Poll of the Day > Superman could really happen. Batman could not.

(+) Yeah! (+)

We don't know anything about possible aliens and what powers they would have.

We do know that no human being, no matter how athletic and well-supplied, could recover so well from so many injuries. With all the punishment it's taken, Batman's body would be unable to endure the strain he puts on it during his adventures.
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What about future human beings?
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He's rich though
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That's funny because I'm Batman.
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Screw the rules! I have money!
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SunWuKung420 posted...

That's funny because I'm Batman.

Screencapped, archived and sent to the press. I can't believe you'd fall into this simple a trap! *muahahaha*
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I'm pretty sure that Batman has been exposed to the Lazarus Pit a few times to heal his injuries, not to mention he was put into some sort of pit owned the Ra's Al Ghul's father that healed and slightly deaged his entire body.
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Mead posted...

He's rich though

Yes, very rich. He can afford much better health care then current systems provide.

KroganCharr posted...

We don't know anything about possible aliens and what powers they would have.

We can assume they'd at least have to follow the laws of physics as well know them, though, and Superman violates about a dozen of them.

While it's POSSIBLE we could theoretically encounter aliens who break every single rule we think we know and force us to completely reevaluate our understanding of physics, it's probably much less likely than a rich dude being able to hone himself to peak physical condition via exercise and training who then goes out to kick the shit out of criminals using incredibly expensive gadgets and custom body armor.

The number of injuries Batman has sustained and recovered from is the only real problem, but considering nearly every other hero (and quite a few normal citizens) in comic book universes can say the exact same thing (even without the benefits of healing powers), it's kind of obvious that either human beings in those universes have an unnaturally disproportionate rate of healing compared to the real world, or we kind of have to dismiss the number/severity of injuries received over time as being unlikely.

Though as other people have mentioned, Batman's been magically healed multiple times in his career anyway, so it's not as if all of those injuries are adding up regardless. Doubly so when you take multiple parallel timelines into account, which means the current Batman has only been Batman since around 2011 or so anyway (so any injuries he suffered before then happened to "someone else").

And since time flows differently in comics, he's probably only been Batman for a total of about 7 years or so, max. And hasn't really been all that badly injured in that time period.



Playsaver posted...

Mead posted...

He's rich though

Yes, very rich. He can afford much better health care then current systems provide.

More importantly, he's rich in a universe where both magic and super-science exist.

It's been mentioned in the past that he offered to pay to have Barbara Gordon's severed spine surgically repaired (which would have been more or less impossible at the time in terms of real world medicine), and he had his own back magically healed after Bane broke it. Meanwhile, he's been on the Justice League with one of the most powerful sorceresses in the entire universe, and with a guy whose body is about 70% nanotech. One of his dead sidekicks is currently running around after taking a dip into a magical healing pool, and one of his main enemies just finished regrowing his face after slicing the entire thing off for no good reason.

Rapid and unnaturally effective healing is pretty much the base power that every human being has in every comic book universe. Even Aunt May has survived and recovered from shit that would kill most of the people on this board (including death, multiple times).


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thedeerzord posted...

I'm pretty sure that Batman has been exposed to the Lazarus Pit a few times to heal his injuries, not to mention he was put into some sort of pit owned the Ra's Al Ghul's father that healed and slightly deaged his entire body.

I'm glad someone brought up the Lazarus pit early on.

while we're on Superman though, i can accept that Kryptonians are nearly invincible under the right conditions, but i've never been able to accept how their clothing is too. i can allow for taking nuclear blasts at point blank range or flying into the hear of a star and out the other side, but you would be naked afterwards or else literally every other hero in the JL would be asking Supes to make their costumes.
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WhiskeyDisk posted...

while we're on Superman though, i can accept that Kryptonians are nearly invincible under the right conditions, but i've never been able to accept how their clothing is too. i can allow for taking nuclear blasts at point blank range or flying into the hear of a star and out the other side, but you would be naked afterwards or else literally every other hero in the JL would be asking Supes to make their costumes.

The better question to ask is, if the material is so indestructable, how did Martha Kent manage to make him a costume out of the stuff in the first place, out of the baby blankets that came in his crashed spaceship (and yes, that was the origin of his costume for decades)?

