Doesn't Superman's Cape Create Drag?

[Mat001]

That bit amused me back in the day.

In between issues 4 and 5 of JLA Kal had (in no particular order):

- lost his powers has a result of Final Night (I wonder what the Martians would have done if they had won...)
- gotten married
- been on his honeymoon
- kidnapped
- sneaked into LexCorp towers
- gone to the sun with time-displaced members of the Legion
- almost got toasted
- had problems with an energy being that tried to take over his body
- got abducted by the New Gods
- got teleported into the sun
- got his powers back and rescued Metron
- had some trouble with a version of the bottled city of Kandor
- accidentally brought Scorn on to Earth
- had his powers go on the fritz
- turned into an energy being and had to be contained by Kelex sacrificing his circuitry, Hamilton's genius and LexCorp fabric
- had a training session with The Ray

...busy period...

Fortunately, Morrison didn't indicate how long the League had been assembled when they opted to recruit new members. Easy enough to have a couple of months pass in between. Some readers have trouble reconciling that with characters who appear in multiple titles. They tend to think it all happens at once. That's why when I've filed my collections, I've gone through and made sure that there was clear cutoff points to place other books in between arcs. For instance, after "Dead Again" is when I place "Superman Vs Aliens", "Metropolis SCU" and "Guardians Of Metropolis", prior to the build up to "The Death Of Clark Kent". Not in that order, but you get the gist of it. The crossover goes there since the Contessa hadn't taken over Lexcorp yet. The SCU story covers a six month period. And the latter takes place well before Clark's energy powers, since that's when Boss Moxie's Intergang is active.

[The Frozen Reptile]

That bit amused me back in the day.

In between issues 4 and 5 of JLA Kal had (in no particular order):

- lost his powers as a result of Final Night (I wonder what the Martians would have done if they had won...)
- gotten married
- been on his honeymoon
- kidnapped
- sneaked into LexCorp towers
- gone to the sun with time-displaced members of the Legion
- almost got toasted
- had problems with an energy being that tried to take over his body
- got abducted by the New Gods
- got teleported into the sun
- got his powers back and rescued Metron
- had some trouble with a version of the bottled city of Kandor
- accidentally brought Scorn on to Earth
- had his powers go on the fritz
- turned into an energy being and had to be contained by Kelex sacrificing his circuitry, Hamilton's genius and LexCorp fabric
- had a training session with The Ray

...busy period...

Don't forget he was also trying to solve if his cape causes drag...maybe that's why as an energy being he didn't have one...

[adkal]

Fortunately, Morrison didn't indicate how long the League had been assembled when they opted to recruit new members. Easy enough to have a couple of months pass in between.

He didn't have to, it was pretty clear that time had passed (the building of Watchtower, for example, along with the rapport between the members (something, frankly, distinctly missing from the current title)).

Some readers have trouble reconciling that with characters who appear in multiple titles. They tend to think it all happens at once.

Considering the fact that there are times when whole arcs take place over a matter of hours and yet are spread across several months in our time, having such trouble is...disturbing...

Even with the old television shows (and the current serials) it was often the case that the next episode picked up where the earlier cliffhanger left off...

That's why when I've filed my collections, I've gone through and made sure that there was clear cutoff points to place other books in between arcs. For instance, after "Dead Again" is when I place "Superman Vs Aliens", "Metropolis SCU" and "Guardians Of Metropolis", prior to the build up to "The Death Of Clark Kent". Not in that order, but you get the gist of it. The crossover goes there since the Contessa hadn't taken over Lexcorp yet. The SCU story covers a six month period. And the latter takes place well before Clark's energy powers, since that's when Boss Moxie's Intergang is active.

There tend to be 'in-story' aspects which allow the reader to 'place' the story/arc within a timeline, much like you've done.

[Mat001]

Don't forget he was also trying to solve if his cape causes drag...maybe that's why as an energy being he didn't have one...

Well, technically he didn't, because it disintergrated or fell off every time he turned into energy.

He didn't have to, it was pretty clear that time had passed (the building of Watchtower, for example, along with the rapport between the members (something, frankly, distinctly missing from the current title)).

His scripts were written before he was told about the change in powers. Hence the first couple of issues with that were re-written on the fly to make adjustments. So in a technical sense, JLA #5 was supposed to take place much sooner than it did.

Considering the fact that there are times when whole arcs take place over a matter of hours and yet are spread across several months in our time, having such trouble is...disturbing...

Even with the old television shows (and the current serials) it was often the case that the next episode picked up where the earlier cliffhanger left off...

Yeah, but that was one show with one set of characters. Those characters weren't starring in two shows. You didn't have "The Fugitive" and "Mystery Of The One Armed Man", both of which featured Richard Kimble and Sam Gerard in a starring role. Today, crossovers with all three "CSI" shows tend to outright tell viewers where the episodes take place within relation to each other.

There tend to be 'in-story' aspects which allow the reader to 'place' the story/arc within a timeline, much like you've done.

True. Most readers that get confused don't seem to really look to see where and when, if the editors don't provide footnotes.

[adkal]

His scripts were written before he was told about the change in powers. Hence the first couple of issues with that were re-written on the fly to make adjustments. So in a technical sense, JLA #5 was supposed to take place much sooner than it did.

True, but it was still easy to accommodate overall and not much had to be changed, really (although he did use the 'commit suicide/rip containment suit' as a way of 'beating' Superman twice in a short space of time...).

[Mat001]

By that point, the concept was well and firmly established.

[adkal]

I know, but he still used the same approach in the Prometheus storyline and Rock of Ages.

I think that by the time Rock of Ages came out it was established that Kal's energy-form was genetically distinct from Kryptonian, so Kryptonite wouldn't affect him...

[Mat001]

I already explained what was done in the comics. Go back and read it. Page nine, post #133.

[Two Headed Sex Beast]

I already explained what was done in the comics. Go back and read it. Page nine, post #133.

There is a good chance I will do this.

[Two Headed Sex Beast]

Well after watching the new Man of Steel trailer I think I have found my answer. Superman's cape does in fact create drag.

[Kymeric]

Whatever propels his is way more powerful than the drag of a cape. Itd be like a fart on a space shuttle, zero effect.

[Sleepwalk]

Wouldn't it be easier for Supes to fly without his cape? That thing has got to create some serious drag.

Another thing that has been bothering me about Superman is he shouldn't be able to fly at all. Not without some sort of propulsion technology...

[Two Headed Sex Beast]

Another thing that has been bothering me about Superman is he shouldn't be able to fly at all. Not without some sort of propulsion technology...

Well that is the elephant in the room now isn't it?

[Lorendiac]

Another thing that has been bothering me about Superman is he shouldn't be able to fly at all. Not without some sort of propulsion technology...

Well that is the elephant in the room now isn't it?

As far back as the "Man of Steel" miniseries in 1986, John Byrne was dropping hints that some of Superman's powers -- invulnerability, flight, and at least a portion of his apparent "super-strength" -- were basically "subconscious manifestations of telekinesis." Superman could fly because his mind could move his own body through the air in defiance of gravity; his blue shirt didn't get shredded by bullets because it was tight against his skin and his mind subconsciously maintains a bulletproof force field around his body so that the bullets never quite touched the shirt, much less had any chance of reaching and damaging his skin; he found it "easier" to lift and hold up something really heavy (such as Luthor's yacht) when he was flying at the same time -- because his telekinetic flying power was "silently helping out" by augmenting the effect of his super-strong muscles.

Does that work better for you? It sounds at least vaguely "scientific" -- if you merely grant the assumption that telekinesis is possible!

[Mat001]

Another thing that has been bothering me about Superman is he shouldn't be able to fly at all. Not without some sort of propulsion technology...

There's what Lorendiac said. And then there's the other which is that Krypton's gravity is heavier than Earth's and as such, having been born there, he his body is used to that. On Earth, the lighter gravity allows him to fly and move at incredible speeds.