Okay, here's the next round of matchups. Starting at the bottom of the picture:
The Wasp vs. The Atom
Ray (this is Ray, right?) is more intelligent and can shrink to a smaller size, both of which are considerable advantages. Janet's powers are more versatile, though (energy blast and flight), and she has years of experience as the leader of the Avengers. These factors tip the balance in her favor.
Winner: The Wasp
Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow
It's hard to pick against either of these two. They are so evenly matched in speed, skill, attitude, and the ability to make snappy patter to distract an opponent. And both of them rarely miss. As Ronin, however, Clint probably has better hand-to-hand fighting skills. Once they both run out of trick arrows, Hawkeye wins.
Winner: Hawkeye
Beast vs. Vixen
Beast is smarter, stronger, and faster. But Vixen's powers give so many different options in combat, I don't think Beast would be able to keep up. Sorry, Hank.
Winner: Vixen
Scarlet Witch vs. Zatanna
Red combat lingerie vs. Magic fishnets. In picking a winner for this fight, the snarky part of me wants to say "Every fanboy who reads the comic". But on to the actual fight. Zatanna typically has to speak to cast her spells, which could be a disadvantage, but not a major one. Wanda probably has more raw power—chaos magic is nasty stuff. But she's just too unstable to rely on in a fight. Zatanna's skill and steadiness wins the day.
Winner: Zatanna
Comments?
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Saturday, May 09, 2009
DC vs Marvel Dustups part 2a
My responses to Lord Mhoram's post (below):
Quicksilver vs. Flash:
This fight is over quicker than you can say, "This fight is over." Besides, Quicksilver's a jerk. He deserves to get the snot beaten out of him.
Giant-Man vs. Orion:
Giant-Man loses this fight not because Orion is so much stronger, but because, as Dilliwag pointed out over on his blog, he's Hank Pym.
Black Panther vs. Blue Beetle:
I don't know much about Blue Beetle, but I know that Black Panther is no one to be messed with. Panther wins.
Quasar vs. Firestorm:
Hmm, I'm not as convinced on this one. Quasar, to me, always seemed like a weak Green Lantern knock-off. And in all the published stories in which I've seen him, he seemed either underpowered, unimiginative, or just plain boring. I think Firestorm gives him a run for his money. In fact, I pick Firestorm for the win.
Quicksilver vs. Flash:
This fight is over quicker than you can say, "This fight is over." Besides, Quicksilver's a jerk. He deserves to get the snot beaten out of him.
Giant-Man vs. Orion:
Giant-Man loses this fight not because Orion is so much stronger, but because, as Dilliwag pointed out over on his blog, he's Hank Pym.
Black Panther vs. Blue Beetle:
I don't know much about Blue Beetle, but I know that Black Panther is no one to be messed with. Panther wins.
Quasar vs. Firestorm:
Hmm, I'm not as convinced on this one. Quasar, to me, always seemed like a weak Green Lantern knock-off. And in all the published stories in which I've seen him, he seemed either underpowered, unimiginative, or just plain boring. I think Firestorm gives him a run for his money. In fact, I pick Firestorm for the win.
Friday, May 08, 2009
DC vs Marvel Dustups part 2
I'm going to list what I figure are the blowouts. :)
Quicksilver vs. Flash:
Speed of Sound vs Speed of Light. Duh.
Giant-Man vs. Orion:
A growth based brick (who has fallen to the Hulk pretty easily) vs a guy that can actually hurt Superman. No contest.
Black Panther vs. Blue Beetle:
As much as I love Ted - T'Challa takes him in any kind of fight.
Quasar vs. Firestorm:
I think the Firetorm here is Ronnie, but no Professor. Quasar is one the biggest energy powerhouses in the Avengers. Firestorm has been overwhelmed by Killer Frost and other energy people. Quasar would toast him.
Quicksilver vs. Flash:
Speed of Sound vs Speed of Light. Duh.
Giant-Man vs. Orion:
A growth based brick (who has fallen to the Hulk pretty easily) vs a guy that can actually hurt Superman. No contest.
Black Panther vs. Blue Beetle:
As much as I love Ted - T'Challa takes him in any kind of fight.
