My favorite "If I was..." of 2010

My favorite "If I was..." for 2010 is Professor X.

I chose professor X because not only do I like the character but I've also recently discovered that he has the potential for telekinetic powers. He doesn't possess it right now but it is a component of his mutant power set that manifests itself from time to time. I've always believed it manifested itself because the writers kept forgetting that he wasn't a telekinetic or because some writers interpreted "psychic blast" to be that same as "telekinetic blast" instead of a "telepathic blast". I learned of it as an official power of his by coming across the Wikia entry for his "evil twin"/"spiritual clone" Cassandra Nova who has a copy of his mutant power imprint giving her his powers. I haven't read a comic book with her in it but by normal reality standards she is a powerful telekinetic who can not only levitate and manipulate herself and another person, she is powerful enough to repel missile attacks, assemble armor around herself from materials in the environment and even use her powers to "disintegrate" Wolverine's arm. On top of being a potential telekinetic, he apparently can potentially "phase" through solid objects as well. Cassadra Nova has used the power to save herself from Cyclops' optic blast. So now I have a new perspective on what I could do if I was Professor X.

So I'm going to take this opportunity to make an addendum to the entry of "If I was Professor X".

With the addition of phasing and telekinesis to the power set I would often play "guardian angel". I would use astral projection to go to a place invisibly and use the telepathy and telekinesis to manipulate the situation as necessary. As in my example of rescuing a missing child I would use the telekinesis to subdue the kidnapper's if there were any and then free the child from their bonds or "prison" and direct them home if possible. Of course I could have done something similar with telepathy and astral projection alone but then I wouldn't be able to protect the child directly from physical harm. If they were just missing because they ran away and say fell down a hole I could use the telekinesis to lift them out or remove the obstacles that would be in their way.

As for being the life of the party using my telepathy to enhance the merriment I would use telekinesis and phasing to put on one hell of a magic show. Levitating and moving objects and people would be hours of fun. Not to mention faking seances making people hear voices and making noises by moving objects. Passing through solid objects and having objects passing through you would also keep the party going for hours. Imagine taking a butcher knife and passing it through your chest or passing your arm through a door.

Otherwise I'd use telekinesis in the same way I would as Brian Davis. Using it for flight, martial arts enhancement, simulation of super strength and so on.

With that done I'd also like to list my top 5 favorite runner up "If I was".

1. Captain Dynamo

2. Jack O' Lantern's Lantern

3. Sasquatch

4. Cannonball

5. The Twelve Talisman's of Shendu

Thank you for reading.

If I was Power Princess

Background

Zarda is an Utopian from the home reality of the Squadron Supreme. Utopians are the genetically enhanced off shoot of humanity created by the alien Kree. In Marvel Comics mainstream reality the results of Kree manipulation were the Inhumans. The Utopians are essentially a non-gender biased version of the Amazons of DC comics who Wonder Woman came from. Zarda was meant to be their ambassador. However once the outside world developed nuclear weapons they left Earth but she stayed behind with her husband Howard Shelton and became a member of the Squadron Supreme.

Description

Zarda is a tall, beautiful, statuesque woman with curly black hair and blue eyes reminiscent of the Greek idea of beauty. She typically wears a purple, armored suit based on ancient Greek armor with a super hero twist to it.

Powers And Paraphernalia

Power Princess' physical attributes are superior to human beings to a super human degree. Most notably is her strength, stamina and durability. She can lift 20 tons from the ground up over her head at arms length. She can function at peak performance for several hours and has survived the force from repeated full strength blows from Hyperion (he is at least five times as strong as she is) that had been redirected to her unknown to him. Somehow despite her high resistance to injury she is still vulnerable to blades and bullets made of conventional materials.

Utopians are extremely long lived. Zarda is 500 years old and only appears to be in her mid-twenties. How long they can live for is unknown.

She carries a transparent (if not invisible), virtually indestructible shield made from an unspecified material. It resembles a force field to me. She can use the shield the same way that Captain America uses his. She can deflect bullets and block physical and energy based attacks with it. She can also throw it like Captain America can. With her strength and the durability of her shield, she can use the edge to cut through most materials, including various metals.

The shield is attached to her in some unspecified way. It's depicted as not being attached to her but instead it just kind of floats their as though invisibly attached to her arm. To further add to the confusion it can also be caused to hover in front of her fist in a similar fashion which is most commonly done when she flies but she also used it that way to deflect bullets while shooting an anti-gun commercial.

