Personal Bias: I’m a DC guy, so I favor MM. That said, the X-Men are my favorite Marvel property. I liked the X-Men movies, yes, even the third one. I never read the comics, but I enjoyed all the cartoons. Marvel and DC have crossed over X-Men vs. JLA in the past, but I don’t see how one could realistically write the X-Men as having a chance against the JLA. So I’m using just one member to go up against the X-Men. To the X-Men’s credit, I think Martian Manhunter is the only single JLAer who would have a chance. Ground Rules: The fight takes place in the X-Men Danger Room without any obstacles. As the combatants are from different universes, they are unaware of each others’ powers and weaknesses until they are made evident. The X-Men line up is Wolverine, Cyclops, Colossus, Storm, Iceman, Jean Grey and Professor Xavier. Fight! Wolverine gets a read on the Martian Manhunter as an alien threat similar to those the X-Men have met in the past, such as Gladiator. In an attempt to shut down the threat immediately or at least test the alien’s abilities for the others, he springs into action. While Wolverine pounces ...

Personal Bias: I can’t deny the sensation that is Harry Potter, so clearly it is high time to include him as a Combatic combatant, and luckily I have just the opponent: Ender Wiggin of Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game. The two characters have a great deal in common--both are children with the fate of their kind resting on their shoulders. I have read the entire Ender series and have loved every book. I have read the Harry Potter series, but have never seen the films. It is hard to say which series stands out as my favorite, but my character bias leans toward the more conflicted and driven Ender Wiggin. Ground Rules: The Goblet of Fire follows Harry into a series of trials that place him in a mindset that parallels Ender’s nicely. For my purposes the version of Harry with the skills and experience gained from this book and previous will be used. The Ender will be the one post Ender’s Game and before Speaker for the Dead. This will also allow the two combatants to be roughly the same age. Ender will not have the assistance of his friend and database intelligence, Jane. The surroundings will compliment Ender in ...

Personal Bias: I read the Watchmen in anticipation for the movie, and as with most stories, the book was better. Dr. Manhattan wasn’t my favorite character in the Watchmen, but I don’t think that "favorite character" is what the Alan Moore had in mind when he wrote Dr. Manhattan. Dr. Manhattan is unrelatable in his power and his thoughts. On the other hand, the Justice League has my three favorite characters, not just in comics, but in fiction: Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern. My bias leans to the JLA. Ground Rules: Neither party in this fight wants to harm innocents, so the fight will take place in an abandoned Metropolis. All characters will have the tools and weapons generally carried on their person. As Manhattan doesn’t have pockets...or pants...this applies mostly to the Justice League. Fight! The Flash immediately takes off to run a perimeter around the city. Superman scans the area with x-ray and telescopic vision. Martian Manhunter turns invisible and takes to the sky. The Flash and Superman convey to Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern their recon intelligence via Martian Manhunter’s telepathic link. They learn that Dr. Manhattan is walking at a steady pace in their direction from about ...

Personal Bias: I’ve always liked the character of Mega Man, maybe I’ve got a thing for robots. The story of dueling mad scientists making robots to take over or save the world speaks to my inner geek. Dr. Willy was one of my favorite villains as a kid. In some ways, he is like the classic Lex Luthor. On the other hand, a plumber who gains power from mushrooms was just a little too abstract for me. The following movie didn’t clear anything up either. I do admit, the Mario titles were more fun to play. Super Mario 3 was the best game of its day. Even now, the Mario game for the DS is one of my favorite titles. Mario also was the first to lead me into a digital 3-D world with Mario 64, which is still one of my all-time favorite games. Ground rules: Each character can use a wide variety of powers based on power-ups. It wouldn’t be fair to put Mario up against a Mega Man with full access to all the various boss power-ups across all his titles, so I will limit his powers to those available in the classic Mega Man 2. Likewise, Mario will ...

Ground rules: It is the ghost with the most versus Superman's mischievous imp versus Captain Picard's tormentor of the Q Continuum versus Major Nelson's personal genie. Each of these characters have the potential to overcome any obstacle in their way, except a being as powerful as themselves. The battle will begin with each character having basic knowledge of each other's power level. Personal bias: I watched I Dream of Jeannie as a child, and I liked the show until I outgrew it. The bickering between her and Major Nelson became too much for me. It was also far too unbelievable. I could never see how they could have so many problems when she could fix everything so effortlessly. The movie Beetlejuice actually scared me at first, especially the séance scene. The character played the line between creepy and funny quite well. Of course, the nerd in me will always side with Mxy and Q as my picks of this bunch. Fight! The only character not confident in their own power level in this fight is Jeannie, who will first attempt to find Major Nelson for guidance. She blinks and disappears. Q is generally disgusted with Beetlejuice's appearance and turns him into a ...

