Which Comic Character Is the Greatest Engineer? 316
ptorrone writes "From Bruce Wayne to Lex Luthor to Tony Stark — the most popular comic heroes are more than just beefy guys in skin tight suits, they're also business persons, titans of industry and brilliant engineers. While there will always be a lot of debate on who is the strongest or fastest, MAKE has an overview of their 14 top comic book engineers, scientists and hackers."
I can think of one (Score:5, Funny)
Also missing from the list is Retardo. Hes the guy who makes up all the stupid internet Top 10 type of lists.
My vote... (Score:5, Funny)
Wiley Coyote... Super Genius.
Though, his reliance on ACME for equipment, should be reconsidered.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes well, aren't we all dogged by shitty suppliers.
Re: (Score:3)
Wile E. Cyote is more like a script kiddie; he just uses the products without much change.
Re:My vote... (Score:5, Interesting)
Script kiddy?? I don't think so.
The ACME Catalog didn't show him how to take the roller skates, bicycle helmet, #3 solid rocket booster, 200 feet of rope, a pulley system, an umbrella and a ramp ... put it altogether, and end getting burned, dropped off a cliff, crushed and then rained on (with accompanying lightining strike).
Wil E. Coyote is a frigging Rube Goldberg machine waiting to happen. He didn't just run something as shipped ... He put it together into amazingly strange combinations.
Script kiddie? You, sir, did not watch NEARLY enough Bugs Bunny growing up. (And, I, apparently far too much. ;-p)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
See, I never really could empathize with the Road Runner.
I always found it far more hilarious to see Wile E. Coyote get his ass handed to him by Bugs Bunny than the Road Runner.
When Bugs decided you needed to be taught a lesson, he made damned sure you knew he was teaching it to you. ;-)
Re:My vote... (Score:4, Funny)
Oh, he writes Perl, then.
Re:My vote... (Score:4, Insightful)
Wile should get extra points for being an old-school hacker, every Acme product he used was for a purpose unintended by the manufacturer.
Re: (Score:2)
Can one be considered great if every single one of his "inventions" fails spectacularly?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
and Murphy's Law.
Re: (Score:2)
Was Lex Luthor still a genius if he was always foiled in his plans?
Did Pinky still call him Brain [wikipedia.org]? None of his schemes worked out.
Hell, Blofeld [wikipedia.org] had sharks and frickin' lasers. He lost to Bond how many times?
Measure not the "inventions", but the opponent.
Wile E. Coyote may well have been a super genius, but he never was the match for the Road Runner.
Re:My vote... (Score:5, Interesting)
Am I the only one that would get frustrated that he would always give up with the equipment after just one attempt?
He usually had a *sound* plan with a sure-fire method which was thwarted by poor execution or random variables that statically would not affect a 2nd, 3rd or 4th attempt at the same method.
Re: (Score:2)
I think there were a few occasions where he tried multiple times. An attempt at launching himself with a giant rubber band, for example, was repeated until he got things right (after being crushed and caught up in the rubber band on different occasions) and actually caught up to the Road Runner. However, he hadn't the foresight to take into account... something. I forget what happened, but it of course did not go well for him.
Re:My vote... (Score:4, Insightful)
You actually saw the show, right? ;-)
Some times he fell off a cliff half a dozen times in a single episode. In other episodes, he was repeatedly smashed with the same rock, no matter how far away he got and what he hid under.
He did repeat these things -- over and over again. That's what made it funny.
Wile E. Coyote was all about the scientific method, and multiple trials. Contrary to what the GP thinks, it wasn't just a statistical fluke. ;-)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, more like my favorite de-motivational poster [despair.com] of all time.
Failure. When your best just isn't good enough.
The science part is fine. ;-)
Re: (Score:2)
Are you going to risk falling off a cliff more than once???
Are you gong to be able to fall off of a cliff more than once?
Re:My vote... (Score:5, Insightful)
Wiley Coyote... Super Genius.
Though, his reliance on ACME for equipment, should be reconsidered.
I always thought that Wiley Coyote depicts very well the agony of working as an engineer. The laws of nature seem to work against you. Murphy's laws are against you. The tools/equipment do not behave according to the specs, and tend to fail at the worst possible time. Good ideas fail because of implementation details or even bad luck. Yet, you cannot let the problem go, you have to fix it! One last try, ok, maybe another one!
