h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Superheroes - Update - A3937665
Author: An Inconsequential Hoopy Frood - U168592

An much needed update of the Edited Guide Entry on Superheroes A276888
HF

Was any of the material in the conversation threads hanging off the bottom worth incorporating?

Some of it, which I have

Adding some more stuff now actually (and various other links).

HF

Right, have finished ading the other bits now. See what you reckon.
HF

A few comments etc. on what is a good update overall:

Martian ManHunter - no capital H (should be Manhunter). How picky is that! [nice to see him mentioned, though, as he is one of my favourite characters]

In the love and relationships section:

Batman and Wonderwoman have always had a bit of a 'thing' - should be 'Wonder Woman' (two words)

Perhaps the worse off is Spawn. - the worst off, surely?

In the Sidekick section:

this is usually takes the shape of a sidekick - there's an 'is' there which isn't needed

This next one is a query, regarding the 'Superheroes of the World Unite' bit:

should Der Fleidermouse actually be Die Fledermaus (German for 'the bat'), or is the interesting spelling delberate? (I've never seen The Tick)


I'd also argue that there is a fourth major category of heroes, which is those who are 'chosen' in some way. e.g. Captain Marvel is Billy Batson, a young boy chosen by the wizard Shazam to be his champion and blessed with the powers of various deities; the various Green Lanterns were chosen by the Guardians of the Universe to uphold justice throughout the galaxy and given ludicrously powerful rings to do so; Wonder Woman arguably fits this category. I'm sure there must be others from Marvel etc. as well. People who were chosen by gods, aliens or whatever, and given great powers.

David

David,
Thanks for that. The spelling of Der Fleidermouse is correct, it enhances the stupidity of the character...

As for the 'chosen' ones, the Green Lanterns, Silver Surfer, Captain Marvel on the DC side but I can also think of Captain America, the Mighty Thor and Spawn even. See if I can work that in in some way.

Have fixed up the things you mentioned though.
HF

This sentence here has some grammar issues -- it's not that it's a run-on sentence, there are just two different phrases connected differently to the predicate, and not in a happy way.

"The next type of superhero, the type who plays with nature are normal human beings who, having tampered with their DNA, have to live with a curse of super abilities which they often have trouble controlling. "

Splitting it into two sentences might help. Plus, it inaccurately says that all those in this category gained their abilities by DNA tampering, which isn't the case -- Inspector Gadget being a good case in point here.

I've always thought of another category of superheroes as being those who *thought* they were superheroes, but were really just bumbling fools. Inspector Gadget, the Tick, the later incarnations of Space Ghost, maybe even Underdog, etc.


Mikey

Mikey,
I knew there were other reasons I wanted to Update the original Entry. Think it reads better now.

Trying to think of an easy way to incorporate the other types of heroes, just the simplicity of having the three main categories from the original entry meant I didn't have to work TOO hard (something which MUST be a good thing).

HF

Thinking about it, I probably wouldn't put the 'bumbling fools of superheroes' in the same categorization scheme as the three -- after all, we see this archetype in every one of those three categories. Rather, I would probably put it directly after the categorization. Does that make sense?

Does that make sense? From anybody else, no. From you, perfectly clear
HF

Rightio, I've added everything I can think of, the only thing I'm unsure of is the end of the Entry concerning The Tick. Not sure it fits in with the overall general 'feel'? Any ideas?
HF

Some typos and grammaticals:

"They fly, crawl, spin at incredible speeds, live in major urban centres, holes in the ground or occasionally post boxes"
'They fly, crawl, and spin at incredible speeds. They live in major urban centres, holes in the ground or occasionally post boxes'

"but they all fight the good cause"
I've never heard it put like that - it's usually 'fight the fight'.

"are an integral part of childhood"
'are for some of us an integral part'

"The next type of superhero is the one that had their physical makeup tampered with"
'The next category of superheroes comprises those who have had their physical makeup tampered with'

"The Flash caught in a freak lab explosion"
'The Flash - caught in a freak lab explosion'

"He is fitted out with every electronic gadget to help him catch his criminal - these included"
'He is fitted out with every electronic gadget to help him catch his criminal - these include' - let's keep our tenses consistent here shall we?

