5.1 KiB
An SMBC that's quite relevant to rational fantasy stories in particular, and rational stories in general
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Author: u/waylandertheslayer *
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Score: 97
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Created: 2016-11-01T21:27:25
Post:
Comments:
u/SvalbardCaretaker [+45] Mouse Army (40 minutes later)
Well if we are doing SMBC now:
http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2305 on optimal superman use.
u/zarraha [+35] (2 hours later)
I think the main part missing here is where they pay him an obscene amount of cash (even a tiny fraction of what he's producing would go a long way) so when he gets replaced he can retire in luxury and doesn't need a new job.
u/Evan_Th [+27] Sunshine Regiment (3 hours later)
Maybe they did and he still felt lost without a purpose to his life? I mean, canonically, he went so far as to get a day job with a newspaper rather than lounge about.
u/CeruleanTresses [+9] (9 hours later)
Why would he even need to lounge about? He could just do even more superheroing instead.
u/Evan_Th [+3] Sunshine Regiment (17 hours later)
Where? The comic shows him trying - but there wasn't any opportunity.
u/CeruleanTresses [+2] (19 hours later)
Wait, are we talking about the SMBC strip or the Superman canon? Since you said canonically, I thought you were talking about the Superman canon, where he has a day job at a newspaper when he could be spending that time helping people.
u/Evan_Th [+2] Sunshine Regiment (20 hours later)
Oops, I misunderstood what you were talking about! You're right; as far as I know (which isn't very far...), the comics never really address that issue.
u/A_Common_Hero [+3] (3 days later)
Its definitely a case where it depends on the writer, but the standard explanation is that Superman is still very human-like in how his brain operates. In some cases he can perform feats of mental fortitude that surpass humans, but he still has limits. Essentially, he doesn't just, "Do more superheroing instead," for the same reason most of us can't sit down and do our jobs for sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. It has bad side effects for your mental health. This fact that he can't just be everywhere at once and do everything he wishes he could even though he is capable of doing much more than a normal person tends to be at the core of most well written Superman stories (although the example of why he spends time at the Daily Planet is rarely addressed directly).
u/TBestIG [+13] Every second of quibbling is another dead baby (2 hours later)
"Every second of quibbling is another dead baby"
I'm making that my flair
u/ArgentStonecutter [+16] Emergency Mustelid Hologram (3 hours later)
http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/06/02/and-i-show-you-how-deep-the-rabbit-hole-goes/
u/gabbalis [+7] (21 hours later)
On the other hand, SMBC has Thouroughly established that Supes is Evil ^^[1][2][3][4][5][6] , soooo...
u/puesyomero [+14] The Culture (3 hours later)
there is a story somewhere that had a word with a periodic problem with an adapting evil force and resorted to summon a hero every time.
turns out that world was the result of anthropic bias and 9 out of 10 heroes actually failed and that world ended.
u/waylandertheslayer [+17] (3 hours later)
The Hero With A Thousand Chances by Eliezer Yudkowsky, I assume? I really liked that the first time I read it, but it doesn't have the same rereading power as something like Three Worlds Collide.
u/puesyomero [+5] The Culture (3 hours later)
that's the one. I did not even see who the author was till the end when the vocabulary started to get wordy and it all made sense. :)
u/Krossfireo [+2] (23 hours later)
Yeah, EY writes some great stuff, but sometimes he needs a solid editor to get some of the cruft out
u/dalr3th1n [+8] (5 hours later)
He also wrote "A girl corrupted by the Internet is the summoned hero?" which is another interesting rational take on the same trope.
u/LupoCani [+3] (3 months later)
Um, I just stumbled upon this while browsing /r/rational top-of-all-time. Could you perhaps spoiler-tag that last part?
u/Dwood15 [+3] (an hour later)
I mean, they have a point...
u/Aegeus [+3] (a day later)
Yeah, but when a hero doesn't answer the call to adventure, it usually results in his village getting burned down, so he probably made the right choice.
u/ArgentStonecutter [+2] Emergency Mustelid Hologram (3 hours later)
He had me at panel 3.