A filthy bastard of a dictator has come to Metropolis for a peace conference, and poor Superman has to be his bodyguard.
Well, a couple of his oppressed citizens have come to kill him, and they're not about to give up just because a Kryptonian is blocking their way. They come up with a brilliant suicide assassination scheme:
One of them will make a suicide attempt, distracting Kal-El, while the other guns down Hassan.
Well, it sure looks like the plan worked...except Superman is, indeed, faster than a speeding bullet--a LOT faster!!
BAM!!!Your move, Flash.
Spacebooger is hypnotized by the wallpaper design in that hotel...
Joey Cavalieri, Stan Woch and Rick Magyar remember the speed portion of the Superman mantra in World's Finest #310 (1984)
Now you must go and vote for my fight. Why? Look, just because, OK?!?
Okay, so Superman moves at superspeed and flies, I'll buy that - he's from another planet.
ReplyDeleteBut that panel with the bullet splitting the barrel of the rifle it's just been fired from? No, sorry, not having that.
If the bullet's wide and strong enough to do that on the way back in, why didn't it do it on the way out?
I have an even pickier gripe. Superman hears the "crack" of the rifle. This is the sound of the primer detonating the powder charge in the casing. The bullet then leaves the barrel and the essentially simultaneous acceleration of the bullet to supersonic speed contributes to the "crack".
ReplyDeleteBy the time the sound of the "crack" has reached Superman's ears...the bullet -- supersonic -- will have perforated Hassan.
Please mail me my Annoying Fanboy Of The Week Prize at your earliest convenience.
Boy, you guys pick NOW to start questioning the physics of Superman?
ReplyDeleteGary--A) He threw it with MUCH more force & momentum than it had when fired B) The dude was just firing another round--the bullet re-entering the barrel block it and the force tore the barrel apart.
Stephen--you reckon without super-hearing! Kal-El heard the crack long before the sound reached his ear (hey, I didn't invent super-hearing, don't blame me). And Superman can fly faster than the speed of light...supersonic ain't no thang to him.
That art is really nice, especially the up-panel of the jumping jackass.
ReplyDeleteI got excited the minute I saw that wallpaper, it turned up all the time in Eighties books. I first spotted it in John Romita Jr/Bob Layton Iron Man, around the time Tony took to drink. There's probably a blog dedicated to it. I may start one.
I stand thoroughly rebuked. Obviously Super Hearing works faster than transmission of sound through air. I should have remembered that scene in Superman Returns when he was listening to the troubles of the Earth from orbit. And, of course, the previous post was from the evil mirror universe episode Stephen.
ReplyDeleteWhereas I stand by my original response.
ReplyDeleteA) More force? Maybe, but it was thrown with "pinpoint accuracy" which meant it went right down the barrel without touching the sides so why split the rifle?
B) While there's no evidence of another bullet being fired, even if there had been, the original would have either vapourised it due to the increased force or the two bullets would have fused together. As the bullet appears undamaged, neither has happened.
The panel clearly shows the original bullet halfway down the barrel meaning it split the barrel from the tip right the way back without damaging the original bullet at all. As the original is still the same diameter as the barrel it was fired from, this simply couldn't have happened.
Y'know.... in the real world.