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Post by sharkar on May 3, 2010 17:45:22 GMT -5
www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/pets/galleries/super_natural_animals_with_amazing_powers/super_natural_animals_with_amazing_powers.htmlCheck out the link to see some remarkable animals that have "superpowers." Okay, so maybe these intriguing creatures won't make the grade as Pet Avengers--or even the Legion of Super-Pets. But there's no denying some are adorable, some are beautiful, some are terrifying--and all are awesome. There are superhero references throughout the slide show. Even Green Arrow gets a mention here (slide 17), though I didn't think he was well-known enough to the public to be included in a general interest article like this.  He's cute...but also poisonous!
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Post by Shiryu on May 4, 2010 15:04:40 GMT -5
I'm not sure I would call it cute either ^^''
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Post by sharkar on May 7, 2010 16:35:17 GMT -5
I'm not sure I would call it cute either ^^'' You wouldn't?!? Gee, I think he's adorable. I want to pinch those chubby cheeks of his...at least, I think this is a him. Anyway, even without the "recruits" shown in the link, Pet Avengers rule ;D  --as we can see from the new AA homepage. |
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Doctor Bong
Young Avenger
Master of belly dancing! (No, really...)
Posts: 73
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Post by Doctor Bong on May 8, 2010 5:42:25 GMT -5
The fauna of the MU used to be bolder, braver and whackier in those days before Discovery and National Geographic channels, wasn't it...? Anyone remembers that one-eyed fish with the power of hypnotism that Namor used to have...?
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Post by humanbelly on May 8, 2010 20:16:45 GMT -5
The fauna of the MU used to be bolder, braver and whackier in those days before Discovery and National Geographic channels, wasn't it...? Anyone remembers that one-eyed fish with the power of hypnotism that Namor used to have...? Have we ever come across deep, early biographical info on ol' Stan? I daresay he likely wasn't the one raising his hand a lot in either Physical Science class, Earth Science, or Biology. . . although the cyclopean hypno-fish could just as easily be a product of Jack's imagination. And I guess one shouldn't be surprised that this whole gaggle of artists & creative writers mayn't have been the whiz kids in their high school science classes. I know, I know I peck away at Stan's delightful idiosyncracies an awful lot. He's such an oddly familiar presence to me that I don't feel like I'd be offending him even if I did know him. So, here's the thing, you go back into his writing in the 60's, and it becomes comically obvious that he just makes pseudo-scientific leaps up on the spot in order to convenience his plot-- or even to lend an air of scientific "authority" to a momentary issue. (Or creates an evolutionarily dubious creature-- a one-eyed hypno-fish. Why on earth would any bilaterally symmetrical, sight-oriented creature evolve w/ one eye? And why the ability to "hypnotize" more advanced lifeforms?? Heck, why would it have the opportunity? But I'm splitting hairs. . . ). Couple a' quick examples? One of the early Kooky Quartet issues-- Hawkeye's sends a safe, I believe, out of a window. It's been lifted by a new "anti-gravity arrow" he's invented. Heh. Since when is Clint a Physicist or engineer? I'm pretty sure the Wizard is the only science-type in the MU that's well-known for conquering that little fundamental law of the universe. . . Hulk #111/112 Bruce Banner nearly dies twice as he is in a space ship that is fully exposed to the vaccuum of space. Both times, his distress is caused by the increasing external pressure. That pressure being caused by. . . what, exactly? Even as a third grader, this one had me scratching my head. There are multiple instances of characters being conveniently transported instantly across the universe at the SPEED OF THOUGHT. Because the SPEED OF THOUGHT is so much infinitely faster than the speed of light. Which, of course, is just silly. And there's the endless stream of comical little blips like Thor being able to change his trajectory on a dime (while being dragged by his flung hammer). Same w/ the Hulk in mid-leap. I always had a sense that, to Stan, the world of all science was a delightfully unknowable, but provident, source that he could draw from, regardless of whether it had any basis in reality or not. Oddly enough, this very lack of a grasp of it seemed to do nothing but increase his faith in the fact that science could provide the answers he was looking for at any particular point. Whoops! I've thoughtlessly hijacked your thread a bit here, Shar--! Please, do return to the topic at hand. Hey, I like the Puffer Fish. Boy, REALLY surprised to see the feral Quaker Parrot (or Parakeet) population in NYC, though! I would never think they could survive the harsh winters there. HB |
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Post by spiderwasp on May 9, 2010 0:01:37 GMT -5
Okay HB, I know you've sort of hijacked this thread but it's a fun little hijacking so:
Those changes of direction for Thor and Hulk always bugged me too, as did many other things.
