By Ryan Riley, Correspondent
The presidential election has finally come and gone. Citizens turned out in record numbers to vote for their candidates and ballot initiatives of choice, and history was made at the polls with the election of Barack Obama. In the spirit of putting what seemed like an eternity of political commercials and discussions behind us, this will be my last attempt to connect politics and/or elections with the world of comic books. This column will recap the last attempt by a major comic book company to use fan voting to determine the outcome of a comic book storyline.
Over ten years ago D.C. Comics & Marvel Comics came together to co-publish their most ambitious joint venture. This venture was titled D.C. vs. Marvel/Marvel vs. D.C. (currently available in the trade paperback of the same name), a four-issue miniseries that would, for the first time, combine the worlds of both comic book universes together. Of course, this meant that every fan-favorite character from both universes would meet for the first time (well, mostly anyway), and given the title of the series, you can guess what the ultimate premise of the story was.
It's not like D.C. & Marvel hadn't brought their characters together before. In the late 1970's they brought Superman & Spider-Man together in Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, and followed up with Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk and The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans in the 1980's (all of which are available in the trade paperback Crossover Classics: The Marvel/D.C. Collection Vol. 1. A long, acrimonious hiatus followed before the partnership was renewed and both companies tested the comic book waters with two Batman/Punisher crossovers, a Silver Surfer/Green Lantern crossover and a particularly intriguing book called Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger, which had Marvel's purple-planet-eater arrive on Apokolips for a buffet.
Both companies took things to the next level with D.C. vs. Marvel/Marvel vs. D.C. In the spirit of fairness, two of the issues were released as D.C. vs. Marvel and the other two as Marvel vs. D.C. But the main aspect of this crossover that set it apart from previous ones was the fact that fans could vote on the outcomes of five of the battles.
The voting for these battles took place at comic book retailers across the country, where fanboys from all walks of life would fill out the supplied ballots and put them in a nifty ballot box supplied by both companies. The results of the voting carried over into the battles featured in issue #3 of the series. For the most part, the voters got the outcomes right, but a couple of the victories were, in my humble opinion, ill-considered. Listed below are the battles in question, the results of each battle and my capsule review of why it worked (or didn't work).
Superman vs. The Hulk
Who won: Superman
Who should have won: Superman
The fans definitely got this one right. While the Hulk is widely acknowledged to be slightly stronger than Superman, old Supes has a greater arsenal of powers at his disposal. When you factor in the fact that this version of the Hulk had the personality of Bruce Banner, it's a fight between a world-class superhero and an oversized scientist, and that's no contest at all.
Batman vs. Captain America
Who won: Batman
Who should have won: It could have gone either way depending on the conditions.
This battle, which took place in the sewers beneath Gotham City, could have gone to Captain America had the conditions been different. In a fight between two paragons of human intellect and perfection, the intangibles are everything. In a longer fight, the battle would tend to favor Cap, since he has the super-soldier serum flowing through his veins to fight any fatigue, an advantage that Bats does not have. Batman's fighting style is centered around taking out an opponent in the quickest amount of time, which ended up making all the difference in their short-lived skirmish.
Who won: Wolverine
Who should have won: Lobo
I know I'm going to catch a lot of flak from the X-Men faithful, but hear me out. First of all, Lobo has a healing factor far superior to Wolverine's, effective to the point that he can grow clones of himself from a drop of his own blood in the (highly unlikely) event he would suffer a fatal wound. Second, Lobo has held his own against Superman, and he was blind stinking drunk. Finally, this incarnation of Wolverine had no adamantium left in his skeleton, due to Magneto forcibly removing it at the climax of a battle on Asteroid M during the Fatal Attractions storyline in the X-Men titles of the time. Given all of these factors, Lobo would have been the victor in any contest. But because the mutton-chopped madman was far more popular than the last Czarnian, he got the nod for this battle.