The standard modern explanation is that Superman possesses "tactile telekinesis", which is basically a euphemism for "something we invented to retcon away all of the scientific impossibilities". Basically, he has an unconscious telekinetic aura around him at all times that more or less protects whatever he's wearing, but once he takes it off it's just ordinary clothing. He can also sort of "extend" the field outward from his hands instinctively, which explains how he can "catch" a plane in mid-air without punching straight through the metal at the point of impact or having the entire thing shear apart under the phenomenal stress (which is what would happen in the real world). His younger Superboy clone could actually use that aspect of his powers more actively, essentially making him somewhat less strong/tough, but letting him do tricks with telekinesis that normal adult Superman can't (though he later dropped that aspect of his power and basically just became "slightly younger, shittier Superman").

The standard old-time explanation was "Who gives a fuck? These are stories we're writing for children."

Thinking too hard about the science of comic books is a terrible idea, though. It's what gives us discussions about how Superman can never actually have sex with Lois without basically blowing her apart from the pressure of his sperm or crushing her pelvis. It's also why stupid writers trying to overcompensate eventually came up with the idea that Cyclops' eye-blasts are actually power being channeled from a parallel universe of pure concussive force, and that he's constantly creating little teleportation portals directly in front of his eyes through which that power pours (or, as the Internet eventually described it, "EYE PUNCHES FROM THE PUNCH DIMENSION!").

It's also why they had to invent an entire parallel universe of pure undifferentiated mass to explain how Ant-Man can shrink and grow with breaking the most basic laws of physics, and why Marvel Earth has an insanely complicated backstory involving constant alien intervention and genetic experimentation to explain why people in the Marvel universe get super-powers from radiation instead of terminal cancer.

Comic books are fantasy, not sci-fi. And fantasy works best when you don't think about the logic behind things, and just go with the flow. Just assume a wizard did it and move on.


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

The better question to ask is, if the material is so indestructable, how did Martha Kent manage to make him a costume out of the stuff in the first place, out of the baby blankets that came in his crashed spaceship (and yes, that was the origin of his costume for decades)?

The standard modern explanation is that Superman possesses "tactile telekinesis", which is basically a euphemism for "something we invented to retcon away all of the scientific impossibilities". Basically, he has an unconscious telekinetic aura around him at all times that more or less protects whatever he's wearing, but once he takes it off it's just ordinary clothing. He can also sort of "extend" the field outward from his hands instinctively, which explains how he can "catch" a plane in mid-air without punching straight through the metal at the point of impact or having the entire thing shear apart under the phenomenal stress (which is what would happen in the real world).

that's all good and fine for the clothing on his body, but if the cape doesn't get fried, we're looking at a much larger force field at work.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Comic books are fantasy, not sci-fi. And fantasy works best when you don't think about the logic behind things, and just go with the flow. Just assume a wizard did it and move on.

oh. well then.
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WhiskeyDisk posted...

that's all good and fine for the clothing on his body, but if the cape doesn't get fried, we're looking at a much larger force field at work.

Presumably his body aura connects to the cape at the shoulders and extends along its length. Which would potentially explain why, when his cape DOES get damaged (often), it usually starts tearing at the bottom ends (which would be the farthest away from the source of the aura).

The other implication is that this sort of power would be tied to his overall strength level, so when he's taxed or pushed to his limit, the aura weakens and his costume CAN be damaged - which is something that happens multiple times across multiple stories. Usually, when you see Superman with a tear across his chest or the like, you know shit has truly gotten real.

It honestly depends on the writer, though. Most just don't bother thinking about it.


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Batman is basically Squirrel Girl.

He actually has reality warping super powers that allow him to defeat anyone but he and everyone else is unaware of them.
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KroganCharr posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

That's funny because I'm Batman.

Screencapped, archived and sent to the press. I can't believe you'd fall into this simple a trap! *muahahaha*

You can't catch me penguin!

I have bat caves all over the country. You'll never find them!
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just because fat dracula can turn into a bat does not mean you are batman.
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