Also, he is Jesus... (Score:2)
At least if you ask Grant Morrison. [wordpress.com]
Re: (Score:2)
It's more like Moby Dick or something equally obsessive. Think of the Road Runner as unobtanium or the Grail. ;-)
Of course, deep down, we're all rooting for him to catch the little bugger. And, really ... if he had the money to order all of that crap from ACME, why didn't he just order a pizza?
Re: (Score:2)
Wiley Coyote... Super Genius.
Though, his reliance on ACME for equipment, should be reconsidered.
You have my sword.
Re: (Score:2)
I put on my robe and wizard hat. ;-)
Re: (Score:2)
Minnie Mouse. Since social engineering is the most noble kind of engineering.
Re: (Score:3)
Minnie Mouse. Since social engineering is the most noble kind of engineering.
Careful of that slippery slope. Once you start considering social engineering and mouseketeers there's a risk that Britney Spears will be named best engineer here on slashdot. Of course at that point the universe would no longer be able to sustain the paradox and would implode!
Luthor? (Score:2)
Since when did Lex Luthor become a hero?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Since the (bad) description for this article.
Re: (Score:2)
Lex Luther stole forty cakes.
That's as many as four tens.
And that's terrible.
Re:Luthor? (Score:5, Insightful)
Lex Luthor has always been a hero. He is nearly the only person on earth making it his life's duty to fight off the alien from another planet with super powers that imposes his will on our world and is a threat to us all.
Re: (Score:2)
And he's an innovative businessman out to turn a buck. Nothing wrong with that.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Greatest Engineer (Score:3, Interesting)
DILBERT!!!
Re: (Score:2)
Easy (Score:2)
Forge [wikipedia.org]
Dilbert is the closest to reality (Score:5, Interesting)
Just saying,
There are days i envy Dilbert, his company is better run than some I have worked at.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Plus all the insubordination has yet to cost anyone their job. I would love to call my boss and coworkers idiots to their face and deliberately sabotage them for my own amusement and face no consequences whatsoever.
Re: (Score:3)
I would love to call my boss and coworkers idiots to their face and deliberately sabotage them for my own amusement and face no consequences whatsoever.
You can call me an idiot later. [open.edu.au]
Re:Dilbert is the closest to reality (Score:4, Interesting)
Dilbert is a corporate tool intended to placate all of the cubicle-drones because they can have a chuckle and identify with him and think "well, gosh, things aren't so bad!" and move on with the status-quo.
Re:Dilbert is the closest to reality (Score:4, Insightful)
B) The theory isn't even plausible because nobody can force a particular comic to be popular among millions of people. Not the secret super-corporation that controls all corporations, the CIA, or anybody else.
I had only one thought when I read this. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
"Why haven't you returned my calls?"
"I tried, but when I put the phone to my ear, it pressed my tragus over my ear hole and I couldn't hear a thing."
I'm going to use this someday.
Re: (Score:2)
Dilton Doliey (Score:4, Insightful)
I know this sounds weird, but one of the first "geeky" comics character I was blown away by was Dilton Doiley [wikipedia.org], part of Archie's crew, in the Strange Science editions [comicvine.com].
It was short, it was funny, and he was a geek who got the girl. All these other guys are great, but they had supernatural powers or wealth, or other things going for them. Dilton just... conducted home experiments! Of course, he had his own lab, but still, as a regular kid, you could aspire to be him.
The other character I remember from childhood, of course, was Tom Swift [wikipedia.org]. Amazingly inspirational -- although, not a lot of comics of him out there (I've seen a few, but not many).
Re: (Score:3)
Until this day I never met anybody aspired to be Dilton.
I mean, even Jughead had a girl chasing him.
Re: (Score:2)
It's a stupid reason to like a character because he had girls after him -- especially if getting girls wasn't a problem in school anyway (or for that matter, at any point in life).
You like fiction because it inspires you, and Dilton inspired me. Girls and relationships were... too much like real life.
Re: (Score:2)
What??? He nailed She-Hulk!!
Re: (Score:3)
Pfft. Dilton wasn't a patch on Calvin.
Re: (Score:2)
I know this sounds weird, but one of the first "geeky" comics character I was blown away by was Dilton Doiley [wikipedia.org], part of Archie's crew, in the Strange Science editions [comicvine.com].
