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The impression that I get is that he performs complex calculations in real time. It doesn't seem like psychic ability to me.
Matt, we're going to forever dance around Black Panther, aren't we? I suppose it helps that T'Challa really does tend to know better than the people around him. Cho, not so much. He's still young.
The BP reference was tongue-in-cheek, but like all jokes there's a grain of truth: both Cho and BP are written by their current writers as arrogant and inexplicably able to beat people far outside of their class.
BP, for example, is canonically less intelligent than both Stark and Richards, and yet his writers consistently have him outsmarting them in embarrassing ways (like the idiotic attempt to plant a bug on BP).
Cho does the same thing. Worse, the kid is intentionally written as a jerk, beyond naive, who thinks he knows more about situations than the people intimately involved in those situations.
As for Peggy on King of the Hill, my point was just that she's written as thinking she's far smarter than she is, while consistently believing she's the first person to think of something ("In my opinion, kindling is the best way to start a fire", etc.) or the most insightful person in the room. She's not as bad as Cho, but rather similar in form.
Now, I cannot imagine how any of you think Cho could possibly be a non-powered individual: conceptually, I ask you this, how could a normal human have an intellect anywhere near Richards or Stark, given that their intellect is canonically described as orders of magnitude greater than normal humans? Such a suggestion just seems out of line with his behavior. Worse, the graphics showing him to perform actual calculations of trajectories etc. in real time makes it impossible that he's not superhuman.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was under the distinct impression that Richards and Stark had their intelligence prior to any kind of powers. I could see Richards being smarter afterwards perhaps, but until very recently I thought Starks only "powers" were a byproduct of his natural intelligence.
Given that, why is it so impossible that others may be the same? Of course they are smarter than "normal" humans (a better term probably being "average" humans), but that doesn't mean they have an exclusive on it.
Virral on
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was under the distinct impression that Richards and Stark had their intelligence prior to any kind of powers. I could see Richards being smarter afterwards perhaps, but until very recently I thought Starks only "powers" were a byproduct of his natural intelligence.
Given that, why is it so impossible that others may be the same? Of course they are smarter than "normal" humans (a better term probably being "average" humans), but that doesn't mean they have an exclusive on it.
What? Maybe Extremis did something to Stark, but that'd be fairly recent, he's just normally a smart guy. And while I've seen mentions of Reed's flexible brain increasing his thinking skills, I can't remember if they've actually said that about the 616 version, and he's always been smart too.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell. He'd pull off some fancy ricochet shot, and it'd look like he was just Bullseye Jr. or something. If the comics are going to keep saying he's human, I'll believe it.
Scooter on
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
What? Maybe Extremis did something to Stark, but that'd be fairly recent, he's just normally a smart guy. And while I've seen mentions of Reed's flexible brain increasing his thinking skills, I can't remember if they've actually said that about the 616 version, and he's always been smart too.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell. He'd pull off some fancy ricochet shot, and it'd look like he was just Bullseye Jr. or something. If the comics are going to keep saying he's human, I'll believe it.
I will agree that he's about as superhuman as Bullseye is. (That is to say, not officially, but fuck it, he counts)
T'Challa "outsmarting" Reed and Tony is actually pretty easy to explain, and the train of thought justifying it is pretty plausible. First, he's pretty smart in his own right, though I wouldn't put him near their category. Second, being wary of others, almost to the point of paranoia, is normal for T'Challa. Third, given his lack of major powers and super intellect, T'Challa has made a point to be knowledgable about and prepared for any situation (olol Batman). Fourth, it's reasonable to think that Reed or Tony would assume, because they're smarter, they can pull one over on T'Challa. Combined, these explain the last couple of encounters he's had with Reed and Tony. When I wrote in my first comic that BP has known how to beat Spidey for years, I was making a joke, but I'd put money on that actually being true. The way he's being written by every writer at Marvel right now, that's essentially the way he'd think.
Cho, I think, is essentially T'Challa, but without the life experience, inherent distrust of others, and physical capabilities. He's got lots more brain power, of course, but it's not necessarily serving him well right now. The problem with the super smart is that they always assume they'll be able to outsmart their problems, and Cho is only now finding out that's not always the case.
