So apparently the top geniuses of Marvel are Judo experts

[lordultimus]

Comments

[zachbeacon]

I knew about Reed but I was fine with it because he was doing the "action scientist" thing long before he had powers.

The other two seem a lot less plausible.

[wizardru]

It's worth noting that Judo was the hip, cool martial art of the 60s. The 1964 Olympics was the first time that Judo was part of the Summer Games, so it makes sense that it would be part of the zeitgeist, especially in superhero comics.

[q99]

Additionally, the whole 'use your opponent's strength against them,' thing fits well with smart characters you want to have good in a fight.

[icon_uk]

Very much this!

It removes the "I'm outwardly aggresive" vibe that something like karate or boxing might suggest, and replaces it with "If someone attacks ME I can defend myself".

[zachbeacon]

Yeah, future generations with probably be making similar observations about Krav Maga or MMA or whatever in today's comics.

Mostly I'm amused that OHotMU seems to confirm that EVERY human and mutant superhero has "Olympic level" physical stats.

[icon_uk]

That was even lampshaded in the "Who's Who" series DC did for their short-lived Impact Comics imprint (the one that used old heroes like The Comet, The Web, The Fly etc) in the early 90's where an entry about how "so and so is trained in the use of small arm weaponry, as is apparently EVERYONE in the Impact universe, a fact I find intensely amusing"

When even your omniscient narrator is breaking the fourth wall about it....

[crinos]

Yeah, its worth noting that Nadia Van Dyne knows Krav Maga (Which she uses, and explains how to use, when she has to take down Poundcakes in her initial series.

Of course, Nadia was raised in a secret Russian thinktank/Assassins academy, so it makes sense she would be taught how to mess up people with her bare hands.

Not saying Tony knowing Judo doesn't make sense. I mean the dude's a millionaire super hero. If he wanted to he could probably splurge for a trainer to teach him on weekends as part of his hero training.

[zachbeacon]

It makes perfect sense for the new Wasp to know it. I just don't think they ought to give the skill to random character X without explanation.

I mean, at least in the DCU they explain all the fighting skills as people being trained by the same handful of masters (Dragon, Shiva, Wildcat, ect). As far as I know, people like Daredevil, Black Widow, and Iron Fist would have had pretty unique backgrounds and Cap and Shang Chi are the only heroes that seem that interested in training other heroes.

Tony Stark is actually the one that puzzles me even more than Hank Pym. Before he was Iron Man, he would have "had people for that sort of thing". After Iron Man, he was a guy with a heart condition who is overly dependent on technology. I just can't picture him getting training from Cap or Happy or whoever.

[crinos]

Mentioning Daredevil and Super hero getting training reminds me of my favorite bit from the recent Silver Surfer series where Shalla Bal breaks into Alica Master's apartment while she's looking after an Unconscious Surfer to kill him, and Alicia splits her walking cane into a pair of Billy Clubs and written on one in Brail is a Birthday message from Matt Murdoc.

Which implies that Thing introduced the two of them, and at some point the topic of Matt giving Alicia self defense lessons came up.

[zachbeacon]

Well if those Spider-Man scans from a while back are any indication, she immediately recognized that the F4's lawyer was DD and was probably too polite to say anything.

[silicondream]

My favorite scene of this era is when Karate Kid fell out a window and used Judo to glide back to the building's surface, dig his toes into the concrete wall and jump back in through the window along some bizarre curvilinear trajectory. The wisdom of the Orient!

[tonybennett3]

Hank & Tony were both taught Judo in the Bronze Age by Cap because they relied too much on their powers/armor, and had no real fighting skill.

[zachbeacon]

When did Cap learn a Japanese martial art that didn't get popular in the west until the 60s? That's like him teaching them to fight like Germans.

[silicondream]

Judo! Effective against giant ants! Also effective against villains in powered armor, as long as you use the legendary "rising double-fisted backhand" move!

[cainofdreaming]

This really is a tradition. I mean, even Sherlock Holmes knew Bartitsu (and no, it's not fighting like a Simpson).

[zachbeacon]

Now I'm imagining Cumberbatch doing the Bartman