It's a long way down

Posted by RazzaTazz (7981 posts) - 1 year, 3 months ago - Show Bio

I am a person I can say honestly that is very hesitant around heights. I do not mind so much being on an airplane, or some other enclosed area, because it is as I tell people, I am not afraid of the heights themselves, rather of falling. One of the things that is depicted in comics is generally characters overcoming fears which would leave the best of us frozen or running away, but one of the most interesting problems that characters have to deal with is falling. Of course this applies mostly to non-powered heroes, and in general probably poses a problem either to the residents of Gotham or to their Marvel counterparts (for instance Daredevil) the most often. The most compelling aspect of overcoming this threat is that it is at the expense of logic. A body in freefall will be moving at around 200 kilometers per hour and can be more than double that in a dive, thus the concept of figuring out some way around the this problem is pretty difficult. Generally the solution is to rope something and transfer the downward momentum of the body into something else. Of course this would mean that an extremely durable rope would need to be found but even this leaves something to suspension of disbelief. 200 kilometers per hour is pretty fast, about double what most cars drive on average on a highway, so using only a rope to stop themselves is a bit far fetched. The most recent time I read this was in Catwoman #5 and at least they had the good sense to make it that Selina dislocated her shoulder (though her whip would need to be made out of carbon fiber or some like that.) At least this added a degree of reality to it though, it often times gets portrayed even more ridiculously, such as in Batman and Robin (the movie) where Mr.Freeze is able to stop his fall by creating a snowstorm.

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#1 Posted by jrock85 (2870 posts) - 1 year, 3 months ago - Show Bio

I couldn't tell if it was the downward momentum or the landing that dislocated her shoulder.

#2 Posted by thechessclub (488 posts) - 1 year, 1 month ago - Show Bio

Isn't leather supposed to be pretty strong. Then the fact that her whip is multi-weaved would just multiply the strength. Also, the whip didn't need to stop her direct fall. It just had to alter her path in a swinging motion. Pretty sure that changes the math in the needed strength of the rope in question. Idk, I thought it was a great scene none the less=]

#3 Posted by RazzaTazz (7981 posts) - 1 year, 1 month ago - Show Bio

@thechessclub: A pendulum effect would transfer some of the speed into heat, but then she would be traveling in a different direction at the same speed, which would also hurt.

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#4 Posted by thechessclub (488 posts) - 1 year, 1 month ago - Show Bio

@RazzaTazz said:

@thechessclub: A pendulum effect would transfer some of the speed into heat, but then she would be traveling in a different direction at the same speed, which would also hurt.

In any case, I wasn't saying I thought she would have gotten out of the situation unscathed=P

#5 Posted by Aiden Cross (14478 posts) - 1 year, 1 month ago - Show Bio

I find the act of hitting something with the whip while freefalling very unbelieveable. I went skydiving myself and everything goes so damn fast. Plus add in the air resistance the whip gets while trying to rope something. i don't see it happening.

#6 Posted by thechessclub (488 posts) - 1 year, 1 month ago - Show Bio

@Aiden Cross said:

I find the act of hitting something with the whip while freefalling very unbelieveable. I went skydiving myself and everything goes so damn fast. Plus add in the air resistance the whip gets while trying to rope something. i don't see it happening.

She's probably logged a crap ton of hours with a whip and is probably pretty skilled with one regardless of the conditions;P

Catwoman

Catwoman, the costumed alias persona of Selina Kyle, is a mostly reformed cat burglar with an on-again, off-again, romantic relationship with Batman. She is shown as a woman who is very strong-willed, independent and morally conflicted with her past.

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