As a comic fan it struck me the other day that many of the characters I love so much have RIDICULOUS origin stories. Like ten miles beyond suspension of disbelieve ridiculous. So I figured I'd point out three of the weirder ones.
– Captain Marvel- Great character. Except when you consider that he's a kid who has a job as a radio announcer. The kid later meets a wizard named Shazam who grants the kid the power to turn into a super strong, super fast ADULT superhero when he says the wizard's name. Even weirder is that SHAZAM is an anagram of the mythological characters Captain Marvel derives his powers from (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury). That took a LOT of forethought on the part of Shazam's parents. And yet weirder is that he later splits his power amongst his sister (Mary Marvel), his sidekick (also a kid, Captain Marvel, Jr. JUNIOR even though they arent related), some guys called The Lieutenant Marvels, Hillbilly Marvel and Uncle Marvel.
– The Question- No powers at all. Just an investigative journalist who uses a special gas to bond fake skin to his face to make it look like he has a blank spot instead of a face. And he wears a blue trenchcoat and purple socks. But he gets bonus points for being the inspiration for one of the greatest characters ever, Rorschach.
– The Silver Surfer- A guy on an alien planet who makes a deal with the gigantic guy in the big purple helmet that is going to eat his planet. The deal? Helmet-guy (Galactus) won't eat his planet if he becomes a metallic guy on a surfboard who finds other planets for Helmet-guy to eat. It's never mentioned if they have surfing on his planet or not. But with so many characters that can fly through space (Quasar, Nova, Thor etc) why does he need a surfboard?
