Who's your Hard Man?

[speakingtohe]

The REAL hard men were the IRA in the 1970s and they were right bastards

Yes. Sean Dillon

[AnemicOak]

Sam Spade
Mike Hammer

[wvcherrybomb]

Ranger! (Ricardo Carlos Manoso)

That's one hard man that I would love to have in the room with me right now, or any time, for that matter!

[JSWolf]

Steve Austin

[orlok]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Superman

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Batman

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Steve Austin

Just curious which books these characters originated in?

[JSWolf]

Superman - DC Comics
Batman - DC Comics

Steve Austin - Cyborg by Martin Caidin Published April 1972.

Cyborg is the story of an astronaut-turned-test pilot, Steve Austin, who experiences a catastrophic crash during a flight, leaving him with all but one limb destroyed, blind in one eye, and with other major injuries.

At the same time, a secret branch of the American government, the Office of Strategic Operations (OSO) has taken an interest in the work of Dr. Rudy Wells in the field of bionics - the replacement of human body parts with mechanical prosthetics that (in the context of this novel) are more powerful than the original limbs. Wells also happens to be a close friend of Austin's, so when OSO chief Oscar Goldman "invites" (or rather, orders) Wells to rebuild Austin with bionics limbs, Wells agrees.

In Caidin's writings, he uses the form "bionics" in all references treating it as both noun (singular) and adjective, since "-ics" is the Greek suffix meaning science, study or practice, as in "physics"; this was changed for the subsequent television series to the more adjectival-sounding form "bionic", e.g. "bionic limbs" rather than Caidin's "bionics limbs".

Steve Austin is outfitted with two new legs capable of propelling him at great speed, and a bionics left arm with almost human dexterity and the strength of a battering ram. One of the fingers of the hand incorporates a poison dart gun. His left eye is replaced with a false, removable eye that is used (in this first novel) to house a miniature camera. Other physical alterations include the installation of a steel skull plate to replace bone smashed by the crash, and a radio transmitter built into a rib. This mixture of man and machine is known as a cyborg, from which the novel gets its title.

The first half of the novel details Austin's operation and both his reaction to his original injuries—he attempts to commit suicide—and his initially resentful reaction to being rebuilt with bionics. The operation comes with a hefty price tag, and Austin is committed to working for the OSO as a reluctant agent. He is teamed with a female operative and sent to the Middle East as a new weapon against extremism.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by orlok

Just curious which books these characters originated in?

Jon reads too many comic books and watches too much TV.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Jon reads too many comic books and watches too much TV.

Cyborg was out before the TV series (The Six Million Dollar Man) based on the book.

[carpetmojo]

From the Bard, Macbeth, and Hotspur (Henry 4 pt 1).

Oh, and of course, James Lee Burke's Robicheaux - but even he's not as hard as Purcell.

But he is more sensible.................

[IcecreamLtDan]

Dirk Pitt is the main character in Clive Cusslers series of novels involving NUMA. Though he now has other characters, Dirk Pitt was the first and probably still best known. Mr. Cussler has had two of his books turned into movies, both involving Dirk Pitt. The first was "Raise the Titanic", which was made in the 70's and is rather loosely based on the novel to say the least. The second, and more recent movie, was "Sahara" with Matthew McConaughey which was a movie I rather enjoyed and was hoping would be the start of a new series of movies, ala James Bond, but it probably isn't going to happen. The books have been favorites of mine for years though other than the Dirk Pitt novels, the only other ones to strike my fancy have been the "Oregon Files" books.

Originally Posted by hard-boiled pat

not familiar with him

[hard-boiled pat]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

From the Bard, Macbeth, and Hotspur (Henry 4 pt 1).

Oh, and of course, James Lee Burke's Robicheaux - but even he's not as hard as Purcell.

But he is more sensible.................

clete purcell is one piece of work... but id still rather face him than streak.

[Fehmarn]

Besides eternal heroes like Travis McGee and Mike Hammer I like these guys:

John Rain (Barry Eisler)
Hawk (Robert B. Parker)
Arkady Renko (Martin Cruz Smith)
Charlie Muffin (Brian Freemantle)

[straygator]

Originally Posted by Fehmarn

Arkady Renko (Martin Cruz Smith)

Oh, yeah. Travis could take him, but it'd be a hell of a fight.

[tubemonkey]

I love a good action hero, so my vote goes to Dick

Spoiler:

[Fehmarn]

I forgot one:

Tony Valentine (James Swain)