Well over a decade ago, someone in a comments thread — I think it was in Peter David’s blog, discussing his writing on She-Hulk — said their gold standard for superheroes was “If they said to me ‘Run straight into that wall! Don’t hesitate, don’t flinch, run into it now!’ would I do it without asking questions?”
That got me thinking, who are the superheroes who could get me to do that?
Superman, of course. If he says it, it needs to be done. And I can be confident that against all odds, I’m not going to run into that wall and end up requiring massive facial surgery or the like.
Captain America. Everyone in comics talks about how inspiring he is. If he says it, I think I’d be confident I should do it.
Wonder Woman because she’s Wonder Woman.
Adam Strange. Okay, I’d trust most of Julius Schwartz’s Silver Age crew but Adam Strange is the one known for his “quick wits” — it would be completely in character for him to bark out what sounds like a crazy idea because it’s the one way to defeat the alien invader.
Stephen Strange and the Phantom Stranger, because they know things nobody else does. If one of them tells me “Fraser Sherman, hurl yourself against that wall or witness the deaths of worlds yet unborn!” they’re probably not being metaphorical.
Those are my picks (obviously biased by being more a DC guy). Anyone got a nominee?
Art top to bottom by Gene Colan, HG Peters, Frank Brunner and Neal Adams.
