The Road to the Final Four

We started with 64 (65 with Black Canary coming in as a replacement) and are now down to 8. By the end of this post we will be down to the final four! To lose now could prove devastating to say the least, but four heroes will have to go home, as four will move on to the semi-finals. Let's get the festivities started with our first match of the night featuring:

Power Girl

Versus

Doctor Fate

As luck would have it, it appears we have the female Dr. Fate tonight so therefore we actually get an Elite Eight Female Fury sudden death match. For this match we have hung a superhero sized dose of Midol high above the arena. The first heroine to make her way to the Midol, unhooking it from the wire suspending it nearly 1,000 feet into the air will not only get relief from aggravating cramping and bloating in about twenty minutes, but will also secure her spot in the final four. Here we go and seeing as how both of them are able to fly, the "1,000 feet above the arena" part doesn't seem to be that big of a deal anymore now does it. For those of you that thought the female version of Dr. Fate was just a bad dream well, here she is in all of her glory. Kent Nelson was able to put the big blue boy scout down for the count. Can Inza Nelson, Kent's wife, do the same to Superman's alternate Earth's cousin? Didja get all that? The Dr. Fate moniker has done well for itself (regardless of whoever is wearing the helm) thus far. Just making it this far is considered above and beyond what was expected. Don't seem to recall the female version of Fate being as powerful as Kent Nelson or even the Hector Hall version. Watching her New Earth cousin get his big blue ass handed to him did wonders for his Earth 2 cousin Power Girl as far as strategy is concerned. After a few failed attempts by Power Girl, and a feeble attempt by Fate, Power Girl is able to secure the Midol and has cemented her name into the Final Four Bracket. Winner - Power Girl.

Moving on-

Batman

Versus

Zatanna

Whoa, you wanna talk about history? We gots some here folks! I will try to see if I can give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of the story between these two, so bare with me. High above the Earth, in the Justice League satellite, super villain Dr. Light (not to be confused with the super heroine Dr. Light) teleported himself and while hiding and waiting, bided his time. Sue Dibny, the wife of the Elongated Man, was left alone on the satellite. Seeing his chance, Dr. Light made his presence known and began to assault Sue only to be caught in the act by most of the Justice League. Somehow Dr. Light knew the secret identities of the Justice League and swore he would get at them by going through their families. He would tell all of the super villians what he knew about their personal life and none of their families would be safe. The Justice League made a drastic decision. After putting it to a vote, they decided Zatanna would give Dr. Light a mind wipe and erase all knowledge he had of the leaguers personal life. In the middle of the mind wipe, Batman teleported to the satellite and voiced his disapproval. It was then decided that Zatanna would also mind wipe Batman as a way of making him forget what had happened that day. Even if it was crossing a line they felt it was better than leaving their families exposed to threats of danger from the super villain community. Batman eventually learned of the deceitful act of Zatanna and the rest of the league and disbanded the entire Justice League. None of the members felt as much of Batman's anger as Zatanna did. The entire league decided what was to be done but it was Zatanna who did the actual deed. That, as you can see, would make for a very entertaining battle. And entertaining it was from bell to bell. Batman has forgiven Zatanna as the two have recently spoken about the event and Batman even asked for Zatanna's help recently on a case. From the looks of things, he has forgiven but he has not forgotten. Batman must have had some of the Scarecrows "fear" poison or some of the "Joker Venom"; for a very short period of time Zatanna was out of her mind and Batman waited a few extra minutes after being declared the winner to give her the antidote. The hatchet seems to have been reburied. For now. Winner by TKO - Batman.

Next into the arena-

Wonder Woman

Versus

Swamp Thing

This one, on paper, looks like a crap shoot. You have the seemingly immortal "God of the Bog" Swamp Thing versus the Amazon Princess. A truly back and forth affair as the creature that Alec Holland has become struggles to keep pace with Wonder Woman. The golden lasso of truth is the deciding factor as Wonder Woman is able to tie up her opponent and seal her place in the final four. Swamp Thing seems to be pleased with the outcome, oddly enough. Winner by submission - Wonder Woman.

