not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/25 "2021-03-16T19:32:29Z")
_Venture Brothers_ had a character who was a parody of Wonder Woman. Like Wonder Woman, she had a magic lasso, that could compel people to tell the truth. However, it could not make them shut up. And since most of her adversaries were heterosexual males, she acquired a lot of information that she really was not interested in hearing. ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/26 "2021-03-16T19:35:17Z")
Superpower: You can suddenly understand every language Drawback: Turns out people talk sh\*t about you constantly in every language ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/27 "2021-03-16T19:39:35Z")
Foiled again by nemesis, The Autocorrector! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/28 "2021-03-16T19:42:22Z")
[When you’ve only got enough money to buy Wolverine’s claws, or Wolverine’s healing factor.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vQ2RVqJCNM) [Also, this poor bastard.](http://www.superstupor.com/sust11262007.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/29 "2021-03-16T19:51:50Z")
[aside] When I saw the title of this thread, I took “Superpower” to mean a powerful country in the world, you know, like the USA or China. I almost posted that trumpy did a pretty good job of almost ruining the USA’s Superpower status. Then I figured out-- oh, like Superman stuff. Sometimes being literal-minded can be a handicap. Leaving now. [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/30 "2021-03-16T20:13:13Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > That reminds me of the robot chicken skit… > > Louis lane is found dead with a hole in her head. After much ridiculousness, it’s implied she gave Clark a bj I see their point, but still… I can’t imagine the well mannered ‘prim and proper’ Amy Adams ever giving out a bj … ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/31 "2021-03-16T20:53:46Z")
I would assume Superman’s sphincter also has super strength. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/32 "2021-03-16T20:53:57Z")
When thinking about flying, you had better keep it low. Airplanes can sneak up on you from behind considering that they move at several hundred miles an hour and it may be difficult to hear them over the roar of wind past your ears. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/33 "2021-03-16T20:58:52Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > Wouldn’t most any superhero “activities” result in the superhero being stripped naked?\* (That is, of course, unless “superfabrics” are a thing.) > > \*A feature, perhaps, and not a bug. With Wonder Woman it’s definitely a feature. As far as the superfabric goes, I seem to remember a Superboy comic from many years ago about how he was found with a blanket or other cloth in the spaceship from Krypton. That blanket was some kind of superfabric (or maybe it acquired superpowers just like the boy) and Martha Kent made his first outfit from that. Of course that just raises the question of how she could cut and sew it with ordinary Earth needles and scissors. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/34 "2021-03-16T21:04:03Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Of course that just raises the question of how she could cut and sew it with ordinary Earth needles and scissors. She used his heat vision. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/35 "2021-03-16T21:23:09Z")
This [Internet copypasta](https://old.reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue/comments/5gf43n/tomt_story_a_story_mightve_been_on_reddit_about/dartm47) provides a pretty compelling case for why being invulnerable, while sounding awesome in concept, would actually suck in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/36 "2021-03-16T21:25:39Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > As far as the superfabric goes, I seem to remember a Superboy comic from many years ago about how he was found with a blanket or other cloth in the spaceship from Krypton. That blanket was some kind of superfabric (or maybe it acquired superpowers just like the boy) and Martha Kent made his first outfit from that. Of course that just raises the question of how she could cut and sew it with ordinary Earth needles and scissors. Superboy used his heat vision to cut it when Ma Kent needed that done. The blanket/cloth has “superpowers” because it, too, was from Krypton. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/37 "2021-03-16T22:09:15Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > > [@snfaulkner](#): > > > > Louis Lane > > Lois had a brother? Who was man enough to give Superman a BJ, presumably over his objections? Wow, that’s some super _duper_ power right there. Or else Superman has more secret identities than we ever knew. Either way it’s a shocker. 😉 > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [aside] > When I saw the title of this thread, I took “Superpower” to mean a powerful country in the world, you know, like the USA or China. I almost posted that trumpy did a pretty good job of almost ruining the USA’s Superpower status. Then I figured out-- oh, like Superman stuff. Sometimes being literal-minded can be a handicap. Leaving now. > [/aside] FWIW I had totally the same reaction to the title and was surprised by the OP just as you were. I was already mentally composing a screed about Putin’s disinformation folks giving a few pointers to the then-nascent alt-right media 20+ years ago then standing back as the snowball of RW BS engulfs the country. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/38 "2021-03-16T22:12:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Who was man enough to give Superman a BJ, presumably over his objections? Wow, that’s some super _duper_ power right there. Or else Superman has more secret identities than we ever knew. Either way it’s a shocker. Maybe when they got rid of phone booths, Supe switched to closets… ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/39 "2021-03-16T22:16:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I was already mentally composing a screed about Putin’s disinformation folks giving a few pointers to the then-nascent alt-right media 20+ years ago then standing back as the snowball of RW BS engulfs the country. 🤣 Kindred (literal-minded) spirit. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034/41 "2021-03-16T22:18:33Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Who was man enough to give Superman a BJ, presumably over his objections? Wow, that’s some super _duper_ power right there. Or else Superman has more secret identities than we ever knew. Either way it’s a shocker. > > Maybe when they got rid of phone booths, Supe switched to closets… Ref the 1950s George Reeves TV show and the earlier comics … My Dad always said that Superman’s costume was actually a full-body tattoo. When he ducked into the phone booth he ripped off his clothes and emerged naked to fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way! Superman was the ultimate flasher. Dad had a creative and off-kilter sense of humor. Shame he’s been gone ~25 years now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-a-superpower/938034.md?page=3)