The shield is also the source of her power of flight. How that works is not well defined. There are plenty of depictions of her flying with it in front of her wind shield fashion as though it's dragging her through the air but I have also seen her depicted using it other ways that would seem to make it difficult to use it as a flight mechanism. She has carried her elderly husband Howard in it like it was a dish or even wearing it on her arm or holding it to her side as a shield is normally carried. Neither position would seems capable of producing the lift or the thrust that her standard flight position is capable of.

If I was Power Princess

What do you do if you're at least 200 times more powerful than a normal human being and armed with advanced weaponry? You join the police force and don't tell anyone about your super powers. So yeah I would become a cop. You can easily chase down criminals and subdue them even if they outnumber you. The superior reflexes mean you can always outdraw a criminal if it comes down to a gun fight. Even though with Power Princess' powers I wouldn't be bullet proof, I would still be very bullet resistant. Mix that with a bullet proof vest and you can surprise the hell out of a shooter who thought they would at least incapacitate you.

The problem of course would be incorporating the shield into the job. If you're permitted to work alone then it's not much of a problem. You just keep it with you and keep it available. With a partner however you have someone wondering why you're carrying a non-regulation weapon. Mind you if you're on the S.W.A.T. team maybe you'd be allowed to use it.

I can't help but think of live action super hero shows of bygone eras. A popular stunt in those shows when a character has super strength was to lift an escaping car by it's hind bumper while its rear wheels spin ineffectually. I can see that being part of the job. A vehicle is trying to escape so I pick it up and hold it while waiting for the perps to give up. Of course in real life they'd just shoot at you to get you to drop it so I would likely end up just flipping the car over to deal with it especially since now cars are mostly front wheel drive instead of rear wheel drive. Ripping doors off a car door to free someone trapped inside or bursting through brick walls were pretty popular things to do which would be helpful as a cop. Although I think I would do what I can to keep property damage to a minimum so I wouldn't be just throwing massive objects around just because I could. Well, I might throw a known offenders car up into the air or over a fence, or through his or her front door just to prove a point but beyond that I don't think I would go on a rampage.

Since this power set comes with "super longevity" I have to explore what I would do in the future. Probably starting in the 23rd century after everyone I hold dear has passed on and I am "alone" in the world. I would turn my attention to being a power in the world. I'd openly use my shield and strength as a masked "hero" while at the same time starting a political movement. The whole thing with being long lived and having no immediate family anymore is that you only have yourself to watch out for. I mean sure you keep friends and allies but it's not the same thing. You can move on. You become one of the "ghosts" that haunts the world. You eventually drop your identity and fall off the grid reinventing yourself from a political stand point whenever you feel like it. Maybe in the 24th century I declare myself "Earth's immortal protector" but who knows where technology and societal values will be. Maybe I become a space explorer if space travel is a viable option then. Maybe at some point I get jaded and become a "supervillain"or an "agent provocateur" changing the world in ways that I would like to see it.

Thank you for reading.

If I was Ursa Major

Background

Mikhail Ursus is a mutant who can transform into a superhumanly powerful bear-like creature. He has been one of Russia's primary superheroes for decades. He was trained from an early age to be in that role which was also the cover for an evil scientist to drain powers from Russian mutants. Through out his long career he has been both an ally and an adversary to a number superheroes depending whether or not said superhero comes into conflict with his role as protector of his country.

Description

Mikhail is a generously muscled, 6' 3" tall man with brown eyes and severely cut brown hair. His super suit is essentially a military uniform. In his bear form he is a 7' 5" tall anthropomorphic Siberian bear, a type of large brown bear including the big teeth and claws.

Powers

Mikhail can transform into a large man/bear. All of his physical attributes are enhanced in this from to at least peak human performance. His running speed and sense of smell are at least equal to a large brown bear. This means he can run at least 35 miles per hour and he can track a target by sense of smell even after it has experienced erosion from factors like the weather. He has other bear-like enhanced senses but I can't find any real description of them.

The primary thrust of the forms power is its super strength. In his bear form he can lift 15 tons from the ground up over his head at arms length. He can perform at his peak for several hours before fatigue starts to impair him. While not invulnerable he can survive falls from several stories without injury or blows from opponents with superhuman strength with little to no injury. He can survive fighting the incredible Hulk in hand to hand combat. He can't beat him but he can walk away from the fight. He can also fight despite having seemingly lethal wounds as when he helped the space knight Rom fight off a Dire Wraith invasion of the soviet union. It is safe to say that he is far stronger and more durable than a similarly sized bear.