And finally tonight -

Green Lantern Hal Jordan

Versus

Green Arrow Oliver Queen

Wow! That's all I can say. Another unbelievable battle. Not only are they both complimentary garbed in emerald green but they are the closest of friends. Ha Ha! Mongol has nothing on me! (inside joke, if you don't read the comics you won't understand) How can you pick a winner here? The original "Hard-Traveling Heroes" were even joined together in a comic, each splitting time in the stories main arc. Even though they sit on opposite sides of the fence, Oliver being a free spirited liberal and Jordan a stoic practitioner of conservatism, they have found common ground and are forever linked. It appears neither wants to be the first to take the initiative on offence. This one almost has a sort of sad undertone to it. C'mon guys it's not a fight to the death, it's just a battle for the egos supremacy. Ah, I knew that would do it. Now it's on as Ollie has begun to show some of his archery skills successfully shooting off 29 arrows per minute. Jordan hardly cracks a sweat defending off the arrows. The supply of arrows will eventually run out, how long can the ring hold it's charge? That could be the deciding factor in the fight. Arrow is now asking Jordan to finish it. Telling him to do what he has to do. As if to make matters worse and to force the hand of Jordan, Arrow pulls out a quiver of new arrows. All of the arrows in this quiver are yellow. "How about now, Hal?" Queen asks. Lantern uses his ring to create an air tight bubble around Arrow. As Ollie begins to loose consciousness, Jordan mouths the words "I'm sorry.". Winner by KO - Hal Jordan.

We now have our final four.

Making the Elite 8

Here we are again with four more battles of epic proportions to get down to the eight finalists or the "Elite Eight" as is were. Let's find out who moves on and who goes home. First up tonight:

Superman

Versus

Doctor Fate

Superman in all of his omnipotence does have a few weaknesses. One, of course being kryptonite, the other is magic. Kent Nelson as Doctor Fate is one of, if not the most powerful magician in the DC Universe. In what may be the fight of his life, Doctor Fate is able to throw spell after spell at Clark Kent. Superman is hardly able to hold off the mystical sorcerer. A magic box is formed around the arena as the rays of the yellow sun that gives Superman his strength is being blocked now. There is a green glow as some sort of magical kryptonite has been summoned by Fate. Superman is going down! This would be the upset of the century. Superman is exhorting serious amounts of strength just to stave off the assault of the good Dr. now. All this goes on as Doctor Fate continues to just hover above the arena and the onslaught of spell after spell is hurled at Superman. This is the fight of Doctor Fates life as finally the battle is halted and the winner by TKO - Dr. Fate in what has got to be considered the biggest upset of the tournament thus far.

Moving on:

The Dark Knight

Versus

The Spectre

We have another battle of gigantic proportions as Batman must battle the spirit of vengeance, the Spectre. If Doctor Fate isn't the most powerful spiritual beings in the magical DC Universe than the Spectre is! However working in Batman's favor is he is no more susceptible to magic than any other man. The Spectre tries to use fear as a weapon against Batman but it seems to have no effect. Batman continues to defend himself very well as he begins to use his mental abilities to try to reason with the Spectre. Batman seems to be immune to most of the Spectres illusions as Batman is at his best in this fight. The Spectre begins to slow his assault as he begins to realize that there is no vengeance to be given to Batman. Bruce Wayne, himself, is also a human vessel of vengeance. The Spectre seems to recognize this as he calls the battle to a halt. Winner by submission - Batman.

Moving on-

Wonder Woman

Versus

Steel

After the first two matches, what can this match do to intensify the evenings actions? As it turns our, not too much. This battle only looks good on paper. Steel has a good showing for himself just getting this far, however, unlike the previous two fights, this one is just what it seems to be a number one seed against a number eight seed. Not to take anything away from John Henry Irons but the upsets have seemed to come to an end tonight. Winner by KO - Wonder Woman.

