Things I have researched today

[purplkat]

Writing the script for this graphic novel has been interesting, specifically because I'm trying to keep the physics (aside from the whole 'there are vampires with cool powarz thing) fairly realistic. Ie, if you jump through a glass window, you will probably die from the lacerations that you get from all that broken glass. If you have super

Comments

[barelyproper]

http://members.dcn.org/frobben/Newsletters/FloridaSanFrancisco.html has a good account of where a sailing vessel stopped and how long it took (10 January to 30 May).

Most place I found say about three months
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.boats.cruising/2005-12/msg00039.html
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.boats.cruising/2005-12/msg00028.html

[purplkat]

Hmm. That's odd. I found someone who said it was about a week from Cuba to the Panama Canal, which I cut down to five days, because the character who's making the trip has complete control of the weather, so the wind is -always- on her side. (At night, anyway.) Then I checked the distance from Cuba to the Panama Canal and the distance from the Panama Canal to SF, and it was about three times (from the canal to SF), so I figured we were talking fifteen, plus the original 5, makes 20.

However, I did read that the stop at the canal can take three to six weeks, and most sailors do a lot of stopping on the way, which my characters aren't doing.

Still, I'll keep poking around. It's a one-off comment, how long it takes, but I'd like to be as accurate as possible.

[purplkat]

Adding:

Yup. Looks like the people in the first one stopped for weeks at a time in different locations. That's pretty common among cruisers. After all, if you just want to get from point A to point B, there are way, way better ways to do it. Also, at one point he speaks favorably about going 6 knots. That's, um, really on the slow side.

[akumadaimyo]

Well if you had super strength wouldn't it naturally make your body tougher and bones thicker? Seems kinda stupid to have such a power that doesnt exist anyway but then you can't use it.

[purplkat]

Why should it?

People who do comic books like to assume that sort of thing because it makes it easier for them to have their characters punch walls and things. The at the strength their skin and bones would have to be, other injuries they sustain wouldn't be possible. And sure, it's a comic book, screw physics and anatomy -- but I'm trying to do something grittier and more real.

You can still use the power for a lot of things -- throwing people around, lifting stuff, etc. You could even punch through doors and walls if you were prepared to deal with the injuries that would result.

[akumadaimyo]

Why shouldn't it? The way most heros get their powers defy scince so why in the hell do you expect it to follow some logical way of working? If you want it grittier and more real then ditch the powers. Not possible for it to be real with super strength and things like that unless you also explain how his bone structure and the like is also super strong and tough.

[weaselofjustice]

This reminds me of an article on Cracked.com a while back. I think you might enjoy occasionally reading their stuff; their articles are written with kind of a fratire style and are generally in a list format so they can pound out a couple per day.

http://www.cracked.com/article_17185_7-awesome-super-powers-ruined-by-science.html

[purplkat]

I read Cracked every day :) I'd come up with the idea well before that article, but I loved reading it. It gave me ideas.