# Superheroes not in control of their powers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708 "2008-07-16T16:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/21 "2008-07-16T22:32:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Nuke of the Squadron Supreme body produced sufficient radiation ( without his knowledge or control ) that it gave his parents fatal cancer, as well as his team-mate Tom Thumb. I’ve forgotten. Did Dr Manhattan really cause his the people around him to develop cancer or was that just part of Ozymandius’ plot? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/22 "2008-07-16T22:35:48Z")
If you’re willing to include video games, there was Freedom Force’s Man-Bot, who like Jack of Hearts, had to wear a protective suit to keep the Energy-X in his body from exploding and hurting those around him. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/23 "2008-07-16T22:42:20Z")
I can’t really think of a crap super hero that hasn’t been mentioned, other than The Brown Bottle, a Geordie superhero from The Viz comic, who undertook all his missions completely sloshed! Saying that, you can understand why The Flash hasn’t had his turn at a movie yet! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/24 "2008-07-16T23:02:10Z")
**Chamber** of the X-Men (or X-Force or some such) blew open his own chest and blew off his lower jaw when his power first manifested, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/25 "2008-07-17T00:13:58Z")
Thanks guys. The person I saw _Hellboy_ with was complaining that only women were depicted as not being in control of their powers. I countered with the Hulk, but I was wondering about other superheroes. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/26 "2008-07-17T00:22:20Z")
Jack-Jack Parr, as far as we know. OMG! That’s the first time I’ve gotten that he’s an reference to Jack Paar! ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/27 "2008-07-17T02:17:28Z")
Citizen Steel can not control his own strength. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/28 "2008-07-17T02:51:08Z")
Emp (of _Empowered_) has a suit that gives her the strength of ten men–and a tendency to rip the thing at the slightest waft of air, which makes her a) lose her super-strength and b) get tied up, in that order. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2008, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/29 "2008-07-17T09:12:00Z")
Mr Bones, formerly a villain, then a hero, now a government agent. He can’t turn off his cyanide touch, although he can block it by wearing gloves, etc. All his soft tissues are also permanently invisible. It’s rather common for mutants in the Marvel U to have little to no control, at least at first - Rogue, Cyclops, Quicksilver (mentally, he was always accellerated, which drove him nuts), Jamie Madrox (might not be a mutant, but that’s just confusing), Wither (whose powers are similar to Scuzz’s, though only effect organic materials), right off the top of my head. [QUOTE=Der Trihs] Mutator of the New Universe was always changing from one form to another, without control. There was also a character in the Wild Cards series with this power. [/QUOTE] Do you mean Croyd Crenson, the Sleeper? Every time he goes to sleep his power, and physical form change. No doubt there are other Wildcards with similar abilities, though. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/30 "2008-07-17T11:20:22Z")
Weirdly, Superman also does not have complete control over his powers, at least since the latest reboot. Apparently his powers now spontaneously disrupt computers on an irregular basis. Why? Good question. I have no idea whether this effect is intended as an Achilles heel, or what. “Occasional electronic interference” doesn’t really lend itself to dynamic storytelling like Kryptonite or red solar energy. Hell, I accidentally mess up computers myself sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/31 "2008-07-17T14:42:29Z")
Marvel’s Speedball initially had little control over his kinetic energy field, often activating it with the slightest impact. Power Pack would frequently swap powers and would have some trouble adapting to the new ones. From the few appearances I’ve seen, the Legion of Substitute Heroes’ Infectious Lass randomly generates diseases amongst her teammates. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/32 "2008-07-17T15:08:39Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] From the few appearances I’ve seen, the Legion of Substitute Heroes’ Infectious Lass randomly generates diseases amongst her teammates. [/QUOTE] :smack: How could I forget Infectious Lass? Yeah, she had NO control until the 5 Years Later era - she was rejected for Legion membership twice because of it. (The second time, she was sure she was going to get in, because she had increased her power level…but not her control.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/33 "2008-07-17T15:15:30Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] I’ve forgotten. Did Dr Manhattan really cause his the people around him to develop cancer or was that just part of Ozymandius’ plot? [/QUOTE] Ozymandius’ plot, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/34 "2008-07-17T15:24:02Z")
Yeah, Ozymandias specifically mentioned doing it, during the big confrontation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/35 "2008-07-17T15:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Mr Bones, formerly a villain, then a hero, now a government agent. He can’t turn off his cyanide touch, although he can block it by wearing gloves, etc. All his soft tissues are also permanently invisible. I’m not familiar with this guy, but back in the 1960s an Archie series comic called **The Fly** \* had a nemesis called only **The Man with the Chlordane Hands** who had the same limitation – he killed things with a touch and couldn’t turn it off, although he could wear gloves. (He didn’t have invisible soft tissues, although his visible hands were purple.) I wonder if the writer responsible for Mr. Bones read that comic? \*Back then Archie had “serious” superhero series like **The Fly** 9with **Fly Girl** ) and **The Jaguar** (who made an appearance in a Sabrina comic in the 1990s), unlike the “superhero” versions of Archie and the gang (like Captain Pureheart) who were played for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/36 "2008-07-17T15:53:34Z")
Hey – I found it on the internet. It’s in issue #23 of **Adventures of the Fly** , November 1962: [http://www.mightycrusaders.net/handbook/flygirl.htm](http://www.mightycrusaders.net/handbook/flygirl.htm) About 1/3 of the way down. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/37 "2008-07-17T16:03:29Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I’m not familiar with this guy, but back in the 1960s an Archie series comic called **The Fly** \* had a nemesis called only **The Man with the Chlordane Hands** who had the same limitation – he killed things with a touch and couldn’t turn it off, although he could wear gloves. (He didn’t have invisible soft tissues, although his visible hands were purple.) I wonder if the writer responsible for Mr. Bones read that comic? [/QUOTE] It entirely possible. Roy Thomas (who created Bones) was an active comic book fan in the early 60s. Looking up the '60s run of the Fly, it would have almost definitely been published when Thomas was a very active fan (contributing to a major fanzine, which he later editted, for instance), so I’d be unsurprised if he had read it. You’ve reminded me, though…MLJ (Archie Comics’ original name) also had a hero called the Comet, whose eyes released disintegration rays, that could only be stopped by glass. He did have some minor control over it - he had to focus on an object for it to actually be disintegrated - but that would obviously screw up his vision, so he just stuck a pane of glass in front of his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708/38 "2008-07-17T16:25:01Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] From the few appearances I’ve seen, the Legion of Substitute Heroes’ Infectious Lass randomly generates diseases amongst her teammates. [/QUOTE] I forgot about her! I seem to recall a failed Legion tryout from some issue way back in the '70s, where she accidentally made Matter-Eater Lad throw up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-not-in-control-of-their-powers/456708.md?page=1)