Poll Position: Tony unleashed, DCU style

Collex's poll question last week was so good, I'm running it again but for the DC Universe of characters instead:

{democracy:77}

Thoughts after the jump.

  • Aquaman: You know Aquaman needs help. I know Aquaman needs help. Hell, Aquaman knows Aquaman needs help. Clearly no one in the DC Universe is going to provide it, however, so maybe this is a good choice. I like to think Stark would base the armor on the hero's power set, and I think you could do a lot for Aquaman. Like, you know, letting him stay out of the YMCA swimming pool for more than an hour at a time.
  • Batman: On the one hand, Batman with Iron Man armor is a no-brainer. On the other hand, you don't ask a medieval knight to go on a ninja mission in full plate, and Batman's a lot more of a ninja than he is Sir Gawain. For instance, Batman would have sliced the Green Knight's head clean off and not thought twice about it, without making the stupid deal in the first place. But I digress. Giving Bruce this armor would kind of defeat the point of hte character, in my opinion, and wouldn't be very much fun.
  • Black Canary: Unless we're talking iron fishnet hose, forget it. No. Step away from the full-concealment clothing. STEP AWAY ... !
  • Green Arrow: Like Hawkeye in the last poll, robbing Oliver Queen of his one skill -- shooting a bow -- and replacing it with a laser-guided targeting system would make him even more useless. No.
  • Lobo: Lobo would probably eat the armor before he'd wear it, but if you could convince him it might give him a chance against Superman, he'd probably take it. After killing you for suggesting he couldn't take Superman on his own, of course.
  • Lois Lane: Like Aunt May, surely the DC heroes are tired of rescuing this woman by now. Give her some armor and tell her to take care of her own self already.
  • Mister Miracle: I have the feeling Miracle Man would laugh at the idea that anything created by an Earthling could match the tech he as access to from the New Gods. I do like imagining the scene where Tony's trying to train him on the armor though. "Now Scott, if you try to move your left index finger you'll see ... " "TA DAAA! I got out of it again, no way this can hold me!" "Sigh."
  • Nightwing: I like this idea. Dick Grayson's always been in need of something that would let him step out of Bruce's shadow, and a suit of customized power armor might be just the ticket. He's never been the grim ninja that Batman is, and I think letting him have some real kick-ass power would be kind of cool.

So looking through the list, I'd probably have to go with Nightwing. It has the most story-telling potential and could take the character in a whole new direction. On the other hand, I'd like to see Lois rip Lex Luthor's stupid green and purple suit to shreds and kick his bald ass some time.

Who would you choose? And thanks again for the suggestion, Collex!

33 Responses to Poll Position: Tony unleashed, DCU style

  1. Runt82 says:

    Since I voted for Aunt May last time around, I was thinking of choosing Lois Lane. However, Lois is younger and a lot tougher than Aunt May, so I guess I’ll make a somewhat serious choice this week.

    I’ll go with Aquaman, because if he had a powersuit, he’ll no longer be the butt of all the “useless superhero” jokes we make.

  2. Nate says:

    i agree that giving the green arrow a suit of Stark armor would be lame, but i do think that maybe Stark-designed arrows might be cool. just a thought

  3. Joshua says:

    Aw, c’mon Jeff, no Wendy & Marvin or even Snapper Carr? Have to have a comedic follow-up to Aunt May. 🙂

  4. Jeff Hebert says:

    Damn, Wendy and Marvin would have been AWESOME!

  5. Danny Beaty says:

    I voted for Batman. Batman’s Stark-built armor could be made of a metamaterial that would allow the wearer to become invisible, making Bats even more akin to a ninja. Also, after all this time (70 years?) isn’t time Batman flew? When have real bats ever had to rely on grappling devices and cables? Jeff,you give the impression that Iron Man is some kind of clanking stumblebum when in fact he has been known to sneak up on opponents, so imagine how easily an invisible, ninja trained, armored Batman could sneak up on someone. Yep, I’m definitely sticking with Batman.

