I admit it, I admit it...I wander throught the Wikipedia when bored. The Mr. Fantastic article had a bit that mildly surprised me this evening:
Quote:
Reed Richards’ powers are those of elasticity itself. He has complete mental control of seemingly every molecule in his body. He has been observed as being able to utilize his stretching form in a variety of offensive and defensive manners. He can twist or reshape his body or stretch roughly three miles, and as thin as a single molecule. Because of his elastic nature, Mr. Fantastic cannot be harmed by bullets or other projectile weapons eg. knives, missiles, darts, etc, and all projectiles rebound to the attacker, Reed cannot be physically hit/cut, his skin simply reforms and “rolls with the punch”. Since obtaining his powers, Reed has never drawn blood. Not even Wolverine’s adamantium claws, nor Terrax’s Cosmic Powered Protonic Axe are able to pierce/wound Mr. Fantastic’s malleable body.
Reed can neither be grasped nor held, his body can become slippery as an eel. However Reed is vulnerable to types of energy weapons. Reed can alter his physical makeup. He can, for instance, extend spikes from his body or make a giant fist, all of these feats can be performed within milliseconds. Another ability Reed has is that he can increase his size and mass density, which in turn increases his strength, in effect bulking his malleable body to “Thing” - like proportions, being almost as strong. Mr. Fantastic also has a degree of immunity to psychic attacks, his mind is as pliable and resilient as his body. Mind control is rarely effective on him. When it does work, it wears off sooner than it would a normal person.
Three miles long? As thin as a single molecule? Strong as the Thing? Is all this accurate?
__________________ "Yes, Arthur, it is I. I am happy to see you all grown up into a profoundly odd adult. And what a fine bird Number Seventy-three has become! She is one of my finest superchickens, and I am proud of her."
-- Daniel Pinkwater, Looking for Bobowicz
The other side of "show, don't tell" is "watch, don't read". What characters and gadgets can do is amply illustrated, and descriptive infodump text is wrong as often as not.
I'm sure those more extreme examples are taken from stuff demostrated in the comics. However I'm betting these were types of things that happened once or twice during the entire history of the series. Quite possibly not even in their own book.
Accurate in the sense that, at one time or another, in one issue or another, he has done the things described at least once. With the really amazing feats, you may assume that it was also done with a fair amount of sweat and "I...can't do this!....but...I....MUST!" determination.
But given that authors change periodically and that there is no master continuity for anything in any comic book, probably that's not the best kind of accurate we could be talking about.
That said, Reed's power is pretty goddamn fantastic, and he uses it very well. Plus, there's the whole smartest-person-in-the-Marvel-Universe thing on his side.
But really, no one on the FF got shafted in the power department; individually, there aren't many other people who are even remotely in their league. As a team, they're so much better than just about everyone else that it's very understandable that they can keep facing Galactus down over and over again.
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sue in particular, has consistently had her power raised as the years go by
ryan
Since obtaining his powers, Reed has never drawn blood. Not even Wolverine’s adamantium claws, nor Terrax’s Cosmic Powered Protonic Axe are able to pierce/wound Mr. Fantastic’s malleable body.
I think that first sentence doesn't mean what the writer thought it did. Ya-know-what-I-mean?
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If love remains / Though everything is lost / We will pay the price, but we will not count the cost. Bravado by Rush from Roll The Bones, written by Neil Peart.
Like any superhero, Reed's powers are as potent as the writer needs them to be in a given situation.
Need Reed to lose to, say, Spider-man? Sure, it could happen if the story would be more interesting. Need him to go toe to toe with the Hulk? Sure, if he needs to.
Powers are dangling plot devices, among other things.
__________________
Welcome to the culture of cynicism, where doubt is better than knowledge, sarcasm outweighs reason, and the only real sin is faith in anything.
Three miles long? As thin as a single molecule? Strong as the Thing? Is all this accurate?
Well, he has done this to stretch his head down several blocks. So, he's down incredible stuff when not pressed. And when only pissed off, but not in a "World at stake" situation, he gave Namor a bloody nose with one or two punches. So, I wouldn't say it's that exaggerated. Honestly, the small spaces thing seems trying, but the long stretching MUCH less in the comics.
They're off across the board on this one, but only by a bit.
For example, he can stretch 1500 feet, not three miles, but he can lace things together to go longer (IE, upper arm, forearm, hand, then fingers, getting about a mile of reach out of it, tho he'll be weak with that limb.)
He *can* be cut, but it ain't easy. An energy scalpal, for example, does it easily, and he can will his powers off if he wanted to, for example, inject himself with a needle.
There's no evidence of him ever altering his mass or density, nor of gaining superhuman strength. He can't "Get muscley" and arm-wrestle the Thing, for example, but he *can* apply his own strenth and ability, plus his intellect, to use simple leverage to move surprisingly large weights. Pulley systems, inflation of body parts, etc. He otherwise has normal human strength for his size.
-- Wak
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Wakshaani is ten feet tall and has thighs the width of pine trees. He has no nipples. He breathes toxic green fire and slams men through tables with a single hand. He subsists on a diet of chili dogs and fried chicken, which is fine because he cannot boil water without burning it. Wakshaani can bench press a family of deer. He is our last, best hope against world terrorism.
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