Comic Era: Why is DC Comics so dumb?

[Slayven]

Thinkings of DC's genius, they still pale compared to Marvel. Hell most of them would be in Marvel's B tier of super scienctists with Beast, Spiderman, and Tony Stark.

Lex Luthor, Mr Terrific, Will Magnus, Professor Ivo, Brainac 5( all 3 or 4 of them), etc.

Hell looking at lists online Poodlestrike 's boy Ted Kord usually breaks the top 10 on DC's smartest, and that is just sad

 

[sir_crocodile]

no one's been interested in writing about a super genius I guess

too busy coming up with new city names

 

[Slayven]

no one's been interested in writing about a super genius I guess

too busy coming up with new city names

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Or new things for jocks to bench press or be faster than

 

[Wrexis]

DC seems to have more magic and gods than Marvel, so less of a need to science the shit out of a problem and more of a need of a spell to do it.

EYBXHTK WON YAWA OG SMELBORP EKAM

 

[sir_crocodile]

Or new things for jocks to bench press or be faster than

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attosecond baby

there's a supes strip where he gathers the three greatest geniuses he knows of (lex, braniac, brain iirc) to stop a common universe ending threat
they all try to backstab him instead of helping lol, not very clever. can't remember where it was from atm

 

[mrmoose]

I mean Batman is the ultimate plot armor genius.

But Marvel has long since completely elevated their geniuses like Reed and Tony to levels where they better be combating supervillains constantly because otherwise why haven't they completely solved world hunger?

 

[Slayven]

I mean Batman is the ultimate plot armor genius.

But Marvel has long since completely elevated their geniuses like Reed and Tony to levels where they better be combating supervillains constantly because otherwise why haven't they completely solved world hunger?

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Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

 

[sir_crocodile]

Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

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because he needs the right conditions for supervillains to emerge to satisfy his perverse need to be a vigilante and live out his fantasy of saving his parents.

 

[NeonZ]

Sivanna basically got downgraded compared to his pre-DC appearances because he couldn't be above Luthor due to Shazam being secondary compared to Superman. Meanwhile, Luthor himself has Superman as a solid wall. He can't be smart enough to make Kryptonian powers useless and that ceiling effectively caps the entire setting. Science is only allowed to overpower Kryptonians through their weakness or with one off complex preparations specifically to deal with them, not just super geniuses just producing stuff way beyond them.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

they use alien tech, they don't have to have geniuses. also, Krypton was a world full of super scientists that got too big for their britches. super-science is overrated.

 

[ContractHolder]

For some reason I was expecting a different person to ask this, and a different follow up to said question.

I can't answer that, but I do want to know where Kamen Rider Build ranks compared to DC and Marvel geniuses.

 

[Jubilant Duck]

Because if they had Marvel tier super geniuses then they'd have to write "I am objectively speaking a genius and even I don't know what this [macguffin] is" for dialogue every few comics across all their lines, a line that crops up rather frequently in Marvel comics.

Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

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mate you're slayven don't act like you don't know the reason is because Gotham has an actual curse on it

 

[Naijaboy]

Lexington has been seen as the undisputed smartest person on Earth. There isn't much competition compared to Marvel

 

[Gentlemen]

I remember when aquaman lost his hand and decided to just jab the pointy end of a harpoon into the stump and be like 'do you like it?'

Then they gave him a proper robot harpoon hook at the end of his stump like a proper technopirate.

but....it was still a stupid hook instead of something much more useful. like a robot hand. I questioned the DC universe's ability to problem solve.

 

[Weiss]

Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

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Et tu, Slayven?

 

[Deleted member 12429]

Why would you need a super genius when you can just punch the world back on track?

 

[sir_crocodile]

I remember when aquaman lost his hand and decided to just jab the pointy end of a harpoon into the stump and be like 'do you like it?'

Then they gave him a proper robot harpoon hook at the end of his stump like a proper technopirate.

but....it was still a stupid hook instead of something much more useful. like a robot hand. I questioned the DC universe's ability to problem solve.

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tbf it was only ever supposed to be temporary (as written) before he got the elemental hand

 

[Flavius]

I think I agree, but I also think writers for DC either haven't effectively conveyed that level of brilliance, or it simply hasn't been a focus of theirs.

Also, I'm saying this as someone who read primarily DC for 20 years give or take, but hasn't really followed comics for the last 25 years or so. I think some of the writing from DC in that regard was maybe a little more adolescent in some ways, where the morality play bits were made really, really obvious to the point it made some villains (Lex; Braniac) occasionally look goofy. Swing to the opposite end of the spectrum and you get into some darker stuff where some level of high intelligence is implied, but takes a back seat story wise.