Finally-

Hal Jordan

Versus

Lobo

The very best the Green Lantern Corps has to offer against "The Main Man", Lobo. Intergalactic bounty hunter versus intergalactic police officer and peace keeper. To quote the Bobby Fuller Four, "I fought the law and the law won!". Lobo seems to be no match for this Green Lantern. Putting an end to Lobo's Cinderella Story, Green Lantern is declared the easy winner over the upstart twelve seed by TKO.

The quarter finals begin soon!

Sweet 16 round part 1

It's time to begin the round of 16. All of the contestants that have made it this far have only made it to the half way point if they hope to be crowned DC Comics Greatest Superhero Of All Time. They seem to be chomping at the bit to get it going so lets go to our first battle featuring:

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner

Versus

Power Girl

OK, kyle Rayner is he is supposedly the "last Green Lantern", he' s only been around for about 14 years and he has had a ridiculous amount of costumes changes. I mean seriously, pick a costume and go with it. Pick an identity and go with that too. Green Lantern to Ion to Green Lantern to Parallax back to Ion and now back to Green Lantern. What gives? He's from this Earth, he's not from this Earth. I don't think they can keep any of this straight anymore and quite frankly, I don't think they are even trying at this point. Anywho, his erstwhile opponent, Power Girl ain't no bed of roses herself when it comes to an origin story. I guess first we have to decide if this is Power Girl from Earth 1 or from Earth 2. She has the same name as Supergirl but isn't Supergirl. She has the same origin story as Supergirl from one of the Earths (I think 2 but I'm not sure) it depends on which continuity you want to follow or believe or maybe the term should be trust. See why a lot of people don't read or collect comics any more?!?!? In one continuity she is also Andromeda, a member of the Legion of Superheroes, she was also Nightwing in another Earth reality story arc. If that's not confusing enough there will be yet another origin story for her after the current "Crisis" story line comes to a close and we have what is known as "New Earth". Got all that? Phew, oh look Power Girl just won the fight. At least I didn't have to bore you with all of that description as well. Winner by TKO Power Girl.

Moving on:

Captain Marvel

Versus

Zatanna

Guess what? Captain Whitebread doesn't go by Captain Marvel anymore. In the new continuity of New Earth he is now just called Marvel and he is a God. He has long white hair and is filling in for the God Shazam. I just don't get it. How about if we just call him by his name when he's just a kid and not being all superheroey and saving the planet; Billy Batson, does that work? Oh, that's right I forgot he's going by William now. Thank the man Jeesus that for nearly fifty years, Zatanna has gone on practically unchanged in origin and story. She's also not only human but she is Homo Magi. I don't know what that means but I think it sounds kinda cool. OK, I do actually know what it means but if I told you I would have to kill you. (Sigh...) Fine, the Readers Digest condensed version: she's a human in the DC Universe that uses magic. She is considered by many as the greatest "minor" hero in the DC Universe in that she has been around since 1964 and has never had her own comic series. How's that for a fine how do you do? Well I gave her a fine how do you do right after she beat Captain "What's his face" over there. Somehow she tricked him into saying his magic word in the middle of the fight that changed him back to Billy. Never called him the world's smartest mortal. Winner by KO - Zatanna.

Next up:

Firestorm

Versus

Swamp Thing

Now I gotta tell you, when I set the brackets for the tournament (on a side note; do you pronounce tournament like making a left "turn" or tournament like you are a band going on "tour"? I never know the right way to say it, good thing you can't hear an accent in typeset eh?) As I was saying; the brackets were set and look at what we got here. The Earth elemental Swamp Thing against Firestorm, who, for a little while, was the Fire elemental. In fact in the "New Earth" continuity there are two Firestorm stories/heroes. The original Firestorm; a combination of Professor Martin Stein and student Ronald Raymond is now the Firestorm Elemental but has since been killed off (sort of). The other version of Firestorm is Jason Rusch, also a student who has joined in a matrix on occasion with several different people to make Firestorm. Among the others who have joined Jason to make Firestorm has been Ronald Raymond, Martin Stein, Mick Wong (Jason's best friend), Cyborg (yes the same one that is in this tournament), and Firehawk (sort of a female version of Firestorm). So even though the current version is not the elemental version of Firestorm, we still almost had an elemental versus elemental battle. But we didn't. Too bad for Firestorm that he cannot use his powers on any organic material. Swamp Thing is pretty much entirely organic. He's also virtually indestructible as long as there is some sort of plant life in existence for him to regenerate from. Winner by TKO - Swamp Thing.