As times change the characters we love must update to stay relevant. The character of Batman has been reinvented multiple times both between and within the various media in which his stories are told. It is important to take into account which version of a given character is used on Combatic. In Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan has weaved the Batman mythos into a real world setting. This Batman can bleed. He has a batmobile that is a tank, more believable than the slimmer yet just as indestructible cars of the past. He must deal with political issues that arise from a drop in crime rate and the consequences of his actions. The earlier Bat flicks had more of a fantasy element. There were conscious penguins, healing cats, and a brain-draining Riddler. (I'm pretending Batman & Robin didn't happen.) This Batman could do stunts that wouldn't work in the real world in order to deal with his more supernatural rogues gallery. Adam West pioneered the character in a more light-hearted fashion. He was just as concerned about teaching lessons to his boy companion as he was about saving Gotham. The dark motives behind the character seemingly ignored as he ...

Last time, on Celebrity poker showdown, we explored which popular superhero would claim victory at the poker table. This time I am having the characters of Star Wars shuffle up and deal. As ground rules, I am taking the players from the original series as seen in the Empire Strikes Back. The dark side is excluded in that Vader would refuse to play, not check his lightsaber, and most likely cause a scene. (i.e. kill everyone in the room.) The players will stay true to their nature in their efforts to win the kitty. The first contestant is C3-PO. Today’s best computer can’t best today’s top professional, but in a galaxy far far away the technology is no doubt more advanced. Using the speed in which my favorite droid calculates odds, C3-PO will have the poker math down pat. However, he never did seem to understand human motivations well, which hurts his ability to read bets. At least he doesn’t have to worry about the ol’ jedi mind trick. Speaking of jedi mind tricks, the next contestant is the son of Vader himself, Luke Skywalker. Luke will avoid the dark side of the game and keep everything on the up and up. ...

Ground rules: Each fighter is equipped with normal gadgetry, but no vehicles. The Batman depicted is that of recent comics. The arena is a futuristic version of Gotham at dusk, a blend of each character's home field. Personal bias: I never really understood why Boba Fett was such a praised character considering his short time on screen along with the fact that Han Solo dispatched him by so easily it was by accident. In my mind, he is the only original character to benefit from the prequels. His father's battle with Obi-One was pretty sweet and I'll assume those traits and weapons were inherited by Boba. So Boba is cool, but Batman is Batman. Bruce Wayne is one of my top five favorite characters of all time. The Dark Knight, the comic book "The Killing Joke" and nearly every episode of Batman: The Animated Series is solid gold. Fight! Batman blends in amongst the gargoyles above the city as he scans to the horizon with his bat-noculars. He notices a slight glow from a rooftop about a block westward. Batman suspects the glow is not an oversight of his opponent and takes it as a lure into a trap. Boba Fett scans the cityscape ...

Ground rules: The term Green Lantern can be applied to any one of the policing power ring slingers across the Galaxy. In this fight the Green Lantern in question is the most well known GL of Earth, Hal Jordan. Goku is the most powerful Sayian in the Dragon Ball Z universe. Like fine wine, he only gets more powerful with age and training, so although he may outclass GL today, I'm using the Goku from when I was familiar with the show: the Goku from the Cell Saga. The arena is a canyon surrounded by a mountain range and wide-open desert. These guys need their space. Personal bias: Dragon Ball Z was a fun show. I always liked the energy-based heroes/villains and DBZ had no shortage of them. Speaking of energy, GLs power ring is far and away my favorite concept for a superhero. I can't say Hal Jordan is my favorite character, but if I could be any hero, it would be a Green Lantern. Fight! Green Lantern powers up his ring and takes to the sky. He doesn't gain much altitude, just enough to see over walls of the canyon. He lands once he secures high ground. No sign of Goku. ...

Ground rules: Each combatant will have all the weapons they usually have at their disposal. The arena with be a Hyrulian Castle. Personal bias: Green Arrow has had some of the best one -liners in comics and dismissing him as a Batman clone is a mistake. He may be a rich playboy who doubles as a well-trained, yet super-powerless vigilante, but the similarities end there...I have played a few of the Legend of Zelda games and have enjoyed that experience more than Arrow's appearances in my comics. Advantage, Link. Fight! Link enters the castle through the main gates, following Green Arrows tracks over the drawbridge. It appears Arrow noticed his obvious muddy foot prints upon reaching the stone staircase and rectified the problem. The spiral stairway is the most narrow passage in the castle and limits Link's view. He opts for his sword. Green Arrow is perched atop an awning above the dining hall window. He has a clear shot to the top of the spiral stairs. Arrow draws back his loaded bow. Link nears the second floor and the top of the stairs. The light of the window reflects in his swords. Link kneels down and keeps his head low. Holding the sword ...