I mean, Ozymandias would be one of my picks for a highly intelligent and also terrifying character. I've no idea what they're doing with Joker these days, but you could make an argument that he should be up there, I think.

But that said, yeah -- I much prefer the way Marvel handles the smarties.

 

[Gentlemen]

tbf it was only ever supposed to be temporary (as written) before he got the elemental hand

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I remember he tried to kiss his sorta girlfriend and jabbed her with the harpoon.

 

[Genesius]

All of their characters are basically gods, including/especially the one that's just a man.

They need to drastically depower their entire lineup.

 

[GifGafJef]

All of their characters are basically gods, including/especially the one that's just a man.

They need to drastically depower their entire lineup.

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nah. dont really need to do that. Dc characters are really that much overpowered compared to marvel.

Dc need to stop making new sidekick characters though.or new holders for mantles.

 

[Magister Xehanort]

Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

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Because Gotham is cursed.

 

[Flavius]

I remember he tried to kiss his sorta girlfriend and jabbed her with the harpoon.

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We've all been there. I jabbed mine with my harpoon too. Still married 20 years later.

 

[Slayven]

Because Gotham is cursed.

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Galactus was tainted, that is why he ate worlds. Black Panther fixed that

 

[Jubilant Duck]

Also in general I really dislike how intelligence/expertise is portrayed in comics, Marvel especially. Being good at biochemical engineering doesn't also mean you're going to excel at spaceship building. Under most writers Reed Richards is the "genius" version of poorly-written superman stories where he's invulnerable therefore there are no dramatic stakes.

 

[Akira86]

Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

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he needs it to survive. just like superman needs kryptonite his affable kind heart and willingness to be vulnerable and weak just so he can show his strengths, or else he'd be a monster.

if there were no poverty, then no crime, what would a Batman do in Gotham city? If there was no criminal for him to stop he'd just be a rich oligarch in a mask willing to physically harm people less fortunate than he. he needs an unbeatable foe in the crime fountain that is gotham city with all it's minorities, immigrants and poor people, it's not like a fixed economy would help. The place is cursed by evil or something.....

he needs to protect. otherwise, he's just, you know, every bad thing they've ever said about him suddenly being true.

 

[L Thammy]

The one time that I tried to read comics, I read one where Lex Luthor created a new type of tape recorder in the bathroom. But he didn't just, like, think of how you would make a new type of tape recorder. He put it together while taking a shit. So either he had the foresight to take the materials with him that he used to build the tape recorder and that doesn't count towards the time that he spent thinking up how to make it or he is so smart that he literally produced the materials out of his ass.

It made me wonder if whoever wrote that comic had ever met a smart person in real life, and if this is what they assume smart people are actually like.

 

[Sabercrusader]

Like I think others have posted, DC tends to lean more toward the magic/supernatural side of things, and in general their heroes with powers (And honestly, those without) tend to have far stronger powers than anyone in Marvel.

Like, all those Hulk or Thor vs Superman fight concepts are silly, neither stand a remote chance against Supes. Heck, I'm pretty sure that Aquaman and Wonder Woman could give them good runs for the money.

Then you have characters like Flash and Green Lantern. The writers are the biggest power blocks to those because their power sets are literally just about limitless.



Honestly though, Marvel can be just as dumb. I wouldn't go trying to praise Marvel as if they're so much better.

 

[thillygooth]

In my experience, DC has always been more concerned with feats of daring-do. Big strong men and women sneezing away galaxies and the like. And smart characters are around to beat the threats that can't be punched away.

 

[mrmoose]

Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

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Turns out genius plotarmor is great for defeating other superheroes or getting out of villainous plots and not so much figuring out economics or actually solving crime. Like his answer in Kingdom Come and most Elseworld type stories is to just take over everything.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure Reed and Tony could discover perpetual energy and create ways to grow endless crops. Heck, Pym's whole schtick would do wonders for food supply, transport, etc.

 

[MisterHero]

Superman can build a machine that grants wishes. He is at the very end of invention. That doesn't help his mission though.

All these characters have forgotten that they are supposed to change minds. Their collective mastery of nature doesn't inspire anyone anymore.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

I'd love to see some of the DC heroes have to go up against the Maker at his best.

 

[Emperor_El]

Cletus Kasady has the Extremis cuz of Tony Stark. That only alone drags Marvel's intelligence level down below DC's.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

They have heaps of awesome mad scientists and pulpy science hero goofs. Read 52, Doom Patrol, The Terrifics, Strange Adventures.

 

[ArgyleReptile]

In my experience, DC has always been more concerned with feats of daring-do. Big strong men and women sneezing away galaxies and the like. And smart characters are around to beat the threats that can't be punched away.