The Impossible Man could change shape - okay. But how did he manage to turn into something like a water balloon filled with water. I mean, where did the water come from?
How was Alicia Masters able to sculpt statues of people like Mole Man or Dr. Doom? Statues of the the Thing, I can understand but it's not like the villains just stood there and let her come feel their faces.
Why would so many villains put our heroes in elaborate traps and then always have a convenient release button just sitting there waiting for the Invisible Girl or the Wasp to push it? And speaking of buttons, how could even a scientific genius like Hank Pym or Reed Richards look at a control panel with fifty buttons and always know instinctively which one to push? I think even a genius would need a control manual for a piece of technology that was completely foreign to them.
The funny thing is, all this and more bugged me but the reading was so fun, I just didn't care. I'd just shrug it off.
Oh, and I like the puffer fish too. I think it would be really cool to see a group of animal villains band together to battle the Pet Avengers. The puffer would be good in that group and maybe Namor's old hypno-fish could be in there too.
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Post by humanbelly on May 9, 2010 20:34:44 GMT -5
And speaking of buttons, how could even a scientific genius like Hank Pym or Reed Richards look at a control panel with fifty buttons and always know instinctively which one to push? I think even a genius would need a control manual for a piece of technology that was completely foreign to them. Ha! Yes, SW, this very example is the one that got me pondering Stan's science-education bonafides in the first place. Bruce Banner, on several occasions, was able to perform seeming miracles with his "advanced scientific intuition", or some such. I think it exposes a fairly common mindset where a knowledge of science is a whole 'nother set of knowledge that is quite different from "common" knowledge, and that it's special and secret. And that while it can be discussed and referred to, actually grasping it still falls into the same mental realm as the supernatural. Almost as if just sitting down and learning it is innately impossible for most folks, and that there's a special hidden button in the brain that can be turned on only by the very few. My mother's view of "SCIENCE" is very much like this, and I just have a feeling that Stan, in his fashion, always tended this way, as well. He just creatively covered up for it by "over-sciencing" a lot of situations. A better analogy: Think how reading normal musical notation is for so many folks. They never learned to read it, and thus it seems for all the world like this arcane, unknowable system that only folks with a musical gift can understand. And of course, it's not. It's an extremely simple and adaptable system that just takes a goodly bit of initial effort to assimilate. But folks so often are just intimidated by it. Am I. . . am I even talking about anything relevant, here? I think I may be ranting aloud about a non-issue. . . HB |
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Post by sharkar on May 10, 2010 20:40:53 GMT -5
The fauna of the MU used to be bolder, braver and whackier in those days before Discovery and National Geographic channels, wasn't it...? Anyone remembers that one-eyed fish with the power of hypnotism that Namor used to have...? Sure! And wasn't it great to see him/her (or a relative thereof) make an appearance in Avengers volume 3 #6? ;D |
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Post by sharkar on May 10, 2010 21:01:44 GMT -5
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Post by sharkar on May 10, 2010 21:22:28 GMT -5
... I know, I know I peck away at Stan's delightful idiosyncracies an awful lot. He's such an oddly familiar presence to me that I don't feel like I'd be offending him even if I did know him. So, here's the thing, you go back into his writing in the 60's, and it becomes comically obvious that he just makes pseudo-scientific leaps up on the spot in order to convenience his plot-- or even to lend an air of scientific "authority" to a momentary issue... Hulk #111/112 Bruce Banner nearly dies twice as he is in a space ship that is fully exposed to the vaccuum of space. Both times, his distress is caused by the increasing external pressure. That pressure being caused by. . . what, exactly? Even as a third grader, this one had me scratching my head. There are multiple instances of characters being conveniently transported instantly across the universe at the SPEED OF THOUGHT. Because the SPEED OF THOUGHT is so much infinitely faster than the speed of light. Which, of course, is just