  6. Cavalier says:

    I can’t decide between Batman and Nightwing. Either would be great in a variation of Stealth armor. I lean more towards Nightwing though, since Jean-Paul Valley (sp?) did an ‘armored’ style during his time as Batman.

  7. collex says:

    Hey, never tought this poll would be so popular!

    Last week, I didn’t have time to answer the poll (busy week), but this week I have. And my choice would be….

    Aquaman. You’re right he his the one that most need it, and a suit of armor to help him get out of water would be cool. Very cool.

    However, I would love to see an armor design for Batman. The concept art alone would be awesome.

    Oh, and nobody’s thinking that either Ace The Bat-Hound of Krypto would be charming in an armor?

  8. HalLoweEn JacK says:

    I voted lobo for comic value.

  9. Merrick says:

    Ok so i voted Nightwing cause well …. he seamed to fit the bill, mainly cause he seams a little less gadget friendly as batman.

    Oh about bat man, come on i do not mean to be offensive but the dude has better tech (at some points any way) then stark could every think of, i mean why would he dumb down his tech and abilities to take on an iron-man suit?

    Just mu opinion, as i said i do not mean to be offensive

  10. Danny Beaty says:

    @Merrick: You’re forgetting one important fact: the suit wuold be custom built, meaning it would be built according to Bruce Wayne’s specifications( and I’m sure Bruce would welcome any positive input from Tony). Also, armor doesn’t have to be metal; it could be made of carbon nanotubes that are not only bullet, bomb, and flame proof, but also act as as artificial muscles. The cape could also be a magnetic levitation unit, allowing Batman to fly. Batmans gloves could incorporate repulsor rays, which Batman really could have used the first time he fought Bane.

  11. William A. Peterson says:

    None of the above…
    I vote for giving it to Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle!
    Batman could use it, but doesn’t really need it (most of the time), and has used his own on occasion without Stark’s help!
    Nightwing’s an interesting choice, but he could have ‘appropriated’ Azrael’s Batman-themed powered armor, if he’d really wanted it.
    Barbara, on the other hand, would be able to walk again (not to mention fly), need never fear goons with mere Pistols (like the Joker!) again, AND would be able to use the in-built cybernetics systems to keep in touch with her Computer networks, all at the same time!
    What’s not to like?

  12. HalLoweEn JacK says:

    I agree that Batman is a bit of a weak choice – I mean, how many time, and in how many incarnations, has he developed his own super-powered armour or better? He doesn’t need stark’s help dammit, he’s the goddamn batman!

  13. i agree. Oh and BTW todays my B-day

  14. Kalkin says:

    I’d be interested in finding out, what kind of destruction Lobo was capable of doing with a powered armor.

  15. Dj says:

    I vote for Nightwing or Aquaman. Nightwing because he needs something that would let him become something other then “that kid who used to be robin” and Aquaman because…I feel sorry for him.

  16. Rick Tale says:

    I think Aquaman is the one who deserves the armor because, lets face it, he has one of the lamest set of powers in the history of comic books.

    Most of you are choosing Batman. I don’t understand… Why? He doesn’t need Stark’s help. The guy is a billionaire AND a genius. If he wanted armor he would build one. He created one of the coolest cars in the comics. For me, that is an armor.

  17. Dj says:

    I agree with Rick. Batman doesn’t need it. He has is own suit of armor that he wears and it suits his needs. If you gave them power of invisibility it would kill what is so cool about him. He wouldn’t need to sneak because he could just be invisible. His costume is designed to scare people so not being seen takes that away.

  18. violodion says:

    Write in for James Bartholomew “Jimmy” Olsen.

    Yeah, *that* one needs help.

  19. Jose Inoa says:

    Oracle plus Stark Tech equals Box from Alpha Flight.
    Nightwing would give Marvel’s Night-Thrasher a beatdown from hell with the new armor.
    I voted for Aquaman. The only Aquaman revamp that would make sense is the one posited by this poll.
    Let’s fire up HM and see what we can come up with fo rthe next Amalgam Comics event.