Quasar vs. Firestorm:
I think the Firetorm here is Ronnie, but no Professor. Quasar is one the biggest energy powerhouses in the Avengers. Firestorm has been overwhelmed by Killer Frost and other energy people. Quasar would toast him.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Marvel-DC Dustup (Part 1)
Hey, fellow authors, remember the days when we used to do group participation posts? Where one of us would post a topic, and the others would respond? I miss that. So I've decided to bring it back. Consider this an engraved invitation to share your wisdom and insights, Lord Mhoram and Dilliwag (and anyone else who wants to play along, I suppose).
Today's topic: Marvel Heroes vs. DC Heroes.
I'm sure everyone's familiar with this picture:
This spread features no less than two dozen pairings of some members of the two companies' flagship teams. The matchups, as best I can tell, are as follows:
Wasp vs. Atom
Captain America vs. Batman
Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow
Scarlet Witch vs. Zatanna
Quicksilver vs. Flash
Crystal vs. Ice
Machine Man vs. Plastic Man
Warbird vs. Power Girl
Thor vs. Superman
Giant-Man vs. Orion
Wonder Man vs. Captain Marvel
Iron Man vs. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
Triathlete vs. Steel
Sub-Mariner vs. Aquaman
Black Widow vs. Black Canary
Black Panther vs. Blue Beetle
Tigra vs. Huntress
Quasar vs. Firestorm
Vision vs. Martian Manhunter
She-Hulk vs. Wonder Woman
Firestar vs. Fire
Hercules vs. Big Barda
Justice vs. Red Tornado
Falcon vs. Hawkman
(Roughly bottom to top.By the way, who's that fighting Red Tornado? Is it Jack of Hearts? Or maybe someone else? I can't tell. Little help here?)
Anyway, pictures like this always make me wonder: Who would win?
My invitation is to pick the winner of each fight. (We'll just do the Big Three from each company, to start with.) Give details. Debate. Speculate. You remember the drill.
I'll begin.
Captain America vs. Batman
The toughest fight to pick, right out of the gate. In the comics, these two fought each other to a standstill over an extended period of time--hours, as I recall. It's hard to single out an advantage in skill, willpower, strategy, endurance, or weaponry for either one. In the end, I have to go with my gut feeling: As a wartime combat veteran, Cap wins. Barely.
(Too bad both of these characters are currently dead.)
Winner: Captain America
Thor vs. Superman
God of Thunder. Man of Steel. The two heaviest hitters (with the possible exception of Hulk) in the two universes. Superman has his Kryptonian heritage and decades of skill as a hero. Thor has his Asgardian physiology, his mighty hammer Mjolnir, and mystical control over lightning and thunder. Is it enough to beat Superman? Sadly, Thor, I say thee nay.
Winner: Superman
Iron Man vs. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
Conventional wisdom says that Green Lantern wins this fight, pretty much regardless of who the opponent is. And were the two people involved anyone other than Kyle and Tony, I'd agree without hesitation. Kyle is skilled with the ring and possesses an almost limitless imagination. But Tony is a scientific genius, an experienced hero and warrior, a survivor, and as recent events have shown, a ruthless S.O.B. when he feels the need to be. In a straight-up fight, Kyle wins. Tony makes sure this isn't a straight-up fight. This is my dark horse pick of the first round.
Winner: Iron Man
She-Hulk vs. Wonder Woman
She-Hulk is strong, smart, and strangely able to make green and purple look good together. She's a tough fight for almost anyone. But Wonder Woman is an icon. That, and she flies. All other things being equal--and I don't believe all other things are equal, in this case--that gives Diana the win.
(Incidentally, I think Wonder Woman vs. Ms. Marvel would be a much more interesting fight.)
Winner: Wonder Woman
I look forward to seeing your picks--and your reactions to mine.
Today's topic: Marvel Heroes vs. DC Heroes.
