There’s more than one way to become a super hero.

Personally, I’m a fan of the technological approach (see part 1 and part 2 of the battle armor series). But not everyone wants to build a high-tech laboratory and invent crime fighting super gadgets. (I find it hard to believe that there are people who don’t want to invent crime fighting super gadgets, but I guess it is true.) Some people want to achieve superhood through a more natural, organic, and possibly spiritual process.

I’ve read a lot of comic books, so I feel eminently qualified to distill out the essential formula. The first thing you need to do is go somewhere strange, mystical and exotic. I should point out that my view of “strange, mystical and exotic” is from an American perspective, so if my idea of “strange, mystical and exotic” is actually your hometown then you’ll need to figure out a different “strange, mystical and exotic” locale. I recommend International Drive in Orlando, Florida. (It’s a little light in “mystical” and “exotic”, but it has plenty of “strange”.) Some of the options are places like Stonehenge, an African jungle (preferably one with a lost city of some sort), and Milwaukee. But if you are serious then you need to go straight to the top. I’m talking about the Himalayas.

Once in the Himalayas the first thing you need to do is find yourself a wise teacher. Even though I have never actually been there, I’ve read enough comics to feel confident that wise teachers are coming out of the woodwork in the Himalayas. You’re probably fine teaming up with the first one you run across.

The casual comic reader would think that you have to spend at least 10 years in the mountains studying. You know, reading ancient texts, practicing kung fu in the snow, getting hit with sticks. The usual. However, this being the 21st century and the age of instant gratification, I’m going to pass along to you, dear reader, a short cut.

Amazing Spider-Man 252

Goji berries. That’s right, Himalayan goji berries. You see, comic books also teach us that a rare and exotic food, preferrably a fruit from the Himalayas, can accelerate the superification process. Goji berries are supposed to be chock full of nutrients and whatnot and good for what ails you. (And by the way, this site tells the story of a man named Li Qing Yuen who dined regularly on goji berries and lived to the ripe old age of 252, which also happens to be the issue number of the Amazing Spider-Man that debuted the black symbiote costume. Coincidence?) Clearly, wild goji berries, plucked fresh from the vine will make you extra special super.

So for those of you who don’t want to build your own technology, I recommend that you travel to the Himalayas, find yourself a wise teacher, get hit with some sticks, and nosh on goji berries. And in some amount of time (less than 10 years with the berries), you ought to be ready for a rewarding career in costumed crime fighting.

Let me know how it works out for you.

Grizzly Man
Helmet

I received a lot of positive feedback for my previous post on building your own Iron Man inspired armor. However, several people felt like I needed to have something more sturdy than just the liquid body armor. Since I am all about meeting the needs of the people, I’m adding an additional armor option.

Grizzly Man
Suit

Inventor Troy Hurtubise has updated his personal armor. His 20 year “Project Grizzly” effort to build a personal protection suit that would protect its wearer from an ursine attacker has produced the latest iteration. This one, however, seems to be aimed at military use. He claims that the suit is bullet proof, weighs only 18 kg, and could be mass produced for only $2,000. You can read all about it here.

As a bonus, here is a video from YouTube showing some tests of his earlier suits. This man clearly believes in his armor. Warning: Don’t watch this while drinking.

How would you like your own suit of Iron Man inspired battle armor?

Iron Man

 

 
So here we are well into the 21st century. Technology has been moving along at a fantastic pace. This all leads me to one question: how far off are we from being able to actually build some form of Iron Man like armor?

This may come as a shock to many of you, but you see, I am not a professional writer. I am, in fact, an engineer. Due to my technocentric leanings, I’ve always been attracted to the speculative technology in comic books, with my favorite being Iron Man’s armor. So I decided to do a little research into possible technology for use in building some super-powered battle armor.

 

 
These are the basic requirements as I see them:

• Super Strength
• Armor
• Flight
• Man-Machine Interface
• Computing and Communications
• Power
• Repulsor Beams

Here are some interesting technologies that could give us a start.

