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Post by Outrajs on Jul 23, 2017 14:24:34 GMT -5
If a superhero can fly a cape makes sense. It makes them more aerodynamic by removing the curves from the body and replacing it with a relatively straight line as it floats above and behind the character. Ground based characters have no real need for the cape other than just looks. Well Said, and welcome to CCF ... I like your thinking using word like aerodynamic and your phase "relatively straight line ... above and behind the character" ...
Thank you! I may be a photographer now (hence the relatively straight line) but I have a degree in environmental science (aerodynamics). I like realism in my fantasy. I'm such a nerd...and love every minute of it! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2017 14:29:48 GMT -5
Well Said, and welcome to CCF ... I like your thinking using word like aerodynamic and your phase "relatively straight line ... above and behind the character" ...
Thank you! I may be a photographer now (hence the relatively straight line) but I have a degree in environmental science (aerodynamics). I like realism in my fantasy. I'm such a nerd...and love every minute of it! I'm a little bit of a nerd myself and I spent nearly half my life working with system administrators, computers, mainframes, and fixing problems after problems making sure it's all working properly. There is nothing wrong having realism in your fantasy ... it's a healthy thing to do. I'm retired now ... and enjoying life as it is. |
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Post by junkmonkey on Jul 23, 2017 18:03:58 GMT -5
If a superhero can fly a cape makes sense. It makes them more aerodynamic by removing the curves from the body and replacing it with a relatively straight line as it floats above and behind the character. Ground based characters have no real need for the cape other than just looks. May I propose an experiment? Run across a field with a stick held up in the air. The run back with a flag tied to the stick. I bet you that you will find the drag caused by the flag fluttering and flapping will make the process a whole lot harder on the return journey. EDIT: Better still. For the first leg run with the flag furled. Then you won't have any weight difference on the two journeys. |
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Post by chazro on Jul 24, 2017 0:46:39 GMT -5
I always prefer capes that flow naturally and somewhat realistically. Kirby's cape on Thor always looked so stiff but he made it work. When Byrne started drawing Superman with Thor's cape it was a huge fail for me. We can all agree the most recognizable and iconic cape is Batman's, but only a few artists truly rock his cape. Adams, Rogers, Golden, and currently, Capullo.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 24, 2017 0:53:12 GMT -5
I always prefer capes that flow naturally and somewhat realistically. Kirby's cape on Thor always looked so stiff but he made it work. When Byrne started drawing Superman with Thor's cape it was a huge fail for me. We can all agree the most recognizable and iconic cape is Batman's, but only a few artists truly rock his cape. Adams, Rogers, Golden, and currently, Capullo. lol, thank you. i thought i was alone in that. i always liked Gil Kane's version of Kal's cape best. |
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Post by Outrajs on Jul 24, 2017 7:03:55 GMT -5
If a superhero can fly a cape makes sense. It makes them more aerodynamic by removing the curves from the body and replacing it with a relatively straight line as it floats above and behind the character. Ground based characters have no real need for the cape other than just looks. May I propose an experiment? Run across a field with a stick held up in the air. The run back with a flag tied to the stick. I bet you that you will find the drag caused by the flag fluttering and flapping will make the process a whole lot harder on the return journey. EDIT: Better still. For the first leg run with the flag furled. Then you won't have any weight difference on the two journeys. It's a good hypothesis but the parameters are wrong. Flight, in a person, isn't necessarily based on strength. It could be...but it could also be based on a gravitational power. It could be based on a magic force. On any number of things really. Second, if it were flying as in an airplane, air molecules bunch up underneath the wing. They glide over the top. That is how lift is created. A cape would provide the proverbial wing for the molecules to bunch under. |
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Post by junkmonkey on Jul 24, 2017 17:44:09 GMT -5
May I propose an experiment? Run across a field with a stick held up in the air. The run back with a flag tied to the stick. I bet you that you will find the drag caused by the flag fluttering and flapping will make the process a whole lot harder on the return journey. EDIT: Better still. For the first leg run with the flag furled. Then you won't have any weight difference on the two journeys. It's a good hypothesis but the parameters are wrong. Flight, in a person, isn't necessarily based on strength. It could be...but it could also be based on a gravitational power. It could be based on a magic force. On any number of things really. Second, if it were flying as in an airplane, air molecules bunch up underneath the wing. They glide over the top. That is how lift is created. A cape would provide the proverbial wing for the molecules to bunch under. The difference in the strength required for the two passes in my experiment would be a measure of the wind resistance. A flapping flag or loose cape would have more wind resistance than a furled one. Whatever the motivational power for our flying superhero - focussed electro-magentic fluxion wavicals. magic, or nuclear farts - wind resistance, the effect of the person passing through the air, would be the same for all of them. Wings (plane wings not bird, bat or butterfly) are rigid (or semi-rigid in the case of hang-gliders and the like). Capes - as drawn by most comic book artists don't have frameworks to hold them taught. And most wings (planes', birds' bats' and butterflies') don't have the weight that they are lifting directly underneath them (thus already filling the space that the air molecules would need to 'bunch under' to provide lift - apart from the hang-glider/microlight arrangement but in those cases there is a large gap between the the wing and the payload with the pilot (and motor) slung well beneath so as not to mess with the airflow under the wing. Sorry, no. I don't buy it. A non rigid, flapping, cape would hinder flight not enhance it. (Apart from aesthetically.) |
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