Photoshop Flailing: When Superpowers Go Wrong

This evening, I was playing around with Photoshop again - something I hadn't done in a while. The Cracked.com photoshop contest seemed interesting enough, and I used the opportunity to photoshop "When Superpowers Go Wrong". Click on any of the below for the higher-res version.

I think the Juggernaut qualifies for the HOV lane by himself:

The new 2010 Toyota Juggernaut mid-sized sedan
When Multiple Man needs to use the restroom, how does he determine who goes first?

The answer to this riddle is known only to Zen masters. And Multiple Man.
This is footage they show in Superhero education classes.

Remember: Obey all posted speed limits, and please don't drink and run at supersonic speeds.
This picture I actually didn't submit, as it turned out someone else beat me to the punch with the idea. But I like the way it came out nonetheless.

"Okay, can you read from the line you didn't obliterate?"

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Altered Egos

Reflecting on the Dark Knight not too long ago, I came upon an odd realization. As anyone remotely familiar with Batman knows, Bruce Wayne puts on a disguise and assumes the identity of Batman when he's fighting crime. But in Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne also seems to put on a false face to the public Bruce Wayne.

That public Bruce Wayne is arrogant, brash and brazen. Bruce is larger than life and has all the cars, money, women and power. So why, then, does he show humility and humbleness around his confidants Lucius, Alfred and Rachel? It's as though he's only able to be himself around those people.

Around high society, he's Bruce Wayne: billionaire playboy. Around the dregs of society, he's Batman. Around his friends he's just Bruce: a soft spoken man who just wants to make the world a better place. Which one is the real Bruce Wayne?

This got my mind running wild as I think I finally understood why it is I inherently like superheroes. You have 2 identities occupying the same body (usually, sometimes more like in the above example), but only one of them can be the genuine one. Consider this:

• Does Peter Parker want to be taking photos as a journalist? Or does he want to be making headlines as Spiderman?
• Is Bruce Banner more himself when he's suppressing his rage? Or when he unleashes it and becomes the Hulk?
• At the end of the day, does Kal-el want to sit down to a nice quiet night as Clark Kent? Or does he find that boring and need to protect Metropolis as Superman?

Too many questions, not enough answers. And that's a big reason to why I'm drawn to it.

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