I'm sure everyone's familiar with this picture:
This spread features no less than two dozen pairings of some members of the two companies' flagship teams. The matchups, as best I can tell, are as follows:
Wasp vs. Atom
Captain America vs. Batman
Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow
Scarlet Witch vs. Zatanna
Quicksilver vs. Flash
Crystal vs. Ice
Machine Man vs. Plastic Man
Warbird vs. Power Girl
Thor vs. Superman
Giant-Man vs. Orion
Wonder Man vs. Captain Marvel
Iron Man vs. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
Triathlete vs. Steel
Sub-Mariner vs. Aquaman
Black Widow vs. Black Canary
Black Panther vs. Blue Beetle
Tigra vs. Huntress
Quasar vs. Firestorm
Vision vs. Martian Manhunter
She-Hulk vs. Wonder Woman
Firestar vs. Fire
Hercules vs. Big Barda
Justice vs. Red Tornado
Falcon vs. Hawkman
(Roughly bottom to top.
Anyway, pictures like this always make me wonder: Who would win?
My invitation is to pick the winner of each fight. (We'll just do the Big Three from each company, to start with.) Give details. Debate. Speculate. You remember the drill.
I'll begin.
Captain America vs. Batman
The toughest fight to pick, right out of the gate. In the comics, these two fought each other to a standstill over an extended period of time--hours, as I recall. It's hard to single out an advantage in skill, willpower, strategy, endurance, or weaponry for either one. In the end, I have to go with my gut feeling: As a wartime combat veteran, Cap wins. Barely.
(Too bad both of these characters are currently dead.)
Winner: Captain America
Thor vs. Superman
God of Thunder. Man of Steel. The two heaviest hitters (with the possible exception of Hulk) in the two universes. Superman has his Kryptonian heritage and decades of skill as a hero. Thor has his Asgardian physiology, his mighty hammer Mjolnir, and mystical control over lightning and thunder. Is it enough to beat Superman? Sadly, Thor, I say thee nay.
Winner: Superman
Iron Man vs. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
Conventional wisdom says that Green Lantern wins this fight, pretty much regardless of who the opponent is. And were the two people involved anyone other than Kyle and Tony, I'd agree without hesitation. Kyle is skilled with the ring and possesses an almost limitless imagination. But Tony is a scientific genius, an experienced hero and warrior, a survivor, and as recent events have shown, a ruthless S.O.B. when he feels the need to be. In a straight-up fight, Kyle wins. Tony makes sure this isn't a straight-up fight. This is my dark horse pick of the first round.
Winner: Iron Man
She-Hulk vs. Wonder Woman
She-Hulk is strong, smart, and strangely able to make green and purple look good together. She's a tough fight for almost anyone. But Wonder Woman is an icon. That, and she flies. All other things being equal--and I don't believe all other things are equal, in this case--that gives Diana the win.
(Incidentally, I think Wonder Woman vs. Ms. Marvel would be a much more interesting fight.)
Winner: Wonder Woman
I look forward to seeing your picks--and your reactions to mine.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Liberation
And now for a little alternate history:
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and critically wounded, but survived. When the would-be assassin was revealed to be a communist sympathizer, the Red Scare of the 50's returned to the United States with a vengeance. All the old paranoia returned, matched only by the outcry that something be done to make the country safer. In the midst of this political climate, President Kennedy, now confined to a wheelchair by his injuries, oversaw the transformation of the nation into the single dominant political and military power in the world.
Fueled by outrage in the international community and unprecedented sympathy back home, Kennedy began America's War of Liberation against Communism. Under American military and technical leadership, the New Allied Nations drove the Communists from power in North Korea, North Vietnam, and most of the Warsaw Pact nations. Chairman Mao was forced to abdicate in China, and Chiang Kai-shek was installed as President in a pro-American government. Finally, in 1979, the Soviet Union collapsed and fractured into more than a dozen individual nations, all of them desperately seeking alliances with America.
Enjoying unparalleled prestige and popularity, Kennedy had also moved to consolidate his power base back home. The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution overturned the Twenty-second Amendment in 1967, allowing President Kennedy to run for President in '68 and again in '72. He won both elections easily. By 1976 his newly-formed American Freedom Party had supplanted both the Republicans and the Democrats, and by 1984 he was making his quadrennial run for the Presidency effectively unopposed. In 1992, before cheering crowds, he declared himself President for Life.
Since then, the American Freedom Party has ruled politics in the United States with the proverbial iron fist. The government-sponsored press, the nationalized economy, and the largest military in world history are all answerable directly to President Kennedy. Crime is virtually nonexistent in the United States, as convicted criminals are shipped to prisons overseas and never seen in America again. Unemployment is unheard of; those without jobs are put to work building roads, bridges, power stations, and other projects essential to the nation's infrastructure. Those who will not work are deported.