Who won: Storm
Who should have won: Wonder Woman
In another case of popularity overcoming logical storytelling, Storm got the victory over Wonder Woman, despite Wonder Woman having the strength and speed to go toe-to-toe with Superman. It doesn't add up that Storm would be able to manhandle Wonder Woman with a tempest before taking her out with multiple lightning strikes.
Who won: Spider-Man
Who should have won: Spider-Man
This was probably the best-executed of the battles, with Spider-Man using his superior agility and his spider-sense to take out the inexperienced clone of Superman. The only thing that took the luster away from the battle was the fact that this version of Spider-Man was a clone going by the name of Ben Reilly. Of course, this was at the apex of the poorly-received "Clone Saga" that drove fans away from the Spider-Man titles in the 1990's.
Overall, the battles (voter-decided and otherwise) were not very well executed. Hell, the Lobo-Wolverine battle took place off-camera behind a bar counter. Story-wise, the book had some nice touches, like Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. The Kingpin) buying the Daily Planet after an editorial by Perry White pointed out his criminal connections. But the battles were the centerpiece of the book, and I think it was the fan-controlled outcomes combined with the lackluster storytelling inherent in 1990's comic books that took a great concept and made it mediocre. It says a lot that there hasn't really been a similar event attempted since.
But this grand experiment wasn't a complete waste. The real highlight of this series had nothing to do with the fan voting. Between issues #3 & #4 of the series, both companies ceased publication of a lot of their normal titles. In a stroke of genius, Marvel & D.C. merged characters and concepts from their respective universes and the results came in a dozen comic books published by both companies under the Amalgam imprint. These books saw characters like Dark Claw (a combination of Batman & Wolverine) and Super-Soldier (Superman & Captain America) that took elements of both character origins and mashed them together in an inspired fashion. These books are currently available in the trade paperbacks The Amalgam Age of Comics: The D.C. Comics Collection and The Amalgam Age of Comics: The Marvel Comics Collection. These concepts proved so popular that D.C. & Marvel followed them up with another wave of Amalgam books in 1997, which are available in the trade paperbacks Return to the Amalgam Age of Comics: The D.C. Comics Collection and Return to the Amalgam Age of Comics: The Marvel Comics Collection. Definitely check these classics out, and if you're a continuity nut (like I am) pick up the D.C. vs. Marvel book as well.
Yes i wondering if you had all the results for the Marvel vs. DC. I wanted to know who won between Apocalypse and Darkseid. Also i wanted to know who Magneto and Jean Grey went up against. If you can do this for me i appreciate your time and effort for doing this favor for me.
I dont think that superman would have beat the hulk
I think Supes would beat Hulk, his powers are too numerous... I agree that Lobo should've beat Wolverine, especially since he didn't have adamantium bones, but I think the fans got the Wonderwoman vs. Storm fight right... just because a character goes up against supes doesn't mean they're all that... supes only uses a fraction of his powers out of fear of his true potential... IDK if he unlocked it just to fight Wonder Woman... but also, Storm, like Supes has a vast array of abilities over Wonder Woman, most of which are ranged, thus she could beat her from afar
Laser vision? Doesn't really affect the Hulk. If anything, it makes him stronger / more angry.
Super wind blow breath? ...
Flight? Hulk can Leap between continents when sufficiently agitated. Space has no effect on him either. His strength is potentially unlimited.
I think this fight should have been a stalemate at best, with caveats for Hulk with Banner-brain going after some Kryptonite (Achilles heel of Supes) or Superman garnering the assistance of someone who could calm Hulk down.
Personally, I think just about every fight result is the opposite of what it should have been, except for Batman defeating Capt. America.
wonder woman has taken a full punch from superman to her face,
ate numerous lighting bolts from zues,
took a bomb into her face,
she shrugged them all off,
heck she fell from space down to earth and survived the impact ... not only survived by stood up and fought again ...
clearly stating that she is in thor, hulk, etc league
stom doesnt have anything that can damage her ...
maybe ms marvel, or she hulk is a better opponent ...
