Better than Nemo

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:19 pm

Speaking of superpowers, I'm dissapointed that no one's ever done something really great with sound manipulation. I'm not talking about Banshee's shitty and nonsensical powers, I'm talking about pure mental control over auditory waves.

Amongst other things, with that power, you'd be able to:

* Echolocate
* Increase your range of hearing
* Create sonic booms.
* Mute people to make them unable to communicate.
* Forge sound effects from thin air (Like police sirens)
* Alter your voice to sound like anything.
* Vibrate things at the right frequency, causing them to shatter.
* Cause sound-waves that paralyze and deafen.

While Banshee's capable of one or two of those things, the whole range of abilities one could use with sound-waves are far beyond him.

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 6:41 pm

Esrever wrote:The best Batman movie ever was Mask of the Phantasm. It's the only film that actually made Batman an interesting character, as well as the featured villain.

As for The Incredibles, I agree with Grant. The characters powers needed to be stereotypical archtypes for the story to work. Besides, if they each had some amazing, never before seen power, I think it would maybe be kind of distracting. This way, they don't need to waste a lot of time establishing the powers of the characters, and can instead focus on the elements of them that are important to the plot of ze film.

I agree with that, in fact I may see it again in a friend house on Saturday.

Batman 1 wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t bad, The Joker was well done in that movie. Batman 2 had a Good Catwoman and I liked it. It was similar to the Catwoman we saw in Ã¢â‚¬Å“Batman animatedÃ¢â‚¬ï¿¾.

The Incredibles is some kind of Fantastic four parody with graphics that look similar to Ã¢â‚¬Å“Jimmy NeutronÃ¢â‚¬ï¿¾., that why it rulez!.

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:52 pm

Zeta wrote:Speaking of superpowers, I'm dissapointed that no one's ever done something really great with sound manipulation. I'm not talking about Banshee's shitty and nonsensical powers, I'm talking about pure mental control over auditory waves.

Amongst other things, with that power, you'd be able to:

* Echolocate
* Increase your range of hearing
* Create sonic booms.
* Mute people to make them unable to communicate.
* Forge sound effects from thin air (Like police sirens)
* Alter your voice to sound like anything.
* Vibrate things at the right frequency, causing them to shatter.
* Cause sound-waves that paralyze and deafen.

While Banshee's capable of one or two of those things, the whole range of abilities one could use with sound-waves are far beyond him.

Kurt Cobain could've used that. Maybe he would've stayed in tune.

chriscaffee · Post by **chriscaffee** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 8:13 pm

* Cause sound-waves that paralyze and deafen.

Emerald Dragon, Dungeons & Dragons.

plasticwingsband · Post by **plasticwingsband** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 8:27 pm

Baba O'Reily wrote: Kurt Cobain could've used that. Maybe he would've stayed in tune.

It's funny because he's dead.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:00 pm

The Scarlet Scorpion wrote:
Delphine wrote:...a rip off? Have you seen it?
C'mon, one team member is super strong, another can stretch, one can generate force fields and become invisible, and there's a toddler with mysterious and gimmicky super powers. Two of the team members are married, too. And, as for the "Doom Patrol", the name "Elastigirl," or rather "Elasti-Girl," as she's known there, was a founding member of the D.P. Need I say more?

The Fantastic Four suck. Mr Fantastic has the same powers as Plastic Man, Invisible Girl is just the Invisible Man with forcefields, the Thing only has super strength just like Superman and many others have, and Thing's monsterish appearance isn't too different from anything you'd find in a typical 50s monster comic. The biggest offender though is the Human Torch, his name, super powers and "powered up" appearance are directly ripped from the 1940s Timely Comics character.

Post by **Esrever** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:42 pm

OK, first of all, Mr. Fantastic predates Plastic Man by YEARS. Secondly, the Human Torch is not a "rip off" of the old human torch... he is the same character! Marvel owned the rights to the old human torch... they just reworked him to include him in the FF, just as MANY classic superheroes were reworked for the "Silver Age." It's not like they stole him.

When it is actually helmed by someone who knows how to work with the characters, the Fantastic Four rocks. The dynamic is very different from other team books... they are a family, not an organization, and they are really more explorers than they are superheroes. Their personalities are interesting and well developed, and even if the book isn't too deep, it's still a lot of fun to watch them go off and discover a secret civilization or alternate dimension of cheese or whatever. Plus, Dr. Doom is the biggest badass in the history of Marvel.

The problem is most of the writers who have helmed the book for the last couple of decades do not understand any of that. They try to turn it into another superhero book and it just doesn't work at all. But ever since Mark Waid picked up the series it has been GOLD. The man has single-handidly rekindled my love for a comic that I had given up on a long, long time ago. It is just so much FUN, durn it.

