# 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:** 6
**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 19, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/101 "2009-11-19T00:52:01Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Who’s a more useless ‘superhero’ than Ant-man? (didn’t he also have the power to become a giant, or was that someone else?). I remember his stories in The Mighty Thor comic book and all I could think is what a boring dweeb. Who looked like an asshole riding on an ANT. Dr. Henry Pym was, at various times, Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, and, most recently, a male version of the Wasp. This was in between his bouts of manic depression, inferiority complexes, multiple personalities and outright physical separation of different aspects of his personality. ---
**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 19, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/102 "2009-11-19T00:56:24Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > And whatever happened to Sue Storm’s/Reed Richard’s kid? I stopped reading about the time she was pregnant and I’ve only read he was sent into, I dunno, alternate universes? I don’t know if you could have possibly asked a [more complicated Marvel Universe(s) question](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Richards)… ETA: Although I think this is my favorite alternate universe quote from that article: > [@](#): > > In the Marvel Zombies: Dead Days one-shot (which served as a prequel to the Marvel Zombies 2005/2006 miniseries) Franklin was eaten by She-Hulk. ---
**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 19, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/103 "2009-11-19T01:05:11Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > It always bugs me when there’s a big fight in the middle of the city between, say, the Fantastic Four and some villain. Cars get squashed. Buildings get knocked over. Streets get ripped up. Massive mayhem and destruction. Who pays for the repairs? Insurance companies? The Fantastic Four? I think if a villain came along now and pushed the Statue of Liberty off its pedestal, it would just lie there until Charlton Heston came riding on a horse along the beach… [Damage Control](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damage_Control_%28comics%29) was a Marvel offshoot dealing with this issue. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/104 "2009-11-19T04:39:43Z")
Quoth the esteemable **Rhymer** , with whom I would be loathe to quibble, > [@](#): > > I’m sure Thor does not sweat borders. When local authorities complain, he points out that he is Thor and they fall in line. So one would think, but Douglas Adams conclusively proved otherwise in [his historical account of the situation](http://www.amazon.com/Long-Dark-Tea-Time-Soul/dp/0671742515). Apparently bureaucratic obstinacy is proof even against the might of Thor. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/105 "2009-11-19T08:02:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth the esteemable **Rhymer** , with whom I would be loathe to quibble,So one would think, but Douglas Adams conclusively proved otherwise in [his historical account of the situation](http://www.amazon.com/Long-Dark-Tea-Time-Soul/dp/0671742515). **Apparently bureaucratic obstinacy is proof even against the might of Thor.** Mighty Mjolnir is no match for a mere immigration official??? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/106 "2009-11-19T11:08:38Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Right, but the Super-Teams don’t meet under water. > > And crime never really happens under water. > > And… the best he can really do is help the coast guard rescue ships… he can’t do anything to help superman fight Lex Luther unless we come up with some weird convoluted plot development to make Lex Luther want to take over Metropolis – in Kansas – via the ocean. Smallville is in Kansas; Metropolis, in Delaware. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/107 "2009-11-19T12:10:57Z")
Todderbob is probably influenced by those Imaginary Stories being shown on the TV, which have Smallville as a suburb of Metropolis. (Or at least Metropolis is visible from the outskirts of Smallville.) ---
**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 19, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/108 "2009-11-19T15:19:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth the esteemable **Rhymer** , with whom I would be loathe to quibble,So one would think, but Douglas Adams conclusively proved otherwise in [his historical account of the situation](http://www.amazon.com/Long-Dark-Tea-Time-Soul/dp/0671742515). Apparently bureaucratic obstinacy is proof even against the might of Thor. In the first place, that is MISTER ADAMS to you, hotshot. In the second place, that was not the Thor I know and love and worship even fourth Thursday.\* The true son of Odin is not confounded by any mortal institute or technology. Please do not force me to sic the Warriors Three on you for your impertinence. In the third place, even the vastly inferior Thor of Mister Adams’ masterwork was ordinarily more on the ball. He was enchanted by Loki for a brief time but I am confident he freed himself ere long. (By Aesir standards, anyway.) There was a fourth place but I forgot what it was. \*You guys would like Thor worship. It basically consists of assisting family farms who have fallen down on their luck, having sex with blonde chicks, drinking copious amounts of hydromel, and getting the hell out of the Thunder God’s way when there’s giants about. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/109 "2009-11-19T15:28:16Z")
Fourth Place is usually “Honourable Mention.” ---
**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 19, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/110 "2009-11-19T16:03:55Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Fourth Place is usually “Honourable Mention.” You could put “Hi Opal” in fourth, but it would probably cause a ruckus that would shake the foundations of Yggdrasil. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/111 "2009-11-19T20:02:53Z")
Yes, and where would be the profit in that? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/112 "2009-11-19T21:37:41Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > It always bugs me when there’s a big fight in the middle of the city between, say, the Fantastic Four and some villain. Cars get squashed. Buildings get knocked over. Streets get ripped up. Massive mayhem and destruction. Who pays for the repairs? Insurance companies? The Fantastic Four? I think if a villain came along now and pushed the Statue of Liberty off its pedestal, it would just lie there until Charlton Heston came riding on a horse along the beach… After Colossus and Juggernaut had a big old bar-room punch-up Jug largeheartedly left a big roll of bills “for the owner, to fix up his place”. That was what you might call an off-duty fight, though - the 'naut was just minding his own business when Petey spilled his drink. ---