  20. Danny Beaty says:

    I’m sticking with Batman. Iron Man has gone toe to toe with the Incredible Hulk. Could Batman do the same? I think not. The most Batman could hope to do against the Hulk is avoid his punches. Can Batman fly in space without the aid of a spacesuit like Iron Man? No. Can Batman fly period? No. Could Bane break Iron Man’s spine? No. Iron Man is far stronger than Bane. One punch and Bane would be KO’d. Once Iron Man hit Bane with those repulsor rays, Bane would be down for the count, and if for some reason the repulsor rays didn’t work, he could fly out of Bane’s reach, come back, and begin his attack anew. A Wayne/Stark Batsuit could possibly evade all man-made sensors. Best of all, a Wayne/Stark Batsuit could look just like the present Batsuit, but it would do so much more.

  21. HalLoweEn JacK says:

    Danny – Batman has gone toe to toe with Superman before and come out breathing…

    I’m getting sucked into a dangerous and unwinable debate. The relative power levels of all characters are usually determined by the needs of the story. I’m sure Batman or Iron Man could defeat Galactus if the story required it, though the writers wqould return things to their status quo soon enough.

    I do agree that a Wayne/Stark collaberation would be very cool though.

  22. Bael says:

    Actually Danny, Batman beat the Hulk in their first meeting. I really like the Oracle idea. She’s certainly the most adaptable to new techniques of anyone mentioned so far.

  23. Jester says:

    I vote for Aunt May to fall through a rift in reality, coming out in the DC universe, where Tony gives her a set of super armor 😀

  24. thejay says:

    the oracle’s possibility would definitely be the most interesting. batman has enough tricks up his own sleeve, and i don’t like invincible heroes, no matter how cool they seem to be. i’d like to see an “analyst, computer-whiz, smart-sidekick stay-in-the-van” type of character get a little piece of fieldstreet experience via sudden physical powersarmor suit. that shift of power is a story i’d like to see. would oracle neglect her former skills? would she turn power-drunk and go the villain route? would she be all out in the street fighting alongside conventional superheroes or would she pull strings from behind again? not to mention the change in team-dynamics in the birds of prey. that’d be an awesome story.

  25. Danny Beaty says:

    This has been a really cool debate. You guys have had some interesting arguments.

  26. HalLoweEn JacK says:

    Does anyoen else ever think about the amount of time they spend debating comics, movies, novels, games and television shows and wonder what they could have achieved with their lives had all that effort, energy and vigour been put towards some greater cause?

    I don’t, but I like provoking existeltial dillema’s in fellow nerds.

  27. HalLoweEn JacK says:

    *existential

  28. Jeff Hebert says:

    Jack, you seem to be implying there is something to life besides comics, movies, novels, games and television shows. That does not compute.

  29. HalLoweEn JacK says:

    Well, jeff, It’s a conspiracy theory I’ve been harbouring for al ong time now – I suspect there may be a world beyond my hobbyist obsessions, I mean, where else does all the news come from?

    (or is my earlier theory correct that we are living in a controlled environment experimental world with our every sensory input carefully controlled by marketting companies to test the addictiveness of their games and comics by contrasting them with a horrid visage of ‘reality’ to see if it can compete with the emotional bond we form with our nerdish obsessions? THE TRUMAN SHOW IS NOT FICTION!!!)

  30. Bael says:

    TV news is a Sith plot to bring us to the Dark side by overwhelming us in despair and minutiae. I’m sorry, I thought you knew.

  31. Darkton says:

    What? No love for Aquaman? With a suit like that he’d be able to do so much more than just talk to fish…

  32. John says:

    Green Arrow. ‘Cause then he’d turn around and stick it up that war-mongering Tony Stark’s ass!

  33. Tejas says:

    batman is the very best.he would be cool.he could kick the butt of joker like the hulk thrashing daredevil like anything.he would become invincible.kicking the butts of the dirty stupid villains!Lol it would be so cool!