silly. And there's the endless stream of comical little blips like Thor being able to change his trajectory on a dime (while being dragged by his flung hammer). Same w/ the Hulk in mid-leap. I always had a sense that, to Stan, the world of all science was a delightfully unknowable, but provident, source that he could draw from, regardless of whether it had any basis in reality or not. Oddly enough, this very lack of a grasp of it seemed to do nothing but increase his faith in the fact that science could provide the answers he was looking for at any particular point. I used to love the letters in which readers earnestly dissected and analyzed the scientific plausibility of the heroes' powers. You know, what kind of genes would the cosmic-ray bombarded Sue and Reed pass down to their child; how could Johnny fly and carry things at the same time; the reason why Ben's rocky orange skin evolved; also theories about the X-Men's mutations and of course, over in the Avengers, examinations of Wanda's powers (which we've been known to do here). Has anyone here read the book "The Physics of Superheroes"? The second edition was just published in late 2009. I don't have the book but I've have seen a few pages at various times, and based on the tiny bit I've read, plus the synopsis and reviews it seems interesting. www.physicsofsuperheroes.com/Both the first (plenty of reviews) and second editions are available on Amazon. www.amazon.com/Physics-Superheroes-James-Kakalios/dp/1592401465 |
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Post by sharkar on May 10, 2010 22:24:00 GMT -5
How was Alicia Masters able to sculpt statues of people like Mole Man or Dr. Doom? Statues of the the Thing, I can understand but it's not like the villains just stood there and let her come feel their faces. If you're referring to Fantastic Four #10 (the first time we saw Alicia's gallery of the villains), yes, it's mind-bogglingly ludicrous. I rationalize it by imagining that Ben jumped at the chance to spend time with Alicia (whom he'd just met two issues earlier, in FF #8) and so he spent many hours with her, describing the villains in detail--including their facial features and bone structures, relative heights, proportions, costumes, Mole Man's glasses, etc.--because we all know how observant and detail-oriented Ben is , even though at the time Ben himself had not encountered many of these villains more than once...and during these sessions the two fell in love. Yeah, I know Ben probably isn't the most articulate guy (at least, not back then) but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  I had a harder time believing she created a sculpture of Johnny in his flame form (as in FF #135). Would she really know how to sculpt flames, or a male body emitting flames? Well, since she lost her sight in a fiery explosion  , maybe she would (unfortunately) be familiar with the look/shapes of flames, but geez, she was awfully young when that happened. And speaking of buttons, how could even a scientific genius like Hank Pym or Reed Richards look at a control panel with fifty buttons and always know instinctively which one to push? I think even a genius would need a control manual for a piece of technology that was completely foreign to them. Speaking of buttons and Alicia, the other day I re-read FF #358 (the issue in which Lyja is revealed to have been impersonating Alicia for many years) and the FF go off to the Skrull world to rescue the real Alicia. Reed finds Alicia suspended in some sort of tank and true to SW's scenario, immediately Reed says: "The control panel is easily deciphered. A few quick adjustments should be all that's necessary to raise her body temperature and drain that nutrient tank!" The funny thing is, all this and more bugged me but the reading was so fun, I just didn't care. I'd just shrug it off. Agreed. |
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Post by spiderwasp on May 10, 2010 22:36:26 GMT -5
Here's 2 more of my favorite "What was Stan thinking?" moments concerning seeing and hearing Ant-man.
From Avengers #1
When the rest of the team can't see Hank and Jan, Hank tells Jan to "Stand in front of this lens and I'll adjust it so it projects our images on the wall." This wasn't some special advanced piece of machinery, it was just something Rick Jones and his crew had lying around. How did it not just project shadows?
From FF # 16
When Ant-man shows up, Reed says "It's hard to hear you Ant-man! Let me place this crystal magnifying amplifier over you." Isn't it lucky that Reed just happened to have a big box shaped crystal magnifier laying around?
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Doctor Bong
Young Avenger
Master of belly dancing! (No, really...)
