Superior Intellect: Dr Octopus appreciation thread.

[marhawkman]

yeah, Batman comics are dumb nowadays. :/

But it's that thing where there are aspects of the fictional setting that don't change even though it makes sense for them to change.

[Frontier]

It's one thing to put a target on your chest when you're jumping into a room full of thugs aiming to shoot you. That was Miller's way of retro-explaining the silly, if much-loved, yellow oval.

But it really is dumb to have Batman still meeting Gordon on the rooftop. If Batman doesn't care who might think to take shots at him, he should certainly care that Gordon is always right next to him in the line of fire, not to mention any partners he might be with at the time. It's not brave or smart to willingly put other people in danger.

Meeting Gordon on the rooftop next to the Bat-signal is an aspect of the Bat-mythos that hearkens from an earlier, more innocent time. Nothing wrong with it back in the day but SSM pointed out the obvious flaws it presents in a modern, more vicious and dangerous world very succinctly and did it years ago.

To have it be used as a serious plot point in a modern Batman comic seems dopey to me but typical of modern DC. They want to keep the hokey trappings of days gone by but yet also try to over layer them with gritty "realism" and it just comes off as silly. If the world these characters occupy is so dangerous, they wouldn't have to wait until someone takes a shot at someone standing on an open rooftop to figure out - "hey, this is actually strategically stupid to be standing out here night after night. We're just begging someone to take a headshot."

They would have seen this coming and moved their conversations inside long before now. Or, in a modern age, Gordon would just be texting Batman.

But hey, this is a SpOck page, not a Batman page. But as soon as I saw that page in Batman #55, I immediately thought of that SSM scene and chuckled.

Now now, if Marvel were against hokey Silver Age ideas getting played for seriousness, we would probably never have gotten the mind-swap .

But I don't think it's surprising that the iconic visual of a Bat-Signal in the sky hasn't been replaced with texting or a Batwave (for anyone who gets that reference). Franchise staples are generally timeless even if they don't always make sense in the real world. Why not just do away with all the crazy and silly Bat-iconography while you're at it ?

(Though I personally don't see Batman landing on a roof that he's not fully prepared for every possible threat that would reach him there, and it would take a very particularly dangerous or stupid criminal to actually go towards where Batman would be...at police headquarters. And the reason he would even be called to the Signal is usually active away from it).

[Michael Watkins]

even if they aren't an item, I hope that Anna sticks around. she's been one of the more interesting supporting characters, imo. btw, are Stunner and that Lady Octopus still alive?

[Prof. Warren]

Now now, if Marvel were against hokey Silver Age ideas getting played for seriousness, we would probably never have gotten the mind-swap .

This is still comic books, not realistic drama. You can lend fantastical ideas the weight that they deserve and play them straight within the comic.

The problem is injecting grittiness into an inherently silly situation. Either you say this is a universe realistic enough where criminals have the brains to take out an obvious target and just dispense of all the more innocent trappings of that universe or you say that this is a fantasy world where certain lines are never crossed because there's a level of naivete that this world needs in order to function and just embrace that as part of your identity.

But I don't think it's surprising that the iconic visual of a Bat-Signal in the sky hasn't been replaced with texting or a Batwave (for anyone who gets that reference). Franchise staples are generally timeless even if they don't always make sense in the real world. Why not just do away with all the crazy and silly Bat-iconography while you're at it ?

You can keep it all. I think those iconic aspects are endearing.

Just don't try and apply too much realism to them. The more "real" you try and make the DC universe, the more you undercut it.

(Though I personally don't see Batman landing on a roof that he's not fully prepared for every possible threat that would reach him there, and it would take a very particularly dangerous or stupid criminal to actually go towards where Batman would be...at police headquarters. And the reason he would even be called to the Signal is usually active away from it).

Yes, but if the signal is lit, everyone knows where he's going to eventually show up. And it seems like most of the criminals Batman faces are dangerous.

Arkham Asylum isn't a kid's daycare facility, you know.

[Alan2099]

Back in early 80s, Ock had made lots of guest appearence as a villain.

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/profi...pider-m/78539/

I really don't like that article. The author seems unnecessarily to various heroes he talks about and Dr. Octopus in particular.

I also had to reread this sentence several times to try to figure out what he was saying.

Kinda had any stereotype 90's villain baffled on who wouldn’t wanna join a guy that could easily take down the Hulk?

[Master Planner]

I really don't like that article. The author seems unnecessarily to various heroes he talks about and Dr. Octopus in particular.

I also had to reread this sentence several times to try to figure out what he was saying.

The article is bad,but it was an easy way to show how Ock was a significant villain back in 80s.He even had an arc with his pursuit of upgrading his tentacles(with adamantium or from the materials of Cap's shield).