Trog13 · Post by **Trog13** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 11:18 pm

"Brad Bird: Yeah, I was actually trying to touch upon family archetypes. Fathers are always encouraged to be strong, so we made him really strong; mothers are pulled in a million different directions, so we made her elastic; teenagers in general, and teenage girls in particular, are very self-conscious and defensive, so we made her invisible; and ten-year-old boys are hyperactive energy balls, so we made Dash have super speed."

Some interview with Brad Bird they had at gamespy. So he was just matching powers with the characters personalites, not just copying off of the fantastic four.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 6:33 am

Esrever wrote:OK, first of all, Mr. Fantastic predates Plastic Man by YEARS. Secondly, the Human Torch is not a "rip off" of the old human torch... he is the same character! Marvel owned the rights to the old human torch... they just reworked him to include him in the FF, just as MANY classic superheroes were reworked for the "Silver Age." It's not like they stole him.

When it is actually helmed by someone who knows how to work with the characters, the Fantastic Four rocks. The dynamic is very different from other team books... they are a family, not an organization, and they are really more explorers than they are superheroes. Their personalities are interesting and well developed, and even if the book isn't too deep, it's still a lot of fun to watch them go off and discover a secret civilization or alternate dimension of cheese or whatever. Plus, Dr. Doom is the biggest badass in the history of Marvel.

The problem is most of the writers who have helmed the book for the last couple of decades do not understand any of that. They try to turn it into another superhero book and it just doesn't work at all. But ever since Mark Waid picked up the series it has been GOLD. The man has single-handidly rekindled my love for a comic that I had given up on a long, long time ago. It is just so much FUN, durn it.

I think your irony detector is broken.

And Plastic Man first appeared in Police Comics #1 (1941).

Post by **Esrever** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:12 am

I think your understanding of what the word "irony" means is broken.

Geeze, I had no idea that Plastic Man was so OLD, though! My bad. When, I wonder, did Elongated Man arrive?

Post by **G.Silver** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:05 pm

I'm dissapointed that no one's ever done something really great with sound manipulation.

I don't know if it would do it for you, but Barman Beyond had a sound guy named Shriek who used a number of those powers, and a pretty cool suit too. :) His best scene I think had him fighting Batman in a clattering factory while absorbing all the sound, and as they progress through the factory they keep stumbling into dangerous machines and it actually managed to trick me in places, as the viewer, because seeing all these pistons and pounders I expect to hear some noise. They really managed to convey a sensation of sudden deafness.

Dark Dolphin · Post by **Dark Dolphin** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:30 pm

I saw that episode too. It was really good how sound was manipulated and cool like you said.

Neo Yi · Post by **Neo Yi** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 2:06 pm

One of the things I liked about The Incredibles was how realistic the characters can be, however cartoony they look. I mean, it's nice to see characters stutter or stammer when they talk, something you don't see many animators do. That was one of the little touches I enjoyed. The movie was so good I saw it twice (and I don't ever do that).

I don't know if it would do it for you, but Barman Beyond had a sound guy named Shriek who used a number of those powers, and a pretty cool suit too. :) His best scene I think had him fighting Batman in a clattering factory while absorbing all the sound, and as they progress through the factory they keep stumbling into dangerous machines and it actually managed to trick me in places, as the viewer, because seeing all these pistons and pounders I expect to hear some noise. They really managed to convey a sensation of sudden deafness.

I loved that. I think I was kinda creeped out when all I heard was the sound of footsteps. Funky.
~Neo

Trog13 · Post by **Trog13** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 2:36 pm

Have they started or made plans to release Batman Beyond in season box sets? I know they have those single dvd's out, but I don't really want to buy a ton of separate dvds.

SuperKnux · Post by **SuperKnux** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 2:57 pm

Protodude wrote:Well shit, I complety forgot about Mask of the Phantasm. God, it's been so long since I've seen that film. Have they shown previews for Batman: Begins? I didn't even know it had a name yet, I had only heard of it a few weeks ago on a cover of Entertainment Weekly.

You can check out the Batman Begins teaser trailer over at: http://batmanbegins.warnerbros.com/

Rumor has it the real trailer is going to air in the previews for the movie, Ocean's 12. Hope they're true.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:22 pm

Trog13 wrote:Have they started or made plans to release Batman Beyond in season box sets? I know they have those single dvd's out, but I don't really want to buy a ton of separate dvds.

I would count on it. The B:TAS DVD sets are selling well, so I would expect Batman Beyond to come out in the near future.

Neo Yi · Post by **Neo Yi** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:03 pm

I would count on it. The B:TAS DVD sets are selling well, so I would expect Batman Beyond to come out in the near future.