Lobo is my fav and i knew the only reason he lost was a popularity thing, that is the biggest load of bull I have ever seen in comics in my opinion. Thank you for knowing it too.
It amazes me that there are people out there who believe Superman could be beaten by the Hulk. If you like the Hulk better just say that, just because he's your favourite doesnt mean he has to win everything.
Just like people with Batman?
Storm vs Wonder Woman is about right.... Storm has the will to never give up and high tactic intellegence. Storm has journeyed far beyondthe Marvel Universe thus far gaining experience as well as incredible fighting skills. Wonder Woman is stationed to DC Verse only so fighting against someone such as Storm was quite difficult...plus Storm has more than just lightning, wind & rain. She can see ones nervous systems & shut them down WW's braclets can't deflect energy that surrounds her altough it should've been WW vs Rouge, She-Hulk or Mrs. Marvel. Spiderman can not beat Superboy (Superboy vs Colossus). Superman vs Hulk is hard to determine. Wolverine like storm, is capable of defeating any foe except those like Magneto, Storm, Rouge, Jean, Superman & Hulk
I think most of the outcomes of the figths were really wrong.
Supes vs Hulk was rigth I think. I mean, this was the Hulk with the Bruce personna... a much weaker Hulk than usual. If it had been the enraged Hulk pesonna, then the outcome could have gone either way. I'm a huge superman fan, but let's face it. Hulk can get stronger than superman if he is given the time but superman has a array of powers that can prove too much for any Hulk personna to handle.
Cap vs Bats - ok. This is a though one. But I think cap should have taken this. He is stronger than Batman, faster and MAYBE more agille and a better hand to hand combatant. The only advantage Batman has against Cap is all of his gadgets most of wich Cap could doge with his shield. With prep. time (wich he didn't have on this figth) I would give this one to Batman. Without any prep. time, Cap is the man.
Wonder woman vs Storm - Most certain Wonder would have taken this. I mean, Wondy simply had to catch Storm on her lasso and it was over. No figth here really. Even without her lasso, Wonder woman should have been given more credit. And her bracelets CAN deflect energy... so ligtning bolts should have proven to be no big of a problem.
Wolverine vs Lobo -I'm sorry to say, but fans are dope. I'm a huge fan of Wolverine and frankly I hate Lobo... but Wolverine winning this one WITHOUT his adamantium claws???? C'mon... not even if he had them could he have any chance... one punch from Lobo and the figth is over.
Spiderman vs Superboy - Another wrong outcome. Superboy has strength on pair with superman, flight and speed and a large array of other powers... spiderman wouln't even be able to hurt him with a punch. And in those times, i think Superboy was only weak to fire.
I like more of Marvel characters than DC ones but lets face it... Most Marvel heroes can't match the power of DC ones.
Superman vs Hulk: I believe is right due to the fact that Hulk is in the mindset of Bruce Banner...Storm vs Wonder Woman: I also believe is right...A lot of people don't know that Storm is actually a potential Omege Level mutant...There is more to her than just the weather...Go on Wikipedia marvel characters and look her up...her control over air is so great that she manipulate the air in a persons lungs...Not to mention that she does see in energy patterns as well as the nervous system of any being...Oh and she can also destroy cities effortlessly and with effort many States at a time...
I think that the Wonder Woman vs Storm was perfect!!
I'm not familiar with these two characters and their abilities so if I get something wrong please correct me!
I don't know what kind of energy Wonder Woman's bracelets can deflect but I don't think they can deflect Storm's powers of rain, lightning etc. Heck, Wonder Woman could just get sucked into a tornado!
But if Wonder Woman lasses Storm then she'd win BUT that depends if Wonder Woman can lasso her
This is my opinion!
ps please correct me if I got anything wrong
Also Why is Wonder Woman's lasso so important for her to win? I thought it was just a piece of thick string!
