Martinex1: How much did the heroes' and villains' power class play into the enjoyment of the character and story for you? Were you a collector that liked to compare and contrast heroes' strengths and weaknesses? Did the advent of books like The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and DC's Who's Who add to your comic enjoyment or did it change the way you looked at characters and collecting?Did you care if Ghost Rider was less strong than Thundra, on an equal level with Giant-Man, and more powerful than Captain Britain? Super-Heavyweights down to the Un-powered - did it matter? Take a look at the slick Marvel strip to the left to get your bearings.
How did knowing strength capabilities of your favorite heroes detract from or add to your comic collecting experience? Did you and your friends debate the details like others might discuss baseball batting statistics? Did the ranks and data emerge in the 1980s or were there examples prior?
Were you into gaming? Did you develop charts and graphs to track the heroes' durability, strength, intelligence, power, speed, and endurance?Did Marvel and DC get it right (in your mind) when it came to classifying heroes and villain? Did the activity enhance or diminish the overall enjoyment of the reading thereafter?
Did you see shifts in power and strength in characters? Was that a normal evolution or was it the result of inadequate writing? Should Colossus have struggled pulling out a tree stump or was John Byrne right to be miffed with Chris Claremont about that scene? Why was Stiltman a threatening villain in the Silver Age but a punchline in the Bronze Age?
Today let's Chew the Fat about power ranking, strength charts, and all of the data that goes along with it as part of collecting! Cheers!
