olympic proportions

[SHAMWOW!]

watching the olympics seeing michael phelps and usain bolt...

shouldn't aquaman or namor have the body type of phelps or a swimmer.. in general.. versus being over muscular in bulk.

because they grew up in the ocean and swim alot.

shouldnt quicksilver body be more built like usain bolt or sprinters in general. i would say the same as flash but all that speed force stuff tend to make it almost like magic and no effort at all in flash running.

that being said nightwing being acrobatic would be built like a olympic gymnast.

since batman's not as acrobatic he's build would probably be more like GSP of ufc

[dfbovey]

Bolt isn't typical of most sprinters. He's abnormally tall.

But in general, yes. I think some artists already do a good job with this.

[xadrian]

A lot of these athletes fall into their chosen sport because of their body type. There aren't a lot of short volleyball players and being too tall would make you not a great gymnast. I'd wager if you were a super hero your body type wouldn't be as important as you'd develop against whatever body type you had.

[Paulo_P]

Namor has always struck me as having a swimmer's body. That's one thing that makes his great strength so surprising.

[SHAMWOW!]

Bolt isn't typical of most sprinters. He's abnormally tall.

But in general, yes. I think some artists already do a good job with this.

i suppose ed mcguinness isnt one of those drawing flash aquaman super bulk..

[dfbovey]

i suppose ed mcguinness isnt one of those drawing flash aquaman super bulk..

McGuinness seems to be a slave to his own style.

[sdowner]

Dude just likes makin' polls, doesn't he? :D

[SHAMWOW!]

Dude just likes makin' polls, doesn't he? :D

that's what she said :p

[smygba]

watching the olympics seeing michael phelps and usain bolt...

shouldn't aquaman or namor have the body type of phelps or a swimmer.. in general.. versus being over muscular in bulk.

because they grew up in the ocean and swim alot.

shouldnt quicksilver body be more built like usain bolt or sprinters in general. i would say the same as flash but all that speed force stuff tend to make it almost like magic and no effort at all in flash running.

that being said nightwing being acrobatic would be built like a olympic gymnast.

since batman's not as acrobatic he's build would probably be more like GSP of ufc


Keep in mind fat asses can still swim and everyone can run. You're just talking about the top end of people here. I never really cared because most people in comics are not human, so it pretty much explains away a lot of the issues for me. Plus I like everyone looking pumped. But that's just me.

As for the comment that a lot of athletes are chosen for their sport due to their bodytype, there's research that actually claims many more people could have a chance in these kinds of sport, but the screening that takes place at a young age to give the technical advantage favour not so much people who have the potential to be great, but actually have greater ability from a younger age.

For example, many boys who are chosen for sports like athletics or rugby may be a result fo what's known as the Relative Age Effect, whereby having a birthdate that falls earlier in an academic year means some boys are just more developed than others. They then get picked out, thrown into sports which they then continue to develop a talent for. Other genetic and ergonomic factors also mean that some people have more dense muscle tissues which make them less suited to swimming and more suited to explosive movements like sprinting.

So I don't really care if the SubMariner looks one way or another tbh, because the real world is too complex to factor what someone should look like. Most of it is enviromental in the end, and even then, its not the only factor that makes them a good athlete. Besides, Nightwing is built like a gymnast if you ever check someone like McDaniels run.

[BADNEWS]

It's an interesting observation, and certainly just what it is a character uses his or her body for is something artists ought to take into consideration in their designs.

[Wade8813]

Good point, but keep in mind that Aquaman is supposed to live at the bottom of the ocean, whereas Phelps is a surface dweller who stays near the surface of the water.

[SHAMWOW!]

Good point, but keep in mind that Aquaman is supposed to live at the bottom of the ocean, whereas Phelps is a surface dweller who stays near the surface of the water.

other than probably looking more like abe sapien he would still be slim and muscled more like a swimmer because swimming underwater or just the surface of the water muscles that get worked are still the same muscles..

[Newt]

I generally agree, and when I draw those characters I tend to base their builds on swimmers like Johnny Weismuller. But thinking it through a little more, Aquaman and Namor swim all the time, and with techniques probably very different from those of a person who has to gulp air every few seconds or minutes; even a dedicated swimmer like Phelps isn't that aquatic. Figuring out which muscles would actually be developed most will take a bit more thought, and would probably result in rather odd-looking superheroes.

[Wade8813]

other than probably looking more like abe sapien he would still be slim and muscled more like a swimmer because swimming underwater or just the surface of the water muscles that get worked are still the same muscles..
To some extent. But that whole thing about living under the crushing water pressure changes things.

[dfbovey]

To some extent. But that whole thing about living under the crushing water pressure changes things.

Doesn't really change anatomy all that much. Shark breeds at that depth are still the same anatomically as sharks at the surface.

[lost-spartan]

To some extent. But that whole thing about living under the crushing water pressure changes things.

Not sure what your point was with this in relation to his muscles, but to my knowledge, water pressure regardless of depth only crushes things if their internal pressure is not equal or greater to that of the depth their at. So if Aquaman lives deep in the ocean and can come up to surface, he can obviously regulate his own internal pressure meaning there would be no effect on his body at all. And as Dave said, sharks deep down or near the surface have the same anatomy.

[Wild&Uncouth]

Here's my question- Why hire a slim fit guy and put him in a fat suit and make-up to play the blob in the wolverine film, when I'm sure there plenty of over-weight actors who would have loved the part?