I still don't think he's super powered, any more than Reed was before he became Mr. Fantastic or Tony was before he was Iron Man. Those calculations aren't floating in the air for everyone to see; they're a neat little effect for the reader's benefit, to make Cho's relatively mundane actions (throwing a rock) look cool.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was under the distinct impression that Richards and Stark had their intelligence prior to any kind of powers. I could see Richards being smarter afterwards perhaps, but until very recently I thought Starks only "powers" were a byproduct of his natural intelligence.
Given that, why is it so impossible that others may be the same? Of course they are smarter than "normal" humans (a better term probably being "average" humans), but that doesn't mean they have an exclusive on it.
You're right that Richards and Stark were both geniuses before they got powers, but you're wrong in seemingly believing that their current mental abilities aren't radically beyond what they originally were.
616-Reed hasn't explicitly attributed this genius to his neurons being stretchy, like U-Reed, but the fact that Reed consistently is described as the smartest person on the planet for decades of comic history (though now he's somewhere in the top ten), not to mention that he invents stuff orders of magnitude of development beyond what anyone else on the planet can do, should make it clear that his genius is not natural.
Stark designed his armor's tech as a normal human, but NOW he's extremis-jacked to superhuman intelligence. The relevant comparison then is Cho's insane claim that he's not superhuman while 'outsmarting' people who RIGHT NOW have superhuman intelligence, like Stark and Richards.
Moreover as someone mentioned, the fact that we're given illustrations of his thought processes, and those thought processes are literal calculations instead of the normal human responses, should indicate that he's superhuman.
I just want the character dead. After that, we can conduct however thorough a postmortem as anyone wants.
What? Maybe Extremis did something to Stark, but that'd be fairly recent, he's just normally a smart guy. And while I've seen mentions of Reed's flexible brain increasing his thinking skills, I can't remember if they've actually said that about the 616 version, and he's always been smart too.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell. He'd pull off some fancy ricochet shot, and it'd look like he was just Bullseye Jr. or something. If the comics are going to keep saying he's human, I'll believe it.
I will agree that he's about as superhuman as Bullseye is. (That is to say, not officially, but fuck it, he counts)
Um, Bullseye has an adamantium-coated spine. The mere fact that he's capable of surviving that (given that adamantium is hemo-toxic) indicates he's superhuman to some degree. Add in the fact that he's canonically shown accelerating projectiles to impossible speeds (e.g. cards, nails, etc.) and it doesn't matter what editorial says. If you depict someone doing something that only superhumans can do, then you're just an idiot if you claim he's not superhuman (the "you" that's an idiot here is the writer/editor, not any poster here, btw).
What? Maybe Extremis did something to Stark, but that'd be fairly recent, he's just normally a smart guy. And while I've seen mentions of Reed's flexible brain increasing his thinking skills, I can't remember if they've actually said that about the 616 version, and he's always been smart too.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell. He'd pull off some fancy ricochet shot, and it'd look like he was just Bullseye Jr. or something. If the comics are going to keep saying he's human, I'll believe it.
I will agree that he's about as superhuman as Bullseye is. (That is to say, not officially, but fuck it, he counts)
Um, Bullseye has an adamantium-coated spine. The mere fact that he's capable of surviving that (given that adamantium is hemo-toxic) indicates he's superhuman to some degree. Add in the fact that he's canonically shown accelerating projectiles to impossible speeds (e.g. cards, nails, etc.) and it doesn't matter what editorial says. If you depict someone doing something that only superhumans can do, then you're just an idiot if you claim he's not superhuman (the "you" that's an idiot here is the writer/editor, not any poster here, btw).
Being able to blow anything up with a precisely thrown object
must count for something.
What? Maybe Extremis did something to Stark, but that'd be fairly recent, he's just normally a smart guy. And while I've seen mentions of Reed's flexible brain increasing his thinking skills, I can't remember if they've actually said that about the 616 version, and he's always been smart too.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell. He'd pull off some fancy ricochet shot, and it'd look like he was just Bullseye Jr. or something. If the comics are going to keep saying he's human, I'll believe it.
I will agree that he's about as superhuman as Bullseye is. (That is to say, not officially, but fuck it, he counts)
Um, Bullseye has an adamantium-coated spine. The mere fact that he's capable of surviving that (given that adamantium is hemo-toxic) indicates he's superhuman to some degree. Add in the fact that he's canonically shown accelerating projectiles to impossible speeds (e.g. cards, nails, etc.) and it doesn't matter what editorial says. If you depict someone doing something that only superhumans can do, then you're just an idiot if you claim he's not superhuman (the "you" that's an idiot here is the writer/editor, not any poster here, btw).