Finally tonight we have:

Supergirl

Versus

Green Arrow

My goodness she looks very hot. Of course that gets her no where in this battle. Even though Ollie is a ladies man, lately he has been trying to be a one lady man. Interesting fact, since Power Girl is basically the same person as Supergirl, just from different Earth realities, they are unable to have any physical contact or their powers go haywire. Well there goes my hope of a lesbian scene! What do you think would happen if your doppelganger from another plane of reality was to touch you? Yeah, thought so! As I was saying, wait a minute, what possible hope could G.A. have in this fight? Well, a lot considering he has made a few kryptonite arrows that he uses very well in this fight. In a surprising upset, winner by TKO - Green Arrow.

Now a final thought on "New Earth". New Earth is the current primary reality that mainstream stories take place in. On occasion, New Earth has also been erroneously called Earth-One as well as having other designations including Earth-Two. Although it contains elements of both, New Earth is actually a completely different reality from that of the historic Earth-One or Earth-Two. For example, the Justice Society of America never existed on Earth-One at all. On New Earth, the JSA inspired later heroes including Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The Earth is also referred to as "Primary Earth"/"DC Primary Earth" as well as "Earth Omega" or "Earth Sigma" and has been referred to derisively by some readers as "Clutter Earth". Starting to lean towards the last description myself.

See ya in the funny pages.

The Sweet 16

The Sweet 16

Are

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner

The Spectre

Captain Marvel

Batman

Superman

Dr. Fate

Power Girl

Zatanna

Steel John Henry Irons

Swamp Thing

Lobo

Green Lantern Hal Jordan

Green Arrow

Supergirl

Wonder Woman

Firestorm

Battles Begin Tomorrow As We Welcome Spring 2008

Making the Sweet 16

As the picture becomes clearer and the sweet 16 is almost set. Here are the last matches in round two. Some heavy hitters are in this round folks, starting with:

Superman

Versus

Rorschach

Rorschach was lucky to get through the first round. He was not as lucky this round. Even if he is going to be in the Watchman movie, it didn't help him. So what if the kid that played Kelly Leech in the original Bad News Bears movie is playing the character, he had to fight Superman for cripes sake. I mean c'mon, did you really think he was going to win another round? Winner - Superman by KO.

Second up -

Batman

Versus

Cyborg

Being the Dark Knight isn't easy, it's even more difficult for whoever has the unfortunate luck of crossing his path. Just ask Heath Ledger (OK that was a little bit of a low blow but you get the picture) if you don't believe me. Cyborg is a tough opponent but Batman is used to being at a disadvantage. He isn't a master strategist for nothing. Winner by decision - Batman.

Next we have possibly one of the final "Female Fury" matches of the tournament (the girls are thinning out in numbers a bit). We have:

Wonder Woman

Versus

Black Canary

I know Black Canary wasn't in the first round. Barry Allen and Bart Allen never returned from the speed force so we have no other choice but to declare their battle a "no contest". Now we don't give anybody a "stinking wussy free pass to the next round bye" in this tournament, so we went to one of our alternates. Black Canary is more than happy to enter the contest. That was until she realised her opponent is the beautiful Amazon Princess herself. Alternate or not, those fishnets are a little worse for wear after this fight. Winner by TKO Wonder Woman.

And our final battle of the second round that will complete our Sweet 16 is between:

Aquaman

Versus

Lobo

Here we are folks in the final battle for this round. Lately Lobo has been a member of the intergalactic dolphin god worshippers (I'm not making this up) and has turned over a new leaf and is now non violent. That was until someone killed one of his little space dolphin monk buddies. Now he's out for revenge and any other fighting he can get into is icing on the cake. He is taken aback a bit when he realizes Aquaman can talk to the dolphins on Earth. From one dolphin lover to another it would seem is now the theme of this fight. The Earth dolphins do the bidding of Aquaman and begin to beat down Lobo, but if there is one thing stronger than Earth dolphins it's gotta be intergalactic flying mind controlling monk dolphins. Wouldn't they? Winner by TKO - Lobo.