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I think it's a mix of this and the fact that they really don't really feel the need to go into detail about their inventions or specialties when they do come into play. They need some new tech, it just shows up and does with it does. The feats of science a more a means to an end rather than an expansive part of their character.

I also wonder if the Bat-God status has kind of limited them as they can't go too far ahead to keep Bruce on the "cutting edge". Even Cyborg, who is supposed to be among the most technologically advance beings, has been hacked by the Bat-family a few times.

 

[Poodlestrike]

One of these days, old man.

Anyway, I like to think that it's because DC writers are smart enough to realize that all the Marvel supergeniuses running around are kind of walking plot holes. Reed Richards invents infinite energy whatchmacallits and instead of ushering in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for mankind he... Idk, does some Reed Richards shit, I have better taste than to read Fantastic Four comics. Flies a car to pluto I guess. The point is, if they're really that smart, why are they so fucking useless?

Most of DC's supergenii are evil and they're not that ahead of the curve anyway.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Because the foundation of the Marvel Universe was largely shaped by the boom in sci-fi in the 50s and 60s, and making characters super science geniuses who use use buzzwords like "radiation" or "transistors" to explain everything they do just fit with the times. DC, meanwhile, is probably more disparate due to not having a singular creative team or era build their universe as concretely as the 60s Marvel Bullpen did, but their biggest stars were generally formed in the era of 30s pulp strongman stories and even after most of them were updated to more contemporary visions in the Silver Age and onward the pulp influence was and still is palpable.

 

[Maximum Spider]

Those are most of Marvel's worst or most meh characters

 

[Slayven]

I'd love to see some of the DC heroes have to go up against the Maker at his best.

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That would be nasty

 

[onyx]

Be careful or some writer will remember how fast Superman's brain can solve many of the world's problems. Then you have the GL ring as a galactic search engine.

Just let DC punch away problems.

 

[BlackGoku03]

I think it's the opposite. Too many geniuses in Marvel. Everyone has genius intellect. So smart they initiated World War Hulk lol.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

That would be nasty

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I'd enjoy it.

 

[Volimar]

I think it's the opposite. Too many geniuses in Marvel. Everyone has genius intellect.

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I agree with this. Everyone and his grampa is a genius level intellect. It's better when everyone has their fields. Pym has his particles, Banner has gamma, Peter knows radiation, Reed is a giant asshole. Stay in your lane!

 

[Slayven]

I agree with this. Everyone and his grampa is a genius level intellect. It's better when everyone has their fields. Pym has his particles, Banner has gamma, Peter knows radiation, Reed is a giant asshole. Stay in your lane!

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Peter is also good at quick, dirty, and struggle tech

He set the bomb to daylight savings time, giving them a whole hour to deal with it

 

[Volimar]

Peter is also good at quick, dirty, and struggle tech

He set the bomb to daylight savings time, giving them a whole hour to deal with it

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In the Midnight Suns game, he and Robbie Reyes have a workshop where they tinker out new items for you. Eventually Stark butts in but it works out in the end.

 

[BlackGoku03]

Why haven't any of the Marvel heroes reversed villain tech and solve cancer?

 

[AgeEighty]

Sure, I could write characters whose hyper-intelligence puts them on a quasi-omniscient level too, but that doesn't make it good writing. And with them supposedly being so much smarter than DC's geniuses, why haven't they solved all their world's problems? Why is all the best super-science kept for the heroes and none of it shared with the world, for that matter?

 

[Shemhazai]

Because comicbook supergeniuses are just Silicon Valley flavoured wizards.

 

[Watchtower]

I agree with this. Everyone and his grampa is a genius level intellect. It's better when everyone has their fields. Pym has his particles, Banner has gamma, Peter knows radiation, Reed is a giant asshole. Stay in your lane!

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I think Marvel's done better over the last couple decades actually identifying which fields everyone is strongest in and keeping them to that, which ironically helps better ground the universe as a whole. The super-scientist problem is still there but characters are generally better at sticking in their designated lanes. Meanwhile DC has never been interested in locking things down like that, so even today the DC world is still vaguely futuristic and the smartest people of the DC universe are still full-on super-scientists who are vaguely smart at all of the smart things.

 

[Chained Prometheus]

Why hasn't Batman solved poverty in Gotham?

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Slayven, don't act like you don't already know that the answer is because Gotham City is essentially a Lovecraftian lynchpin cursed to always be a cesspool of violence and corruption.

It's like asking why haven't Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Hank Pym or the various other super geniuses of Wakanda why none of them figured out how to cure cancer and end world hunger.