Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Real Imaginary Justice League

I'm going to nerd out more than usual for a moment to address the age-old fanboy question "who would win?" Batman? Superman? Spiderman?
Every fight needs ground rules. My imaginary battle royal will be among DC comics main Justice League characters: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and the Flash. The characters motivation for fighting amongst friends is important, so I am giving one. Lets say that Braniac has altered their perception of each other so that they see each other as aggressive threats to the planet.
Fight!
Superman, Flash, Woman Woman and Martian Manhunter are all capable at moving—and more importantly thinking—many times faster than ordinary humans. Any one of them could take Green Lantern's ring away and knock out Batman in the first second of battle, and if they were serious about the fight, they would. Martian Manhunter would probably phase out and turn invisible to avoid a surprise attack. Flash is faster than the others, but not enough so to overcome. Superman can move fast enough to get close to him and use his heat vision to get him off his feet. By then Wonder Woman would have the jump on Superman, but it wouldn't matter. Martian Manhunter would telepathically shut down their minds ability to continue the battle.
This is a likely scenario, it could easily not turn out this way. However, I do stand by a couple things. First, Batman and Green Lantern would be the first to go. And either Superman or Martian Manhunter would be victorious, depending on whether or not Superman could use heat vision before being telepathically attacked.
The writers of comics want to keep things interesting, so when a story calls for having characters of vastly different power levels at odds, they find a way to write in a close fight. Batman can compete with Superman because of a kryptonite ring, or the element of surprise, or clever planning. Writers win the battles, and not the actual merit and abilities of fictional characters. Just feel confident that whichever character that is in the right will eventually overcome. After all, the good guy always wins.

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