**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 19, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/113 "2009-11-19T22:52:21Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I don’t know if you could have possibly asked a [more complicated Marvel Universe(s) question](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Richards)… Could have asked about the Summers family tree. > [@jayjay](#): > > They actually were Justice League International for a while, then (IIRC) just The Justice League. Don’t know when they switched back. It was Justice League first, then…I’m actually not sure, offhand, how the knot of International/America/Europe gets untied, (and I’m not really in a position to do more research than checking wikipedia and [comics.org](http://comics.org), which are just confusing the situation more) but the America returned to the title somewhere between 1987 and 1989. But, until the end of that series (1999), it was to designate the American team of a pair of teams. In 1999, the title was replaced with JLA (although the JLA was still the Justice League of America within the book), and Justice League of America returned as the title in 2006. The Justice Leagues mini-event from 2001 had a great scene related to this… An alien causes people to forget about the Justice League (including the League themselves) to prepare the planet for an invasion, but his accomplice (Hector Hammond, IIRC) tries to undo it…but he’s stopped before he can the whole name out, so the League remembers they’re the Justice League of A… and start wondering what the A stands for. Someone (Kyle, I think) suggests ‘America’… Wondie and Aquaman give each other a Look… And reject the idea for obvious reasons. Everyone ends up starting their own JLA - Superman and J’onn’s JL of Aliens, Batman’s JL of Arkham (whut?), Wonder Woman’s JL of Amazons, Aquaman’s JL of Atlantis (Power Girl was on BOTH these teams - at the time she thought she was Atlantean), Kyle’s JL of Air, Zauriel’s JL of Apostles, Flash’s JL of Adventure and Plastic Man’s JL of Anarchy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/114 "2009-11-19T23:25:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Mighty Mjolnir is no match for a mere immigration official??? Oh, he could clobber an immigration official, or zap him, but none of that would make him any less obstinate. In fact, the book opens with an airline ticket counter being destroyed by an “act of god”. The problem was that Odin had done some mumbo-jumbo to prevent Thor from flying in under his own power, and no mortal airline would let him get on the plane (or wouldn’t take off, if he forced his way on). ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/115 "2009-11-19T23:29:00Z")
Doesn’t anyone ever question why Peter Parker can get such great shots of Spiderman from such great angles? How badly would it suck for anyone nearby if Hydroman fought Electro? Does Captain Britain really think that any of his costumes from the past few years are better-looking than his original red one? How come the building inspector doesn’t shut down Arcade’s Murderworld for safety violations? Is Gambit’s trenchcoat a London Fog? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/116 "2009-11-19T23:36:01Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Doesn’t anyone ever question why Peter Parker can get such great shots of Spiderman from such great angles? They’re not all great shots. Last time I checked, Spidey would stick his cam on a wall and carried a transmitter that would snap a pic each time he passed in front of the cam. By his own admission, sometimes he gets junk. And it’s not just pics of Spidey. Spidey has been known to sometimes use his closeness with other heroes to ask them to pose. > [@](#): > > How badly would it suck for anyone nearby if Hydroman fought Electro? When Hydroman fought Sandman, they combined to create Mud Thing. I kid you not. The Mud Thing wandered around mindlessly for a while, then fell apart. The two villains were eventually able to unmix themselves. They wanted nothing further to do with eachother, and headed off in separate directions. ---
**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 20, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/117 "2009-11-20T00:10:36Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Could have asked about the Summers family tree. Oh, god…I’d forgotten about that! ---
**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 20, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/118 "2009-11-20T00:22:58Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Someone (Kyle, I think) suggests ‘America’… Wondie and Aquaman give each other a Look… And reject the idea for obvious reasons. I just dug my copies of the series out - this scene actually happened in the final issue, and it was Superman who brought up the ‘America’ part. And they gave HIM the Look, not each other. Still, considering it had been about 5 years since I read it last… I think I did pretty good. They still objected - at LENGTH, and with pretty vicious sarcasm in Orin’s case - to the idea that they’d be in the Justice League of America. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/119 "2009-11-20T00:53:13Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > They’re not all great shots. Last time I checked, Spidey would stick his cam on a wall and carried a transmitter that would snap a pic each time he passed in front of the cam. By his own admission, sometimes he gets junk. But the angles, I mean. Usually I see him web his camera to a building and, as you said, set it up to go off by itself. But wouldn’t someone go, “You must have been really high up to get this shot?” or “Hmmm, how’d you manage to get this pic of Spiderman when he was fighting Doc Ock 50 floors above ground?” I should think that’s the kind of thing that would raise eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256/120 "2009-11-20T05:31:55Z")
> [@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? I believe it was Jason Todd (Robin II) who said that he had flesh-covered thermal tights. Which seems ridiculous to me and I’m glad they finally got rid of the pixie boots and scale-mail panties. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-but-logical-questions-about-comic-characters/517256.md?page=7)