I mean, it seems kind of weird in this forum for Baldur's Gate, a game that takes place in a world with all sorts of fantastic elements, to call bull on a world with an underwater kingdom, or a minority group with special powers.
Like, it's not a documentary. They're not trying to trick you into thinking any of this stuff actually exists in the real world. It's a pretend space with like magic and stuff.
I am usually far more lenient with my fantasy than I am with my science-fiction. Then again, I much prefer "hard" science-fiction that attempts to stick closely to what we currently know about the laws of physics/chemistry/biology and the natural consequences that would result from our actions. Fantasy can get away with a lot more stuff because magic! How come we never heard of this mysterious society living right underneath the city before? Protection from Scrying spells, and they get all of their food from the Underdark. It's not quite the same with Aquaman's Atlantis, where if you consider the massive amount of fishing and exploitation we've done with the oceans over the last century, we'd HAVE to have come into contact with the Atlanteans much sooner than now.
Batman never killing anyone, just severely crippling them for committing armed robbery.
I am surprised one of his victims have never sued the city of Gotham and their police force for not only letting this judge, jury & executioner stalk the streets, but actively work with him.
Heh, yeah. I always thought it kinda funny how Batman clings so fiercely to his One Rule of never killing anybody, yet some of the stuff he does, if you think about it, is WAY worse than just killing them. The sheer amount of broken limbs or concussions Batman leaves in his wake would result in dozens (hundreds?) of paralyzed, crippled, and otherwise handicapped criminals that are now left with no means of supporting themselves or their families, leaving them to become burdens on their families or the state. I would not be surprised if many of them wound up dying to suicide or substance abuse.
Considering that Krypton is light years away from Earth, the odds that any kryptonite actually arrives here and doesnt get vaporized by our atmosphere is probably quadrillions to one (if that). The entire concept is ludicrous to the n'th degree...
And unless Kryptonite can warp space/time any piece of it would still be light years away from Earth. The only pieces existing on Earth would have to arrive here inside Superman's own escape ship.
Considering that Krypton is light years away from Earth, the odds that any kryptonite actually arrives here and doesnt get vaporized by our atmosphere is probably quadrillions to one (if that). The entire concept is ludicrous to the n'th degree...
And unless Kryptonite can warp space/time any piece of it would still be light years away from Earth. The only pieces existing on Earth would have to arrive here inside Superman's own escape ship.
Superman was a 1930's concept that just hasn't aged well IMHO.
I mean, it seems kind of weird in this forum for Baldur's Gate, a game that takes place in a world with all sorts of fantastic elements, to call bull on a world with an underwater kingdom, or a minority group with special powers.
Like, it's not a documentary. They're not trying to trick you into thinking any of this stuff actually exists in the real world. It's a pretend space with like magic and stuff.
I am usually far more lenient with my fantasy than I am with my science-fiction. Then again, I much prefer "hard" science-fiction that attempts to stick closely to what we currently know about the laws of physics/chemistry/biology and the natural consequences that would result from our actions. Fantasy can get away with a lot more stuff because magic! How come we never heard of this mysterious society living right underneath the city before? Protection from Scrying spells, and they get all of their food from the Underdark. It's not quite the same with Aquaman's Atlantis, where if you consider the massive amount of fishing and exploitation we've done with the oceans over the last century, we'd HAVE to have come into contact with the Atlanteans much sooner than now.
I think the overlap between the capes genre and the fantasy genre is broader than you're giving it credit for.
Atlantis is both a technologically and magically advanced society. If magic is all it takes to smooth over the process in your eyes then the DC Universe has it in spades.
I think the more recent Arkham games and the "dark, gritty" batman movies have upped the violence a bit from the comics. In going out of their way to push a more "adult" Batman, they've shot themselve sin the foot with the brutality he displays.
I think the more recent Arkham games and the "dark, gritty" batman movies have upped the violence a bit from the comics. In going out of their way to push a more "adult" Batman, they've shot themselve sin the foot with the brutality he displays.
Well Arkham Knight, I am driving around in the Batmobile literally doing more damage than the rioters I am suppose to stop, headshotting them with alleged beanbag rounds fired out of a fricken cannon and electrocuting anyone not quick enough to get out of my way as I hit and run them at 100 km/h.
Batman pretends to be the good guy. He really isn’t.
I think the more recent Arkham games and the "dark, gritty" batman movies have upped the violence a bit from the comics. In going out of their way to push a more "adult" Batman, they've shot themselve sin the foot with the brutality he displays.
