Comments on: Birds of Prey #87: A Medical Review

By: Maxx

Maxx — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 16:36:00 +0000

By: Andrew Burton

Andrew Burton — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 00:47:16 +0000

I think you forgot a diagnosis: there's nothing wrong with him. As House might say, "People lie, supervillains doubly so." Calculator says that he can't let go of a riddle until it's solved, yet if memory serves he's been playing with those sixty-four piece Rubik's Cube puzzles since Identity Crisis. Given the number of solver programs out there, and that he's supposed to be one of the DCU's greatest brains, if those kinds of puzzles bugged him so badly, he'd have an algorithm etched in his brain to solve them. There's nothing wrong with him. He's just trying to throw Luthor off.

By: badrock

badrock — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 22:21:24 +0000

First spell personality. Second i think that a better light should be shown on mental illness , for instance Wolverine , Psylock ,sabertooth ,rogue ,and etc. These are all patience of the 0ne DR. with the ability to help them Professor X. Woth his compation and super mental powers he has helped through years of toment and torture if were to guess we ( or the people with mental illnesses) would prefer that traetment over medication. In reality please remember to help and understand friends or family with mental disorders.

By: Chris Arndt

Chris Arndt — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 22:17:29 +0000

I miss the dust-made cranes.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:36:31 +0000

He’s not obsessional, he’s manic. Obsessive-combulsive personality and OCD don’t have so much grandiosity. D/C the SSRI’s and get some Lithium on board. Some Risperdal. while we’re at it.

By: David Oakes

David Oakes — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 20:26:36 +0000

Lexapro? Lexapro Luvox? And the Calculator didn’t realize that a Superman villain was going to mess with his drug supply?

I agree that Calc’s symptoms don’t seem to match the diagnosis. But I also have a hard time believing that – even in the tradition of Super-villain ego – the second greatest brain on the planet wouldn’t have made sure to solve such an immediate conundrum. My pre-Med/Evolutionary Geneticist’s two cents, might he have both? (You know these comic book villains, always the over achievers.) His personality is so dedicated to problem-solving that without a chemical “brake”, he focuses to much on some minor detail rather than taking in the big picture? His OCPD makes him the traditional anilytical super-villain, always coming up with plans for everything. But without his meds, his OCD compels him to, oh, put on a garrish purple suit and summon cranes out of dust to implement them.

(What a boring place the DCU could be if they ever discover Ritilin…)

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 13:32:49 +0000

I think his riddle solving may meet the first criteria for a compulsion, but I don’t think it meets the second one. He certainly has some characteristics of both conditions, but I’m sure he has either one.

I think he has different doctors writing SSRI scripts either because 1)he wants an ungodly high dose and doesn’t want any of them to know about it, or 2)he has some docs set up as “back-up suppliers” in case something happens to his original doc…like “suicide.”

Maybe he should just respond those spam e-mails and order his Proz@c or P@x!l…

By: A. H.

A. H. — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 08:28:20 +0000

I may be misreading the quote since it’s out of context, but it sounds like his attitude toward riddles is actually a compulsion (if you want to call solving riddles a behavior, which I think is fair), which would speak to him having some OCD symptamatology. That aside, though, why would he want to be medicated for the thing he makes his living on? I almost wonder if he’s got crippling depression/anxiety that he needs the SSRIs for, and Luthor is preventing him from getting his meds so he’s less effective. (Why would he need at least three separate doctors to write scripts for them, anyway? That’s weird.) If he’s getting treated for solving riddles, then taking away his medicine will only make him more likely to poke his nose in Luthor’s business.

But someone really should tell him it’s not that hard to get SSRIs. It’s not like they’re Oxycontin. :)

By: argott

argott — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 07:43:01 +0000

Jeesus, I feel like I’m learning more about medicine here than listening to Dr.Dean Edell.

He arranged medication without seeing a specialist? You’re quite witty.