The transformation takes about 10 seconds to perform and seems to be a painless process. While transformed he retains his intelligence and personality as well as his ability to speak. If he stays in his bear form for several hours consecutively he becomes more feral and his intelligence diminishes. However the only thing I've seen depicted in terms of that is that he is quicker to anger and has less patience with people but I haven't seen him act any less intelligent or human. It's not known how long he can retain his bear form for but it is at least several hours since he can function at peak capacity for that long before starting to fatigue.

If I Was Ursa Major

This is one of those power sets that I can really have fun with. Super senses and physical attributes all packaged in a huge bear-like body. Just the raw size alone is fun. I'd imagine that being7' 5" is a pain in the ass most of the time. Nothing is designed for you so you have to spend all kinds of money on custom products. If you can be that whenever you want that would be cool. As a short person I'd be thrilled just to be able to reach into the upper cupboards without having to get on the tips of my toes or have to climb a chair to get something. 900 plus pounds is a lot of weight to throw around. Demolition gets easy as well as hauling heavy loads. Not to mention breaking through a line of people trying to stop you from making a touchdown or imagine a scrummage with a giant in it.

I know I would play rough sports in bear form but only with people I know. It wouldn't be something I would do in the general public but I would let the people who are close to me in on the fact that I could transform like that. I'd do all the customary super strength stuff like move furniture, do construction, demolish things and so forth. Because of the super senses I'd take up hunting or I should say that I would be a tracker for my family members and friends who go hunting and fishing. I can see moose hunting season already. "Dan I chased my moose into the swamp. Can you help me get it out?" Then I'd go into the swamp and haul the huge animal out carrying it out over my shoulder. Hell I may even take an opportunity to see if I can chase down a deer or a moose and kill it with my own bare paws.

Now I've noticed that Mikhail himself seems to be an exhibitionist. I say that because despite having access to costumes that can change with him he prefers to strip out of his clothes and be naked in his bear form. I have several comic books where he appears and the artists are forever trying to find creative ways of drawing him naked without actually showing anything. Of course I have no access to a costume that can change with me and the power doesn't compensate for it so I would have to go naked every time I'd transform. I could get some clothes made to fit the bear form or at least get something made that I can keep with me in bear form to hold my clothes without getting in the way of my ursine activities. Maybe a large pouch/belt or back pack.

I would make money by filming a series of movies about a mutant bear monster that attacks a small town. The production cost would be cheap since I wouldn't have to pay as much for special effects and yet it would still look so realistic. Maybe it would be an ongoing television series. I'm not sure. It would depend how things work out. It could either be a pilot for a series or just a movie.

Thank you for reading.

If I Had Captain Canada's Supersuit

Background

Captain Canada's supersuit was created by Captain Atlantis otherwise known as Captain Newfoundland an alien from another world and the last inhabitant of Atlantis. He created the suit/armor so Canada would have a national symbol and protector. How old the suit actually is or if it has been given to anyone else before in unknown to me as of this writing. As far as I know this may have been a common armor worn by Atlantians much like the Guyver armor was worn as space suits by the "Creators".

Description

The suit is a base of red with a white stylized maple leaf on its chest. The limbs have a white stripe running down them with multiple bands of white around them. It comes with a red sealed helmet with a large black visor and small golden crest on it. The suit has golden, banded trunks, gauntlets and boots. The cuffs of the boots and belt are encircled with small, golden disks. The removable cape is white with a red lining on the inside held in place with golden clasps.

Powers

Aside from being a suit of armor the suit is capable of flight in and out of an atmosphere. He can fly from the Moon to the Earth in a short period of time. It provides life support for it's wearer permitting him or her to survive in the void of outer space as well as survive the rigors of it's flight capacity.

It can create a force fields although I don't know how strong they are. It can also project lasers presumably from the gauntlets. Given that the supersuit permits its wearer to turn invisible as well as generate holographic duplicates of him or herself the laser might be able to be projected from any point on the suit.

It also permits its wearer to pass through solid objects. As he did when he was fighting Sho-Gun. It also apparently has magnetic powers.

It is also said the suit has a built-in computer. I'm not sure what that means but I'm sure it includes functions like navigation, targeting as well as handles the bending of light for purposes of invisibility and holographic projection. I'm not sure if it's interactive like a personal computer or if it's simply like a vehicle computer.

I theorize that the suit is more of a wearable spaceship than a battle suit or combat armor. I believe that since the suit doesn't grant super strength or any other physical attribute enhancement and what powers the suit does possess are reminiscent of a spaceship. I believe the magnetic powers probably function as a manipulation tool similar to a spaceship's tractor beam.

If I Had Captain Canada's Supersuit

The first thing I would do is beg Captain Altantis/Newfoundland for a redesign of the suit's appearance, a common practice when a costume or armor is handed down to a successor in comic books. I'd get rid of the white bands but leave the stripes. I'd get the golden parts made white and I'd have them made more mechanical looking, getting rid of the disks in favor of solid bands or at least make them angular segments.

After the modifications and the training sessions I'd probably also end up with some telepathic abilities like Daniel Eaton (Captain Canada) had when it was done. I would then start treating the suit as a wearable spaceship. Most of my days would start with a quick trip to the Moon just to drink in the Earth and take it all in. Then I would see how things were going in the International Space Station then get on with my day.

I might spend my time exploring nearby planets and giving my findings to whatever scientific body is willing to take it. While doing that I would most likely use the suit's laser power to draw large images on the surface of the planet maybe even do some graffiti on their moons.

Now I know that Captain Newfoundland would want me to do some life saving and be an example for people to follow. I'd give some talks at schools and then I would go on patrol. I know that Captain Newfoundland and his other mystical buddies like Golden Dove and Captain Freedom would eventually have tasks for me to do.

I would also explore the northern climates and rescue those lost in the tundra or the frozen sea. If you can survive in the void of outer space you can survive arctic conditions.

Thanks for reading.

If I was the Wasp

Background

Janet Van Dyne was one of the founding members of the Avengers who started off her career in a partnership with Hank Pym (who was responsible for giving her her "wasp" powers in the first place) as the duo of Ant-Man and Wasp. She was the chairman of the Avengers for years and was killed in action after being transformed by the Skrulls into a giant bio weapon that could have destroyed half of the Earth.

Description

Janet was a petite, attractive woman with blue eyes and auburn hair. She was constantly changing her costumes over the years. So she has no one costume to describe.

Powers

The Wasp can shrink down to half an inch in height and is capable of stopping at any height along the way should she desire to. As she shrunk she gained in strength being strong enough to nearly bend a metal bar double with out mechanical aids. When she gets to under 4" in height a pair of insect wings grow out from her back. The wings permit her to fly at up to 40 miles per hour for extended periods of time and with the same maneuverability of her namesake. She can fly forwards, backwards, sideways and even upside down or even hover in place. Her wings stay with her as she grows up until she grows to 4 feet tall. She can still fly with them even at that height and has carried off the Absorbing Man at the same time.

One of her most villain vexing powers was her "wasp stings". They were bio-electric blasts capable of blasting through concrete walls and causing damage and certainly pain to super beings with superhuman durability even the likes of the Hulk but that's usually done with well placed blasts to the more sensitive areas of his body like his eyes and ears. I've never seen her depicted as using her wasp stings at her full height and they seem to be governed by the same rules as her wings, only being activated when she shrinks under 4 inches tall and staying with her until she grows past four feet tall.

I'm not including her growth power in this posting be cause it was the result of the formula that eventually turned her into a living weapon of mass destruction that lead to her death.

If I was the Wasp

Well I know for sure this would be a new option for exploring. A new height expands options to find new places that you didn't even know existed in your house or the houses you've been going to for years. Try crawling around your cupboards or closets at half an inch tall. Cups and bowls are now taller than you are and shoes and jackets are now a mountainous landscape. Cupboards and closets are not always completely sealed so now you would have new ways to get from one room to another. Also if you have a house like my brother does the previous owners weren't very good at design so there are a lot of incomplete room segments that either gives their cat new options to getting into their crawlspace or incomplete crown molding that a half an inch tall person could hide and run around in.

These powers also give a new work out option. Closets give you all kinds of places to climb. Wasp didn't have wall crawling abilities so I would be climbing the old fashion way. Also since the house is now so much bigger in relation to you, you have a huge place to run around in or do parcour.

These powers would give me an opportunity to acclimate myself to the alien appearance of insects and spiders by being exposed to them and their secret world. It would be so creepy to be walking around at half an inch tall and be surprised by a hairy spider five times your size. Now grant you you're disproportionately strong for your size and you could probably beat the snot out of it but with their alien appearance and exotic natural defenses you may be hard press to protect yourself but then I'm sure the wasp sting and superior flight speed would probably keep you safe.

