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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 6:19am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Thanks! I made it a rule that in each issue the four main characters would use their powers and call each other by several variants of their names.

Becomes a bit clumsy when the stories are collected, but at the time that wasn't anything to worry about. "Writing for the trade" was an affectation still years in the future.

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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 6:24am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

You were pretty busy those days. Writing the Thing; writing and illustrating Alpha Flight; writing and illustrating Fantastic Four, and doing a whole bunch of unaffiliated covers (probably forgetting some other stuff too). Not since Kirby have I seen a person carry so much on their plate.

•••

I've never allowed my work load to affect the quality. But other factors -- such as spending my whole career fighting with my line -- have definitely had negative impact over the years.

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Steven Myers
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 7:33am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I always thought what made Angel interesting was that he had real wings, unlike Hawkman or Falcon, for example. Then they gave him metal wings...

As for the FF, I think Reed has least overall power, but the most practical ability. Whereas Johnny has the deadliest ability with the least practicality.

A character that would be a challenge to write would be Phantom Girl. She has the greatest defensive ability--she phantoms and nothing can harm her. However, it doesn't give her any offensive capability.
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Doug Centers
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 8:17am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

"...I think Reed has least overall power, but the most practical ability."

...

I cannot count how many times I've tried to reach something in a tight spot and wished I was him!
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 8:54am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

I'm reminded of a Canadian newsmagazine that did a story on Marvel (long before I worked there) and described the FF as "asking the question of whether a man who can stretch his body into any shape can find true happiness with a woman who is surrounded by an invisible force field."

Amusing enough, when I was 18 or so. But that kind of question came to be all too common among the aging fan base. I used to say the first time one thought about a superhero's sex life should be taken as the cue that it was time to find another hobby. Now there are writers who would barely have careers without constantly "exploring" that issue.

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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 11:04am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

TANGENT: One of the details I LOVE about Mr. Byrne's work is shown on that page. The paint can has a little dribble on it; it falls into Sue's force field and paint; and then it's messier.

It's a teensy weensy detail - but it's so important and so realistic, and anybody who's ever painted would get it immediately.

ITEM:: I believe Mr. Byrne established that Reed's body is actually susceptible to great pressure, in the story where the FF was sojourning into Ego's planetary body. So he's not resistant to pressure, and he'd probably had some issues when battling Namor in Atlantis.

DISCUSSION: In comics, I don't think that any super power is entirely impractical with the right character, in the right situation (not a challenge.) At times, "useless" has been ascribed to Mr. Fantastic, Angel, the Atom, Aquaman, Daredevil, Black Widow*, Batman, Hawkeye, Green Arrow, etc. And so many of them have had their books become massive fan favorites.

It's when we apply TOO strict an analysis of the powers that we run into problems, e.g., "How does the Atom breathe when he's smaller than oxygen molecules? How does Storm use her powers indoors when she'd blow everything around, including the X-Men? How does Namor have electrical powers?" If we look at it too closely, we start applying real world physics to it - and then we find that Action Comics #1 is wrong, and that Superman couldn't lift a car; its own weight would collapse it. And after that, it all falls apart. And stops being fiction.

*One of Natasha's abilities that is no longer used is her ability to walk on walls. I rather miss that... I thought it would enhance the hell out of her espionage skills.
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 11:42am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Remember when Jim Shooter declared Spider-Man's wall climbing ability to be "icky", and insisted that OHOTMU describe his powers as a "molecular interface" rather than "sticking" to walls? Even after it was pointed out (by me, among others) that spiders don't "stick" to anything.

Or when Marc Gruenwald (him again!) rewrote the way Cyclops' powers worked, again for OHOTMU?

OHOTMU itself was the real villain of the peice, as it not only allowed editors to muck about with established lore, but encouraged readers to start dissecting things. RPG thinking!

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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 11:44am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

A character that would be a challenge to write would be Phantom Girl. She has the greatest defensive ability--she phantoms and nothing can harm her. However, it doesn't give her any offensive capability.

•••

Can she do the Vision's trick? Stick her fist in someone's chest and then "un-phantom"?

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Michael Penn
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 12:00pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

40 years ago Keith Pollard (what an artist!!!) had Reed turn his fist into a mace so ostensibly dense that it could shred Doom's armored mask.


But I don't recall this being a direction others ever took before. (I'm not sure about after because I only had a few years left of comicbook reading.)
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John Byrne
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Kirby had Reed battle the Super Skrull with a big mallet made from his fist -- tho I could never entirely convince myself it would really be harder than a normal fist.
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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 4:26pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Mr. Byrne, while I remember Phantom Girl turning partially solid, I don't ever recall it being used offensively.

And to play devil's advocate, desolidifying is a great power... but she still sees and hears in the real world, so hypnosis, loud noises, flashes, etc. could affect her. And it was once established that certain types of bombs had explosive effects that could reach into phantom planes of existence. Of course, that story idea was by... Jim Shooter.
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Steven Myers
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Posted: 08 April 2018 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

A character that would be a challenge to write would be Phantom Girl. She has the greatest defensive ability--she phantoms and nothing can harm her. However, it doesn't give her any offensive capability.

•••

Can she do the Vision's trick? Stick her fist in someone's chest and then "un-phantom"?

--------

I think it would hurt her as much as the other person. I think that was a trick with Vision is that is doesn't hurt him because he's mechanical.

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