In 2002, the American Union replaced the outdated United Nations as the world's premiere international organization. Those nations allied with the United States enjoy peace and prosperity. Those that aren't are crushed and left to fend for themselves.
Now well into his nineties, American President for Life John F. Kennedy effectively rules the world. Everyone in America is happy with the state of things—or if they're not happy, they don't say anything.
Late in 2006, a young and idealistic American history student named Marcus Norlander came to a startling conclusion: His country was no longer what he had always been taught that it was. It was not the country that had freed the world from the specter of Communism. It was the country that had supplanted Communism and taken over the world under the leadership of a despot. The Pax Americana was a lie.
That's when the 'accident' occurred. Marcus probably should have been killed in the explosion, but instead he gained superhuman powers: vast strength and resistance to injury, super-speed flight, and the ability to project blasts of pure force with devastating effect. Working with a small group of like-minded renegade heroes, he seeks to restore America to what it once was—and what it should be. Taking his code name from an American heavy bomber from World War II, Marcus now fights for the salvation and restoration of America as ...
The Liberator!
--
Image by me; Story by me based on the "Brave New World" game.
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and critically wounded, but survived. When the would-be assassin was revealed to be a communist sympathizer, the Red Scare of the 50's returned to the United States with a vengeance. All the old paranoia returned, matched only by the outcry that something be done to make the country safer. In the midst of this political climate, President Kennedy, now confined to a wheelchair by his injuries, oversaw the transformation of the nation into the single dominant political and military power in the world.
Fueled by outrage in the international community and unprecedented sympathy back home, Kennedy began America's War of Liberation against Communism. Under American military and technical leadership, the New Allied Nations drove the Communists from power in North Korea, North Vietnam, and most of the Warsaw Pact nations. Chairman Mao was forced to abdicate in China, and Chiang Kai-shek was installed as President in a pro-American government. Finally, in 1979, the Soviet Union collapsed and fractured into more than a dozen individual nations, all of them desperately seeking alliances with America.
Enjoying unparalleled prestige and popularity, Kennedy had also moved to consolidate his power base back home. The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution overturned the Twenty-second Amendment in 1967, allowing President Kennedy to run for President in '68 and again in '72. He won both elections easily. By 1976 his newly-formed American Freedom Party had supplanted both the Republicans and the Democrats, and by 1984 he was making his quadrennial run for the Presidency effectively unopposed. In 1992, before cheering crowds, he declared himself President for Life.
Since then, the American Freedom Party has ruled politics in the United States with the proverbial iron fist. The government-sponsored press, the nationalized economy, and the largest military in world history are all answerable directly to President Kennedy. Crime is virtually nonexistent in the United States, as convicted criminals are shipped to prisons overseas and never seen in America again. Unemployment is unheard of; those without jobs are put to work building roads, bridges, power stations, and other projects essential to the nation's infrastructure. Those who will not work are deported.
In 2002, the American Union replaced the outdated United Nations as the world's premiere international organization. Those nations allied with the United States enjoy peace and prosperity. Those that aren't are crushed and left to fend for themselves.
Now well into his nineties, American President for Life John F. Kennedy effectively rules the world. Everyone in America is happy with the state of things—or if they're not happy, they don't say anything.
Late in 2006, a young and idealistic American history student named Marcus Norlander came to a startling conclusion: His country was no longer what he had always been taught that it was. It was not the country that had freed the world from the specter of Communism. It was the country that had supplanted Communism and taken over the world under the leadership of a despot. The Pax Americana was a lie.
That's when the 'accident' occurred. Marcus probably should have been killed in the explosion, but instead he gained superhuman powers: vast strength and resistance to injury, super-speed flight, and the ability to project blasts of pure force with devastating effect. Working with a small group of like-minded renegade heroes, he seeks to restore America to what it once was—and what it should be. Taking his code name from an American heavy bomber from World War II, Marcus now fights for the salvation and restoration of America as ...
The Liberator!
--
Image by me; Story by me based on the "Brave New World" game.
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