I agree with most of what was said on the article except for Spiderman being able to beat Superboy. Superboy is almost as strong as Superman and is way more powerful than Spiderman anyday-Again this outcome was due to which character has the biggest amount of fans rather than logic itself. The only way Spiderman would ever beat Superboy is if he tricked him into doing really stupid.
On an interesting note, Wonder Woman did beat Storm the second time they fought in that Marvel vs DC: All Access crossover that followed afterwards.
If it were up to me, this is how the matches should have gone:
Superman vs Hulk
Batman vs Captain America
Spiderman vs Nightwing( Or Blue Beetle)
Wonder Woman vs She Hulk( Or Rogue or Phoenix)
Wolverine vs Azrael
Iron Man vs Green Lantern
Flash vs Quicksilver
Namor vs Aquaman
Robin vs Bucky
Thor vs Captain Marvel
Lobo vs Silver Surfer
Catwoman vs Black Cat
sorry people but it i think storm vs. wonderwoman is right, it was already shown and stated on the comics (Title: amazon someting?) that storm defeated her. sTORM CAN control air in lungs and her control over the wind are almost absolute that she can suffocate Wonder woman, not to mention storm can EMP (electro magnetic pulse) wonder woman's brain, the same as she did which defeated the CLONE THOR (yeah you heard me ITS THOR). Moreover storm can suck up superman's energy heat which serves as his energy and an energizer for storm. so not all opponents of superman are stronger than her. Besides storm held herself well against the HULK (cable and storm vs. hulk comics). and froze him
sorry people but it i think storm vs. wonderwoman is right, it was already shown and stated on the comics (Title: amazon someting?) that storm defeated her. sTORM CAN control air in lungs and her control over the wind are almost absolute that she can suffocate Wonder woman, not to mention storm can EMP (electro magnetic pulse) wonder woman's brain, the same as she did which defeated the CLONE THOR (yeah you heard me ITS THOR). Moreover storm can suck up superman's energy heat which serves as his energy and an energizer for storm. so not all opponents of superman are stronger than her. Besides storm held herself well against the HULK (cable and storm vs. hulk comics). and froze him
Sorry for being so late but just have to say emping a clone ROBOT thor has nothing to do with doing that to WW. Clone Thor had a robotic mind Wonder woman doesn't she has a flesh mind. Every thing else you said was true but before you disrespect Thor for your fav character point out the fact Thor embarrassed Storm but beating her with a kiss. He even threw his hammer away and demonstrated flying with out it and she did her best and he beat her with a simple kiss. Storm tried to freeeze Hulk but he broke up by the way. Wolverine shouldnt' have won that fight thats just comic on stupidity.. That version of Superman however should have won he was stronger I believe.
why would storm beat wonderwoman?!?! dc is still better,just stating the obvious.
Storm would never be able to beat Wonder Woman...WW is created by a god, I mean come on! Stop trying to find logical ways for Storm to win! Can control lungs, she holds breathe and knocks her out. All it takes is for one blow to Storm and she is out...people come on, seriously!
storm vs. wonderwoman is just right, i would bite my tongue off if wonderwoman could break free from a huge tornado and a flash freeze besides if storm releases her inner tempest (according to charles xavier who said that there is an entity inside storm that hungers for more power) wonderwoman is done for, let alone superman whose powers depends on the sun and storm is the elemental being!
wolverine vs. lobo is bullshit
batman vs. captain america = either
thanks for the reply, BUT storm CAN EMP wonderwoman's brain IF NOT than how come cable's emp works on hulk? whose mind is flesh? storm wins this one
HANDS DOWN Storm beating WW was completely right.Storm is classed as an "Omega-Level Mutant",which is the highest level of mutant in X-men.Also Storm can control moisture on a molecular level, so in other words storm could literally dry WW out,
OK, so Spiderman, I agree, is pretty darn cool. Let's face it, he was one of the most famous of the super heroes out there. But have you guys seen Iron Man Patriot who used to be the Green Goblin? What a movie that would be? He's like he's been using maximuscle cyclone and pumping some serious iron! He's a dude.