The following contains spoilers for recent issues of Clobberin’ Time, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
While superpowers can range from the subtle to the spectacular, the least expected abilities often have the most significant impact. A sharp tongue can be more useful than a sharp sword and can pierce the mightiest armor. The Fantastic Four’s Thing once learned this and demonstrated how paper can beat rock when he used Mister Fantastic’s greatest invention to help save the entire universe. This time it wasn’t Ben Grimm’s great strength that saved the day. It was his gift of the gab.
Despite the Earth-shattering power of heroes like Superman or the parasitic terror of the fear entity Parallax, some of comics’ greatest victories have come down to nothing more than a few choice words. The power of communication has, on multiple occasions, been the difference between life and death for trillions, as was the case when The Thing, used his friend Reed Richard’s invention, the Gift O Gab, to distract the villainous Ogdu Fraize in Clobberin’ Time #5 (by Steve Skroce, Joe Sabino and Bryan Valenza), long enough for him to get close to the villain and save the day. The magnificent Gift O Gab first appears a few issues earlier in Clobberin’ Time #2 (by Steve Skroce, Joe Sabino and Bryan Valenza), surreptitiously supplying the Thing with the perfect words for any situation, allowing him to defuse tense encounters, tear down an opponent’s emotional walls, or keep them busy enough for him to strike the final blow.
Ideas Are Indestructible
More than swords, guns, or even laser vision, words are the most versatile weapons in the universe. They are able to heal or harm, to convince, control or conceal, and hold a place of pride as one of humankind’s most important inventions. Comics have proven this true many times, resulting in the defeat of many seemingly undefeatable foes.
Even when a supervillain is protected by impenetrable armor or hiding behind screens on the far side of the world, the power of words can still reach them. Every thinking entity exists as a complex balance of psychological traits, and it is this core that makes them vulnerable to words. If their audience is listening, a skilled orator can manipulate just about anyone, and playing to a villain’s sense of pride and vanity is a tried and tested method of getting the upper hand over them. Like the Thing’s experience with Ogdu Frazie, the 2004 film, The Incredibles gave audiences a textbook example of the hero using the villain’s words against them, as Mr. Incredible almost saved the day early after encouraging his foe, Syndrome, to lose himself in a classic villainous monologue.
Every Word Is A Weapon
While words can distract a foe or lure them into a position of weakness, they can also crush an enemy more directly as well. Though most metahumans have physical defenses of some kind, many of them have psychological defenses too, and are more resistant to verbal attacks as a result. Zealots and villains often think of themselves as heroes and shield themselves from seeing reason with the weight of their beliefs. In this case, the orator needs to use their words with skill, carefully dissecting their opponent’s belief structure, undermining their worldview.
While the Man of Steel is almost always a hero, Superman’s authoritarian appearance in Superman: Red Son #3 (by Mark Millar, Dave Johson, Killian Plunkett, Walden Wong, Paul Mounts) proved that when a villain is nigh-invulnerable the ultimate Kryptonite bullet is in fact a silver tongue. Having defeated virtually all of his opponents and conquered the majority of the globe, this Superman variant seemed unstoppable on every level. His imperviousness to harm protects him from direct attacks and his unshakable belief in his cause protected his ego. In the end, Lex Luthor put it best when he prepares to take the final step to fell the Soviet Superman. “…they say the pen is mightier than the sword, Lois, so I’m distilling everything Superman hates and fears about himself into a single sentence.” Though Superman remains physically unharmed, Lex Luthor’s words “Why don’t you just put the whole WORLD in a BOTTLE, Superman?” pierced his steel heart, proving that in stories, no matter how powerful the ideology or the body in question is, the right words can undo it all in a heartbeat.
Another example of the power of words is their potential to trump abilities that are otherwise insurmountable. There are countless instances of heroes falling…
Read More: In Marvel Comics, The Thing’s Silver Tongue Is Mightier Than The Sword