This is what I'm hoping for.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:16 pm

Elongated Man first appeared in The Flash #112 (1960).

I never actually got to see any of the New Batman Adventures stuff, sans Mystery of the Batwoman. Judging by the current boxset release schedule it'll be a while until those come along.

Post by **Esrever** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 6:30 pm

Yeah, me neither... no WB up here. I really wanted to see the adaptation of Mad Love, too...

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 6:39 pm

I never actually got to see any of the New Batman Adventures stuff, sans Mystery of the Batwoman. Judging by the current boxset release schedule it'll be a while until those come along.

Aside from "Mad Love", an episode where Batgirl "dies", and the Creeper episode, the New Batman Adventures was pretty awful. The character designs were goofy, and unrealistic. And the plots and character depictions leaned towards Adam West's interpitation of Batman - campy, over the top idiocy.

I'm especially reminded of the episode "Critters" which was without a doubt the worst episode of Batman produced since the really old Superfriends cartoons.

It featured Batman, Batgirl, and Robin fighting giant livestock - chickens, bulls, and pigs. All led by an evil farmer and his Daisy Duke-ish daughter who had superstrength.

It sucked loads.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 8:21 pm

What about Legends of the Dark Knight? I thought that was supposed to be really good.

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 8:39 pm

It had it's moments. The adorably flaming 11-year old that was supposed to be Joel Schumacher was hilarious.

But the "Dark Knight Returns" segment stretched out a little too long. It was really just a gruesome fight scene that wasn't very interesting to watch.

The '50's Batman sequence was pretty funny.

The resolution was fairly weak, because Firefly is not one of the better Batman villains. And running around setting things on fire to collect the insurance isn't really a grand scheme.

Taken together, it was pretty good, but not without it's weak spots.

The Scarlet Scorpion · Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:02 am

Okay, I conceed, I'll stop griping about "The Incredibles". Heck, maybe I'll even see it (in the theaters, no less).

It's nice, though (on a divergent note), to see that I'm not the only one who was nonplussed by "Batman: Gotham Knights", though I did like a few more of the episodes than that ("No Fear", for instance -- but then, if memory serves, I think that was a story they originally intended for the original "Batman: The Animated Series"/"The Adventures of Batman and Robin", but was scrapped because of the Fox network censors). And while some designs, like the new versions of The Scarecrow and The Penguin (which was actually a re-worked version of the original pre-"Batman Returns" design from five years earlier), but a lot of the designs I really dislike.

I personally despised the "G.K." version of Clayface -- he just looked like a inarticulate blob of clay. I guess that was the point, but the "Dark Deco" version was just so much more monstrous, what with its disproportionate body parts, yellow eyes, and flesh-like color. Also, I didn't like how they stopped modulating Ron Perlman's voice for the character... what can I say, I like my monsters to be monstrous.

Zeta wrote:I'm especially reminded of the episode "Critters" which was without a doubt the worst episode of Batman produced since the really old Superfriends cartoons.

It featured Batman, Batgirl, and Robin fighting giant livestock - chickens, bulls, and pigs. All led by an evil farmer and his Daisy Duke-ish daughter who had superstrength.

Blame it on Steve Gurber, the co-writer (or somesuch) for that story. He started off as a cool and clever writer at Marvel Comics in the '70s, but then he fried his brains on copious amounts of drugs and started having a shotgun-wielding elf appearing in non-sequitous scenes in "The Defenders", and even his brainchild, "Howard the Duck", lost its coolness (but it wasn't as bad as the movie).

Zeta wrote:It sucked loads.

Yes, it did, didn't it?

And actually, I didn't like "Beware the Creeper"...

Various comments about sonic powers.

Yeah, I liked how in "Batman Beyond", Shriek could do all sorts of sonic villainy, too.

And yes, the animated "Batman" films ownzorred the collective arse of all the live action Batflicks from over the years.

Y'know, I'm surprised no one mentioned the 1940s "Batman" movie serials. Actually, no I'm not, considering how rarely they're aired (and if one knows anything about them, one would know why)...

I want to see the "Captain Marvel" serial, though. Wow.

EDIT #1: Spelling and BBCode errors. Darn...

EDIT #2: One hundred seventy-fith post. Wootcha!

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:29 am

172nd, actually.
Please try again!

daytonafathead · Post by **daytonafathead** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:19 pm

The Scarlet Scorpion wrote: (Quoted a bunch of shit from Delphine, Amazing Grant, Zeta, and Nova and said a bunch of stuff)paraphrazed

Well, you've said everything you'll ever need to say in your ENTIRE LIFE! So, now you will be FORCED to become a monk and take a vow of silence. I mean it.