I need to ask Sam..

[TheMadTitan]

Dear Sam Wilson,

I have been wondering what is the durability of the full powered Wrecker from the Wrecking Crew. Are high caliber bullets capable of penetrating the Wrecker's skin? On the old Marvel site, it states Wrecker is capable of enduring .45 caliber bullets without penetrating his skins. I would like to know do rifle bullets go through Wrecker's hide? In Secret Wars, Piledriver (one of the Wrecker Crew members) claimed that he is able to bounce off .38 slug. But in Avengers 78, Hawkeye's arrows can pierce through easily both Wrecker's and Piledriver's skins. So my question how durable is the Wrecker? Thank you.

TMT

[Sam Wilson]

Dear Sam Wilson,

I have been wondering what is the durability of the full powered Wrecker from the Wrecking Crew. Are high caliber bullets capable of penetrating the Wrecker's skin? On the old Marvel site, it states Wrecker is capable of enduring .45 caliber bullets without penetrating his skins. I would like to know do rifle bullets go through Wrecker's hide? In Secret Wars, Piledriver (one of the Wrecker Crew members) claimed that he is able to bounce off .38 slug. But in Avengers 78, Hawkeye's arrows can pierce through easily both Wrecker's and Piledriver's skins. So my question how durable is the Wrecker? Thank you.

TMT

holdfast young man, I will get the team on this and have your answer forth right...

[TheMadTitan]

holdfast young man, I will get the team on this and have your answer forth right...

Thanks Sam. I have no background of how bullets and calibers work. Thanks for your help!!

[wktf]

MadTitan, one problem we all are facing is the different ways comic book creators choose to portray heroes' and villains' powers and abilities. To your point about durability or invulnerability, Stan Lee and Roy Thomas have written The Sub-Mariner as both bullet proof and having been wounded by bullets so, unfortunately, some things just aren't written in stone.

The Wrecker got his powers from Karnilla, The Norn Queen, who was trying to re-empower the depowered Loki. But she empowered the man who'd become The Wrecker instead when she confused him for Loki. She gave him the power, strength, endurance, invulnerability of an Asgardian god. So, he's superhumanly strong, as is an Asgardian (Thor is far stronger than the typical Asgardian and, so, is stronger than The Wrecker though The Wrecker has given Thor problems 1-on-1 before). But, is he invulnerable or, more aptly, are Asgardians invulnerable. Thor often whirls his hammer in front of him to deflect bullets so, based on that, I'd guess bullets can hurt him. But, and this is just my opinion after 40 years of reading Thor, I'd seriously guess his Asgardian hide is tough enough to withstand bullets or arrows. That said, I do not believe his hide to be as tough as, say, The Hulk's.

So, in the end, I'd say The Wrecker at full strength (which he's not when he's working with The Wrecking Crew...he transfers his power to each of them so, when they're together, he's at roughly 1/4 power) I doubt .38 bullets and arrows can bother him. What you relay in Avengers 78, I'd say, is a function of his being at 1/4 strength. In Avengers 276 Thor drains the power from the other Wrecking Crew members through and into The Wrecker and was about to drain the power from him but Goliath (now Atlas) attacked him so The Wrecker recovered to face Captain America but 4 times more powerful than when Thor knocked him out. It took Thor's dropping Goliath on The Wrecker to put him down then.

Hope this helps.

[Juggernaut]

What issue and series did the Wrecker get his power's?

[rychehitman]

Thor #148

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x111/cleafus_bucket/Thor-148.jpg

[Juggernaut]

Thanks for the info Ryche.

[rychehitman]

Dear Sam Wilson,

I have been wondering what is the durability of the full powered Wrecker from the Wrecking Crew. Are high caliber bullets capable of penetrating the Wrecker's skin? On the old Marvel site, it states Wrecker is capable of enduring .45 caliber bullets without penetrating his skins. I would like to know do rifle bullets go through Wrecker's hide? In Secret Wars, Piledriver (one of the Wrecker Crew members) claimed that he is able to bounce off .38 slug. But in Avengers 78, Hawkeye's arrows can pierce through easily both Wrecker's and Piledriver's skins. So my question how durable is the Wrecker? Thank you.
TMT

This is not an easy question since there are so many things to consider in both the case of bullets and of arrows. I'm no expert, but I'll point out some of the things that shoudl be considered.

