Spoilers Superman Spoiler Thread

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Are they? They call it a proton river not an anti-proton river.

They talk about anti-protons several times first. If they go back and forth, that's probably due to something getting missed in rewrites.

Protons would certainly be a lot healthier for Supes!*

* Yes, comic book physics, etc.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And we should all fight to keep it that way. I want Superman holding up planes by the nose with at worst only a few hand-print dents to show for it.

John Byrne's Man of Steel series addressed that -- Superman is actually telekinetic, which is how he flies and has "super-strength," etc. That was quietly dropped in about a year after the reboot, though.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Are they? They call it a proton river not an anti-proton river.

You can't say with certainty, but when--I can't remember if it was Metamorpho or Mr. Terrific--talking about it earlier they pretty clearly spell out its a flow of antimatter, which is why in combination with the growing black hole they really, really need to close off this place right quick.

 

[Thomas Shey]

John Byrne's Man of Steel series addressed that -- Superman is actually telekinetic, which is how he flies and has "super-strength," etc. That was quietly dropped in about a year after the reboot, though.

It was one of those "the handwaving bothers me so I'm going to try and do different handwaving I like better" that new writers to a title (and Byrne was particularly prone to this) do, and then when it goes back to others who don't have an itch about it, they, as you say, quietly forget.

 

[jian]

It was one of those "the handwaving bothers me so I'm going to try and do different handwaving I like better" that new writers to a title (and Byrne was particularly prone to this) do, and then when it goes back to others who don't have an itch about it, they, as you say, quietly forget.

It reminds me of one of the few times Warren Ellis wrote Superman where he says all his powers come from gravity control and then says this makes him less powerful on the Moon, which was a bit weird.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It reminds me of one of the few times Warren Ellis wrote Superman where he says all his powers come from gravity control and then says this makes him less powerful on the Moon, which was a bit weird.

Warren Ellis often seems to try to be Grant Morrison and misses.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It reminds me of one of the few times Warren Ellis wrote Superman where he says all his powers come from gravity control and then says this makes him less powerful on the Moon, which was a bit weird.

Byrne's take only makes sense because he got to essentially reboot the character. Besides the differences in Krypton and related, the whole TK thing requires that a lot of people who would have figured out that was what he'd been doing previously didn't do so, since its not like telekinetic characters hadn't existed in the DC continuity previously.

 

[overgeeked]

Warren Ellis often seems to try to be Grant Morrison and misses.

Which is hilarious because Grant Morrison tries to be Alan Moore and misses.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Which is hilarious because Grant Morrison tries to be Alan Moore and misses.

I bet Grant's a lot more fun at parties, though.

 

[jian]

Byrne's take only makes sense because he got to essentially reboot the character. Besides the differences in Krypton and related, the whole TK thing requires that a lot of people who would have figured out that was what he'd been doing previously didn't do so, since its not like telekinetic characters hadn't existed in the DC continuity previously.

It sort of makes sense if you assume all his other powers are basically psychic, too - so his sensory powers are various forms of clairvoyance and heat vision is pyrokinesis. But it’s not really necessary. Byrne has already firmly stamped one character (Gladiator of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard) with that interpretation.