I’m going to go out on a limb (pun intended)
and say that the part of the system labeled
“buttery pack” should in fact be labeled
“battery pack”, but I’ve been wrong before.

There are several research groups currently investigating powered exoskeletons. One that looks very promising is the HAL-5 Exoskeleton from Cyberdyne Systems. HAL stands for Hybrid Assisted Limb. The HAL-5 Exoskeleton employs several electromyogram sensors that detect the neural signals sent from the brain to the muscles. The HAL system decodes these signals and determines which muscles are intended to move and how much. It then augments the user’s desired motions using the system’s built in actuators. The more noble intended use of this technology is to help the elderly and physically disabled move around and lift heavy objects. But soup it up and there’s your super strength. (By the way, I did notice that the company has the same name as the infamous company in the Terminator movies that created the intelligent military supercomputer called Skynet which in turn triggered a nuclear Armageddon and then created the terminator robots to finish off the human survivors. Oh, yeah, and the HAL product itself shares the same name as the villainous artificial intelligence from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Fairly unsettling name choices if you ask me.)

Since we are talking about designing battle armor, we ought to, you know, have some armor. Fitting the armor discretely into a briefcase isn’t a requirement, but we do want it to be lightweight and flexible. For that, let’s turn to liquid body armor. The basis for liquid body armor is shear thickening fluid (STF). According to the article, “During normal handling, the STF is very deformable and flows like a liquid. However, once a bullet or frag hits the vest, it transitions to a rigid material, which prevents the projectile from penetrating the Soldier’s body”. So, the material is fairly lightweight and flexible, but when it’s struck it momentarily turns extremely rigid and protects the wearer. Also according to the article, liquid armor is much more stab resistant than conventional body armor, which might come in handy for confrontations with ninjas and people trying to replicate the technology used by a short Canadian mutant.

Jet-Man Flying

Ok, here is where we kick it into high-gear cool. I know that in the comic books Iron Man flies using boot jets. I don’t think that is going to work here. Instead we’re going to fly in style with a winged jetpack. (Remember, we are not trying to exactly replicate the Iron Man armor, just start getting close.) For that, we turn to Jet-Man. Swiss aviator Yves Rossy has developed a winged jetpack that looks amazing. The wings are worn on the back like a backpack, and fold up when not in flight. The technology is still being developed and currently he can’t take off or land using the jetpack. So to test the flight capability he puts on the jetpack, gets into an airplane, and when the plane is high enough he jumps out. The wings then unfold, the jets kick in, and he’s off. He freaking flies around for a while until he runs out of fuel, then he deploys a parachute and comes back down to Earth. Check out the video below to see the jetpack in action. This is so cool.

The extremis technology is nowhere to be found so we need to use a more primitive interface technology. (I’m still on the fence about the extremis technology in the comic book anyway.) There are already electromyogram sensors built into the exoskeleton, and these types of sensors could probably be used to further interface the user and the armor. There is also some early work being done on non-invasive brain-computer interfaces that could be incorporated into a helmet. Combined with an audio interface and a head mounted display we would have a good start.

This is the easiest part to take care of. There is no shortage of off the shelf technology for inexpensive computing and mobile communications. Building a cell phone and WiFi/WiMax into the armor would be relatively easy. Embedding a mobile computer into the armor would be pretty easy as well. The biggest question is which operating system to use. Windows is not even an option. I think I’d prefer to put together my own custom Linux distro. Call it something like Stark Linux.

This might be the toughest part, since we would want to operate without recharging for a long time. Battery power densities are not great, but with all of the work being done in electric cars and fuel cell technology research, there may be an answer. It would be especially nice if the same fuel could be used to power the jets and the rest of the armor.

Back off!

Repulsor Beam technology doesn’t quite exist, so the next best thing would be a laser. (I’m not real excited by the War Machine style shoulder mounted guns.) The lasers of choice would probably come from Wicked Lasers. I’m not quite sure how to mount them inside the palm of the gauntlet, but I’d like to try to figure it out.

