Thursday, October 02, 2014

Dealing With Exasperation Is Its Own Super-Power

Jennifer Walters - 'So he wants to shrink me and then have me poke around to find his friend. I'm fine to do it, but I just thought, you know, if there's anyone you talk to before you get all tiny, it has to be Hank Pym. I mean, you wrote the book on this stuff. So. . . Do you have any tips or - ?'

Hank Pym - 'Do not do any of the things you just said you were going to do.'

She-Hulk #7. I laughed at Pym's line. The just immediate interruption, and specifying she not do anything. You know Hank has had similar conversations a lot over the years.

Which made me wonder, which Marvel hero has uttered some version of that line the most over the years? For my money, it has to be Dr. Strange. After all, there are a lot of science-type heroes who can field the ill-advised experiment calls, but fewer magic types. And Strange is the go-to, unless the writer is trying specifically to not use Dr. Strange. Spider-Man alone must have called him at least a dozen times.

'Hey Doc, it's Spidey, I found this glowing doorway to a weird place where everything is upside-down, and I think a hoodlum ran in there. I see a guy with a big, flaming head, too.'

'That is Dormammu's Dark Dimension, an extremely perilous domain, wait for me -'

'Sorry, Doc, people in danger!'

'Do not just jump through the - ! Damn.'

Seriously, think of all the impetuous types Doc knows. Spider-Man, Namor, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Namor. Hmm, listed Namor twice without realizing. What the hell, let's go with it. Even Hellcat, though Patsy's more sensible about magic than most. So Doc's my pick, but you might feel Reed Richards or Tony Stark among the super-science sect, or perhaps the Black Widow  in the world of espionage. Maybe even Wolverine, just for the sheer number of people he seems to know who are always getting into trouble. Though Logan kind of has an unfair advantage being so much older than the others.

What's your pick?

2 comments:

SallyP said...

Heh. I'm not sure that I can improve upon your choice of Doctor Strange, because Marvel Heroes do tend to be punch first, ask later types, for the most part. Of course, so are DC Heroes. It seems to come with the territory.

But I imagine that Hank Pym may have actually acquired some wisdom through all of his travails. Heck, I would think that She-Hulk would be one of those who would argue against punching because as a lawyer, she is familiar with the consequences.

CalvinPitt said...

That's a good point about Jen. Certainly I would expect her to be more likely to suggest caution than Matt Murdock among the lawyer types.