This is why I prefer the Animated Series. It knew how to be dark while maintaining enough restraint to be a kid's show which was the perfect formula for Batman. He seems to fit best in a dark and gritty setting, yes, but not at the expense of his purpose and values.
I think the more recent Arkham games and the "dark, gritty" batman movies have upped the violence a bit from the comics. In going out of their way to push a more "adult" Batman, they've shot themselve sin the foot with the brutality he displays.
This is why I prefer the Animated Series. It knew how to be dark while maintaining enough restraint to be a kid's show which was the perfect formula for Batman. He seems to fit best in a dark and gritty setting, yes, but not at the expense of his purpose and values.
That was actually a result of them trying to find ways around the tv rules they had to abide by, there were 10 things they were never allowed to show.
While i can't remember them all, there was actually a piece done by one of the creators with all 10 things they weren't allowed to put in batman tas.
Modern guns, the actually by passed the whole no gun thing by setting it in more 60s era and convincing the higher ups that kids parents don't just have Tommy guns laying around the house.
No extreme violence.
No depictions of blood wounds.
No nudity (Boooooooooooo)
No depiction of murder, despite all the stuff happen that people shouldn't survive, you never saw anyone really kill anyone. Don't get me wrong, you saw insinuation of death and murder but you never actually saw it. Again that was another work around.
Also the earlier batman movies were extremely violent, actually if you paid a lot of attention to them, batman killed a lot of people in then.
I think the more recent Arkham games and the "dark, gritty" batman movies have upped the violence a bit from the comics. In going out of their way to push a more "adult" Batman, they've shot themselve sin the foot with the brutality he displays.
This is why I prefer the Animated Series. It knew how to be dark while maintaining enough restraint to be a kid's show which was the perfect formula for Batman. He seems to fit best in a dark and gritty setting, yes, but not at the expense of his purpose and values.
That was actually a result of them trying to find ways around the tv rules they had to abide by, there were 10 things they were never allowed to show.
While i can't remember them all, there was actually a piece done by one of the creators with all 10 things they weren't allowed to put in batman tas.
Modern guns, the actually by passed the whole no gun thing by setting it in more 60s era and convincing the higher ups that kids parents don't just have Tommy guns laying around the house.
No extreme violence.
No depictions of blood wounds.
No nudity (Boooooooooooo)
No depiction of murder, despite all the stuff happen that people shouldn't survive, you never saw anyone really kill anyone. Don't get me wrong, you saw insinuation of death and murder but you never actually saw it. Again that was another work around.
Also the earlier batman movies were extremely violent, actually if you paid a lot of attention to them, batman killed a lot of people in then.
I think the more recent Arkham games and the "dark, gritty" batman movies have upped the violence a bit from the comics. In going out of their way to push a more "adult" Batman, they've shot themselve sin the foot with the brutality he displays.
This is why I prefer the Animated Series. It knew how to be dark while maintaining enough restraint to be a kid's show which was the perfect formula for Batman. He seems to fit best in a dark and gritty setting, yes, but not at the expense of his purpose and values.
That was actually a result of them trying to find ways around the tv rules they had to abide by, there were 10 things they were never allowed to show.
While i can't remember them all, there was actually a piece done by one of the creators with all 10 things they weren't allowed to put in batman tas.
Modern guns, the actually by passed the whole no gun thing by setting it in more 60s era and convincing the higher ups that kids parents don't just have Tommy guns laying around the house.
No extreme violence.
No depictions of blood wounds.
No nudity (Boooooooooooo)
No depiction of murder, despite all the stuff happen that people shouldn't survive, you never saw anyone really kill anyone. Don't get me wrong, you saw insinuation of death and murder but you never actually saw it. Again that was another work around.
Also the earlier batman movies were extremely violent, actually if you paid a lot of attention to them, batman killed a lot of people in then.
Why does this remind me of The Animaniacs?
It was the same rules since they were both WB
Yup, those very rules make for a Batman that has a no kill rule make more sense to me. And that's not to say he has to have those strict rules, just that when you dial back the violence his no kill rule makes more sense. Add all the violent parts back in to the extent that some of the more adult Batman story arcs do, and he sounds like a torturer more than a hero. Though I think some stories have done dark yet heroic Batman well without having to be a kids' show.