It was short, it was funny, and he was a geek who got the girl. All these other guys are great, but they had supernatural powers or wealth, or other things going for them. Dilton just... conducted home experiments! Of course, he had his own lab, but still, as a regular kid, you could aspire to be him.
The other character I remember from childhood, of course, was Tom Swift [wikipedia.org]. Amazingly inspirational -- although, not a lot of comics of him out there (I've seen a few, but not many).
Wow - somebody else who knows of Tom Swift.
Which series did you like more, the original, or the one with Tom Jr?
Repelletrons FTW!
Best comic engineer? None of the above! (Score:5, Funny)
Which Comic Character Is The Greatest Engineer?
My favorites (Score:2)
Gyro Gearloose and Ludwig Von Drake
and of course Rodney Copperbottom
Re: (Score:2)
Gyro Gearloose and Ludwig Von Drake
and of course Rodney Copperbottom
Somewhere I have a Captain Marvel where he performs nuclear fusion to create an invulnerable material, with his bare hands.
Easy (Score:5, Interesting)
Girl Genius.
Re: (Score:2)
Girl Genius.
Ah, but she's a shadow of her mother Lucretia Mongfish, Barry Heterodyne, Bill Heterodyne or Baron Wolfenbach .. well dang, there's buckets of geniuses in there!
Re:Easy (Score:5, Insightful)
Nonsense. Agatha's far more powerful (albeit still less experienced) than Lucrezia Mongfish or the Heterodyne Boys. She made _mechanical Sparks_ as one of her very first projects! And she's clearly outclassing Gilgamesh and Tarvek, who are both first-rate Sparks in their own right.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php [girlgeniusonline.com] for those unfamiliar with the Folios' genius.
Also missing... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Rube Goldberg wasn't as good as Heath Robinson, in my honest opinion, and the best Professor of all time has to be Professor Brainstawm.
I would have to say... (Score:2)
Stone De Croze, the Original Guernseyman. The rest had the benefit of education, textbooks and suppliers. Stone De Croze invented stuff before inventing had been invented.
Scotty (Score:3)
Star Trek has been a comic franchise since the 70's. It is only fair that Scotty should be on that list.
Now, if only MacGyver had a comic book...
Re: (Score:2)
Star Trek has been a comic franchise since the 70's. It is only fair that Scotty should be on that list.
Nah, he kenna change the laws of physics.
Re: (Score:3)
I've always preferred O'Brien when it comes to Star Trek engineers -- an ordinary family man who is occasionally called on to go above and beyond at times.
Of course Geordi is just a plain old nerd, so there's a lot of identification there.
Obvious missing person. (Score:5, Insightful)
My vote would have been for Alice. She's the top engineer in her company, she's developed patents that earned her company 2 billion dollars in revenue, and her fist-of-death is legendary. All this after she overcame the handicap of being a woman....
Re: (Score:2)
Didn't even get to the title of the article, which is "Which Comic Book Character Is The Greatest Maker Of All Time?", eh?
Alice is a character in a comic "strip", not in a comic "book".
Technicalities *do* matter when one is dealing with geeks debating about which imaginary character is superior. ;)
Heh. I like how the offensive part of my post wasn't referring to being a woman as a handicap.
Why the Western bias? (Score:2)
Bulma from Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z!
The only woman Vegeta fears...
TMNT (Score:4, Informative)
How about ... (Score:2)
Easy (Score:5, Insightful)
Gadget Hackwrench
http://rangerwiki.net/images/e/e9/Gadget_extra_parts.jpg [rangerwiki.net]
Yes, there is a Chip & Dale's Rescue Ranger's wiki site. God bless you, Intertoobs.
Re: (Score:2)
You beat me too it.
Besides, what other cartoon engineer has her own religion in Russia.
Hey, I've seen far worse things worshipped.
Manhattan? (Score:3)
I was going to say they left out Dr. Manhattan, but then they included Ozymandias.
(galactically huge spoilers here)
Hard choice there. They say Ozymandias out-smarted Manhattan, but really he merely got him out of the way long enough to succeed at his plan. And failed to kill him, which was part of his original plan. If Manhattan had known of the plan, and it had become a battle of wits, it's no question who'd win. But since by the time Manhattan knew of it it had already occurred, Manhattan merely had to accept it as logical. Which, in fact, he might have done anyway if Ozymandias had merely included him in on it. Manhattan wasn't emotional about humanity and didn't become concerned about humanity until Ozymandias displaced him, giving Laurie a reason to think Manhattan had to be convinced to come home.
