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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Isn't that kind of mind control in and of itself?
I mean, if someone told him "stimulate my pleasure centers, I want to get turned on", that'd be one thing, but...
Oh God! Natural light!That. But for the sake of accuracy, it's not (mostly) a Compelling Voice thing in the sense that unlike Kilgrave, he couldn't/doesn't command people to do things. But he can simulate pleasure and good will which includes (although I think retconned?) making people want to have sex with him.
Although, what Starfox did do was still creepy: he intensified the feelings that She-Hulk already had for John Jameson so that they got married. When she found out about that, she was also royally pissed and ended up leaving Jameson because of it.
Basically, keeping Starfox's original powers wouldn't be an issue if he was the Big Bad, but if he's supposed to be an ally then they need to be removed.
Is that what I'm getting from everyone?
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Really? So no mainstream comics should handle those topics at all?
I mean, Alias handled the topic of sexual assault incredibly well and that was part of the mainstream continuity. The fact that it was part of Marvel MAX just meant that it was rated R, not that it was never happened.
Pretty much. Also, his name is too silly.
edited 15th Dec '15 9:31:20 PM by alliterator
This discusion reminds me of something was going to bring up in the Jessica Jones thread but actually seems an even better fit here.
So in Mistborn, one of the characters, Breeze, has sort of the same power as Starfox- it involves soothing emotions but in a way that can/does often involve a Charm Person effect. Which he uses it a lot in social interactions or trying to cage drinks off of people, there's obviously a recognition of the troubling implications of misusing the power. Notably, Breeze's best friend is this grouchy guy who has the ability to block his abilities and the character doesn't really pursue romance- and when he does, he ends up with a woman who has the equal and opposite power which involves stimulating emotions/passions.
He does actually do something similar (although more benign) than what Starfox did to She Hulk- he judiciously uses his powers to help start out a couple's romantic (although not sexual) relationship.
It's not stated outright, but what comes across is that Breeze recognizes that since he can't avoid temptation to use his power, he's going to use it for good (or at worst minor things) and is not going to pursue close relationships because doing so would be really rapey.
So getting back on topic, unless Starfox has this level of self control, he's not really hero material for an adaptation (although worth bringing up is that the Ravagers thought that Peter's father was a dick).
edited 15th Dec '15 9:35:13 PM by Hodor2
I think the thing is that Vertigo or MAX—in theory—attract more mature writers who actually know how to handle this shit. Not saying it turns out that way in practice.
The same skillset that makes you really good at writing folks in spandex punching each other and occasionally angsting about it does not make you good at writing about rape or abuse.
edited 15th Dec '15 9:35:29 PM by Wackd
Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.
True. Brian Michael Bendis, who wrote Alias, got his start writing crime and noir comics, so he might have been better suited than, say, Steve Englehart, whose story about Mockingbird's rape in West Coast Avengers was...not good. At all. (Of course, Englehart had a lot of issues with his female characters.)
edited 15th Dec '15 9:39:17 PM by alliterator
Punisher MAX was also a really great series that handled serious topics. Read the storyline called "The Slavers" and you'll find part of it is actually a pretty good exploration of sexual slavery. The other part is, of course, Frank Castle killing a whole lot people who really needed to die.
(Of course, Punisher MAX is not in main 616 continuity, because Frank Castle aged in real time and no superheroes ever showed up. But still.)
edited 15th Dec '15 9:42:22 PM by alliterator
I would say, at least the writers realized how incredibly creepy the Power Perversion Potential factor for Starfox is. In his most recent appearance, they flat out had him promising a group of women he wouldn't use his powers to get them to screw him, and that he'd seduce them the old fashioned way.
edited 16th Dec '15 5:42:45 AM by comicwriter
So, in the same way that I found myself re-evaluating what happened to Blonsky when he took the super soldier formula after hearing how it actually works in Captain America The First Avenger, I'm currently doing the same for The Avengers Age Of Ultron (I'm watching it as I write this) after the reveals of Hyrdra's origins in Agents Of Shield.
Strucker talks about surrendering, but this is just to lure the Avengers off the trailer. He wants to give up the weapons to keep them from learning about something else. He talks about how close there are to their real goal.
We just learned in Agents Of Shield (spoilers for those who have not watched the last few episodes of that series) that Hydra is far older than the Red Skull and Nazi Germany, and that it's real goal was to bring an ancient Inhuman back to Earth. Now Hydra took Loki's Sceptre, and nipped a lot of Chitauri tech in the aftermath of the Battle of New York. How much do you want to bet they were studying all of it in the hope of maybe using it to learn how to open portals to other worlds?
In fact, this goes for the original experiments with the Tesseract as well.
Once again, a later movie paints a scene in an earlier movie in a whole new light.
One Strip! One Strip!Something interesting in that regard is that Obadiah Stane's speech
in the first Iron Man movie, plus the fact he took over Stark Industries after Howard's death (that we know for a fact was caused by a HYDRA), with the hindsight of HYDRA's philosophy and goals, strongly imply he was a member of HYDRA or at least associated with them.
Wow. That speech.
I don't know how far back they've been planning this, but there is an ambiguity to what Stane is saying that lends credence to the idea that he was also tied to Hydra.
If this is the case, that's incredible.
One Strip! One Strip!

Wait, is it mind control or just stimulating pleasure centers?
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!