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Which Comic Character Is the Greatest Engineer?

Posted by Unknown on from the evil-geniuses-for-a-better-tomorrow dept.

ptorrone writes "From Bruce Wayne to Lex Luthor to Tony Stark — the most popular comic heroes are more than just beefy guys in skin tight suits, they're also business persons, titans of industry and brilliant engineers. While there will always be a lot of debate on who is the strongest or fastest, MAKE has an overview of their 14 top comic book engineers, scientists and hackers."

24 of 316 comments (clear)

  1. I can think of one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also missing from the list is Retardo. Hes the guy who makes up all the stupid internet Top 10 type of lists.

  2. My vote... by Q-Hack! · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wiley Coyote... Super Genius.

    Though, his reliance on ACME for equipment, should be reconsidered.

       

    --
    Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    1. Re:My vote... by Master+Moose · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Am I the only one that would get frustrated that he would always give up with the equipment after just one attempt?

      He usually had a *sound* plan with a sure-fire method which was thwarted by poor execution or random variables that statically would not affect a 2nd, 3rd or 4th attempt at the same method.

      --
      . . .gone when the morning comes
    2. Re:My vote... by skeptikos · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wiley Coyote... Super Genius.

      Though, his reliance on ACME for equipment, should be reconsidered.

       

      I always thought that Wiley Coyote depicts very well the agony of working as an engineer. The laws of nature seem to work against you. Murphy's laws are against you. The tools/equipment do not behave according to the specs, and tend to fail at the worst possible time. Good ideas fail because of implementation details or even bad luck. Yet, you cannot let the problem go, you have to fix it! One last try, ok, maybe another one!

    3. Re:My vote... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Wile E. Cyote is more like a script kiddie; he just uses the products without much change.

      Script kiddy?? I don't think so.

      The ACME Catalog didn't show him how to take the roller skates, bicycle helmet, #3 solid rocket booster, 200 feet of rope, a pulley system, an umbrella and a ramp ... put it altogether, and end getting burned, dropped off a cliff, crushed and then rained on (with accompanying lightining strike).

      Wil E. Coyote is a frigging Rube Goldberg machine waiting to happen. He didn't just run something as shipped ... He put it together into amazingly strange combinations.

      Script kiddie? You, sir, did not watch NEARLY enough Bugs Bunny growing up. (And, I, apparently far too much. ;-p)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:My vote... by budgenator · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wile should get extra points for being an old-school hacker, every Acme product he used was for a purpose unintended by the manufacturer.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    5. Re:My vote... by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Are you going to risk falling off a cliff more than once???

      You actually saw the show, right? ;-)

      Some times he fell off a cliff half a dozen times in a single episode. In other episodes, he was repeatedly smashed with the same rock, no matter how far away he got and what he hid under.

      He did repeat these things -- over and over again. That's what made it funny.

      Wile E. Coyote was all about the scientific method, and multiple trials. Contrary to what the GP thinks, it wasn't just a statistical fluke. ;-)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:My vote... by Bacon+Bits · · Score: 3, Funny

      He didn't just run something as shipped ... He put it together into amazingly strange combinations.

      Oh, he writes Perl, then.

      --
      The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
  3. Greatest Engineer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    DILBERT!!!

  4. Dilbert is the closest to reality by Moof123 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just saying,

    There are days i envy Dilbert, his company is better run than some I have worked at.

    1. Re:Dilbert is the closest to reality by Seumas · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Dilbert is a corporate tool intended to placate all of the cubicle-drones because they can have a chuckle and identify with him and think "well, gosh, things aren't so bad!" and move on with the status-quo.

    2. Re:Dilbert is the closest to reality by timeOday · · Score: 3, Insightful
      A) Bullshit

      B) The theory isn't even plausible because nobody can force a particular comic to be popular among millions of people. Not the secret super-corporation that controls all corporations, the CIA, or anybody else.

  5. I had only one thought when I read this. by eflester · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's probably Alice. Although Wally is my personal hero.

  6. Dilton Doliey by metlin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I know this sounds weird, but one of the first "geeky" comics character I was blown away by was Dilton Doiley, part of Archie's crew, in the Strange Science editions.

      It was short, it was funny, and he was a geek who got the girl. All these other guys are great, but they had supernatural powers or wealth, or other things going for them. Dilton just... conducted home experiments! Of course, he had his own lab, but still, as a regular kid, you could aspire to be him.

    The other character I remember from childhood, of course, was Tom Swift. Amazingly inspirational -- although, not a lot of comics of him out there (I've seen a few, but not many).

  7. Best comic engineer? None of the above! by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Funny
    The correct answer is Wally, from Dilbert. He saved the Apollo 13 mission and invented the cursor. Easily, the answer to your question of

    Which Comic Character Is The Greatest Engineer?

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  8. Easy by geekoid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Girl Genius.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  9. Re:Luthor? by Seumas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lex Luthor has always been a hero. He is nearly the only person on earth making it his life's duty to fight off the alien from another planet with super powers that imposes his will on our world and is a threat to us all.

  10. Obvious missing person. by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My vote would have been for Alice. She's the top engineer in her company, she's developed patents that earned her company 2 billion dollars in revenue, and her fist-of-death is legendary. All this after she overcame the handicap of being a woman....

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    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  11. TMNT by asylumx · · Score: 3, Informative

    Come on, can't forget Donatello!

  12. Easy by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Gadget Hackwrench

    http://rangerwiki.net/images/e/e9/Gadget_extra_parts.jpg

    Yes, there is a Chip & Dale's Rescue Ranger's wiki site. God bless you, Intertoobs.

  13. Re:Easy by sapphire+wyvern · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nonsense. Agatha's far more powerful (albeit still less experienced) than Lucrezia Mongfish or the Heterodyne Boys. She made _mechanical Sparks_ as one of her very first projects! And she's clearly outclassing Gilgamesh and Tarvek, who are both first-rate Sparks in their own right.

  14. Not a comicbook hero, but needs mentioned by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ash from Army of Darkness. The dude invents a working artificial hand in just a few days, using midevil engineering supplies.

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    God spoke to me.
  15. Mod parent up! by Kyusaku+Natsume · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Another that comes to mind is professor Farnsworth from Futurama. He invented XXX century's robots, built a spaceship that moves the entire universe, and got laid, several times.

    --
    Mexico: 100% conservative's America now!
  16. Re:Easy by nbast · · Score: 3, Informative

    Clearly. I thought of Agatha Heterodyne immediately when I saw the post.

    http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php for those unfamiliar with the Folios' genius.