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Here's another perspective on the Golden Age. Check out the robot with a gun and especially what the sidekick is about to do in the upper right hand corner--

Good Job. Way to represent HERO!

I believe it was on Deep Space Nine (the baseball episode) that it was established that Vulcans are three times stronger than humans. That, and their knowledge of pressure points (called Vulcan neuropressure) is what enables them to be so effective with the neck pinch. I don't remember a single crew member being able to subdue him through strength alone--either McCoy had to inject him with a hypospray sedative, or he had to be phaser-stunned. Hope that helps.

I would consider giving Kirk a level or two in Striking Appearance. Remember that Shatner was a very handsome man back in the day. Also, I believe Sulu pulled out some karate moves in the episode "Catspaw." Kirk beat him, of course, but that could be written off as Sulu having his mind clouded by the alien "sorceress" in that episode.

Like he's one to talk-- BUGS: "Them's fightin' words, Sam!" (Draws a line in the sand with his toe) BUGS: "I dares ya ta step across that line!" SAM: "I'm a'steppin'!" (Steps over the line and falls off a cliff) BUGS: "Sometimes it's just too easy." (Munches on a carrot)

Indeed. It seemed as though all you needed to fight crime back then was a cape, a mask, and a solid right hook. Nowadays, if you don't have any superpowers or supertechnology you need a black belt or the equivalent rank in half a dozen martial arts disciplines--at least--before you can even think about fighting the forces of evil. She was also Lamont's good friend, and Lamont had a conscience. Shiwan Khan had no problem clouding Margo's mind. One time many years ago my stepbrother brought home a recording of a Shadow radio show. I remember an exchange with a guy who had information the Shadow needed that went something like this-- THE SHADOW: "I am the Shadow!" THE GUY: "The Shadow? Where are ya?" THE SHADOW: "I cloud men's minds so I cannot be seen!" THE GUY: "That's what you're doing to me, huh?" Worked really well on radio.

Agreed--but you could still visit the "Mysterious Orient" and come back with all sorts of "mystic secret" powers--like walking through walls, or turning invisible, or "channeling physicality" to become as strong as ten men. Stuff like that.

"Don't enrage me! You wouldn't like me when I'm enraged!"

A number of examples of powered, "street-level" heroes can be found among the MLJ/Red Circle Comics line, most notably The Shield. The Comet, and Steel Sterling-- http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/a/archiecom.htm Later, when MLJ became Archie Comics, Archie and the gang became "street-level" superheroes themselves. ("I call upon the Power of my Pure Heart!") Hope that helps.

In the TV series--specifically Deep Space Nine--we had an Alliance between Klingons and Cardassians; the Klingons, as far as I could tell from their only appearance, were just as warlike in the Mirrorverse as they were in the Trek universe we know. (Mirror Worf was in charge of the Empire, by the way.) As for the Trek novels, I couldn't tell you. The Mirror-verse stories I'm familiar with from TOS, DS9 and Enterprise concentrate on the main characters and the differences in their Mirror counterparts. On DS9, for example, we had a Mirror Ben Sisko who was all swagger and bravado without an ounce of courage. Mirror Archer was a cold, calculating character who got outmanuevered at the end by Mirror Hoshi, who waited in the wings for her opportunity. Now the TNG episode "Parallels" put forth the possibility of infinite alternate realities--so if you're wanting to have emotional Vulcans, pacifist Klingons or Romulans, or altruistic Ferengi or even individualistic Borg--the potential is there. Hope that helps.

Superman, from the Golden Age to the George Reeves TV series, could be considered a street-level hero. Rarely--if ever--did he fight someone in the comics at his own power level, and certainly not in the series. The closest adversary I can think of to his own (Golden Age) power level were The Mechanical Monsters from the Fleischer cartoon of the same name. The fact that he was fighting normals led Frederic Werthram to label him as "Giant The Jack Killer"--but as I've said before Werthram can suck it until his gums bleed.

I was thinking they may be booster engines, capable of taking the Bus supersonic in they need to get somewhere in a hurry, or if they need a speed boost to evade incoming missiles. (That would make a nice tribute to The Incredibles, I think.) @Michael and Old Man--you have a point about the plane's aerodynamics, or lack of them. But I'm thinking that for this show, the Rule Of Cool trumps the laws of aerodynamics. And let me tell you. it's not easy making a cargo plane come across as cool.

That's what our Mr. Whedon is facing. No matter how cool and brilliant an explanation he gives us for Coulson being alive, there will be a contingent of Internetists who will proclaim as loudly as they can, "You call that an explanation? IT STINKS!!! It's the most stupid thing ever! Who told you you could be in television, you schmuck!" I would be willing to lay down a nice crisp Washington that if Joss had to do The Avengers again, he would not had killed off Coulson, he would have written the scene an entirely different way and kept him alive. I'd lay down another crisp Washington that if he thought he could get away with it, he would have posted a notice at the beginning of the first several episodes saying, "Look, guys--if I had known Coulson was going to be that popular, I wouldn't have killed him in The Avengers. So why don't we all just pretend that didn't happen? If fans can pretend that there wasn't a second Highlander movie or Star Trek V: The Final Frontier didn't exist, couldn't we pretend that Coulson wasn't killed by Loki? Can't ya cut me that little bit of slack? After all--I'm Joss Whedon!" But things being what they are, he doesn't get a do-over, he doesn't get to beg the fans' indulgence. He just has to come up with a cool and brilliant explanation that a sizeable number of fans are going to thoroughly and completely hate. So when we finally get the explanation of how Coulson survived being skewered by Loki, perhaps we could try not to hate it right away. Can't we cut him that little bit of slack? After all--he's Joss Whedon.

Live Action Show--Tie between The Flash and No Ordinary Family, with a special mention for Ultraman. Animated Show--The Diniverse version of Superman, with a special mention for Astro Boy and Eighth Man. Live Action Movie--The 1978 Superman, with special mentions for Captain America The First Avenger, Marvel's The Avengers, the Iron Manmovies, the 1989 Batman, the 1967 Batman, and the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies--yes, even number III. Animated Movie--The Incredibles, with a special mention for Batman Mask Of The Phantasm.

You couldn't get into GEN CON with that outfit--which, given this guy, is a good thing for the rest of us.

There were two illustrations of the Tarantula, the full-page painting with a solid hull, and a sketch that had the open framework. As I remember, the open-frame model was hastily constructed because the invasion was coming and there was no time to build the complete version--which considering it was meant as a sort of booby trap was perhaps just as well.

That's why you have superheroic identities. Change into costume, beat up the bad guys, save the girl reporter (or boy intelligence agent if you're a girl), leave her (and again, or him) to explain things to the police, then dash off and revert to your everyday clothes, leaving everyone to wonder who you really are. The Secret Identity--more useful than anyone realizes.

Link To Blogsite While for the purposes of Pulp Hero the "pulp" era ends at 1940, this blogsite features pulp mags from the 50s, 60s and 70s, and shows us that masculine high adventure can be found after--and during--World War II. And there are more than a few adventurous women as well, from scantily clad women who fight Nazis to scantily clad women who are Nazis. If you're looking for over-the-top adventure with a strong element of spice, this is the place for inspiration. P.S. While there's no overt nudity, I would wait until you get home to open the site. Seems fairly tema by today's standards, but you never know. . .

Link To Article Okay--it's only supposed to get as close as 3.6 million miles--not even within lunar orbit. But it's close enough for astronomers to get a really good look at it, and broadcast its passage online. Just in time for my birthday, too.

What Hyper-Man said--also, I would buy additional SPD with the Limitation Only For Taking Recoveries which should be worth a -1 at least.

If you need some further inspiration you might want to check out the movie Telefon which covers the "brainwashed sleeper with false memories" in greater detail than Galactica did.

Re: Who are The Ultimates?

Re: Lex Luthor Is Worse Than Useless If I Remember Correctly, there have been several times in the comics when other individuals besides Tony Stark have worn the armor and used it effectively. James Rhodes was the first, during Tony's second bout with alcoholism. He did so well with it that Tony let him keep the armor--"Whoever wears the armor is Iron Man." There was another time that Tony was incapacitated (shot by a mentally disturbed former lover as I recall) and Rhodes not only took over as Iron Man, but as head of Stark Industries. An emergency led him to call upon several of Stark's old friends and he put them in several spare suits to meet the threat (I'm afraid I don't remember what it was). The only one I remember having any problems was Bethany Cabe, who complained her breasts were being squashed by the chest plate. It's possible they have changed it so that only Stark's cybernetic impulses can activate the armor--it's been a while since I've read any Marvel comics. But I think the biggest obstacle to someone else using Iron Man armor and technology is the cost. For what a suit of Iron Man armor costs a nation could likely buy a squadron of the latest fighter planes--perhaps even two. (Of course, they could also spend the money on improving the quality of life for its citizens, but that's no way for a nation to earn respect. ) It would almost be easier to just steal an Iron Man suit from Stark Industries than to steal or appropriate the money to build one. Just my thoughts on the subject. Take them as you will.

Re: Foxbat airplane This is a great build--I especially liked the "Hittles" and the fact that you used my idea for the JATO rockets. Can someone Reputate Tigereye for me? I've already done so once in the thread, and he deserves it.