st barbara

At the height of the silver age Superman could cross the universe in 10 seconds, juggle planets with his pinky, and had every power including superknitting. Of course he wasn't always like that. But even before the silver age power creep he was still Superman. We all know the saying. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Why they don't include bulletproof I don't know. Still how powerful does this make Superman? I don't know. Being vauge faster than and the like we can't be exact. But we can estimate.

 

 

Faster than a speeding bullet.

 

The fastest bullet is about 1,700 mph. If you want to try and dodge it, you have to be 500 feet away. Now here my research if a tad faulty because I couldn't find a date on this bullet. I'm guessing two things here. This is a modern bullet, and gun technology hasn't really sped up bullets since the 1930's. So going with this as Supes minimum sped. He's twice as fast as sound. By the time you hear the swoosh of his arrival, he's got you half way to jail.

 

More powerful than a locomotive.

 

One of the post powerful locomotives of the 1930's was the Union Pacific steam engine it had 97,664 pounds force or 434 kn.For those of you who don't know what that means it had 5000 horsepower. Or the ability to lift 165,000,000 pounds. that's 825,000 tons. Even golden age Supes had a str of over 100

 

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

 

Now here we can be more exact. Superman can leap tall buildings, not all buildings. So he can't clear the tallest. Which means if you can fortify yourself at the top of the newly built Empire State building he can't leap the 1,250 ft to get you. He'll just have to run up the stairs before you can hear him, and smash through the door. Uhm Yeaa!?

 

Now I'll admit math isn't my strongest subject and I didn't spend hours researching this. So anyone who can correct the above points please do so. But on behalf of the criminals of the universe. Please Krypton make more kryptonite.

It is all very well fortifying yourself at the top of the Empire State Building, but what is Doc Savage going to say when you start trying to rearrange his lounge room ?

"Saint Barbara" has three costumes that she wears depending on the weather.  Common to all of them are her thick soled aerobic workout style boots. her anti-flash goggles or sunglasses and her "utility belt" of pouches  for small items (money, I D card, a notebook and pen etc).  The three costumes are  1  A royal blue gymnast style leotard with multi coloured representations of skyrocket bursts all over it, 2. A two piece aerobic workout suit coloured as per costume 1 (for summer), 3 A pair of tracksuit pants and a sloppy joe style loose top (colours as per the other two costumes, for winter).

A cursory review of WW's rogues gallery turns up such classics as Angle Man and Egg Fu.

I'd forgotten "Angle Man" I must admit. Would they have him with the "Angler" device, and how would it work on film ?

That is one problem with "Wonder Woman", her "rogues gallery" is a bit thin. Perhaps they could use a version of The Duke Of Deception" ? (A character that goes back a long way, and isn't even in my "D C Comics Encyclopedia".)

I've come to the conclusion that a lot of the criticism of Gadot's acting is derived from her line delivery, which sometimes seems stilted. But I'm inclined to lay some of that to English not being her first language. I've seen a number of respected actors from non-English-speaking countries who perform noticeably better in their native tongue. But Gadot's face and posture are very expressive. In particular, she does a steely determined gaze as well as anyone I've seen. And while we've all heard of "a smile that lights up a room," this is one of the rare people who actually has it.

Interesting. I didn't find her acting stilted and her having a slight accent to her english was a plus for me. I always imagined that Wonder Woman SHOULD have a bit of an accent.

Perhaps more Victorian than Pulp Age, as Michael Surbrook put it, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (March 19, 1821 - October 20, 1890) was a British explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer, and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine European, Asian, and African languages.  One account lists him as being one of the ten best swordsmen of all times.  Here is his character sheet and more http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationsassorted/richard_francis_burton.html

Also famous for translating "The Karma Sutra" into english.

Um... Well... How shall I put this... Do you pay taxes?

Not being a citizen of the U S A the answer is no. In Australia I did when I was working (retired now). So, I assume that you are saying that the taxpayers (which in the U S seems to mean the middle class, not the wealthy) will , as usual, do the paying. Why am I not surprised ?

So, I was reading this article and came across this (bolding added):

 

 

 

 

Wait, so his lawyer is getting a lawyer?!  That seem kinda... surreal, doesn't it?

So the lawyers are getting lawyers ? Who pays for all this, the lawyers who hire the lawyers or the people who hired the lawyers who hired the lawyers ?

I'm 59, one of the older frequenters of these forums, although hardly old by today's standards. In my youth I saw race riots, assaults by police on protesters, terrorist kidnappings. I watched the Watergate hearings on television. I can just barely remember JFK's assassination and funeral. Political and social incivility has never been absent, and until human nature changes it never will be. It does seem to have an ebb and flow over time, but mostly it's a matter of the names and topics changing. That's why we always need to be on guard against it, to stand up and call it out when we see it. That's the only way to resist it overwhelming us.

Young wipper snapper ! I remember the Kennedy assassination. I particularly remember how shocked I was at the time wondering how the U S A, of all places. could assassinate its president in the 1960's. Only tinpot republics in Central America and Africa did things like that !

 I was very disappointed to hear that Trump has rolled back the  minor changes that president Obama had made in relation to Cuba. I thought that they were good moves; with Russia no longer supporting Cuba as much it looked like the perfect time for the U S to step in and re establish. Sadly not to be now.

I have seen "Wonder Woman" and "Baywatch" in the last couple of weeks. "Wonder Woman" was great and I hope that it makes oodles of money. "Baywatch" just okay,

How about Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck. German commander in southern africa (I think it was) in World War 1. Led much larger British and South African forces a merry dance throughout the war with only a small contingent of native troops. There was even an attempt tp resupply him late in the war (1918 ) by zepplin , which unfortunately didn't reach him before the end of the war.

--Berke Breathed

Isn't he the quarterback the 49ers  drafted this draft ?

That's one thing about this situation--it does prove that anyone, literally anyone, can, with a little effort and luck, become President of the United States.

 So which member of this forum is going to infiltrate a major party to stand for president at the next election ?

 I have to agree with "Sociotard" re "Dune". Overrated, derivative (the personal shields that mean people use blades was lifted straight from a novel by Charles Harness) and inferior to the book with which it tied for the Hugo Award ("And Call Me Conrad"- Roger Zelazny).

 Listening to Sean Spicer(on cnn) trying to tell the media that when Trump says "wiretapping" (in quotes) he doesn't REALLY mean wiretapping. Yeah right. The USA has gone down the rabbit hole; wasn't it Tweedledum who said something like "When I say something it means whatever I want it to mean, nothing more" or something like that ?

 "The Dead Of The Night" the second book in John Marsden's series that has Australia invaded and the resistence of a small group of young people in a country town.

 As an Australian it is nice to know that the "blame the previous administration" tactic is not confined to my country. Over here if an incoming administration DOESN'T blame their predecessor it is considered unusual !

Apropos of Doc Savage Pastiches I have recently (as in last week) read the collected "Thunder Jim Wade" stories by Henry Kuttner. Kuttner was a good writer and, although it isn't his best work , the stories were still a lot of fun. I particularly loved the "Thunderbug" , the hero"s tank/aircraft/submarine.

Recently on twitter somebody brought up the President Luthor storyline from DC Comics.  He mentioned that when Lex Luthor became President he divested his company and released his tax returns.  This doesn't really have much to do with actual politics of course, but I thought it might give everybody a chuckle.

Obviously the U S should have elected Luthor instead of Trump.

Yeah, if he draws his strength from war, the first half of the 20th Century is definitely going to be close to Peak Ares. Meanwhile if Zeus draws his power from worshipers, he's kindof SOL.

 

[pedantic sidebar] Actually, despite killing 15 million people, WWI was "only" the 13th deadliest war or atrocity in history.* The Mongol conquests of the 13th Century, for example, killed an estimated 40 million. China's An Lushan Revolt in the 8th century is believed to have killed something like 36 million - a staggering number considering that was roughly one-sixth of the entire world's population at that time! But still, the breadth and scope of WWI were certainly unprecedented.

 

* Depending on who's making the list and how they're counting, of course. The list I'm referencing is from Matthew White, quoted in Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels Of Our Nature."

I assume it is the same Matthew White who wrote "Atrocitology" ? If so, in that book he rates the Lushan revolt at number 13 with a death toll of 13 million. The First World War comes in at number 11 (tying with the conquest of the Americas) at 15 million.

Hmm interesting question.  Most of the classic pulp heroes I either like or haven't read enough of to form an opinion so i'll opt for Richard Seaton. As "good" a character as you are likely to meet but I found him annoying and far less interesting than his great opponent Blackie Duqesne.

I just got (but, of course haven't read yet)  "Pulp Heroes : Khan Dynasty" by Wayne Reinagel. Looks like a "Doc Savage" pastiche. It also looks like it is book 2 of a series. Damn, i'll have to order book one mow !

Trump is not able to shut his mouth or think without speaking.  At all.  It's been conclusively proven over the past two years. 

 

Sixty million Americans think that's a feature, not a bug.

He may not be able to "think without speaking" , but he seems to have no trouble speaking without thinking.

I have seen the list of people performing for the Inauguration and I am distinctly underwhelmed.

Yeah. You would think that he could at least get The Red Army Choir (or what is left of it !) .