| Posted: 16 April 2013 at 11:15am | IP Logged | 4
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John Byrne wrote:
| When I have drawn Reed's powers at work, I have tried to keep this in mind. Altho he is defying the basic function of the body, I tried to avoid having him turn his ears into giant listening devices, or make his teeth big so he could chomp thru ropes. A minor point, but there you are. |
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I instinctively like the "He can, he just doesn't" approach. Here's a lifelong academic, used to being addressed as "professor" and being respected worldwide as a towering, intimidating intellect, suddenly endowed with powers that can make him look absolutely ridiculous. In the early days, he'd use his powers in obvious and literal ways: "A tire got shot out! I'm like rubber, so I'll become a tire!" But as he became more experienced, and saw photos of himself in the papers bouncing around as human beachball, he'd find ways to solve the same problems without turning into a spare tire or a human kite.
It also makes it kind of endearing when he spontaneously uses his powers in "Plastic Man" ways when playing with his kids. He'll become an inflatable raft or expand his ears into trumpet bells when he's having private time with his family...dignity-schmignity when it comes to his kids.
And I like it when Reed is shown with some exposed skin. It underscores the idea that Reed is just as much of a freak as Ben is. Maybe even more so. Ben's body still has the structure of, you know, a vertebrate. I think it'd be easier to get used to someone who looks like The Thing than someone whose body flows like Silly Putty.
Wasn't there an issue of "Spider Man" -- back when Pete's ID became known to the hero community, and Sue Storm gave Mary Jane some advice on dealing with a loved one with super powers? She said that even today, she sometimes gets skeeved out a little when Reed's concentration drops and she can see his face slowly sliding. I like the idea that there's an ongoing cost to their superpowers.
An early FF story that shows them learning about their new abilities and not having much success controlling their powers is high in my list of "Things I'd like to see." How long was it before Johnny felt he could step out in public without accidentally starting fires, and Sue could turn her visibility on and off like a light without giving people a look at her intestines, and Reed could take four steps without collapsing into a floppy pile of hoses?
I bet that was the lone area where Ben felt lucky. He was still a guy...just bigger and stronger and uglier, you know? I think that sort of story would be a good framework to explain a lot about who these people are.
Edited by Andy Ihnatko on 16 April 2013 at 11:35am
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Topic Closed)
