superhero showdown!

by sumir on 04/28/2002 12:44:32 -0700

The other day, Adam, Vince, and I were sitting around watching the market recap, having ourselves some imports, when a Spider-Man (yes, it is spelled with a hyphen) ad came on.  Adam, who was at the moment drooling prodigiously, blurted out a question that would break us all into heated argument: "Who is the best superhero - Batman, Superman, or Spider-Man?"

After some minor squabbling, I answered defiantly, "It depends on the medium you're talking about."  Adam replied, "Overall" and we all started arguing again.  Vince said one thing, I said another, Adam drooled a whole lot, and Russell got annoyed by the Valley Health commercial featuring Jessica Simpson.

So, I thought, what better way to figure out which superheroes are best than by simple democracy?  I have collected a list of superheroes and "seeded" them with my own somewhat-biased opinions.  Every week, you vote on a few of the matchups; the eventual winner will be crowned the 2002 Mediocre Minds Superhero of the Year!

(or something.)

So with that... ahem... prestigious... title on the line, here are some ground rules:

	All entrants must have their basis in comic books
	While entrants are not required to have "mutant" powers, they must exhibit above-normal abilities to qualify (so people without super powers, such as Batman, qualify)
	While villains are allowed, there will be necessarily fewer of them, as this is a superhero showdown (ultimately, I really doubt a villain will beat a hero, anyway)
	In case of ties, I reserve the right to cast a tie breaking vote; if I have already voted, I will flip a coin or something

I have divided the superheroes into two categories - male and female.  Why?  Well, if you're anything like the people I know, you'll automatically vote for some characters because of their sex, regardless of whether or not they're better superheroes.  I believe the word that passes through these people's minds is "b00b13z!!!!1111"  So we'll have two things going at once.

Things to remember when voting: which of the two (or more) choices is a better superhero?  What makes a better superhero?  That's your own choice, but I'd like it to be something more than "Wow, he has ULTRA-COOL POWERS!"  Of course, the powers have something to do with it, but take everything into account - background story, personality, costumes, art, overall influence, history, special abilities, plotlines, reputation, etc.  If you're particularly conscientious, go look some of the information up.

One last important thing before I get to the brackets - absolutely no bitching about my choices!  If you think I missed someone, tell me... courteously and I might do something about it.  Any anger/frustration directed at me will result in me spamming your ass thanks to the relay-happy UCLA mail system.  Mmmmkay?

Brackets: [Male] [Female]

And here are this week's matchups.