@DragonKing They REALLY skirted around those rules too. People died, they jsut couldn't SAY they died. My favorite is the assassin in (season 4 I think) that gassed himself so Batman couldn't interrogate him. He lies limp with his eyes wide open and is completely unresponsive. The line that seals it is priceless, "He totally erased his mind."
Not to mention the "crack house" episode. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when they somehow got THAT past censors.
I kinda give the Tim Burton Batman films a pass, as he has stated that he wasnted to do something different from Batman at the outset. Those films never gave Batman a no kill rule. He just straight up ended people.
@DragonKing They REALLY skirted around those rules too. People died, they jsut couldn't SAY they died. My favorite is the assassin in (season 4 I think) that gassed himself so Batman couldn't interrogate him. He lies limp with his eyes wide open and is completely unresponsive. The line that seals it is priceless, "He totally erased his mind."
Not to mention the "crack house" episode. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when they somehow got THAT past censors.
I kinda give the Tim Burton Batman films a pass, as he has stated that he wasnted to do something different from Batman at the outset. Those films never gave Batman a no kill rule. He just straight up ended people.
@ThacoBell we don't talk about season 4, it's the literally example of fixing something that wasn't broken. The only good thing that game out of that season was scarecrow's design.
Despite how much I don't like the Batman mythos, BAS was a pure work of art and genius.
The whole batman no kill rule was more modern creation to my knowledge. I personally find it kind of stupid seeing how he gets put against people and being that the only literal way to stop them would be death.
I mean heck... I blame batman for majority of the Jokers antics because batman is just encouraging him at this point.
There is no realistic way you can do what Batman does and not kill someone at some point.
@mlnevese now take this with a grain of salt as batman one of my least favorite comic characters.
But to my knowledge early batman actually had no big problem with killing when needed. The whole no killing thing is a more modern day thing. Batman literally had a batgun and bat swords in his early comics.
Ok found it, and it was by Timm Bruce.
If this is pushing the rules than mods please let me know or just delete it.
It was 9 not 10 and as I said they bent and even outright broke these rules.
1. guns
2. Drugs
3. breaking glass.
4. Alcohol
5. Nudity
6. Child endangerment
7. Smoking
8. Religion
9. Strangulation
Talking about Batman how comes he still has a secret identity when he needs to manufacture all his personalized equipment? The Batmobile alone would generate enough paper and money trail to shout to the world Bruce Wayne either was Batman or was sponsoring him.
@mlnevese
Because he supposedly does t pay for any of it directly. He is supposedly paying for EVERYTHING through hundreds of different spread out companies and accounts.
What annoys me is actually his whole depiction in the media... I get the whole "gothems most eligible bachelor" thing what I don't get is how is he both viewed in the media as a billionaire Playboy and a secretive recluse. Those things literally contradict each other. It would be like calling me a bloody annoying optimist and a down right depressing pessimist at the same time.
@DragonKing Eh, aside from some of the character redesigns, I think season 4 was still really good. The episode where Commissoner Gordon goes to war against Batman might be my favorite "what if" story out there.
*edit* Oh and they DEFINITELY outright broke every one of those rules except for "nudity". *edit*
And yes, you are 100% that early batman didn't have a no kill rule. Back when DC actually went by "Detective Comics", Batmans cape and cowl were bright purple and he basically just murdered criminals (sometimes with guns!) left and right. He was also a very different character than what we think of as "Batman" today though. He didn't get popular until later, after some changes.
@ThacoBell
Thatl's the problem though, BAS worked so well becausae there was a level of unison that made everything work like a thousand piece puzzle perfectly put together... Still don't know how my gram gram finished those things but she did!
It's design withbits story built this mostly down to earth world that felt real, and had weight to it. Character even the surreal ones looked like and felt like they were believable in that world.
A lot of those changes broke it, even some of the ones I did like like scarecrow...
And then don't get me started on this...
The original design fit in the world, on top of feeling anf looking like grown mature women. Compared to their change that makes one likes more like a playful teenager and the other like a teen goth.
Also I hated the whole what of episode because it was just a dream sequence. That annoyed me more than anything. Instead of it being a episode where Bruce has to come to terms with his actions and realize he can't just keep pulling thea kids into this world with him.
Also, I hated backgirls design. I get it, I'm a designer and illustrator. They wanted, no needed to give babara her own look instead of just having her copy the batman. But really, yellow? That's just as bad as Robin wearing that freaking bright red outfit when part of their whole schnick is they are ninjas with a bat fetish xD.
