Paracelsus

hmmm- most criminal jurisprudence systems (at least in the Anglo-Saxon -English speaking- world) recognize the concept of diminished responsibility or extenuating cicrumstances(abusive childhoods, mental defect or domestic violence)in cases of criminal conduct(including murder), but possession(by an outside entity) is a new one. The Church to which Matt Murdock belongs to( Catholic, although this is not usually alluded to in the story), recognizes the possibility of demonic possession but it would be a millennial(no pun intended) milestone if the State's criminal justice system acknowledged such a thing! After all judges and lawyers are NOT intended to be theologians!

Terry

I dunno- at some level, the hero remains a hero even if he(or she) loses their powers or tries to otherwise retire( what DO retired heroes do anyway-they can't write their memoirs without blowing their cover- assuming they have secret identities) just as Iron Man. Spider Man, Captain America have all tried to do but have failed- being a "superhero/heroine" is not just some nine-to-five job, it's more a calling, a vocation if you will(if you wish to use religious terminology).

Terry

 I've just seen the first of the "rebooted" Justice League International #1- looks promising, the UN comes to the conclusion that in the world of 2011, ALL societies' conventional and unconventional forces(including superheroes) are inadequate to deal with super-menaces( the JLA is helpful but as its title indicates- "Justice League of AMERICA"- is of questionable objectivity esp where the US is concerned), so the answer is for the UN to form its own team of heroes(including Americans but beholden to NO one nation state)under its own command. Looks intriguing- will we see the JLI hunting down real life war criminals such as Sudanese "President" Omar al-bashir and Muammar Gaddafi and bringing them to justice before the ICC?
 
Terry

 I don't think we should be too hard on BM for agreeing to retire when JFK asked him -remember he is/was a US Marine and the President(be it Kennedy or Obama) is his commander in chief-be nice if Obama asked him to come out of retirement). Later when the American public is "ready" for black superheroes(back in 1962 remember the public was uneasy enough with "white" superheroes like Thor, Spidey or the FF) he can come out of retirement!
 
Terry

Hm- how about giving  him a full frontal lobotomy!
 
Terry

Sorry, but I think that a character's race DOES matter- who would think that Drew Barrymore or Sharon Stone in the role of Storm was credible( I never understood why the Hispanic Jessica Alba was picked to play the uber-WASP Susan Storm in "Fantastic Four", ditto Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin in "Daredevil" save a weird form of political correctness!)
 
Terry

hmm-depends on what you term a"God"-Thor, Hercules and other immortals use the phrase in the legendary but not necessarily spiritual sense(much as Mephisto claims to be the Judaeo-Christian Devil and even names his domain "Hell" complete with the souls of the damned but WE know that he, Thog, Satannish and other wannabe devils are in reality as "Satan" explained to Hellcat, just aspects of his own personality though not even THEY are aware of it. "Satan" incidentally denies to her that he is "THAT Satan"( Lucifer, cast out of Heaven by St. Michael)-but as one of his titles is" Prince/Father Of Lies", NOTHING he said can be taken at face value). As a wise man noted apropos of miracles performed by the intercession of St Therese of Lisieux at Lourdes "to those who believe, no explanation is necessary, to those who do not believe, no explanation is possible!" 'Nuff said!
 
Terry

 Has anybody tried to sue Marvel(or DC )characters for that matter for property damage or physical injury in the all too frequent battles with super villains?
 
I mean the odds of someone not being injured (or maybe killed) or having their property totally trashed in a battle between hero(es) and villain(s) is pretty astronomical in the forty odd years of the Marvel Universe, also given the litigious nature of American society, it seems hard to believe that "ambulance chasers" never scented a possible case.
True, there's not much point in  trying to sue the Hulk as he(or rather his alter ego Bruce Banner) has no assets that can be seized(or any assets to begin with), ditto for the X-Men and the Avengers/FF have lawyers that can make it worth the litigants while to settle out of court rather than indefinitely engage in court proceedings, but other heroes such as Spider-Man or Daredevil are more ambiguous from a legal point of view- anybody think as I do?

Casper being a bully- say it ain't so- th whole point of Casper is that he is a "friendly" ghost!
 
Terry

Personally I think the Black Panther is the richest hero around(after all he IS not just a hero but the official ruler of his own country),closely followed by Tony Stark, the late Janet Van Dyne (Wasp), Simon "Wonder Man" Williams and Ben "The Thing" Grimm.