So Ozymandias probably chose the wrong strategy with Manhattan. And not remembering that Manhattan was capable of reforming his intrinsic field was a massive joke.
Yup. Manhattan. If it's a matter of engineering, and not sneaky politics, he wins this whole thing without lifting a finger.
to bad macgyver is not a Comic Character as he (Score:2)
to bad macgyver is not a Comic Character as he would top all of the people listed hear.
No Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic yet? (Score:2)
Everyone in the Marvel Universe gets their cool stuff from him, even Tony Stark...
And what about Victor Von Doom/Dr Doom?
Re: (Score:2)
Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes (Score:2)
What other engineer can take a cardboard box, turn it into a transmorgifier, then make it into a time travel machine and then make it into a duplicator? Not to mention that, when he added an ethicator to his duplicator, he built in a moral compromise spectral release phantasmatron. Sheer genius!
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2011/04/05/
No Spidey? (Score:3)
Specifically, his webbing, which is entirely Peter Parker's creation (regardless of what the movie suggested). I mean, that and all his playing around with advanced physics and chemistry.
Guardians of Oa (Score:2)
Inspector Gadget? (Score:2)
Or maybe it should be Penny...
Not a comicbook hero, but needs mentioned (Score:4, Informative)
Don't comment on comics w/o experience. (Score:3)
Missing from the list [...] Ray Palmer (The Ant) [...] I think maybe Professor X could make it in, but 14 was quite a bit
Ray Palmer is the Atom.
Professor X has little to no technical expertise. The Danger Room was made by his space alien girlfriend.
Ozymandias didn't do most of the work for his "engineering", he just set up a pyramid scheme of scientists and engineers (including Dr. M), and put it all together.
Forge makes stuff all the time. He's constantly whipping up new crap that he dismantles later.
Reed Richards? He regularly invents "Science!" stuff, and a lot of it becomes mainstream in the Marvel universe (like the water breathing pills and unstable molecule suits). All the superheros come to _him_ whenever they have an issue.
Best of all: Dr. Doom. He's invented devices in less than a day that steal Silver Surfer's Cosmic Power, The Cosmic Cube's power, and The Effing Beyonder's powers.
Donald Duck of course (Score:2)
Yes, but... (Score:3)
Let me "Venture" a comment (Score:3)
Dr. Jonas Venture was pretty awesome. Shame that Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture tried to use those coat tails to make a name for himself. Albino computer scientist Pete White and hydrocephalic "boy genius" Master Billy Quizboy have more raw talent than "Rusty".
Tony from the webcomic Real Life (Score:2)
Don't be so continentalocentric (Score:2)
Hello, Ironman! (Score:2)
That is all.
LK
Missing: (Score:2)
Missing:
Elroy Jetson
Tinker from Speed Buggy (He build a frigging sentient dune buggy)
Rhinox from Transformer: Beast Wars
Re: (Score:2)
Mandark.
Re: (Score:2)
Professor Hawk. [wikia.com]
Re: (Score:2)
With stats like that, our next Republican President will be attacking Latveria before the bible is put away.
Mod parent up! (Score:4, Insightful)
Another that comes to mind is professor Farnsworth from Futurama. He invented XXX century's robots, built a spaceship that moves the entire universe, and got laid, several times.
Re: (Score:2)
Pfft!
Calvin made a transmogrifier, time machine *and* an instacloner out of the *SAME* cardboard box!
Re: (Score:2)
And don't forget about the transmogrifier gun! A great advance in the field of transmogrification.
Re: (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyro_Gearloose [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Good example of good intentions that sometimes goes wrong,
Probably one of the more realistic Geek Engineer characters that exists in comics.
Another exists in the Swedish Comic Magazine Bamse, the turtle Skalman. The magazine is for small children.
But don't forget the TV comic Dexter's Laboratory.
And then we have Willie Garvin [wikipedia.org] in the comic Modesty Blaise.
But nothing is useful until we have an end user; The weird end user of technology Wile E. Coyote [wikipedia.org].
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
But I hear Eternity gave Hank the title under duress (Dr. Pym threatened to rape Eternity).
Re: (Score:2)