I would make money by playing informant. I figure with the potential for voyeurism provided by this power set that I could make money by spying on people. If necessary I could take out the person they were looking for. Heck I could infiltrate the place and take out whoever was necessary before a raid and make it safer for police to do their job or even to make it safer to rescue someone. Maybe even take out security systems permitting easier infiltration.

I know I would get my place set up with those hamster tube sets so I had my own private passages to get around on a level and from floor to floor. Maybe even some retreats in between floors to permit me to have places to go where I can't be disturbed or discovered.

Thanks for reading.

If I was Cannonball

Background

Sam Guthrie is a mutant who first manifested his powers in his early adolescents who first used it to free himself and a number of other miners from a cave in. Ever since he has essentially been on one X-men derived team or another over the years.

Description

Samuel Guthrie is a tall thin man with blond hair and blue eyes. He's had a variety of costumes over the years which have mostly been variations on the uniforms warn by the Students of the Charles Xavier 's School for Gifted Children. There was however the time when he dressed more like a world war two pilot even including the aviator's goggles.

Powers

Cannonball's primary power is the ability to generate a thermal chemical reaction that provides him thrust to fly. To protect him during flight his body generates a "blast field" a personal force field that protects him from harm.

Initially he could only project the thrust along his legs permitting him to fly in a straight line and he couldn't stop until he taxed his flight power or until he hit a large enough object that could resist his momentum. The blast field lasted long enough to protect him from the consequences of crashing and it extended to anyone he was willingly carrying in flight with him.

Now he can fly with great agility as his ability to direct his motion is a function of his will as well he can stop and start at will. He can even direct his thrust from anywhere on his body permitting him to use it as a sort of energy blast attack. His force field can even be called up at will and extended to protect a small group of people standing around him. He has enough control over his blast field that he can use it trap a target in it. It can be used to absorb kinetic force directed at it which can then be used to enhance the power of his blows or to increase the force of his impact with a target or even increase the duration of his flight.

The upper limit of his power varies by the writer currently handling him but he can lay waste to an area of several city blocks by impacting with the ground starting from a high altitude. His top speed used to be 150 mph but now it seems to be closer to the speed of sound. His maximum range is unknown but it would seem to be that he can fly for hours without needing to land or rest.

It is possible that he is immortal after a fashion. He is believed to be an External a member of a specific group of "immortal" (there are ways of killing them) mutants but since the concept was introduced it hasn't been pursued so I'm not including it as part of his power set for this posting.

If I was Cannonball

I won't lie to you. The whole appeal of these powers for me is the fact that while your flying you leave a contrail like a rocket. I would spend hours learning how to do sky writing and sky drawing. I'm serious the sky would be my canvas but more realistically I would spend so much time pretending to be a rocket or that I'm a "space man" with a "rocket pack".

There's at least one obvious way to make a living as a living reusable missile but I'm not going down that route. I'd rather defend the homeland at home than abroad. I'll lay down my life to protect my country but I won't lay it down just to make somebody's political career from my country or from another one. As a consequence I may join an international aid organization and like with my post of having Wonder Man's ring I would protect them to let them get to places where they would otherwise be attacked by someone.

You know as I think about this power I can't help but think that I would never really find out how much damage I could do. Frankly I would be far too afraid to smash face first into anything that up until having the power would readily crush me if I tried to punch through it. It takes a lot of courage to fly head first into something at 150 mph. When Sam Guthrie first used his power he was saving lives so he didn't really have time to think about it. It would have to be that kind of situation for me to first try it too. Or at least some kind of adrenaline charged situation like me being uncontrollably angry and I'm only concerned with breaking something.

Now when I think about it this would be a power where I would be inclined to take up a Robin Hood role. This would be an awesome power for dramatic break and entry. Smash into people's private vaults and then fly off with the take and redistribute it among the needy. I might even get a costume made to hide my identity and to give people something to focus on.

HMM now I'm thinking how good of a power this would be for fighting fires. Smash into the ground from a high altitude and let the shock wave create a vacuum that would put out the fire or at least portions of it. If the power can be used to demolish several city blocks in one strike then imagine how large and powerful the shock wave is and how much of a vacuum and ergo how large of a fire that can be tackled.

Thanks for reading.