@DragonKing Catwoman's design WAS terrible. No arguments here. I think most of the redesigns were neutral changes though. This is of course, entirely subjective though. I completely get hating the dream thing though, that's why I qualified it as a "what if?" scenario.
The funny thing is, this problem is in real life too. Why does the US Navy have blue camouflage? Do they want their men harder to be seen when they go overboard? What is pink camouflage for, hiding in the flowers of Holland?
I have always thought it strange when superheroes or video game characters are supposed to be going on a covert mission and are wearing their usual conspicuous clothing. Maybe that's why Captain America's shield looks like a target, so they shoot at that instead of the rest of his easily seen costume.
I do think The Boys takes a refreshing stance on superhero morality. While it can be satisfying to have the kind of stories that test those morals with Batman, Superman, etc. it can also be satisfying to abandon that trope and explore just where that goes.
I do like superhero fiction but I tend to think that the darker takes are more realistic.
I never understood the logic of a flying hero just stopping someone's fall. Would it just break the person's bones just as if he had hit the floor? Wouldn't it be a better idea to slowly diminish the falling person speed?
I never understood the logic of a flying hero just stopping someone's fall. Would it just break the person's bones just as if he had hit the floor? Wouldn't it be a better idea to slowly diminish the falling person speed?
I think about that when I see it too. They seem to get (at least usually) the physics with stopping trains--have the hero move with the force of the train so they slow it down, not stop it suddenly. But for some reason heroes don't fall a ways and slowly come to a stop when they catch somebody.
I never understood the logic of a flying hero just stopping someone's fall. Would it just break the person's bones just as if he had hit the floor? Wouldn't it be a better idea to slowly diminish the falling person speed?
I never understood the logic of a flying hero just stopping someone's fall. Would it just break the person's bones just as if he had hit the floor? Wouldn't it be a better idea to slowly diminish the falling person speed?
It would probably break the frail human's body into several parts, severed by the superhero's invulnerable arms. But I suspect most superheroes find out the hard way, learn from their mistakes, and just "forget" to advertise their initial blunders in superheroism.
I never understood the logic of a flying hero just stopping someone's fall. Would it just break the person's bones just as if he had hit the floor? Wouldn't it be a better idea to slowly diminish the falling person speed?
It would probably break the frail human's body into several parts, severed by the superhero's invulnerable arms. But I suspect most superheroes find out the hard way, learn from their mistakes, and just "forget" to advertise their initial blunders in superheroism.
Well the sale of toys would suffer a severe hit if everyone discovered little Billy is now tetraplegic.
I never understood the logic of a flying hero just stopping someone's fall. Would it just break the person's bones just as if he had hit the floor? Wouldn't it be a better idea to slowly diminish the falling person speed?
It would probably break the frail human's body into several parts, severed by the superhero's invulnerable arms. But I suspect most superheroes find out the hard way, learn from their mistakes, and just "forget" to advertise their initial blunders in superheroism.
Well the sale of toys would suffer a severe hit if everyone discovered little Billy is now tetraplegic.
I never understood the logic of a flying hero just stopping someone's fall. Would it just break the person's bones just as if he had hit the floor? Wouldn't it be a better idea to slowly diminish the falling person speed?
It would probably break the frail human's body into several parts, severed by the superhero's invulnerable arms. But I suspect most superheroes find out the hard way, learn from their mistakes, and just "forget" to advertise their initial blunders in superheroism.
Well the sale of toys would suffer a severe hit if everyone discovered little Billy is now tetraplegic.
Sadly, there is not much overlap between "superheroes" and "logic", just like there is not much overlap between "superheroes" and "physics". That being said, the genre is not supposed to follow logic or physics--superhero stories are normally myths about demigods.
The plotline which most people never follow, the one which would *actually* happen in the "real" world, is that supers would be conscripted by their respective governments, making them some specialized branch of their military or intelligence organizations (think CIA but with super powers). The other highly likely scenario is that ultimately supers run the world--at some point, conscripting all the supers into one unit means they realize they have the power to take over and run things the "correct" way. Alternatively, we have World War S where nations go to war and pit their super militaries against one another, with the resuling battles between groups of titans devastating cities. Actually, that is what would probably cause the supers to band together and take over--they get tired of being pawns and their collateral damage killing thousands of people.
The Shadow is still one of my favorite--and most likely--characters. Someone robbed a store? Not worth his time...unless he happens to catch the burglar in the act, which would probably result in him scaring the criminal into confessing to the police. Commit a more heinous act? Police will find your bullet-ridden corpse along with evidence linking you to the crimes you committed.
Secret identies? In a world where telepaths are possible? No, one government telepath and there are no more secret identities. Of course, this is why Batman could not defeat even a mid-level telepath--not only would the telepath sense him, but could either put him to sleep or freeze him in place. Yes, I know--"but what about his ninja training?" or "but he has non-telepath mind shield techniques he learned from someone in some exotic location". I don't care how smart someone thinks they are--no one is prepared for *every* situation. Yes, in my opinion he is overrated.
Comments
I am usually far more lenient with my fantasy than I am with my science-fiction.
Heh, yeah. I always thought it kinda funny how Batman clings so fiercely to his One Rule of never killing anybody, yet some of the stuff he does, if you think about it, is WAY worse than just killing them. The sheer amount of broken limbs or concussions Batman leaves in his wake would result in dozens (hundreds?) of paralyzed, crippled, and otherwise handicapped criminals that are now left with no means of supporting themselves or their families, leaving them to become burdens on their families or the state. I would not be surprised if many of them wound up dying to suicide or substance abuse.
And unless Kryptonite can warp space/time any piece of it would still be light years away from Earth. The only pieces existing on Earth would have to arrive here inside Superman's own escape ship.
Superman was a 1930's concept that just hasn't aged well IMHO.
I think the overlap between the capes genre and the fantasy genre is broader than you're giving it credit for.
Atlantis is both a technologically and magically advanced society. If magic is all it takes to smooth over the process in your eyes then the DC Universe has it in spades.
Well Arkham Knight, I am driving around in the Batmobile literally doing more damage than the rioters I am suppose to stop, headshotting them with alleged beanbag rounds fired out of a fricken cannon and electrocuting anyone not quick enough to get out of my way as I hit and run them at 100 km/h.
Batman pretends to be the good guy. He really isn’t.
This is why I prefer the Animated Series. It knew how to be dark while maintaining enough restraint to be a kid's show which was the perfect formula for Batman. He seems to fit best in a dark and gritty setting, yes, but not at the expense of his purpose and values.
While i can't remember them all, there was actually a piece done by one of the creators with all 10 things they weren't allowed to put in batman tas.
Modern guns, the actually by passed the whole no gun thing by setting it in more 60s era and convincing the higher ups that kids parents don't just have Tommy guns laying around the house.
No extreme violence.
No depictions of blood wounds.
No nudity (Boooooooooooo)
No depiction of murder, despite all the stuff happen that people shouldn't survive, you never saw anyone really kill anyone. Don't get me wrong, you saw insinuation of death and murder but you never actually saw it. Again that was another work around.
Also the earlier batman movies were extremely violent, actually if you paid a lot of attention to them, batman killed a lot of people in then.
Why does this remind me of The Animaniacs?
It was the same rules since they were both WB
Yup, those very rules make for a Batman that has a no kill rule make more sense to me. And that's not to say he has to have those strict rules, just that when you dial back the violence his no kill rule makes more sense. Add all the violent parts back in to the extent that some of the more adult Batman story arcs do, and he sounds like a torturer more than a hero. Though I think some stories have done dark yet heroic Batman well without having to be a kids' show.
Not to mention the "crack house" episode. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when they somehow got THAT past censors.
I kinda give the Tim Burton Batman films a pass, as he has stated that he wasnted to do something different from Batman at the outset. Those films never gave Batman a no kill rule. He just straight up ended people.
@ThacoBell we don't talk about season 4, it's the literally example of fixing something that wasn't broken. The only good thing that game out of that season was scarecrow's design.
Despite how much I don't like the Batman mythos, BAS was a pure work of art and genius.
The whole batman no kill rule was more modern creation to my knowledge. I personally find it kind of stupid seeing how he gets put against people and being that the only literal way to stop them would be death.
I mean heck... I blame batman for majority of the Jokers antics because batman is just encouraging him at this point.
@mlnevese now take this with a grain of salt as batman one of my least favorite comic characters.
But to my knowledge early batman actually had no big problem with killing when needed. The whole no killing thing is a more modern day thing. Batman literally had a batgun and bat swords in his early comics.
If this is pushing the rules than mods please let me know or just delete it.
It was 9 not 10 and as I said they bent and even outright broke these rules.
1. guns
2. Drugs
3. breaking glass.
