Poll Position: The Big Swap II

Let's return to the Poll Position question of two weeks ago, but turned around:

{democracy:71}

Much discussion and brou-ha-ha after the jump.

Let's examine the Superman-less (that would be too easy) possibilities:

  • Aquaman: I just put this in because, ha ha, Aquaman! I hate to miss a chance to make fun of him. It would be huge fun to see Namor kick his ass all over the Seven Seas when he tried to press his claim to Atlantis' throne, though.
  • Batman: Batman's sort of Tony Stark's opposite number in this scenario, a brilliant guy with vast financial resources (or at least the ability to re-generate those resources quickly). I think Alex Ross did a good job of showing how even a crippled Batman could keep the peace in Gotham using technology. And Bruce certainly has that Marvel "take no prisoners" mindset you'd need when dealing with that universe's nastier villains. Still, with no direct super-powers of his own and (unlike Captain America) his need to work mostly in the shadows, this would be a tough row to hoe.
  • Green Lantern: GL's got the power to back up the mission; after all, the Corps' members have entire sectors of space they're responsible for, and in which they're often the only super-powered beings.
  • Power Girl: I have to admit, I'm curious to see how many people overlook Power Girl just because she's female, ignoring the fact that she's basically as powerful as Superman. In terms of pure super-heroic ability, she's clearly top of the heap.
  • Wonder Woman: But Wonder Woman's close! Plus she's got that whole "Go Go America" thing, which has the benefit of Captain America's inspirational angle. Finally, she's a warrior, full stop. She's not a crime-fighter except by accident (i.e. that's where the enemy happens to be); I think if she were essentially made the general (and lone soldier) of Earth's super-human defenses, she would be able to step up and get the job done.

So looking over all that, I'd have to say Aquaman, because I want the bad guys to win and I want to see Namor exhibit how a true Atlantean King should act.

No, seriously -- ha ha, Aquaman! -- I'd go with Wonder Woman. Near-Superman powers plus a warrior mindset makes me think she could tangle with the likes of Dr. Doom and Magneto and hold her own.

Who would you choose?

21 Responses to Poll Position: The Big Swap II

  1. Danny Beaty says:

    Aquaman did fight Namor and Aquaman won.

  2. DJ says:

    Green Lantern. I would love to see him in the Marvel universe up against say Magneto.

  3. Jeff Hebert says:

    @Danny: Wha-hunh?! Let me guess, that was written by someone at DC. When was that?

  4. JInkieZoinks says:

    I’ve put up GL …BUT… it would have to be Hal, Kyle kick-ass sure, but Hal, especially later on had the attitude to get the job done, much like Batman as you mentioned. I think what Marvel needs in all it heroes, even Cap to a certain extent, had or have the potential to “cross the line” and go bad, at least in the eyes of the universe in general. Hal fits the bill and his power level is clealy up to spec against the like of Thanos and such.

  5. collex says:

    @Jeff: In the DC versus Marvel special miniseries they did around 1996. The story is that there are two cosmic brother (Marvel and DC) who force their universes to fight to see wich brother had done a better job.

    In the first or second issue, Namor fight Aquaman, but Aquaman wins by crushing it with an Orca. (Thor also fight Captain Marvel and Thor wins, of course, but lose his hammer, which is found by Wonder Woman).

    After a while of fighting, the two universe are forced to merge (don’t know how, don’t have issue three, whre this happens). After that, each issue takes place in the Amalgam Universe, which is a merge of the two universe. For example, you have Dark Claw (Batman + Wolverine) fighting agaisnt Hyena (Joker+Sabretooth) with the help of Sparrow (Robin + Jubilee)

    A fun mini-series by any mean.

    To get back to the topic at hand, I would go with Green Lantern too. He is the only one, I think, who has the mindset (being a little bit militaristic) and the power to fend off against both “classic” villains like Doom and Cosmic Power like Galactus.

  6. Andemas says:

    Gotta go with Hal for the above reasons.

  7. John says:

    I voted for Power Girl. Not because she’s as powerful as Superman, but because she’s got huge…tracts of land.

    Marvel needs more of that. I think.

  8. DJ says:

    Hey John…ever heard of Image? I think you would love their female characters.

  9. John says:

    Only if they have extraneous thigh pouches, DJ.

  10. DJ says:

    Well then I do believe you will have a field day with this WONDERFUL artist who is named Rob Liefeld. His art far surpasses that of Dave Gibbons*.

    (*This hurt me to type…even jokingly.)

  11. Tornado Girl says:

    Go Batman all the way although he has no powers he is AMAZING!

  12. Frankie says:

    Gren Lantern(Kyle) or Power Girl.

  13. collex says:

    Yeah, I must agree that Power Girl is a uniquely charming super-heroine. I especially love her..hum revealing costume.

    And unlike Rob Liefield’s girl, she is actually anatomically correct.

  14. William A. Peterson says:

    I voted for GL (assuming Hal Jordan, of course!), mostly on the power level…
    But, Wonder Woman is also an excellent choice.
    You almost had it right with “the Warrior thing”, but you forgot something (as many of her writer’s often forget):
    She’s the ultimate in Inspirational Role Models, and (kind of like Cap, only more so!) can get the most mundane of “Mere Mortals” to excel…
    Not just in combat, but at anything they do!

  15. Danny Beaty says:

    @ collex: Didn’t Wonder Woman fight Storm and Iron Man fight Green Lantern?

  16. collex says:

    @ Danny Beaty: Yeah, it’s possible because they were merged together later. Wonder Woman did not fight Thor, she just found his hammer which was teleport away from Thor during the battle with Captain Marvel.

  17. XStacy says:

    I chose Aquaman, because that’s as much defense as the post-Civil War Marvel Universe deserves. But if I actually was interested in protecting it, I’d go with Power Girl.

  18. Bael says:

    The Amalgam thing wasn’t a fair fight. Namor was winning the actual fight, but the “rules” were for immobilization, so Aquaman cheated and had a whale jump on top of him. The fight results were called by fan vote, not realistic power comparisons or tactics.

  19. GL all the way, hes got the power, the brains, and the Guts to do the job. (It’d have to be Hal or John Stewert ).

    Watch the movie Justice League: The next generation to see how awesome GL is.

  20. Darkton says:

    The Goddamn Batman. ^_^

  21. godOfPLague says:

    I vote green lantern the one man army