# Superheroes VS The Bomb **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489 "2016-09-10T00:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/21 "2016-09-10T16:38:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Kitty Pryde disrupts electronics that she passes through while phased; she could just walk through the bomb and disable it. But that, like, totally wouldn’t be dramatic enough! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/22 "2016-09-10T16:40:54Z")
Porcupine Pete (from the [Legion of Substitute Heroes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Substitute_Heroes)) could… ummm… soil his uniform. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/23 "2016-09-10T16:42:02Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s a comic-book. Exposure to radiation makes you _more_ powerful. Yeah if it did go off, you’d end up with 50 new superheroes. ---
**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 10, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/24 "2016-09-10T16:47:29Z")
And obviously, it would pose no difficulty for Squirrel Girl. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/25 "2016-09-10T17:04:40Z")
Squirrel Girl could just text Doctor Doom: “Want to destroy a nuke? Or would you rather get a visit from… a posse of squirrel sidekicks?” ---
**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 10, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/26 "2016-09-10T17:36:47Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > [Superman gets nuked](https://saminaik.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/10m.jpg). Not quite the scenario you proposed - it was a missile, not a truck, but he most certainly wasn’t fine. That was written by Frank ‘Superman is a pussy, unlike my god Batman’\* Miller\*\*. It doesn’t actually reflect Superman as he’s written by anybody else (save for early John Byrne). Superman has been known to sit inside the core of stars. A human-built nuke wouldn’t scratch him. \*‘…whorewhorewhorewhore’ \*\* To be fair, this is before he became a total hack, but DKR was already showing his tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/27 "2016-09-10T21:22:37Z")
I remember one book where the protagonist, not being a superhero, disabled the bomb by firing his machine gun into it. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/28 "2016-09-10T21:33:55Z")
Ultimately, it will come down to either the Atom (DC Universe) or Hawkeye (Marvel Universe) who will stop the bomb and save the day, because it is a cliche that a truly great threat can only be stopped by the “weakest” (or most human) of the heroes. (Within limits. Nobody’s gonna call for Porcupine Pete. Or the Red Bee. Or the Nick Fury LMD.) ---
**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:** [September 10, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/29 "2016-09-10T21:37:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nitpick: It’s “somebody set _up us_ the bomb”. I stand corrected. Or perhaps more appropriately, is that so I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/30 "2016-09-11T04:51:03Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > That was written by Frank ‘Superman is a pussy, unlike my god Batman’\* Miller\*\*. It doesn’t actually reflect Superman as he’s written by anybody else (save for early John Byrne). > > Superman has been known to sit inside the core of stars. A human-built nuke wouldn’t scratch him. > > \*‘…whorewhorewhorewhore’ > > \*\* To be fair, this is before he became a total hack, but DKR was already showing his tendencies. DKR was around the same time as Byrne’s Superman…reading it at the time I had no problem with DKR, as it made sense given Byrne. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/31 "2016-09-11T04:58:48Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Ultimately, it will come down to either the Atom (DC Universe) or Hawkeye (Marvel Universe) who will stop the bomb and save the day, because it is a cliche that a truly great threat can only be stopped by the “weakest” (or most human) of the heroes. (Within limits. Nobody’s gonna call for Porcupine Pete. Or the Red Bee. Or the Nick Fury LMD.) Those aren’t bad choices Atom can shrink into the electronics and disable it (with one second left on the clock!) Hawkeye immediately pulls his electrical arrow and shorts the mechanism (with one second left). I haven’t even heard of Red Bee, but _Porcupine Pete_ somehow saves the day through a hilariously contrived coincidence, while Nick Fury (LMD) probably knows the exact shutdown code. and enters it… with with one second left. ---
**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 11, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/32 "2016-09-11T12:15:25Z")
What’s “LMD” stand for, in a Fury context? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/33 "2016-09-11T12:26:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What’s “LMD” stand for, in a Fury context? Life Model Decoy. Nick Fury uses lots of James-Bond-style gadgets, but his signature move is revealing that you didn’t kill _him,_ but his lookalike mechanical stand-in. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/34 "2016-09-11T15:01:22Z")
Adam West Batman naturally just pulls out a can of Anti-Nuclear Bat-Spray from his utility belt. > [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Atom can shrink into the electronics and disable it (with one second left on the clock!) Hawkeye immediately pulls his electrical arrow and shorts the mechanism (with one second left). I haven’t even heard of Red Bee, but _Porcupine Pete_ somehow saves the day through a hilariously contrived coincidence, while Nick Fury (LMD) probably knows the exact shutdown code. and enters it… with with one second left. Note that since the bomb only has _three_ seconds left on the clock when they find it, that’s not nearly as contrived as it usually is. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/35 "2016-09-11T16:08:06Z")
The original Captain Marvel covered the issue of Nuclear War at a shockingly early date-- October, 1946! Full comic – > **[We Could Not Find It - Comic Book Plus](https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=18418)** > > We are sorry, but the page you were looking for was not found. As we rarely throw things away, it will probably be somewhere else. Good luck finding it! ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/36 "2016-09-11T16:55:38Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I am curious if Captain Atom could do anything. He can absorb radiation, but could he absorb it all from a detonation? He can easily absorb it. The only issue is, does it pass his energy threshold. If it does, he does a time jump, the more energy be absorbs, the longer be jumps. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/37 "2016-09-12T03:04:19Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > The original Captain Marvel covered the issue of Nuclear War at a shockingly early date-- October, 1946! > Full comic – > [http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=18418](http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=18418) Holy Crapoly, that was grim. “The Battle of the Atoms!” from _Superman_ #38, (Jan-Feb 1946) has an atomic-energy theme - Lex Luthor has a ray that can speed up atomic reactions (or whatever) and make solid objects melt. At the climax of the story, he hurls an “atomic bomb” about the size of a large spool of thread at Superman. Superman survives the blast casually, protecting Luther from it, to Luthor’s disbelief. To my knowledge, this was the first instance of Superman surviving a nuclear explosion - assuming we don’t count his childhood escape from Krypton. ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/38 "2016-09-12T14:38:06Z")
Can any version of Gambit’s powers work in reverse? Since he can charge up an objects potential energy to make it explode, could he in someway reverse the energy blast of the explosion to basically make it not blow up when it does? Or is that just me wanting Gambit to be even more awesome than I think he is? ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/39 "2016-09-12T15:51:11Z")
Could one of the Invisible Woman’s force fields be strong enough to contain such a blast? Or (and this is probably ridiculous) Cap’s shield? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489/40 "2016-09-12T16:03:29Z")
If he thought ahead, Superman could project it into the Phantom Zone. Then it is Lex Luthor’s problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-vs-the-bomb/765489.md?page=3)