Well there you have it, the field of 64 has been trimmed down to the "Sweet 16". The next round will begin in a day or two. Check back for more battles.

St. Patty's Day Brawl

Here we are on the celebration of some such Irish thingy. In honor of that, all of our contestants tonight are Irish. Or not. Let us be beginning-

Red Hood Jason Todd

Versus

Power Girl

Is he dead? Is he alive? Is he Red Hood? Is he Red Robin? Who knows. All we know is Power Girl doesn't give much of a crap as she mows through DC's resident "Lazarus" in this field of 64's record setting match. Maybe if the fight was on Easter, Todd would have "arisen" to the occasion. But probably not, maybe he would have at least lasted longer than two minutes. Winner by KO - Power Girl

Next up:

Robin Tim Drake

Versus

Firestorm

The present day "Boy Wonder" doesn't seem to fare much better than his predecessor. Although it did seem Firestorm was pulling his punches. Oh, sorry, for this fight he wanted to be known as Fire O'Storm. Winner by KO - Fire O'Storm.

The Flash Jay Garrick

Versus

The Spectre

Here we have the original Flash versus the newest incarnation of the Spectre; Crispus Allen. The Spectre and The Flash go way back in DC Comics history. That is the Jim Corrigan version of The Spectre. This isn't that version. It's not the Hal Jordan version either. This is the newest version. The jury is still out on this version but we do know one thing, he was good enough to win this round of action. Winner by TKO - The Spectre.

Our last fight of the night features:

Green Lantern Hal Jordan

Versus

Animal Man

Animal Man, Buddy Baker was able to score a first round upset over Wally West. Here he faces Hal Jordan. The emerald sure does shine bright here for St. Patrick's Day. Doesn't look like Animal Man fares as well this time but this is the best match of the night. Winner by decision - Hal Jordan.

The college tournament is about to start and our competition is almost down to the Sweet 16. The final four battles coming soon.

Round 2 Continues

It's been a while since we had some battles but we are back with eight more contenders. All of them vying for the title of "Worlds Greatest Superhero". Or at least my worlds greatest. Let's get started with A Female Fury Match:

Zatanna

Versus

The Huntress

Batman isn't all that happy with either one of them (look them both up on Wikipedia if you really want to know why). The Huntress is armed to the teeth as she enters the battle area. Zatanna seems to be very calm and collected. These two get too much respect for there to be any "girl on girl" gimmick jokes made. Just a normal pier six that ends rather quickly as Zatanna moves on to the Sweet 16. Winner - Zatanna by KO

Next up:

Hawkman

Versus

Dr. Fate

In one origin, these men were teamed together in the Justice Society. In what may or may not be another reality, they are father and son. Whichever reality we are using, this should be a good fight as well. It may be because of the mysterious sorcery of Dr. Fate, maybe it's just luck, perhaps Hawkman had an off day, or it's possible I never really liked Hawkman all that much. Whatever the reason, Dr. Fate joins Zatanna in the Sweet 16. Winner - Dr. Fate by decision.

Moving on:

Green Lantern Alan Scott

Versus

Swamp Thing

Well, irony, how cruel is thy sting! Here we have Alan Scott the original Green Lantern against the Guardian of the Green. Oddly enough the ring that gives Alan Scott his power has only one weakness and that's wood. Swamp Thing is pretty much made of wood. You see where I'm going with this? Swamp Thing walks a mud hole in this Green Lanterns butt and walks it dry. Winner - Swamp Thing by KO

Lastly:

Hawkgirl

Versus

Green Arrow

It is fairly well known that Green Arrow and Hawkman do not get along very well due to political bickering and outright hostility. Hawkmans conservative nature versus Green Arrows liberal take on just about everything have led the two to bump heads on several occasions. But this fight isn't between those two. Hawkgirl shares some of the same beliefs as Hawkman so that may lead to Green Arrow also not being a favorite of hers. However you look at it I certainly appreciate Ollie's attention to detail as he uses his arrows to slice through the winged warrioress' costume in very strategic spots. Hmph, she looks nice unconscious. Winner - Green Arrow by KO.