 

 
So there you have them. The basic components for an experimental prototype suit of battle armor inspired by Iron Man. None of the technologies are ready for prime time, but the possibility is starting to come into reach. All we need now is a billionaire benefactor who is interested in funding the additional research and engineering required. Any takers?

 
P.S. I wonder how long until we see an Internet show called “Pimp My Battle Armor”. I think I should be the host.

 

Don’t forget to check out part two of the battle armor series!

(This is a two part article. The opposing version is here)

The Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is one of the most praised and studied comic book series of all time. This amazing story has had a huge impact and played a large part in giving the comic book industry its current shape.

Watchmen

Even before the original mini series was finished there have been rumors and talk about a Watchmen movie. These rumors have sparked an unending (heated) debate. Many fans feel very strongly about this property and have equally strong opinions about the possibility of a move to the silver screen. In holding true to my word to “sometimes be fair”, I’m going to examine both sides of the issue.

In this part of my two part series looking at the possibility of a Watchmen movie, I present why Watchmen should be made into a movie. (See this article for the anti-movie viewpoint)

 

 

Top 10 Reasons Why Watchmen Should be Made Into a Movie

10. Comic book movie adaptations usually suck, but sometimes they don’t and they are worth the risk. Hollywood is finally starting to figure out how to make good super hero movies and other movies that start life as a comic book. There has never been a better time to move a comic book story to the big screen.

9. CGI finally makes the fantasy elements possible. Comic book stories are often filled with rich and wild imagery which can now be brought to life on the silver screen.

8. Popular interest in super heroes is at an all time high and Watchmen could help keep that up. I can’t remember a better time to be a fan of the super hero genre. A story of Watchmen’s caliber could kick us into a full fledged super hero renaissance.

7. The story has done so much for growing the comic medium; maybe it can do the same for movies. Watchmen breathed a new life into comic books and paved the way for countless amazing stories. The movie industry sure wouldn’t be hurt by having some of that action.

6. If cast correctly, Rorschach would become a pop culture icon. I don’t know who would be the right actor for the role, but the character can easily become a pop culture icon to rival the likes of Hannibal Lecter.

5. The story is too good to keep from the masses. We comic fans love to hold onto this story as ours, but it is a shame if a great story never reaches the people who will love it.

4. If done well, it could really help promote the comics industry. The comic book medium is still struggling for legitimacy and to bring in new fans. Watchmen could help on both fronts.

3. There are many fans who really want to see this story on the big screen. Let’s face it, in entertainment the crowd with ticket money in hand is king.

2. It would get the message out that the super hero genre is incredibly rich and more than just action. I am a huge fan of the super hero genre, and I would love to see more stories told that avoids the clichés that are holding it back. (A great existing example of non-traditional super hero stories is M. Night Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable”).

1. Lord of the Rings. When I first heard that Peter Jackson was making the Lord of the Rings into a movie trilogy I threw my hands up in exasperation and openly declared that the movies were doomed to suck since no one could translate those books into film. I have never been happier to be wrong. It proves that given the right talent, anything is possible.

So there you have it. Irrefutable reasons for making a Watchmen movie. Click here now to read how to refute these arguments.

(This is a two part article. The opposing version is here)

The Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is one of the most praised and studied comic book series of all time. This amazing story has had a huge impact and played a large part in giving the comic book industry its current shape.

Watchmen

Even before the original mini series was finished there have been rumors and talk about a Watchmen movie. These rumors have sparked an unending (heated) debate. Many fans feel very strongly about this property and have equally strong opinions about the possibility of a move to the silver screen. In holding true to my word to “sometimes be fair”, I’m going to examine both sides of the issue.

In this part of my two part series looking at the possibility of a Watchmen movie, I present why Watchmen should NOT be made into a movie. (See this article for the pro-movie viewpoint)

 

Top 10 Reasons Why Watchmen Should NOT be Made Into a Movie

10. Comic book movie adaptations usually suck. This is not always the case, but all too often it is. Comic book movies seem to work best when the characters are moved to the big screen, but not a particular story.

