# Silly but logical questions about comic characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256 "2009-11-12T01:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/21 "2009-11-12T16:04:06Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > How’d superman get the idea to wear his undies _outside_ of his pants? And who told him that it looked cool and he should keep doing it? He should really super-heat-laser-vision their doors shut, that was mean of them. Because superhero costumes of the late 1930s (from whence Superman originated) were largely based off of [circus](http://23.media.tumblr.com/jH8nCgt1Jq9h4wdqVbqJCNiXo1_500.jpg) [performer](http://wvls.lib.wi.us/ClarkCounty/images/b_pix/skerbeckcircusfamily.jpg) [outfits](http://providencedailydose.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/4a16682u1_2.jpg), who tended to wear bold & outlandish things such as tights with outer-panties and capes, etc. And anyway, there have been [worse super-fashion statements](http://www.intuitivewebdesigns.com/comics/graphics/superman/NewSuperman.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/22 "2009-11-12T16:06:15Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Do Green Lanterns often use their rings to conjure up items for…intimate use? Similarly: is Susan Storm Richards the luckiest woman in the world? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/23 "2009-11-12T16:07:22Z")
Using a mirror and heat vision to shave was established in issue 4 of the _Man of Steel_ mini series that rebooted Superman in 1986. The mirror in this case was a piece of the Kryptonian rocket. I don’t believe it became invulnerable under the yellow sun (as pre-crisis Kryptonian materials usually but implausibly did) but it’s a safe bet that it was some kind of ultrafuturisticky alloy that was tougher than anything on Earth. Pre-crisis stories typically mention that Supes’ hair doesn’t grow at all, or (when exceptions are needed) has Supes saving himself with his own fingernails (!), or ducking under a red sun lamp to temporarily remove his invulnerability. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/24 "2009-11-12T16:10:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Similarly: is Susan Storm Richards the luckiest woman in the world? 😉 Canonically…yes. I can no longer find the issue where she said it, but she HAS said that Reed’s got the best superpower EVER. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/25 "2009-11-12T16:13:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Pre-crisis stories typically mention that Supes’ hair doesn’t grow at all, or (when exceptions are needed) has Supes saving himself with his own fingernails (!), or ducking under a red sun lamp to temporarily remove his invulnerability. The fingernails thing is what I remembered too. That is bad _ass_. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/26 "2009-11-12T16:18:18Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Why use code names at all when none of the FF actually hide their civilian identities? Because they _can_. Which sounds better: [ol] [li]“Look it’s Johnny!”[/li][li]"Look it’s the _Human Torch!_[/li][li]Hi Opal![/li][/ol] I submit that #2 is awesome, whereas #1 is only cool if you also know that Johnny is on fire and flying. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/27 "2009-11-12T16:19:36Z")
Superman is in trouble. There aren’t any phone booths he can use to change costumes. I always wondered if Supes ever did real super work to help someone. Like digging out a septic tank in 10 seconds and flying it out into the ocean. Moving a house to a new location etc. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/28 "2009-11-12T16:35:54Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Where did Galactus get the raw materials to build his worldship? Every planet he comes across, he consumes. He doesn’t generally destroy the planet’s mass; rather, he sucks out the “life-energy”–the quasi-mystical force that enables the planet to support life. He doesn’t usually destroy the planet. He did so to the Skrull throneworld because he was in a hurry and did not take time to use his machines to strip the energy before him, which evidentally makes the process more efficient. > [@](#): > > Why does **Dr.** Reed Richards use **Mr.** Fantastic as a code name? Why use code names at all when none of the FF actually hide their civilian identities? The FF were re-inaugurating the superhero tradition and followed the example of Cap’s generation. But they don’t use the names among themselves much anyway, and Reed gets called _Stretcho_ or _Stretch_ more than the unwieldy _Mister Fantastic_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/29 "2009-11-12T16:38:35Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Similarly: is Susan Storm Richards the luckiest woman in the world? 😉 No more so than Sue Dibney. It strikes me that Ralph is far more imaginative in using his power than Reed is. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/30 "2009-11-12T16:41:04Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Superman is in trouble. There aren’t any phone booths he can use to change costumes. > > I always wondered if Supes ever did real super work to help someone. Like digging out a septic tank in 10 seconds and flying it out into the ocean. Moving a house to a new location etc. Post-Byrne he certainly did some things like that; he’d spend Christmas Eve reading letters and doing good deeds on a small (for him) scale. Wonder Woman and the League took over for him while he was dead, and rebuilt a house that had been destroyed during the Doomsday rampage, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/31 "2009-11-12T16:42:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No more so than Sue Dibney. It strikes me that Ralph is far more imaginative in using his power than Reed is. And, of course, Plastic Man owns them both. Though I think everyone in the Marvel Universe would agree that Reed’s real power is his intellect, not his rubberyness. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/32 "2009-11-12T16:45:52Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Where did Galactus get the raw materials to build his worldship? Every planet he comes across, he consumes. Poop. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Why does no one recognize Clark Kent as Superman? Just because he wears glasses? Please. If you lived in a world where there was a living god walking (err…flying) around the planet saving you from aliens, Lex Luthor, giant robots and creatures from other dimensions, do you really think he’d waste his spare time as some two-bit reporter? Also - \*what \*spare time?! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/33 "2009-11-12T17:04:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Superman is in trouble. There aren’t any phone booths he can use to change costumes. This was actually referenced as far back as the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie (1978?), when Clark Kent had to quickchange to Superman to save Lois from splatting on the sidewalk and ran toward a phone booth…which turned out to be one of those newfangled (at the time) payphones on a telephone pole, with the half box just around the phone itself. He gives it a double-take, then finds another place to change. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/34 "2009-11-12T17:47:03Z")
Did Superman ever change in a phone booth? I know in the TV show, he went into the stockroom or an alley. I don’t recall it in the comic books, either, but it may have happened long before I was reading them. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/35 "2009-11-12T18:01:06Z")
> [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](#): > > Because they _can_. Which sounds better: > > [ol] > [li]“Look it’s Johnny!”[/li][li]"Look it’s the _Human Torch!_[/li][li]Hi Opal![/li][/ol] > > I submit that #2 is awesome, whereas #1 is only cool if you also know that Johnny is on fire and flying. I think #3 would be the best at preserving his ‘secret identity’ were he to wish to maintain one, and certainly would add a degree of surrealism to the comic which it has been sadly lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/36 "2009-11-12T18:02:09Z")
On further reflection, it would be the best shout-out to the dope EVER, were we to get that in a comic. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/37 "2009-11-12T18:04:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Did Superman ever change in a phone booth? I know in the TV show, he went into the stockroom or an alley. I don’t recall it in the comic books, either, but it may have happened long before I was reading them. It’s a common element in the Fleischer cartoons of the 1940s. [Example, at 5:01](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb8iYqIVBzQ) ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/38 "2009-11-12T18:37:17Z")
Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Robin, or any other hero that goes shirtless, short sleeves, short pants, etc… Don’t they get cold in the winter? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/39 "2009-11-12T18:41:31Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Robin, or any other hero that goes shirtless, short sleeves, short pants, etc… Don’t they get cold in the winter? Wonder Woman has enhanced resistance to temperature extremes. She sneers contemptuously at blizzards. No, that’s not right; she’s too nice for that. She smiles sadly at blizzards, taps them gently on the head, and says, “I’m sorry, but I’m impervious to frostbite. But don’t feel bad. It came with the rack.” Hawkman’s not as tough as she, but he’s plenty tough. And Robin has grown a pair and demanded both pants and sleeves. I still think Batman still makes him sleep on his stomach, though. And Robin’s gotten some lube as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/40 "2009-11-12T18:44:25Z")
How long are Wolverine’s claws anyway? To my eyes it looks like he shouldn’t be able to move his wrist (or possibly his elbow) when they are retracted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256.md?page=3)