Invisible Man v Hawkman

This is the classic match-up. First conceived and told by John Hodgman on the Superpowers episode of This American Life (#178, thought by many, including this blog, to be perhaps the best episode ever), the question posited there is:

Which is better: The power of flight or the power of invisibility?

Hodgman, whose gloriously dry and incisive wit has been displayed on The Daily Show, the Mac vs PC ads, and in his book, The Areas of My Expertise, among other places, first poses the question as Invisible Man versus Hawkman, but the question actually turns on which superpower you’d rather have–the power of flight or the flight of invisibility. He conducts an informal survey, and the answers are revealing, funny … and super interesting. This blog, and friends of the blog, have been actively talking/arguing the flight or invisibility point for 4 years.

Our topic turns the question on its head–instead of the superpower you’d prefer to have, the question is: which superhero would you prefer not to be? Some considerations:

1. Outfit. Right out of the gate: a tough one. Invisible Man has a tall order, a total hassle, everytime he wants to leave the house in a condition to be seen. Granted, if you’re a super reclusive and/or sadistic type, you may not want to be seen, often or ever. But, boy, the ladies have not been known to go all ga-ga for the gauze-pads-n-goggles look -

And, hey, eye contact is nice, every once in a while, isn’t it? The inability to un-invisible yourself is one of the real tragedies of the life of Invisible Man. On the other hand, however, it’s not like Hawkman gets to take his wings off, ever. As Hawkman’s cousin Harvey Birdman can attest, even after having your suits altered to accomodate your feathery accessories, you’re liable to run into problems with people taking you seriously.

2. Fly places or sneak places. This one is central to John Hodgman’s This American Life piece, but is worth reiterating here, in pictures. Your choices are this -

or this -

Keep in mind, it grows cold very quickly at high altitudes. Conversely, if you’re in Maui on a 95-degree day, meet a girl you like and want to ask her out, you’ll do so dressed like a mummy who’s dressed like a private investigator.

Invisible Man or Hawkman? What’s worse.