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nice and straight forward all the way apart from Parker vs Sage

no way is Magneto trailing Hulk… c’mon!!!

I had to go for Thor over Wonder Woman because even though I think she has more potential as a character, she has been more mishandled over the last ten years, IMHO.

Theno

Hulk and Thor are both lame. Especially Hulk. I like the Norse God versus Amazon Warrior throwdown though. I sure hope she wins … looks like she’ll be the only woman to represent, if she does*. As much as I like The Question, I have to go with Spider-Man. Who doesn’t love Spidey? And I voted for Lex, because I love a smart arrogant villain. (And even moreso, a smart arrogant villain who’s so smart he’s sometimes dumb, as depicted so perfectly in All-Star Superman #5.)

* I had hopes for Oracle pulling one over on Joker, but that upset looks like it’s not gonna happen. I wonder how many non-regular comics readers are voting? (Any idea, Brian — based on numbers, is this tourney spreading outside of regular click-visits to the site? I know a couple of people who twittered about it.) Anyway, I suppose it’s possible a few people don’t know who Oracle is, as opposed knowing Batgirl/Barbara Gordon. But if Babs can’t pull out a win with her Oracle code-name, then I guess the psycho clown deserves the chance to stomp on Green Arrow and, eventually, face off against Captain America. (There’s an interesting matchup!)

My acid test is “who would you plunk down $10 to see in a movie?”. That sort of eliminates the issue of how I feel they’ve been treated in the comics recently. It is just dumb luck that Brubaker happens to be currently writing Captain America and not, say, The Question. By that standard, this bracket is pretty straight-forward for the first three:
- Spidey over The Question
- Wonder Woman over Thor
- The Hulk over Magneto

Daredevil vs. Lex Luthor is a very close call. Michael Rosenbaum turned Lex into a really interesting, three-dimensional character over six seasons of “Smallville”. DC seems to have minimal interest in that guy, but he was a great character. Frank Miller did the same trick with Matt Murdock in the comics in the ’80s.

Tough call.

Thor and Wonder Woman are both pretty ill-defined characters that nevertheless have something iconic about them even though most of their stories don’t really work. Probably something about mythology in comics. Neither has a strong alter ego and you’re left wondering why they’re fighting crime and why we should care. Although I will say Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson knew how to do good Thor stories. And I hear good things about JMS.

I love the Ditko face-off, although it’s bad news for my old fave the Question.

Goooooo Question!

This “Wonder Woman has no personality” thing isn’t true. It’s a meme that’s just become accepted as truth. She’s got as much personality as Superman — or maybe as little, because she’s iconic too and lots of writers project different things on her. Sure, she’s been mishandled, but so has Supes. (Can you say “electric blue Superman”?)

George Perez did good stuff reconnecting her to the Greek-mythology roots during the first post-”Crisis” revamp years. And recently, Rucka and now Simone have both done great work with her. Of course, if you’re not reading her comic, you wouldn’t know that, which is understandable. As for the “movie acid test” suggested above — a movie with a gaggle of Amazons on Paradise Island would be a huge hit (if Warner Bros numbskulls manage not to f*ck it up, “Catwoman”-style). Finally, while I wouldn’t want to watch more than one or two episodes of the old “Wonder Woman” show in a row, anyone who doesn’t love the way Lynda Carter wore that outfit is probably touched in the head.

It’ll be a sad day if a few hundred fanboys eliminate a really fun, unique, trailblazing character (and, it’s worth noting, the last woman standing) in favor of a guy who says “verily.” Even if his helmet is cool.

hulk v magneto, spidey v question….. very hard….

Damn, Rebis, couldn’t have said it better myself (although I couldn’t get into Simone’s take on the character, Rucka’s run was vastly underrated). Brings to mind the “is Wonder Woman an icon?” thread that I nearly had an aneurysm over on some site or another a couple of years ago. Luckily, I’m much more mature now…

btw, Lynda Carter….mmmmmm

C’MON, LUTHOR! You can do it! If you can take the Blue Boy Scout, you can definitely take a blind shyster!