9. The fantasy elements will not translate well to live action. I’m specifically thinking about the Owlship here. It is tough to bring fictional technology out of a comic book into a movie without it looking cheesy.

8. It would be rated R and that would be bad for ticket sales. If you want to tell the story of the Watchmen, then it is going to have to be rated R. Historically that dramatically limits ticket sales (I suspect that is especially true for a super hero movie).

7. It is too valuable as an example of comic book potential. Watchmen is one of the crown jewels of the comic book medium. Many of us comic fans have turned to Watchmen as an example of what our favorite entertainment medium is capable of. It is great for pulling the uninitiated into reading comic books since that is the only place to get the story.

6. Too much story for one movie. I’ve never heard Watchmen being discussed as more than a single movie. That simply isn’t enough time to tell the story. There was more story than could even fit in the comic and was only hinted at. I don’t see how it is possible to trim the story down to two or even three hours without losing the rich depth and nuance that makes the series so appealing.

5. Moore wrote it to maximize the specific benefits of the medium. The way the story unfolds and is presented was optimized for the comic book medium. All of those touches would be necessarily lost when translating the story to a different medium.

4. Too many necessary sub-plots. There are many stories and story threads going on in the comic book, each of which contributes to the story as a whole. It would simply be impossible to keep all of them in a two or even three hour movie.

3. Updating from the 80’s to the new millennia would ruin the story. The story is a product of its time. My suspicion is that anyone making the movie today would try and put the story into the present, and taking it out of the social context of the 1980’s would damage the story.

2. Too much time has passed since the original publication and the story’s impact will be lost. As said above, the story is in many ways a product of its time. We were still scared of a Soviet nuclear attack. Super heroes were still mostly goodie-two-shoes. The psychotic masked vigilante was a novel concept. The world of comic books and super heroes has changed because Watchmen showed them the way. The irony is that because of Watchmen’s impact over the last 20 years, Watchmen no longer has as much impact.

1. Alan Moore does not support the movie. Or so I’ve read. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet Mr. Moore and ask him, but since he hasn’t blessed the movie adaptations of his other stories I have to assume he doesn’t support a Watchmen movie either.

So there you have it. Irrefutable reasons not to make a Watchmen movie. Click here now to read how to refute these arguments.

Are you a comic book fan or a super hero fan?

There is a tendency to link comic books and super heroes together. Over the past 40+ years the two have shared a symbiotic relationship. There are good things and bad things about this relationship, but overall I think it has been a good thing. But I’m starting to wonder if this relationship is changing.

Until recently, the super hero genre was unnecessarily saddled with many of the campier story devices from comic books. The old Adam West Batman television show is a prime example. It made the comic book “POW!” effect become a standard super hero genre device. (Don’t get me wrong; I still think that the Adam West Batman will lead to world peace.) Linking super heroes and comic books so closely helped keep both alive, but with the unfortunate downside of limiting the audience of both. People not interested in super heroes were not going to explore the comic book medium, and people not interested in comic books were not going to explore super hero stories told in other mediums.

I started out as a super hero fan. There was something about super hero stories that I really connected with and comic books were the best place to get them. Eventually I began to explore the other story genres in comic books and developed a love for the medium. And I think we are beginning to see comic books and super heroes grow beyond each other.

Status Quo

Comics and super heroes will be connected for many years to come, but both are growing. More and more comic book creators are exploring genres outside of super heroes with wonderful success. Comics like Usagi Yojimbo, Y the Last Man, Kabuki and The Walking Dead just to name a few. Additionally, super heroes stories are being told outside of comic books without relying on comic book story devices. Movies, television and video games are all starting to experiment with the genre.

The comic book/super hero status quo is changing and there are going to be some growing pains, but I think that the best days for both comic books and super heroes are still ahead.