So, can anyone give an example of something that isn't a 'World Class Bad Idea' that we're forced to accept in the superbooks? If so, then I'll accept that the TRS-80 tale can be considered in canon.
Well, the thing about really bad ideas is, they only become really bad ideas if they are ignored. So, there becomes a sort of circular reasoning: what sort of ideas are ignored? Really bad ones. How do we know they are really bad? Because they're ignored.
I, for one, would rather that people just sort of "forget" the NEW WARRIORS story that had Namorita shown to be a clone of Namora instead of her daughter. The "Speed Force," an idea "that was there all along" is one idea that didn't just "wither away" as it ought. Yet both ideas are continued over and over again by other writers.
While I liked the miniseries itself (especially the incredible Mignola art), one idea that was - thankfully - forgotten was the idea introduced in COSMIC ODYSSEY that the anti-life equation is actually a big giant space monster, resembling a Godzilla-sized version of the tar blob thing that killed Tasha Yar.
One ignored Superman idea is that his X-Ray Vision caused plants to grow. As Morbo from Futurama was fond of saying:
"X-RAY VISION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!"It appears that John Byrne's DOOM PATROL, after twelve issues, appears to be suffering the same fate: in the category of unpleasant reboots everyone would rather forget (see also: the mirthless 1987 SHAZAM! Post-Crisis reboot). It's easier to pretend the Byrne PATROL "never happened" than the original PATROL "never happened."
The Weisenger writers proposed at least THREE different explanations for the destruction of Krypton, all of them ignored by writers who for whatever reason wanted to leave the reason for Krypton's destruction vague: one was that Krypton's core was made of uranium and the planet exploded as a gigantic fission bomb. Another was that Krypton was destroyed accidentally by an earth astronomer during his observation of the planet, who confesses to Superman his crime years later. The third one was the preferred Schwartz explanation, that it was the result of kryptonquakes and Krypton slipping on its orbit.
Though Superman's superbrain can do much better than be the match for a lousy computer from 1980. I mentioned the possibility that Superman was affected by Major Disaster's krypton-gas disaster and just didn't know it; that's why his big, impressive Superbrain was slowed down to TRS-80 levels for that problem.
That happened in an issue of BLACK PANTHER written by Christopher Priest. He'd checked with me to see which Avenger he could shoot in the head -- he had in mind the old bullet-creases-the-skull bit. I told him that rather than resort to cliche, he could shoot Thor smack in the head and the bullet would break the skin and bounce off the bone underneath. So that's what he said he was going to do, and that's what the artist wound up drawing.
When I read that issue of BLACK PANTHER at the time, I didn't quite buy it. There was a time in the 1980s when Thor had been shorn of his invulnerability, requiring him to use a (very classy) suit of Asgardian armor, but I was under the impression that at some point in the interim (after Simonson's run, I kinda stopped reading Avengers until Busiek/Perez came on) that Thor regained his invulnerability.
Where was it stated (or suggested) that Thor's skin was not bulletproof?
The closest I can come to is that issue where Thor goes to Viet Nam (issue number forthcoming), and he was nervous that if something could cause the hundreds of shells to explode, it was likely that he himself would not survive it. Worrying about taking hundreds of exploding shells, however, is not quite the same as being nervous about bullets.
It's strange to imagine Thor not being bulletproof. On the other hand, it makes his actions, such as using his hammer to block bullets - make more sense.
But, IMO, it's a dumb idea nevertheless. Telling Superman how many joules of energy he should output is like telling a baseball player to swing his bat at a certain number of meters per second. In all likelihood, the batter only knows how fast his swing feels; he has no idea what the numerical speed of his bat is. Supey is likewise unlikely to know the precise amount of energy he's putting out, especially with part of his brain not working.
Piloting and flying involves more than just muscle memory like sports or driving; real life pilots have to learn oodles of math in order to turn at specific speeds. It's easy to imagine that Superman, deprived of his super-brain, would be at a disadvantage when flying.
Also, Superman needs to make judicious use of his powers - if he just blasted his heat vision at the flood, he might have made it so hot that instead of just evaporating water, he would have melted the asphault, cars, and buildings. (It's assumed though, that Superman can tell how hot he's making his heat vision, the same way you or I can guess how fast we are going in a car without looking at the speedometer).
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