It was one thing that always bugged me about the Teen Titans cartoon. You'd have Robin, who's drawn as weighing maybe 80 pounds, kicking a giant 10-ton monster in the chest, and the monster falls down. A normal human couldn't kick that hard, even Spider-Man probably couldn't kick that hard. So you basically have a nominally-human character doing superhuman stuff. It's not consistent, but it happens a lot in comics.
What? Maybe Extremis did something to Stark, but that'd be fairly recent, he's just normally a smart guy. And while I've seen mentions of Reed's flexible brain increasing his thinking skills, I can't remember if they've actually said that about the 616 version, and he's always been smart too.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell. He'd pull off some fancy ricochet shot, and it'd look like he was just Bullseye Jr. or something. If the comics are going to keep saying he's human, I'll believe it.
I will agree that he's about as superhuman as Bullseye is. (That is to say, not officially, but fuck it, he counts)
Um, Bullseye has an adamantium-coated spine. The mere fact that he's capable of surviving that (given that adamantium is hemo-toxic) indicates he's superhuman to some degree. Add in the fact that he's canonically shown accelerating projectiles to impossible speeds (e.g. cards, nails, etc.) and it doesn't matter what editorial says. If you depict someone doing something that only superhumans can do, then you're just an idiot if you claim he's not superhuman (the "you" that's an idiot here is the writer/editor, not any poster here, btw).
It was one thing that always bugged me about the Teen Titans cartoon. You'd have Robin, who's drawn as weighing maybe 80 pounds, kicking a giant 10-ton monster in the chest, and the monster falls down. A normal human couldn't kick that hard, even Spider-Man probably couldn't kick that hard. So you basically have a nominally-human character doing superhuman stuff. It's not consistent, but it happens a lot in comics.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell.
I really think its just there to show what kind of crazy math he can do in his head. People train to be able to do huge calculations, it takes years, but it works. It is beyond the capability of your "average" person but the people doing these calculations aren't superhuman.
Also, I like Cho because he's fucking around with Stark and Richards. I hate both of them due to CW. The enemy of my enemy makes me smile when he fucks them over. That's all there is to it.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was under the distinct impression that Richards and Stark had their intelligence prior to any kind of powers. I could see Richards being smarter afterwards perhaps, but until very recently I thought Starks only "powers" were a byproduct of his natural intelligence.
Given that, why is it so impossible that others may be the same? Of course they are smarter than "normal" humans (a better term probably being "average" humans), but that doesn't mean they have an exclusive on it.
You're right that Richards and Stark were both geniuses before they got powers, but you're wrong in seemingly believing that their current mental abilities aren't radically beyond what they originally were.
616-Reed hasn't explicitly attributed this genius to his neurons being stretchy, like U-Reed, but the fact that Reed consistently is described as the smartest person on the planet for decades of comic history (though now he's somewhere in the top ten), not to mention that he invents stuff orders of magnitude of development beyond what anyone else on the planet can do, should make it clear that his genius is not natural.
Stark designed his armor's tech as a normal human, but NOW he's extremis-jacked to superhuman intelligence. The relevant comparison then is Cho's insane claim that he's not superhuman while 'outsmarting' people who RIGHT NOW have superhuman intelligence, like Stark and Richards.
Moreover as someone mentioned, the fact that we're given illustrations of his thought processes, and those thought processes are literal calculations instead of the normal human responses, should indicate that he's superhuman.
I just want the character dead. After that, we can conduct however thorough a postmortem as anyone wants.
Meh, I maintain that in the MU being extremely smart is effectively a superpower all of its own, in the same way a peak level athletic ability is considered a superpower. So I say yes, Cho is superpowered, definitely "superhuman" without question, but I just don't see any evidence to suggest it isn't just an extremely high level of natural human intelligence as opposed to another explanation such as being zapped by cosmic brain rays or bitten by a radiactive calculator.
I suppose we will find out in time one way or the other. But given how smart Cho is (regardless of how) he certainly seems convinced that he is "just smart" and presumably he would know...
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was under the distinct impression that Richards and Stark had their intelligence prior to any kind of powers. I could see Richards being smarter afterwards perhaps, but until very recently I thought Starks only "powers" were a byproduct of his natural intelligence.
Given that, why is it so impossible that others may be the same? Of course they are smarter than "normal" humans (a better term probably being "average" humans), but that doesn't mean they have an exclusive on it.
