In terms of fantasy most magic basically is manipulation of energies in various ways involving some form of mental/spiritual/chi discipline. Which is why I think Goku and company's powers & abilities would come across as magic in some regards.
You gotta wonder why this isn't a class. This would have been a fun ass class in undergrad. Far more beneficial and entertaining when trying to address the themes commonly associated with "classic" literature.
Well certainly. And it's safe to assume that maybe the characters in the DC and Marvel universes would exercise something to that effect through their own abilities.
In the comics Thor & Asgard and many of the mythical gods are played as fully mystical in nature. Tony Stark being a man of science & technology of course will view mystical being as aliens and their powers as some form of advanced tech that can't be explain by current science. Pretty much what they did in the Thor movie rather than play up the actual mystical angle of the comics.
All you need to do is request it to the Liberal Arts department. My university actually has some literature classes on zombies, which started around two years back. So, maybe it depends on how open-minded they are and more so, how many students would be willing to put this into consideration and support it.
But as you stated before most of their powers are based on more science based explanations like gamma rays, radioactive spider bites, better technology, rapid regeneration, shit like that.
Shit have you seen teenage and early 20s guys these days? I'd bet most would be down for "DC vs Marvel and It's Impact On The 20th Century" as a class. I sure would have. Shit if I had the time I'd be down for it now.
Well true, many of Marvel's characters are of a science based origin, but then you have those like Doraramu, Shuma-Gorath, Storm, Dr. Strange. As for people on the DC Side...Faith, Hawkgirl's mace, among many of the examples I could think of. But energy does exist, but I guess from a mystical standpoint, consider shaolin monks who apparently channels their chi into parts of their body and exert it....
It'd be entertaining. Of course, you'll have some students who are die-hard fans of one and would dismiss the other, so the course curriculum would be crazy because you want to appease all students in the material. Not so much on the lessons, as much as which side offers more time or a balance of that. And hell, maybe allow them to dress up as any of their favorite characters. I'm just waiting for a Rocket Raccoon to come out.
Never thought about where Storm's powers came from. I think Hawkgirl's mace isn't actual magic its made from Nth metal which deflects magic much like Iron in Celtic myths. As far as monks are concerned I won't believe it until I see a tangible haddoken or kamehameha wave lol
Yeah, you're right. I was a bit confused. I thought that her mace was made of magic, but then forgot that she used it against Cthulhu (magic based demon god) and Solomon Grundy after he was revived by magic. As for the monks...hmmm.....AWWW come on man! If you can believe that there's a god, think there's room for consideration for these guys? I mean look at this!! [YOUTUBE]yVI0r276lJA[/YOUTUBE]
Who said I "believe" in God? I just allow for the possibility of some type of creator. Whether or not it cares about the lives of humans is a different topic. You might be interested in reading Singularity is Near by Raymond Kurzweil. I think if we want a God in the way its been described in the three major religions we're probably going to have to create him.
Storm's a mutant. Her X gene allows her to mentally tap into and manipulate the elements, but yes it would come across as mystical in nature for anyone who didn't know she was a mutant such as the tribes she lived around as a teen in Africa who worshiped her like a goddess because of her abilities. You're correct on Hawkgirl's mace. Nth metal is of alien origin and was discovered to be able to counter magic back in what is regarded as the Dark Ages of the planet Thanagar back when their race embraced magic.