SSgt Baloo

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares

Raging Bullwhip Griffin

Re: And Now for Something Slightly Different: Mis-Spelled and Reimagined Supers

The Fantastik Four

Pelted with cosmic rays while they were cleaning the International Space station, the Fantastic Four is led by Mr. Fantastic.

Mr. Fantastik, who has the ability to create copious amounts of multipurpose cleaner in a fine spray, and whose body has the powers of paper towels, enabling him to clean up after himself.

The Inedible Girl, with the powers of being completely inedible (invulnerability plus a high-point damage shield triggered by being engulfed). She is also able to

The Human Stove, able to cook things with his bare hands! (flame powers, different areas of interest).

The ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thong. The less said, the better.

Re: Why Your Heroes Shouldn't Kill

I really enjoyed reading the Watchmen when it came out, but there were a large number of people whose imaginations were fired by the ambiguous moral behavior and violence displayed in the work, and wanted more. Just. Like. That.

Re: The cranky thread

Hmmm... My sarcasm detector needs to go back on the charging stand. Good catch!

Re: Creepy Pics.

Considering how Donald was always flying into bouts of sputtering' date=' incoherent fury, I have trouble imagining that those around him thought he was an ideal role model/caretaker while alive.[/quote']

 

I've seen a lot of vintage Donald Duck cartoons, and if he really existed today, Child Protective Services would have those nephews in Unc'a Scrooge's custody in nothing flat. Maybe Duck Tales was just part of the cover-up?

Re: Why Your Heroes Shouldn't Kill

I liked the Watchmen storyline. It's interesting that now' date=' almost 30 years later, we're still discussing it. It's a world where the traditional genre rules of comics don't apply. I took it as "this is what would [i']really[/i] happen if there were supers". The characters' being superheroes separated them and isolated them from the humanity they tried to protect. If you think about it, Batman's super power is the ability to not rip the Joker's throat out. That's the least believable aspect of the character. I'd have done it years ago, and I don't spend my nights beating up criminals in the streets. The characters in the Watchmen lack those 4 color comic codes of conduct.

 

A true Superman would find himself out of touch with humanity pretty quickly. Who are these people who die so easily, who can't see the formation of molecules, who don't see the future like I do? And you think you have a hard time talking to your grandparents, or to teenagers, because of the music and TV shows that they watch. None of your cultural references are the same. Well for Dr. Manhattan, he says "so I was watching atoms divide the other day..." I thought his portrayal in the movie was excellent, by the way. Very sad, but peaceful.

 

Veidt was likewise someone who was so smart that he was effectively no longer human. While he was trying to save the world, a handful of deaths meant nothing to him.

 

The Comedian and Rorshach had seen the darkness of humanity for so long that they became brutal killers. Rorshach in trying to punish crime and prevent injustice, the Comedian because he believed everything was pointless and fake anyway. There was no good in the world so why pretend any different?

 

Dan and Laurie are the only two relatively normal people, and so they are the lens through which we view the story. Great story, intensely dark. Not something I would want to read about every month. It's kind of like the show MadMen. Excellent writing, great production values, and I hate every character in the show.

Nailed it. Would somebody rep this guy for me? My rep-stick's on "E".

Re: The cranky thread

Maybe for you. If I'm not careful things can spin out of control.

Re: And Now for Something Slightly Different: Mis-Spelled and Reimagined Supers

Inspired by Cancer's post above, I'd like to suggest a founding member of the Ex-Men:

The Yeast! Her powers allow her to swell up like rising bread dough. I'd imagine someone with the powers of the Blob plus growth or some other shape-changing ability, due to her dough-like powers.

Others:

M.O.O.D.-K.

Mentally Offensive Organism Designed for Knavery

I leave the following unexplained as an exercise for the readers.*

D.O.M.O.K.

K.O.M.O.D.

M.O.D.E.M.

* I realized just how long it took me to think up the first one and remembered I wanted to post this today!

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares

Iron Chef: Innsmouth

"And today's secret ingredient is... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Re: And Now for Something Slightly Different: Mis-Spelled and Reimagined Supers

The Ex-Men' date=' consisting of Niceman, Angle, Best, and Marble Girl (can't seem to really come up with a good name for Cyclops).[/quote']

 

An example I considered but discarded as low-hanging fruit was The Amazing Ex-Men! A team of mutants who are also postoperative M-F transexuals. They fight evil and offer each other emotional support.

Re: Creepy Pics.

I can imagine this image on Donald's Nephews' tell-all book, published shortly after his death, revealing just how far the beloved character differed from "Unc'a Donald" when he was off-camera.

 

I'd love to provide a prospective title, but I can't think of a good one. If someone would oblige, I'd be grateful.

Never mind. I thought of something:

Re: Creepy Pics.

I can imagine this image on Donald's Nephews' tell-all book, published shortly after his death, revealing just how far the beloved character differed from "Unc'a Donald" when he was off-camera.

I'd love to provide a prospective title, but I can't think of a good one. If someone would oblige, I'd be grateful.

I've always been interested in homonyms and homophones since first grade. I used to entertain myself by intentionally trying different sounds for ordinary words based on the spelling, or substituting a similar-sounding word in a short phrase.

The challenge is to suggest alternate forms of well-known characters (and less-well-known if you provide a link) by either changing the name slightly or changing one of the words in the hero's name. Then you must propose a different power-set that suits the resulting name.

Example of Name Changed Slightly (NCS):

Supermen

Clark Savage III had studied his father's notes very carefully and had discovered not only the key to taking away the superpowers of the many super-criminals plaguing the world, but also how to grant them as well. Clark also feared what could happen if this knowledge were to fall into the wrong hands. After committing all his fathers notes on the subject (as well as any of his own) to memory, he destroyed them. He was going to keep the formula a secret, but there needed to be a force to oppose Evil. He could give himself superpowers, but would just one guy be enough?

Clark contacted his closest friends together and laid out his plan. Supervillains were numerous enough that he needed reliable back-up, and he was offering a chance to be a powerful force for Good as had his father before him. Each has unique abilities that complements those of his companions. As heroes, they address each other by their (rather common) first names. Collectively, they are Supermen

Technically, C.S. III's ability to design and "build" his own superteam is his superpower. The specific powers and number of the team members involved are left up to whomever wants to use the idea in their campaign (as either a hero or villain team).

Example of Word Changed (WC):

Captain Marble

When Billy Bobbin says "AfF-Schmazz-Ka-Poop!" he turns into a 2m diameter sphere of mystical marble (growth and density increase? Multiform?). In his marble form, the Captain is almost impervious to harm (high defenses, some damage negation) and can roll at high speeds (+running). Likewise he needs not breathe, eat and sleep in this form (life support). Give him some extra senses and you're done!

Those so inclined are encoursged to use more or less detail than the above examples as you see fit.

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares

Doctor Whouse

Re: I have a dream. (and MAN was it wierd!)

I was helping construct a headquarters for a new super-team (I've been doing a lot of construction playing the Sims3, and whatever my daytime activities are tend to bleed into my dreams). In addition, I was helping to train them train (was I a "retired" superhero in the dream?) I remember being very enthusiastic about the whole thing, and hoping the superheroines' moms might show up so I could see if they were good-looking too. Some villains showed up but instead of fighting them I put them to work on the HQ, too.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos

One reason why I stopped riding a bike in Sacramento. Too many people feel that it is their right to "chastise" cyclists for percieved infringement on their possession of the full lane (and much besides) by running them over or "bumping" them back into position. The possible health benefits of the exercise are overshadowed by the chance that some angry richard will maim or kill me before I reach the extra years I might otherwise add to my lifespan.

Re: Super Transportation

The WWII Russian superteam should have appropriately retrofuturistic transport. Unless, of course, they were lost in the purges.

http://youtu.be/OgX9HN6AjGI

Re: You Don't Have to be Crazy to be a Superhero, but it Helps!

Istvatha V'han's description emphasizes that she actively changes the outcome of past events only as a last resort, because of possible unintended consequences such as what happened to her family. Otherwise she would have "replayed" her past failed conquests, such as Champions Earth, to assure success.

 

But I never said she wasn't evil. Her campaigns have killed countless billions of sapient beings, out of her belief that she's the one being best qualified to rule all of Reality. She's just gone about it in a way that displays clinical mental competence and stability.

No-one here is claiming to be an expert on the subject of criminal psychology here, but the definition of "crazy" pretty-much describes I.V. even if it's not necessarily on display 24-7. That's what makes crazy people scary to some people. They look just like regular folks.

Re: Role-Playing the Mantle of Heroism

For most of my characters, the motivation was to just be someone who was there to provide help when needed, be it escape from a burning building, rescue or protection from supervillain activity, Kaiju attacks, or natural disasters, or sometimes just helping someone get a hold of social services for help my Super isn't qualified to do himself.

Re: You Don't Have to be Crazy to be a Superhero, but it Helps!

Yes, but when it comes to parents with mutant kids, I would expect them to either advocate on their child's behalf or the very least try to help the kid keep it under wraps so he doesn't get killed by an angry mob unless they're just stupid and have never been exposed to western civilization before. Maybe your parents were that shallow, but not everyone's are. If it's happening to kids (and when you get older everyone else is "kids", especially teenagers) most responsible adults will not advocate for the genocide of all kids with super abilities. In the marvel Universe, parents, with few exceptions treat "Mom, Dad? I'm a mutant." as being functionally equivalent to "Your whole life with me has been a lie. You thought you were raising a child to continue family name and traditions and give you grandchildren. What stands before you is an evil twin of the child you thought you were raising. All those years of love and devotion were wasted on an evil being who should never have existed. Any grandkids that result will be abominations. Stop me before I reproduce."

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

Top Gear, the American version. Not as good as the BBC version, but still better than any other domestically-filmed general-interest automotive series.

Plus Avengers, EMH.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos

http://youtu.be/DrLH1h78KhI

Re: Why Your Heroes Shouldn't Kill

Duh! Why do you think it's called the "Last" Resort? Place is a dull as dishwater.

Re: Creepy Pics.

I strongly suspect the image is a parody of creation "science", which tends to try to reinterpret the evidence in ways that support their position, without regard to the facts.

ETA: ...but I've been wrong before. My first exposure to WBC was through their online site and until they started making the news, I thought it was a parody site. They even had a notice that single male church-members over 65 were allowed to use pornography as an aid to "prostate health".

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

I recorded a marathon showing of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I've been watching one or two before bedtime.