You're right that Richards and Stark were both geniuses before they got powers, but you're wrong in seemingly believing that their current mental abilities aren't radically beyond what they originally were.
616-Reed hasn't explicitly attributed this genius to his neurons being stretchy, like U-Reed, but the fact that Reed consistently is described as the smartest person on the planet for decades of comic history (though now he's somewhere in the top ten), not to mention that he invents stuff orders of magnitude of development beyond what anyone else on the planet can do, should make it clear that his genius is not natural.
Stark designed his armor's tech as a normal human, but NOW he's extremis-jacked to superhuman intelligence. The relevant comparison then is Cho's insane claim that he's not superhuman while 'outsmarting' people who RIGHT NOW have superhuman intelligence, like Stark and Richards.
Moreover as someone mentioned, the fact that we're given illustrations of his thought processes, and those thought processes are literal calculations instead of the normal human responses, should indicate that he's superhuman.
I just want the character dead. After that, we can conduct however thorough a postmortem as anyone wants.
Meh, I maintain that in the MU being extremely smart is effectively a superpower all of its own, in the same way a peak level athletic ability is considered a superpower. So I say yes, Cho is superpowered, definitely "superhuman" without question, but I just don't see any evidence to suggest it isn't just an extremely high level of natural human intelligence as opposed to another explanation such as being zapped by cosmic brain rays or bitten by a radiactive calculator.
I suppose we will find out in time one way or the other. But given how smart Cho is (regardless of how) he certainly seems convinced that he is "just smart" and presumably he would know...
This is one of the mistakes of Marvel relying on mutants so much recently, and part of why Decimation wasn't a bad idea: it's nice to see someone with powers arrive without a direct explanation. Maybe he got radiation in the womb, or whatever. All that matters is that he's a superhuman.
My rule for my pull list is that DC titles get dropped before Marvel titles, and I've recently had to cut my list in half. I plan to either buy the trade or get the back issues with money I get for Christmas. It's too bad because JSA is easily in the top ten books I buy, but I can't get past my loyalty to Marvel.
Seriously guys, I'm not dropping BP. It's in my top five books right now, out of the forty or so I buy a month. Besides, I have a subscription to it, so there's no way for me to drop even if I wanted to.
Posts
The BP reference was tongue-in-cheek, but like all jokes there's a grain of truth: both Cho and BP are written by their current writers as arrogant and inexplicably able to beat people far outside of their class.
BP, for example, is canonically less intelligent than both Stark and Richards, and yet his writers consistently have him outsmarting them in embarrassing ways (like the idiotic attempt to plant a bug on BP).
Cho does the same thing. Worse, the kid is intentionally written as a jerk, beyond naive, who thinks he knows more about situations than the people intimately involved in those situations.
As for Peggy on King of the Hill, my point was just that she's written as thinking she's far smarter than she is, while consistently believing she's the first person to think of something ("In my opinion, kindling is the best way to start a fire", etc.) or the most insightful person in the room. She's not as bad as Cho, but rather similar in form.
Now, I cannot imagine how any of you think Cho could possibly be a non-powered individual: conceptually, I ask you this, how could a normal human have an intellect anywhere near Richards or Stark, given that their intellect is canonically described as orders of magnitude greater than normal humans? Such a suggestion just seems out of line with his behavior. Worse, the graphics showing him to perform actual calculations of trajectories etc. in real time makes it impossible that he's not superhuman.
Given that, why is it so impossible that others may be the same? Of course they are smarter than "normal" humans (a better term probably being "average" humans), but that doesn't mean they have an exclusive on it.
The way I see the "visible mental calculations" is that we're reading a comic book, and watching someone think real hard about something is, well, you couldn't even tell. He'd pull off some fancy ricochet shot, and it'd look like he was just Bullseye Jr. or something. If the comics are going to keep saying he's human, I'll believe it.
Cho, I think, is essentially T'Challa, but without the life experience, inherent distrust of others, and physical capabilities. He's got lots more brain power, of course, but it's not necessarily serving him well right now. The problem with the super smart is that they always assume they'll be able to outsmart their problems, and Cho is only now finding out that's not always the case.
I still don't think he's super powered, any more than Reed was before he became Mr. Fantastic or Tony was before he was Iron Man. Those calculations aren't floating in the air for everyone to see; they're a neat little effect for the reader's benefit, to make Cho's relatively mundane actions (throwing a rock) look cool.
You're right that Richards and Stark were both geniuses before they got powers, but you're wrong in seemingly believing that their current mental abilities aren't radically beyond what they originally were.
616-Reed hasn't explicitly attributed this genius to his neurons being stretchy, like U-Reed, but the fact that Reed consistently is described as the smartest person on the planet for decades of comic history (though now he's somewhere in the top ten), not to mention that he invents stuff orders of magnitude of development beyond what anyone else on the planet can do, should make it clear that his genius is not natural.
Stark designed his armor's tech as a normal human, but NOW he's extremis-jacked to superhuman intelligence. The relevant comparison then is Cho's insane claim that he's not superhuman while 'outsmarting' people who RIGHT NOW have superhuman intelligence, like Stark and Richards.
Moreover as someone mentioned, the fact that we're given illustrations of his thought processes, and those thought processes are literal calculations instead of the normal human responses, should indicate that he's superhuman.
I just want the character dead. After that, we can conduct however thorough a postmortem as anyone wants.
Um, Bullseye has an adamantium-coated spine. The mere fact that he's capable of surviving that (given that adamantium is hemo-toxic) indicates he's superhuman to some degree. Add in the fact that he's canonically shown accelerating projectiles to impossible speeds (e.g. cards, nails, etc.) and it doesn't matter what editorial says. If you depict someone doing something that only superhumans can do, then you're just an idiot if you claim he's not superhuman (the "you" that's an idiot here is the writer/editor, not any poster here, btw).
must count for something.
It was one thing that always bugged me about the Teen Titans cartoon. You'd have Robin, who's drawn as weighing maybe 80 pounds, kicking a giant 10-ton monster in the chest, and the monster falls down. A normal human couldn't kick that hard, even Spider-Man probably couldn't kick that hard. So you basically have a nominally-human character doing superhuman stuff. It's not consistent, but it happens a lot in comics.
Magic Online - Bertro
I really think its just there to show what kind of crazy math he can do in his head. People train to be able to do huge calculations, it takes years, but it works. It is beyond the capability of your "average" person but the people doing these calculations aren't superhuman.
Also, I like Cho because he's fucking around with Stark and Richards. I hate both of them due to CW. The enemy of my enemy makes me smile when he fucks them over. That's all there is to it.
You need a pair of those super sweet steel-toed shoes.
Meh, I maintain that in the MU being extremely smart is effectively a superpower all of its own, in the same way a peak level athletic ability is considered a superpower. So I say yes, Cho is superpowered, definitely "superhuman" without question, but I just don't see any evidence to suggest it isn't just an extremely high level of natural human intelligence as opposed to another explanation such as being zapped by cosmic brain rays or bitten by a radiactive calculator.
I suppose we will find out in time one way or the other. But given how smart Cho is (regardless of how) he certainly seems convinced that he is "just smart" and presumably he would know...
This is one of the mistakes of Marvel relying on mutants so much recently, and part of why Decimation wasn't a bad idea: it's nice to see someone with powers arrive without a direct explanation. Maybe he got radiation in the womb, or whatever. All that matters is that he's a superhuman.
Used to be they'd just say mutant, now they don't say anything.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/Sept07/previews/wedding.html
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
PSN: OrneryRooster
He already has
Lex looks weird walking around in that suit
Excuse me.
McDuffie is going to rock the shit out of Justice League of America issues #13 through forever and infinity.
I'd rather they drop Benes for McKone though.
That would be swell.
PSN: OrneryRooster
Fear Agent preview for next arc
Also, the 12th is my birthday.
told yall motherfuckers that Guy is the greatest
Way to go Justice Society. The League is always too "busy" for pancake breakfasts.
"Uh uh...we'd love to..but..we've got some infighting among the team scheduled."
PSN: OrneryRooster
Oh Starman, you crack me up.
I think it's time you look at your weekly pull list again.
Think hard this time.
PSN: OrneryRooster
Seriously guys, I'm not dropping BP. It's in my top five books right now, out of the forty or so I buy a month. Besides, I have a subscription to it, so there's no way for me to drop even if I wanted to.
Come on... You know you want to.
Man, why didn't anyone tell me Hood was a badass?
Haha I love how one of the four screens showing Guy's history is him getting punched out by Batman.
I'm going to use this as an oppurtunity to bitch about Fell taking such a long time.
Is it on hiatus or what?
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar