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Joe Hollon
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 13675
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| Posted: 22 November 2014 at 8:07am | IP Logged | 1
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I just finished reading a story from MARVEL TEAM-UP #41-44 in which the depiction of Scarlet Witch's power took me out of the story a couple times and left me scratching my head. At one point she basically conjures a swarm of bees out of no where to attack a foe. Later, she uses her powers to summon Moondragon from the future and transport her back through time to aide the heroes in their battle. Both of these seemed....wrong. I would say I have never really felt I had a grasp on how Wanda's powers worked but I think I would've described them as a sort of "probability manipulation." Basically, she could put a "hex" on something and make something bad happen to it that was likely to happen as some point anyway. Like if you were taking a shower and she "hexed" you, you might slip and fall. Or she might make some water pipes rupture over your head or something like that.
What do you guys think? How do they work? How should they work?
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Wallace Sellars
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Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17670
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| Posted: 22 November 2014 at 8:52am | IP Logged | 2
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Joe, I prefer the early Scarlet Witch whose powers caused mishaps
over the later one who became a true witch with magical abilities.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 22 November 2014 at 9:58am | IP Logged | 3
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Wanda did learn "real magic" from Agatha Harkness, which I felt pretty much ruined her as a character. Originally, she pointed and people had "bad luck." That wasn't sufficient for later writers, of course, and it was explained that she "altered probabilities." But along the way, the "real magic" came in, and she went from interesting to -- in MU terms -- ordinary.
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Stephen Robinson
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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| Posted: 22 November 2014 at 10:15am | IP Logged | 4
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The original powers were very Marvel. Once she became Zatanna, she
was very DC.
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Joe Hollon
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Joined: 08 May 2004
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| Posted: 22 November 2014 at 11:10am | IP Logged | 5
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Aha! That explains it. Most of my familiarity with Wanda comes from her early X-MEN appearances. I was not aware of her officially learning "real" magic at some point. I agree it diminishes the character and makes her less interesting. Funny side note: in the story I'm referencing when she summons Moondragon from the future she even thinks to herself "somehow my last hex spell brought Moondragon here..." That confused me even more, like even she doesn't know how her powers work. Weird.
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Andrew W. Farago
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Joined: 19 July 2005
Location: United States
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| Posted: 22 November 2014 at 12:55pm | IP Logged | 6
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like even she doesn't know how her powers work
I think that was a pretty accurate description. Her powers seemed to be whatever worked for any given battle. You don't want her to be able to stop the entire Masters of Evil team by wiggling her fingers at them, but you don't want her to have no chance of winning a battle, either. It's a lot harder to figure out a power like that than when you've got something more straightforward like a character with super strength.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 22 November 2014 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | 7
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What really made Wanda's power interesting, to me as a teenager, was that she did not control it. When she pointed, she knew it would have negative consequences for anyone who was in the way, but she had no idea what those consequences might be. Being threatened by a gun nut with an automatic rifle, for instance, she could point and the gun might jam -- or explode -- or be loaded with duds -- or a safe could fall on the gunman! It was entirely random.
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Jeffrey Rice
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Joined: 10 September 2011
Location: United States
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| Posted: 23 November 2014 at 1:05am | IP Logged | 8
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If only her power stayed like that. Maybe Avengers "Dis-Assembled" would never have been written.
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Lars Sandmark
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Joined: 05 October 2007
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| Posted: 23 November 2014 at 9:36am | IP Logged | 9
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Maybe Bendis would have never been born!
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Brian O'Neill
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| Posted: 23 November 2014 at 9:55am | IP Logged | 10
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"Strange...my probability power restored Jim Shooter as the writer! I didn't know it was capable of such a thing!"
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 23 November 2014 at 11:33am | IP Logged | 11
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"Strange...my probability power restored Jim Shooter as the writer! I didn't know it was capable of such a thing!"•• Shooter WAS restored as the writer, briefly. It turned out to be most IMprobable, tho.
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Stephen Robinson
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| Posted: 23 November 2014 at 1:35pm | IP Logged | 12
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I love the Scarlet Witch but I often have to remind myself
she's a mutant. Partly because of her association with The
Avengers, but also because her "hex" powers just feel like
magic. Sure, Spider-Man and Dardevil's powers aren't based
in real-world science but there's a reasonable "fantasy
science" about them, but I've never been able to fit
Wanda's abilities in the "fantasy science" realm.
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Topic Closed)
