Byrne Robotics: Scarlet Witch’s Hex Power

The John Byrne Forum
Byrne Robotics > The John Byrne Forum		<< Prev Page of 3

Topic: Scarlet Witch’s Hex Power (

Topic Closed)

Author

Message

John Byrne
Avatar

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132263

Posted: 25 November 2014 at 6:04am \| IP Logged \| 1

I don't see why she should have actual magical powers at all.

••

It's literalization, the bane of superheroes. "She's call 'the Scarlet WITCH', right? So she should BE a witch!"

Just be glad Quicksilver hasn't been revealed to be actually made of mercury, or Cyclops give only one eye!

profile | search

Stephen Robinson
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5835

Posted: 25 November 2014 at 10:00am \| IP Logged \| 2

I'd mentioned before that it's Marvel turning into DC in
two ways: 1) A "simple" ability becomes amped up to 11
(I think this also happened to Ice Man) and 2) the
characters drift from "fantasy science" to outright
"magic" (Red Kryptonite turning Superman into a talking
dog and so on).

I think originally Spider-Man's strength -- if
quantified at all -- was probably that of "ten men" --
he could lift a car over his head. Impressive! But
eventually, he could lift 10 tons! Which pulls him out
of "street-level" reality.

profile | search | www

Frank Blyberg
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 07 October 2013
Posts: 3

Posted: 25 November 2014 at 11:02am \| IP Logged \| 3

A tiny defense of Steve Englehart's decision to add "magic" to her power set: the character's mutant power had already become hopelessly confusing, in part because the code name "witch" made writers keep shoving her into magical situations. (The first thing Roy Thomas did when bringing her and Pietro back to the Avengers was have her recite a spell that brought Arkon The Magnificent to her world.) Englehart didn't make it any less confusing, but at least the story of her training in witchcraft and learning to control and channel her powers was a nice way of growing the character. (Unfortunately Englehart "grew" Wanda and Vision too far and turned them into a bland suburban couple with cute kids.)

Ever since then it seems like any attempt to simplify her powers is doomed. Kurt Busiek tried to bind all the stories together into one simple thing by going back to the Chthon story JB drew - where he reveals he "endowed her with magical potential" - and explaining that her "bad luck power" and "probability alteration" all came from Chthon's magic. This was supposed to be so writers didn't have to keep going back and forth between three different powers, but they continued to do so anyway, and now her powers are even more confused than they were before.

The film version seems to be following in this tradition by giving her both telekinetic powers and the power to mess with people's minds - powers that don't really go together. She just does whatever is necessary for the plot.

Edited by Frank Blyberg on 25 November 2014 at 11:02am

profile | search

Jeremy Simington
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 10 April 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 687

Posted: 25 November 2014 at 7:48pm \| IP Logged \| 4

FRANK BLYBERG: The film version seems to be following in this tradition by giving her both telekinetic powers and the power to mess with people's minds

What the hell? Why can't she just have her normal hex powers? Stupid stupid stupid.

profile | search

Sorry, you can NOT post a reply.
This topic is closed.

<< Prev Page of 3

Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum