Nov 17 2014 08:56 PM
To add warmth and excitement to your offseason, Vic Sage and I collaborated to come up with a decidedly riveting and yet utterly pointless diversion --- the Crane Pool War of the Superheroes.
Basically, approximate four times each day through the cold weather months, you will see a poll in which you are challenged to pick the better superhero of the two choices given. Your standards are your own --- pick the more powerful, the more relatable, the sexier, the savvier, or the more plausible. But PICK! Because if you don't vote, the earth ends up defended by some loser like Gambit or Vibe or the Red Bee.
Basically I came up with around 100 names, ranked/seeded them according to my arbitrary standards of what I figured the general consensus of their relative merits might be. Vic took over and rounded out the list to a bracket of 128. Whenever we differed on standards, I most usually deferred to him.
[list][*]Vic says stick with supes who debuted in the comics, instead of other modern media. Sorry, Darkman. Apologies, Shadow. Tough break... Captain Carvel![/*:m]
[*]But... characters borrowed from mythology and pre-modern media, they get to stay. Hello, Thor![/*:m]
[*]I wanted to stick with Marvel and DC folks, but Vic expanded the list to include small shop heroes who've achieved a high profile. Congratulations, Dark Horse fans.[/*:m]
[*]It's an individual sport. If your favorite vigilante is known as part of a team, he or she is flying solo here. No more hiding behind Collossus, Nightcrawler. You're on your own.[/*:m]
[*]Totally subverting everything, Vic peppered the brackets with longtime Supervillains, some of whom have had moments on the good side of the line, and some of whom, if they are on a path to redemption, it's the first I've heard about it. Feel free to vote for these scoundrels as you will. Me, I'm holding out for a hero.[/*:m]
[*]While my original list threw all the guys and girls and their tights into a single bucket and seeded them according to their general profile, Vic has segregated them by intuitive groups. Mutants go with mutants. Godlings go with godlings. Silver Agers will more or less find themselves pitted in the early rounds against Silver Agers.[/*:m][/list:u]
Let the carnage begin.