Posts: 73
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Post by Doctor Bong on May 11, 2010 9:44:27 GMT -5
The fauna of the MU used to be bolder, braver and whackier in those days before Discovery and National Geographic channels, wasn't it...? Anyone remembers that one-eyed fish with the power of hypnotism that Namor used to have...? Sure! And wasn't it great to see him/her (or a relative thereof) make an appearance in Avengers volume 3 #6? ;D I totally missed that! In what context did it appear...? |
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Post by sharkar on May 12, 2010 10:34:44 GMT -5
I totally missed that! In what context did it appear...? Take a look at the last page of the story (#6 v.3). I don't have my copy handy (I'm at work), but I believe the tell-tale panel is in the middle of that page. It's eerie--when I first read this story a few years ago (as part of the Avengers Assemble #1 collection, which reprints volume 3), I had coincidentally just recently re-read the old Fantastic Four issue (courtesy of the Essential FF) in which Namor's fish appeared. So this was an aha! moment for me. ;D |
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Post by freedomfighter on May 12, 2010 12:00:36 GMT -5
Okay HB, I know you've sort of hijacked this thread but it's a fun little hijacking so: Those changes of direction for Thor and Hulk always bugged me too, as did many other things. The Impossible Man could change shape - okay. But how did he manage to turn into something like a water balloon filled with water. I mean, where did the water come from? How was Alicia Masters able to sculpt statues of people like Mole Man or Dr. Doom? Statues of the the Thing, I can understand but it's not like the villains just stood there and let her come feel their faces. Why would so many villains put our heroes in elaborate traps and then always have a convenient release button just sitting there waiting for the Invisible Girl or the Wasp to push it? And speaking of buttons, how could even a scientific genius like Hank Pym or Reed Richards look at a control panel with fifty buttons and always know instinctively which one to push? I think even a genius would need a control manual for a piece of technology that was completely foreign to them. The funny thing is, all this and more bugged me but the reading was so fun, I just didn't care. I'd just shrug it off. Oh, and I like the puffer fish too. I think it would be really cool to see a group of animal villains band together to battle the Pet Avengers. The puffer would be good in that group and maybe Namor's old hypno-fish could be in there too. Actually two of the things you mention are somewhat easily explained. Thor's hammer obviously defies physics in the first place (its weight must be a mystical property). That tiny little mallet head simply could not generate enough pull to lift someone off the ground for more than a brief period. Yet Thor can fly for hours. For it to work in the first place, it has to have some innate magical properties that make it stay aloft, so Thor zigzagging in flight is no more ridiculous than Thor flying in the first place. Next the interesting thing about technology is that the more advanced it gets, generally the easier it is to use. Think about how hard it use to be start a car (hand crank) and now (many engines have a pushbutton), how hard it used to be to record a TV show (insert a tape into VCR, set VCR timer, set VCR to correct channel, tune TV to correct channel, turn off VCR) and now (bring up your guide onscreen and press a button that says 'record') You want technology to be easy, so it's quick and efficient. Think about your remote control. You use it everyday, but if I wiped all the directions off all the buttons would you know everything on it? All fifty or sixty buttons? Likely not. It's smart to label buttons even if they open your death traps... After all if you've put someone in a death trap, the assumption is someone isn't letting them out, so why the need to make it difficult to operate? |
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Post by humanbelly on May 12, 2010 19:54:02 GMT -5
[been known to do here). Has anyone here read the book "The Physics of Superheroes"? The second edition was just published in late 2009. I don't have the book but I've have seen a few pages at various times, and based on the tiny bit I've read, plus the synopsis and reviews it seems interesting. www.physicsofsuperheroes.com/Both the first (plenty of reviews) and second editions are available on Amazon. www.amazon.com/Physics-Superheroes-James-Kakalios/dp/1592401465Oh wow, there's a second edition? That's terrific-! Yep, Shar, you've finally mentioned a book I've read (Your taste in legitimate literature runs much more along the lines of my wife's, I believe.). Yep, a very fun, smart, and appropriately educational introduction to MANY elements of science beyond straight physics, and all in the context of how superheroes do or don't abide by what is theoretically (or at least mostly theoretically) possible. If I recall, the book was either written for, or immediately adapted to, use as a textbook for an Intro to Physics college course. There are certainly long chunks where you have to go back and reread more than a couple of times to make sure you're clearly following what's being presented. The fact that Ant-Man's eyes would be physically incapable of seeing the same way at that size was a particular revelation. I mean, does anything that small have an eye-structure similar to ours, eh? Nope, that's 'cause our types of eyes and lenses wouldn't operate at that tiny level. . . It's good stuff for the science-minded, yessir. HB |
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, maybe she would (unfortunately) be familiar with the look/shapes of flames, but geez, she was awfully young when that happened. 