M.C.F.A.T. XXVI Answers

Last week I posted the TWENTY-SIXTH batch of the M.C.F.A.T., or Mysterious Cloaked Figure's Astonishing Test questions. Here are the answers you came up with:

B13.

Kev Bayer.

Sean.

Here are my answers:

1) Which pieces of (snail) mail do you typically open first or with the most urgency?
Nothing jumps out at me more than that bright red Netflix sleeve. It's often the first thing I grab when I come home before disappearing for a few hours. The rest of the mail can sit on the hallway table for weeks or even months, although it only took forgetting a credit card bill once to make me keep an eye out for that the first of every month. Most everything else is either junk or bank statements that I go through all at once when I have time. Ironically, two days after writing this question I discovered a notice that one of my CDs was maturing last Saturday. I'm still within the grace period this weekend to renew it for a better rate than the one they automatically kicked it into, so I have to make sure to take care of it. Honestly, every important envelope should be red and/or promotional; it would make my life a lot easier.

2) You're under attack from some thugs; which fictional character from one of Joss Whedon's shows is best suited to help you out?
Jayne Cobb comes to mind as a dumb, blunt instrument, but he couldn't be trusted. If he were more like Casey he'd be an effective protector, but honestly with Whedon it's all about the girl power. River would be formidable but unstable, and at the end of the day I'd have to be cliché and just go for the obvious choice of a slayer, either Faith or Buffy.(Note to self: consider Whedon characters for a possible future installment of the ”My Fives” feature).

3) What is one compulsive habit you wish you could quit?
Snacking. Last Friday in a fit of depression and craving I bought myself a family sized bag of Tostitos. I go to the gym regularly, and I make an effort to walk every day on my lunch break as weather and time permit, but then I undo all these healthy activities with cookies, chips, pudding, and more. Even when there aren't any snacks in the house, I rummage around late at night until I find something. I've been known to eat an entire bag of saltines around midnight. A lot of times I snack not out of hunger, but boredom. I'll fight it for a while, but eventually I fall back into the same habits. It's a cycle that really needs to stop for my physical and emotional well-being.

4) Of all the cartoons you may have watched as a child, which had the strongest lasting influence on your life?
Transformers. I played with the toys. I watched the cartoon religiously every day after school. I drew the characters. I collected the entire comic book series, which led to my eight year comic book collecting habit of countless other titles. And I can't wait for the latest live action movie. I don't know if it taught me anything, other than setting me on the path to being an artist, and other than one book jacket design, I haven't done any Transformers related work in my career. The biggest influence on me morally would have to be an episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in which He-Man pulls his archenemy Skeletor up from the edge of a cliff, to the villain's surprise. The whole mentality of the hero being better and not sinking to the villain's level has stuck with me my whole life, and given me the patience to at least try to be the good guy in situations in which I'm tempted to drop someone off a metaphorical cliff.

SPECIAL BONUS QUESTION: What functional type of fashion accessory is most common among the heroes of the DC Universe?
Finally, I think the bonus question is going to be open for debate this week. I thought about the wording, and I think “functional” helps my argument, but I'm not sure. Kev said capes while Sean said exterior underwear, and B13 said boots. Underwear and boots fall under attire more than accessory, while cape could go either way. The answer I was looking for is rings.

First and most obviously there are the Green Lanterns, a galaxy wide corps of heroes armed with rings that channel energy based on their willpower. Sinestro is a rogue Green Lantern who turned on this Corps using a ring that wielded yellow energy, which the green rings were weak against. He eventually put together his own Corps, all armed with fear-powered yellow rings. Since then, writer Geoff Johns has created an entire spectrum of ring wielders: Red Lanterns(anger), Violet Lanterns(love), Blue Lanterns(hope), Orange Lanterns(hope), Indigo Lanterns, and Black Lanterns(Death).



If a galaxy full of characters with power rings isn't enough, there's the Legion of Superheroes, a team of superpowered teens from the future all armed with rings that bear their logo and allow them to fly and communicate with one another. The Barry Allen Flash kept his costume miniaturized inside his ring until he needed it. Even Batman had a Kryptonite ring in case Superman had to be put in his place The ring originally belonged to Lex Luthor until it gave him cancer, at which point Supes entrusted it to Bats as a sign that they were going steady. Or something. The point is, a lot of these characters have rings that do things.