4. Alcohol
5. Nudity
6. Child endangerment
7. Smoking
8. Religion
9. Strangulation
...
Because he supposedly does t pay for any of it directly. He is supposedly paying for EVERYTHING through hundreds of different spread out companies and accounts.
What annoys me is actually his whole depiction in the media... I get the whole "gothems most eligible bachelor" thing what I don't get is how is he both viewed in the media as a billionaire Playboy and a secretive recluse. Those things literally contradict each other. It would be like calling me a bloody annoying optimist and a down right depressing pessimist at the same time.
*edit* Oh and they DEFINITELY outright broke every one of those rules except for "nudity". *edit*
And yes, you are 100% that early batman didn't have a no kill rule. Back when DC actually went by "Detective Comics", Batmans cape and cowl were bright purple and he basically just murdered criminals (sometimes with guns!) left and right. He was also a very different character than what we think of as "Batman" today though. He didn't get popular until later, after some changes.
Thatl's the problem though, BAS worked so well becausae there was a level of unison that made everything work like a thousand piece puzzle perfectly put together... Still don't know how my gram gram finished those things but she did!
It's design withbits story built this mostly down to earth world that felt real, and had weight to it. Character even the surreal ones looked like and felt like they were believable in that world.
A lot of those changes broke it, even some of the ones I did like like scarecrow...
And then don't get me started on this...
The original design fit in the world, on top of feeling anf looking like grown mature women. Compared to their change that makes one likes more like a playful teenager and the other like a teen goth.
Also I hated the whole what of episode because it was just a dream sequence. That annoyed me more than anything. Instead of it being a episode where Bruce has to come to terms with his actions and realize he can't just keep pulling thea kids into this world with him.
Also, I hated backgirls design. I get it, I'm a designer and illustrator. They wanted, no needed to give babara her own look instead of just having her copy the batman. But really, yellow? That's just as bad as Robin wearing that freaking bright red outfit when part of their whole schnick is they are ninjas with a bat fetish xD.
Bright colorful ninjas are a tradition
The funny thing is, this problem is in real life too. Why does the US Navy have blue camouflage? Do they want their men harder to be seen when they go overboard? What is pink camouflage for, hiding in the flowers of Holland?
I have always thought it strange when superheroes or video game characters are supposed to be going on a covert mission and are wearing their usual conspicuous clothing. Maybe that's why Captain America's shield looks like a target, so they shoot at that instead of the rest of his easily seen costume.
I do like superhero fiction but I tend to think that the darker takes are more realistic.
I think about that when I see it too. They seem to get (at least usually) the physics with stopping trains--have the hero move with the force of the train so they slow it down, not stop it suddenly. But for some reason heroes don't fall a ways and slowly come to a stop when they catch somebody.
I mean... Gwen Stacey.
It would probably break the frail human's body into several parts, severed by the superhero's invulnerable arms. But I suspect most superheroes find out the hard way, learn from their mistakes, and just "forget" to advertise their initial blunders in superheroism.
Well the sale of toys would suffer a severe hit if everyone discovered little Billy is now tetraplegic.
Forgive me.
The plotline which most people never follow, the one which would *actually* happen in the "real" world, is that supers would be conscripted by their respective governments, making them some specialized branch of their military or intelligence organizations (think CIA but with super powers). The other highly likely scenario is that ultimately supers run the world--at some point, conscripting all the supers into one unit means they realize they have the power to take over and run things the "correct" way. Alternatively, we have World War S where nations go to war and pit their super militaries against one another, with the resuling battles between groups of titans devastating cities. Actually, that is what would probably cause the supers to band together and take over--they get tired of being pawns and their collateral damage killing thousands of people.
The Shadow is still one of my favorite--and most likely--characters. Someone robbed a store? Not worth his time...unless he happens to catch the burglar in the act, which would probably result in him scaring the criminal into confessing to the police. Commit a more heinous act? Police will find your bullet-ridden corpse along with evidence linking you to the crimes you committed.
Secret identies? In a world where telepaths are possible? No, one government telepath and there are no more secret identities. Of course, this is why Batman could not defeat even a mid-level telepath--not only would the telepath sense him, but could either put him to sleep or freeze him in place. Yes, I know--"but what about his ninja training?" or "but he has non-telepath mind shield techniques he learned from someone in some exotic location". I don't care how smart someone thinks they are--no one is prepared for *every* situation. Yes, in my opinion he is overrated.