# Stupid Superhero question.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301 "2004-09-06T04:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/21 "2004-09-06T23:07:39Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > …Northstar and Aurora from _Alpha Flight_,…(later retconned when it was revealed they were in fact demi-elves)… Oh, they changed that again. Turned out it was a big ol’ lie told by Loki. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/22 "2004-09-06T23:34:10Z")
To be fair, props to Loki for that. The whole “Northstar isn’t gay and have AIDS – he’s actually a **fairy** who’s homesick!” retcon was stupid beyond belief. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/23 "2004-09-07T00:03:15Z")
The Mighty Isis, whose comic book title was sadly short-lived, (eight or nine issues, I think) would ask the zephyr winds which blow on high for a lift. Batman, of course, uses the Batcopter or the Batplane. Green Arrow has the Arrow-plane. [Batman] Did you ever have an original thought back then? [/Batman] ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/24 "2004-09-07T00:14:02Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > Green Arrow has the Arrow-plane. [Batman] Did you ever have an original thought back then? [/Batman] I thought Green Arrow used special arrows with a propeller on the front and a rope dangling from the back, which pulled him through the air. (Or am I thinking of Hawkeye?) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/25 "2004-09-07T00:17:04Z")
…says the guy that has every piece of equipment in his similarly named caved named after his alter-ego. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/26 "2004-09-07T00:18:06Z")
I should really preview. That was in reply to **Asbestos Mango** , not **tracer**. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/27 "2004-09-07T00:29:00Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > Green Arrow has the Arrow-plane. [Batman] Did you ever have an original thought back then? [/Batman] Had - the line you quote came up as Bruce was explaining to Ollie that he’d retired the Arrow Plane and Arrow Car. (And, come on, Green Arrow and Speedy were always such a Batman and Robin ripoff. Rich man and his teenaged foster-son fighting crime in costume with a nifty array of gadgets? Ollie and Roy were taken in their own direction(s), but the rip-off can’t really be denied.) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/28 "2004-09-07T01:01:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To expand the diverse list further, Magneto flies by putting a magnetic field on his costume (which is made of colored bits of iron) As a hijack, Magneto also seems to be able to seed iron into objects, like the Statue of Liberty for instance. Either that, or he’s somehow controlling copper with magnetism by operating in another dimension of physics or something. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/29 "2004-09-07T02:28:26Z")
Not sure if you’re referring to the movie or comic book version of Magneto, but the movie version is not manipulating the copper skin of the statue; he’s manipulating the iron framework. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/30 "2004-09-07T03:08:21Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > Batman, of course, uses the Batcopter or the Batplane. What? No Bat-Jetpack? How does the Submariner fly with those tiny little ankle-wings? ---
**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:** [September 7, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/31 "2004-09-07T03:19:38Z")
Actually, the movie Magneto did manipulate the bronze skin of the statue. Remember him peeling off a couple of strips of it, to bind Wolverine? But I don’t think that the movie Magneto has the same powers as in the comic books: So far as we can tell in the movies, his power is “really strong telekinesis which only works on metals”, not “complete control over magnetic fields”. Personally, I prefer the movie version, as it’s much more well-defined: “control of magnetic fields” is just too vague, and leaves room for hack writers to give him any power imaginable. At the extreme, you can use hypothetical Grand Unified Theories to link magnetism with all the other forces, giving Mags ultimate control over everything. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/32 "2004-09-07T03:39:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually, the movie Magneto did manipulate the bronze skin of the statue. Remember him peeling off a couple of strips of it, to bind Wolverine? But I don’t think that the movie Magneto has the same powers as in the comic books: So far as we can tell in the movies, his power is “really strong telekinesis which only works on metals”, not “complete control over magnetic fields”. Personally, I prefer the movie version, as it’s much more well-defined: “control of magnetic fields” is just too vague, and leaves room for hack writers to give him any power imaginable. At the extreme, you can use hypothetical Grand Unified Theories to link magnetism with all the other forces, giving Mags ultimate control over everything. Kind of like that guy from Secret War called Molecule Man? What couldn’t he do? ---
**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:** [September 7, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/33 "2004-09-07T04:14:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually, the movie Magneto did manipulate the bronze skin of the statue. Remember him peeling off a couple of strips of it, to bind Wolverine? But I don’t think that the movie Magneto has the same powers as in the comic books: So far as we can tell in the movies, his power is “really strong telekinesis which only works on metals”, not “complete control over magnetic fields”. Personally, I prefer the movie version, as it’s much more well-defined: “control of magnetic fields” is just too vague, and leaves room for hack writers to give him any power imaginable. At the extreme, you can use hypothetical Grand Unified Theories to link magnetism with all the other forces, giving Mags ultimate control over everything. The comic book version is just as broad. Unless adamantium is a ferrous metal, Magneto has more range of power than “magnetic fields”, considering that he _pulled_ the adamantium right out of Wolverine’s bones… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/34 "2004-09-07T04:51:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually, the movie Magneto did manipulate the bronze skin of the statue. Remember him peeling off a couple of strips of it, to bind Wolverine? Nope. Just checked the DVD. Magneto binds Wolverine and the other X-Men with strips from the statue’s support structure. > [@jayjay](#): > > Unless adamantium is a ferrous metal It’s made of “resinous compounds” but it functions as a metal for purposes of comic book physics. I think there’s an iron component based on various sources. I don’t understand it either but that’s the party line. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/35 "2004-09-07T04:58:22Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Nope. Just checked the DVD. Magneto binds Wolverine and the other X-Men with strips from the statue’s support structure. > It’s made of “resinous compounds” but it functions as a metal for purposes of comic book physics. I think there’s an iron component based on various sources. I don’t understand it either but that’s the party line. When did they retcon that? The last I heard (and I’ll admit that I haven’t picked up more than a very occasional single issue of anything in the last fifteen years), adamantium was naturally occurring (there’s an adamantium deposit in Wakanda, IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/36 "2004-09-07T05:23:14Z")
**jajay.** Close. Vibranium is the extraterrestrial anti-metal with deposits in Wakanda and the Savage Land. Proto-adamantium is a most indestructible form of adamantium and uses a component of vibranium in its composition. Adamantium is not an element, but an extremely rare and expensive man-made alloy. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/37 "2004-09-07T05:31:19Z")
> [@Kat](#): > > What? No Bat-Jetpack? Well, there is one… sorta. The Whirly Bat was a collapsible one man helicopter that was kept in the trunk of the Batmobile. That was Pre-Crisis, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/38 "2004-09-07T05:33:51Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Geo-Force (one of the original Outsiders, brother of Terra of the Titans) does the same. Geo-Force is more like the Human Torch. He uses his lava blast power to fly like a rocket. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/39 "2004-09-07T05:36:52Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **jajay.** Close. Vibranium is the extraterrestrial anti-metal with deposits in Wakanda and the Savage Land. Proto-adamantium is a most indestructible form of adamantium and uses a component of vibranium in its composition. Adamantium is not an element, but an extremely rare and expensive man-made alloy. Wakandan vibranium is different than Savage Land vibranium. The Wakandan type absorbs force. The Savage Land version weakens the molecular bond of objects, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301/40 "2004-09-07T05:49:01Z")
**Mockingbird.** Your definition is technically correct but the two vibranium types seemed to have blurred properties considerabley since Christopher Priest’s run on Black Panther. Wakandan vibranium appears to both absorb force and weaken cohesive molecular bonds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-superhero-question/263301.md?page=3)