And Wonder Woman DOES have personality – hell, she has about a dozen different personalities, depending on who’s writing her. Through her publishing history WW rarely had anything resembling consistent characterization; in fact, the only “consistent” thing about her is that new Wonder Woman writers are constantly bending over backwards to redefine her character and smooth out her MANY conceptual contradictions (is she a pacifist or a warrior-woman? Is she a lesbian or heterosexual? Considering where she came from, how could she possibly BE straight? How can the embassator of a man-free gender-exclusive monarchy be taken seriously when she preaches about equality-of-the-sexes or democratic values?).

After having most of her original themes (bondage, submission, inverted gender politics) dropped to make her more wholesome and commercial, today’s Wonder Woman is barely more than a cypher; a poorly-defined character dressed in a particularly ridiculous costume (and the fact that a hot babe can look hot wearing that garish swimsuit doesn’t make it any less ridiculous for a character that is supposedly a “Warrior Princess”, let’s be honest here).

All four characters I voted for in this region/round were revealed to be losing their respective matchups.

And so dies my last horse in this race. Poor Vic.:(

You can change Superman’s costume and even turn him blue, but he is still and always Superman.

Wonder Woman began as a lesbian dominatrix, became a secretary, then “That Girl” with muscles, then Emma Peel, then a female Superman, then a “warrior for peace”, and is now sort of a female Thor.

I contend that there is no such thing as an “iconic” Wonder Woman.

She, like Aquaman, would have faded away long ago if it weren’t for Super Friends, Underoos and Slurpee Cups.

All seems to be going as expected, though Lex is gallantly running closer than I’d've guessed.

It’s interesting that not all polls have the same number of votes cast, though. As a snapshot at time of posting, I see, in order, 540, 537, 541 and 542 votes cast. Perhaps this is a flux thing, though, and by the end they will match? Or are there some people out there abstaining from some matchups while casting a vote in others?

Or are there some people out there abstaining from some matchups while casting a vote in others?

I believe that’s what it is, yeah.

I contend that there is no such thing as an “iconic” Wonder Woman.

Mutt, I think that is unfair.

If nothing else, then the Wonder Woman visual is iconic. You put a woman in that costume and almost everyone knows exactly who she is dressed as. There are maybe five superheroes that you could say that about. It says a lot about comic fans that Wonder Woman is getting boat raced by a second-tier Marvel guy, like Thor.

Also, do not discount the appeal of the Golden Age Wonder Woman. I liked what Perez did for the most part, but it was more of a Denny O’Neil/Neil Adams revamp and WW would be well served by the full “Dark Knight Returns”. Like Batman, WW is based upon an extremely relatable human sentiment that is not fully noble. WW is “about” being able to turn the tables on someone.

In the Golden Age WW universe, gender roles are inverted. Princess Diana is stronger than the strongest man. She can dominate people who are used to dominating others. Becoming submissive is supposed to teach them a lesson. Is there an element of sexual kink there? Sure, but Weisinger packed Superman with Freudian symbols and it played just fine on both levels. Peter Parker lived in terror of his Aunt May finding about his secret suit. The X-Men were totally normal until puberty. There are some pretty obvious metaphors in most pre-”Watchmen” comics that are often sexual in nature. WW is only unique in getting a chastity belt slapped on her.

Exactly, Dean. Iconic is a statement of being a definitive representation, not whether you’ve been consistently characterized a certain way. 99% of the western world immediately recognized the character in ink or costume. That has a lot more to do with Ms Magazine and 80-ish years of being the largest circulated female superhero than it does any one creator’s run on the character.

My votes are…

The Question

Thor

Hulk

Lex Luthor

I am voting by who I think would win a fight. I found the last 2 really hard. I voted Hulk but I regret it, Magneto binds Hulk in some metal, Hulk breaks it, Hulk jumps and Mags who levitates away, rinse repeat till Hulk gets bored and turns to Banner. Daredevil vs Luthor is hero villian fight and I must admit a bias toward the heros in such a situation. Is there an villian like Luthor in marvel? Doom maybe? Luthor deals with supes all the time and DD with Kingpin. Big power difference. But Luthor does not always wear the armor so that is my out here.

I can’t believe Magneto and Luthor are losing. They’re two of THE top villains in their respective universes. Seriously, people who don’t jack about comics know who Lex Luthor is. I just don’t see how he loses this to anyone but the number one seeds.

C’mon Lex !!!!