"his own amazing metal robot suit so he could find live"
I'm not sure what 'find live' is meant to be.

"Superman can’t cope with Kryptonite"
I wouldn't call that a dark side - it's not a personality trait.

"take the form of a super-weakness, some of these include:"
Either 'some of which are' or 'including'.

"In this case, we must grant Superman some slack - it can't be easy to dress in less than a second and expect to get your underpants on the inside"
It's a good joke but it's already been made once in the entry - no need for it to be told again.

Begin a new paragraph at "The other type of clothing, endemic to the early 1980s"

"after near destroying cities"
'nearly'

food stuffs - foodstuffs

"a regular pillar of strength and all that is needed to give Scooby"
Needs a comma after 'strength'

"and has to eat copious amounts of burgers, fries and power-shakes without any affect on his fabulous skin to re-energise"
'and in order to re-energise has to eat copious amounts of burgers, fries and power-shakes, with no apparent effect on his fabulous skin'

"Super heroes who need food for energy all suffer from the same malaise - their powers can wear out after a short time if their energy levels aren't replenished"
'Super Heroes who get their powers this way all suffer from the same problem - those powers wear off without a constant supply of their magic food'

"from fighting crime and nagging wives"
Superman never had a nagging wife did he?

"and spartan style of abode, like Batman's cave"
The cave itself wasn't Batman's abode really - Bruce Wayne lived in a far from spartan mansion. The Batcave was simply Batman's place of work.

"share their family home together"
'share their family home'

Super heroes or superheroes? Let's choose one and stick with it.

solice - solace

There are nine instances of 'usually' in the Sidekicks section. I think that's too many. Gratuitous use of any word is repetetive and is in need of some variation.

"The Villain of the Piece"
Is that an intentional - mis-spelling? I rather like it if it is

"a 'James Bond' like baddy"
Does that mean 'a baddy like James Bond' or 'a baddy like those in the James Bond films'? It's not clear from the entry.

"a tyrant with eyes on ruling the United States"
'a tyrant with an eye on ruling the United States'

"The Silver Surfer battles against his boss Galactus needing to eat worlds"
'who eats worlds'

"does battle his own family"
'does battle with his own family'

"and family units like the Incredibles, the ever growing list"
'and family units like the Incredibles. The ever growing list'

anymore - any more

You can't end one paragraph 'maybe not' and then begin the next 'A case in point is The Tick' - it's a contradiction, especially as the entry goes on to explain that Arthur has a sidekick and a bunch of other superheroes who help him out.

One superhero who I wish could have been included - Powdered Toast Man

I think it's usually spelt 'baddie' rather than 'baddy' isn't it?

I think. Fixed what I could but will leave the nagging wife and spartan Batcave bits. Superman married Lois Lane...nuff said. And Bruce Wayne lives in a mansion, yes. NOT Batman
Will add Powdered Toast Man and Too Much Coffee Man if I can
HF

okay, a little more editing, think it reads alright and I've added a little section at the end involving some newcomers
HF

Looking great - any final comments?

Just this sentence, which is not entirely true:

"the Flash wasn’t overly blessed with smarts so tended to make more than a few guffs when saving the day."

The first two Flashes (from 1940-1986, though the first one is still around) were scientists, and very smart ones at that. The current one, yes, probably. He did make a huge number of mistakes in the romance department. Oh, and he doesn't actually need to eat zillions of burgers any more, but that was a fun concept and worth keeping in the entry.

Jiggled the Flash bit around so it reads better now I think - hope this is well on the way, although note to Jimster - "Batman - Comic Book Hero" A2912988 is in PR F48874?thread=620390 and would dearly love to be able to link this Entry...
HF

Should 'guffs' be 'gaffes'. Where I come from 'guff' normally means 'fart' or 'rubbish' (as in talking rubbish), whereas 'gaffe' means 'stupid mistake'. It could be a geographical thing, though.

David