We are halfway to the Sweet 16!

Round 2 Begins

Here we are again folks for the second round of the gargantuan fight that spans the entire DC Comics Multi verse. Hero versus Hero in a fight for supremacy. Just who is the best of the best? We got some dooseys for you tonight. Let's get started with:

Martian Manhunter

Versus

Black Lightning

Two Justice League members go at it hard and heavy in our first battle of the night. J'onn Jonzz keeps trying to reason with his opponent and it's easy for all to see that he is holding back. Perhaps not the best idea. Blast after blast of white hot lightning is hurled at the Manhunter from Mars as he continues to fade in and out of visibility. Black Lightning tells J'onn to stop holding back, "Is this how your wife and daughter would have you fight?" he asks. Manhunter is jolted into a rage as the mere mentioning of his departed family causes him intense emotional pain. Now the fight really can start. These guys are tearing each other apart now. Whoever wins; I don't know how he will have anything left to go on to the next round. Lightning shows signs of weakening as he has spent an incredible amount of energy blocking the rays from J'onzz's "Martian Vision (similar to Superman's heat vision). J'onzz pulls out his final ace as he uses his mental powers to "short circuit" Black Lightnings powers. After a horrendous battle we have declared a winner by TKO - Martian Manhunter.

If that is the first fight what can we expect from the remaining fights? Let's move on as our heroes are entering the arena. Next up:

Captain Marvel

Versus

Plastic Man

Once again we have two heroes that have at one time or another been members of the Justice League. The worlds mightiest mortal versus the worlds bendiest mortal. It only takes Marvel a few minutes to tie Plastic Man into knots. Winner by submission - Captain Marvel.

Quickly moving on:

Nightwing - Dick Grayson

Versus

Steel - John Henry Irons

The former sidekick turned headliner against the substitute Man of Steel. Luckily for Nightwing John Henry Irons isn't Superman. Unfortunately for Nightwing, Dick Grayson isn't Batman. John Henry Irons swings a mean hammer. Nightwing is good and holds his own fairly well in the beginning. He's not the former leader of the Teen Titans and the Outsiders for nothing. Steel's not perfect, in fact in the super hero world Steel is almost a rookie. Nightwing uses this to his advantage and is able to even begin possibly winning the fight. Superior hand to hand combat training allows Nightwing to stay in this fight a lot longer than most would give him hope for. Grayson is good at what he does and part of what he does is know when he is in over his head. He folds his hand giving us our winner by TKO Steel.

Our next battle is the first Female Fury Battle of the second round.

Supergirl

Versus

Mary Marvel

This is a battle for the ages. If we were doing females only this could be the championship match. Here we go and if you noticed Mary is dressed in black this time. Due to Eclipso whispering evil into Mary's ear and Black Adam giving her the total of his power, Mary is mightier than she has ever been. No need to put any gimmicks into this match, they could very easily fight to the death. Supergirl is surprised just how strong Mary is as Mary begins to really pour it on. Supergirl is having a hard time as Mary connects with lightning bolts one after the other and it sends Kara Zor El hurling through space. Supergirl has incredible resiliency and is able to take a beating, lucky for her. Mary Marvel is giving Supergirl everything she has and astonishingly enough Supergirl is taking it. In fact Supergirl is starting to make a come back. Supergirl appears at to be even more powerful than Superman. Superman has spent a lifetime subconsciously suppressing his powers so that he doesn't hurt the people around him, while Kara, without such experience, simply uses her powers to the fullest without being as fearful of risks to others. And is she ever. Mary is down! Mary is down! Mary is down! This one goes down as the most closely contested fight of the tournament yet! Winner by knockout and what a knockout she is - Supergirl.

We return here tomorrow for the next battles as we get even closer to announcing our "Sweet 16".