We can use the words "force" and "strength" and although we know what you mean, we should take some care to use measures of the behaviour of arrows and bullets which would let us compare the two on a fair basis. ( both bullets and arrows are used to cause damage, so we need a measure of thiscapability to cause damage.)

In order to cause damage the projectile must use its kinetic energy, (the energy it need to travel at speed) to damage the object being hit. Often we use the ability of the bullet or arrow to penetrate a solid material.

So, examining a bullet..... They are propelled by an explosion within the gun barrel and the expanding gases force the bullet down the barrel and out towards the target. Guns often need to be carried easily so the size of the cartridges and bullets is a compromise between causing the maximum damage and being easy to handle. The kinetic energy of the bullet (and arrow for that matter ) depends on the mass, and the velocity.

The mass depends on the size and density of the bullet and the velocity depends on things like the amount of explosive, the mass of the bullet andthe design of the gun,,,an arrow on the other hand is projected by a bow which has been drawn by Hawkeye's muscles.

We can define energy as the force applied times the distance over which the force is applied. In the case of a bow, the archer pulls back the string using at first a small force but as the bow bends the force needed to pull further builds up.

Some say that a medieval bow could require 160lbs "draw strength" which is the force needed for the last part of the draw where most of the energy is stored up. On release of the string, most of the stored energy is transferred to the arrow. Arrows could be up to 3 feet long so even though they were made largely of wood this weight of wood plus the weight of the normally metal arrow-head could be much greater than a rifle bullet. This is a factor which results in the arrows traveling more slowly than bullets which usually travel faster than sound.

Once the projectile is on its way, it can only lose energy through air resistance. This energy loss is important because it is the energy on impact not the firing energy that counts. The bullet and arrow are again very different. Because the arrow travels more slowly, the air resistance due to pushing air out of the way is lower. On the other hand the shaft and particularly the flights will cause frictional drag. ( The fact that the drag due to the flight is greater than the tip is how flights keep the arrow straight ! )

The final amount of energy depends on these losses and therefore of course how far the projectile travels before impact. I should think arrows lose a smaller fraction of their energy. This may help to explain why arrows can penetrate solid materials so well.

Another factor is their shape. The arrow-head is very sharp, that is it has a very small cross sectional area at the tip. The size builds up slowly and this is good for air resistance and particularly good for penetrating solids. Arrows shot by Welsh bowmen could penetrate solid oak, four inches thick and poke through by over six inches.

All that being said....the original question is having to do with the Wrecker's skin itself. Could it withstand different caliber bullets, and not withstand an arrow from Hawkeye? Is there an aura that surrounds the Wreckers body that makes him impervious to some impacts and not others? (such as Kal El's?)
Is it the the point of the arrows tip vs. the tip of a bullet that holds the answer? Does the pointed edge pierce far more easily than a more rounded edge?

This is indeed a good question. As WKTF indicated, the Wrecker has had different power levels at different points of his career. Perhaps thats the best answer to go with, lol!

[Sam Wilson]

This is indeed a good question. As WKTF indicated, the Wrecker has had different power levels at different points of his career. Perhaps thats the best answer to go with, lol!

yes, that is why I asked him to answer the question. (sigh)

Anyway, asked and answered, so lets move on...

[ANGRYCOMICMAN]

So when the Wrecker transfers his powers to the others, does that make is dick shrink to 1/4 it's size?

[wktf]

So when the Wrecker transfers his powers to the others, does that make is dick shrink to 1/4 it's size?

No, but it only gets 1/4 as hard as he'd like it to when he needs it.

[Babytoxie]

No, but it only gets 1/4 as hard as he'd like it to when he needs it.

Thereby reducing his so-called "pounding power".:sly2:

[Ink]

No, but it only gets 1/4 as hard as he'd like it to when he needs it.

must resist....:laugh:

[wktf]

Why? No one else is.