RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books How do you show intelligence/smarts in comic books?

...this can be applied to just about any work of fiction these days, but when you think of intelligent comic book characters you think of guys like Reed Richards, or Braniac, or Dr. Doom, or even Batman. They're not so much intelligent as they are just walking plot devises: if you have a problem, they can invent something that solves the problem or just come up with a solution after thinking real hard. With characters like these, science is pretty much the same as magic.

On the other hand, there are characters like Aizen from Bleach that are portrayed as extremely cunning but the context is hammy and feels extremely staged - they come off as always being two steps ahead because they're using a cheat sheet (how did they know so and so is going to do what in advance and that so and so will react, etc.)

Any characters out there that are believably smart instead of just magically smart?

Right now I can think of Elijah Snow and John Constantine. Their smarts don't seem so staged and particularly in Constantine's case, you get to feel that he's just reacting to stuff, instead of having some magical long-term plan that goes off without a hitch.

Well, first, I'd say it's important to distinguish "smarts" and "intelligence".

It's always been my understanding that intelligence is retained knowledge while smarts is applied knowledge. So if you're intelligent, that means you're very learned; if you're smart, that means you can think on your feet.

Keeping this in mind, the smart characters are probably going to be the most charismatic since intelligent characters are, oft times, portrayed as talkers who drone on and on about theory (thus far, the only writer who's been able to pull that off particularly well is Mamoru Ooshi). Rorschach and Nite Owl come to mind with the former being smart and the latter being intelligent.

As such, that would make Constantine smart.

I'd say a character like Batman is a synthesis of the two. Unfortunately, not many writers know how to handle that kind of character. Most seem more comfortable with doing one or the other or else them lose touch with the character.

An especially good example of a smart character is Berserk's Guts. He doesn't really plan for things, but he knows how to use the tools in his arsenal at a moment's notice and as efficiently as possible. And what seems to make Kentarou Miura's depiction of the character so effective is how well he's able to rationalize a scenario in which Guts survives a fight against all odds, but doesn't seem like a ridiculous Marty Stu in the process.

There was actually a really decent LotDK (It's either in the first or second volume) from about a year ago where Batman is stuck on the Watchtower with Amazo without backup and he has to use his wits and resourcefulness to get rid of him. The writer did a great job of making him seem both smart and intelligent.

The writer used a really good technique similar to "Magnifying the Moment" in which he essentially came up with every single problem that Batman would possibly have to deal with when it comes to super-powered idiots and actually show him running around and dealing with them as practically as he could in the heat of the moment. This is opposed to simply having Batman say, "I was prepared for this" and he presses and ejector button or some stupid shit that usually happens with him in JLA.

Unfortunately, the short story ended on a low note since he included this stupid "Maybe I just wanted to prove I could go it alone" line--as though Batman feels like he has something to prove to other vigilantes.

Pre-Morrison's Uberbat, Batman was probably the best example of "believably smart," at least as far as leading characters go.

Sure, he was a Sherlockian detective, but he wasn't infallible. He needed to gather clues, follow up on dead ends and even get assistance at times (and I dont mean from magic hacker Oracle, I mean that he would [for example] have "Bruce Wayne" drop in on someone with relevant information or some such thing). And, while he was usually depicted as the smart guy in the Justice League, he wasn't the deux ex machina he was later turned into. The Flash (a police scientist), the Atom (an Ivy league physicist) or Superman (super-intelligence) were as likely to make the big discovery.

Batman was a guy who followed clues better than anyone else, not Einstein.

Lucifer in Mike Carey's Lucifer. Despite being immensely powerful, most of his strategy was determined by a combination of will and smarts.

Too powerful to enter the fragile quasi-dimension which is Mansions of Silence? Bribe coerce and cajole a crew to enter it. Once they are on the ropes but have achieved their task, enter the Mansions and destroy it and billions of souls. Some old Japanese gods have your wings? Rely upon their feudal honour system to ensnare them, turn their assassin, poison the food of the most aggressive one, stare them down. A lord of the host of angels challenges you to a duel where he swears he will eat your heart, and you've inconveniently lost your powers? Hide your heart in a box. Destiny of the Endless bugging you with predestination? Burn his book. Fantasy makes the solutions to the problems farfetched, but the solutions are there.

I also liked Goodwin and Simonson's Manhunter. He solves his big problem with an old school 1870s tape recorder. He disguises himself as an informer in order to get information out of Interpol, so he knows what they know about him. And his opponents are just as smart. His clever effort to infiltrate the enemy base by disguising himself as a clone of himself is anticipated by his former ninja master, and under-estimating his foe nearly costs him his head.

L and Light Yagami from Death Note also come to mind. From the start of the story, you already know who the killer is and a few issues in, the identity of the master detective has been revealed as well but watching the two of them constantly try to outsmart each other is fun.

It's also amusing that the two seem to have their own issues: one is a sociopath and narcissist. while the other is autistic or at least suffering from asperger's syndrome (IIRC, a lot of kids started self-diagnosing themselves as "aspies" when Death Note became popular.)

Better to try the manga, though. Something got lost in the anime version (maybe comics has better pacing, or the anime just focused way too much on Victor Von Doom grandstanding and Dragon ball Z scene fillers.)