[QUESTION] Would you like to have a Comics Forum Tournament?

Fysh

Cyberwolf77 recently asked me what I thought about having a Comics forum tournament, wherein posters put together teams of characters to fight in a tournament, with the victors of each battle being decided by in-thread voting. (See here for the current version running in the Nocturnal forum).

I've seen this sort of thing become very popular on other boards, but it needs to be quite closely managed to keep things on-track. I'm happy to try it out and see how things go, if there's enough interest in it.

We'll need to work out a few rules for how things should run, but the basic premise is:

• This a tag-team tournament.
• First to six wins and advances.
• Final four teams will then engage in singles competition to determine the final winner.
• Time limit is twenty four hours on each match, ties will be decided by randomly selected voter.
• Teams will change for each round.
• Please give a reason for your vote - votes without reasons attached will be disregarded.

Please vote in the poll so that we can gauge the overall level of interest - I'll keep it open for 14 days initially, and we'll go from there. If you've got any comments or suggestions, please post them below.

][cEMAN**

Seems like fun, and i've seen this on a few other forums. The only problem would be arguments over which power is more powerful vs each other.

I've seen an Iceman vs The human torch get pretty deep, and end up getting argued over by people who were taking it all too seriously scientifically. It turned into a science discussion after a while.

Fysh

Yeah, that's an awkward part and one that needs to be set as a concrete rule early on.

On one hand I like the idea of "majority rules", on the other hand I also like the notion of citing your comics (with examples given where possible) and letting that set the rules - I've seen that in a Flash vs Superman battle (the clincher being a panel from some comic showing the two fighting, with the Flash pointing out that Superman can try to zap him with heatvision but the Flash is faster than that).

I suppose we can see how things work out with a majority rules system to begin with, and review the rules down the line if the idea grows legs...

MarkHall

I've seen a few of these go very well.
the best one I've seen so far has been Millarworlds Superhero fantasy league.

I'd say majority rules is the way to go.
The fights are voted on. Sure somepeople vote in different ways, Power,Popularity, Skills or just "He's my favourite"
But at the end of the week you have a very clear winner with votes.

Be up to team captains to show scans or evidence in order to get their character votes.

It can be fun but would need a stable person at its head to step on any potential BOOMSPLODE that could arise.

I'd definitely vote in something like this.

cyberwolf77

MarkHall wrote: »

Be up to team captains to show scans or evidence in order to get their character votes.

.

Over in the Noc forum I usually just link folks straight to the Wikipedia or similar for each character and let them go from there.

][cEMAN**

MarkHall wrote: »

Sure somepeople vote in different ways, Power,Popularity, Skills or just "He's my favourite"

Essentially though, this is how and why the main characters win every time. If it weren't for popularity or them being the focus, they'd have lost a long time ago (superhero comics etc).

So yeah, whatever your reason majority rules. Showing (linking preferably) panels to show argument evidence would not only be entertaining, but would likely give people a chance to experience some new artists/characters/books that they might not have had reason to consider, or even look at before.

cyberwolf77

' wrote:

[cEMAN**;67710214']Essentially though, this is how and why the main characters win every time. If it weren't for popularity or them being the focus, they'd have lost a long time ago (superhero comics etc).

So yeah, whatever your reason majority rules. Showing (linking preferably) panels to show argument evidence would not only be entertaining, but would likely give people a chance to experience some new artists/characters/books that they might not have had reason to consider, or even look at before.

The following are from the noc forum's previous tournament. Some very compelling arguments.

Punisher(MAX) vs. Snake Eyes

Fewcifur wrote: »

Snake Eyes uses a small mirror to get a first look inside the sewer. Seeing no imminent danger he slowly pops his head down, surveying the tunnel. With no signs of danger he does a forward flip. Still holding onto the trapdoor ledge, he is now hanging above the sewer floor. With physical control like an olympic gymnast he slowly extends his arms until his feet are inches above the water. He points his toes and enters the water with the minimal of noise. He moves cautiously and as stealthily as possible in the water. The sewage is too murky to see traps so Snake Eyes moves to the small ledge he was hoping to avoid.

He walks cautiously along, avoiding some tripwires connected to directional claymores. He pauses at an intersection where a large drainage pipe branches off from the main sewer. Snake Eyes pauses. He's spent most of his time looking for traps but he hasn't seen any sign of his prey. He uses an infrared torch in conjunction with a nightvision scope to look down the tunnel. The beam highlights a footprint in some thick sewage. Crouching ever so slightly Snake Eyes begins moving down the tunnel. When he reaches what appears to be a dead end he gets a bad feeling... this opponent had been toying with him for some time. Snake Eyes was used to infiltrating enemy territory and dealing with traps, but the sewer setting puts him on edge and he begins to wonder "were those traps too easy to find?"

He looks up and sees a manhole. He reaches up and tries to turn the handle. It moves a certain distance and then stops. Snake Eyes holds his breath. After a moment that seems an age he pops the manhole cover up slowly. It moves on a hinge but as it gets to a slight angle it meets resistance and stops, a slight push results in a click and no more movement. Snake Eyes drops to the ground expecting the ceiling to explode as a result of a trap, but as he falls in the drying mud he realises his mistake. An explosion from the debris at the end of the tunnel signals a world of hurt.

Hundreds of nails fly out of a small explosive device in every direction. Snake Eyes is peppered with three inch nails. His bullet proof jacket and armored points prevent any serious damage but soft points are embedded with nails. He slumps against the sidewall and then slowly slides to the ground. He takes a tactical multi-tool out of one of the many small pocket on his webbing. If he could speak he'd curse in pain as he pulls out the nails with pliers. Blood spurts out of puncture wounds where nails got too close to veins, but Snake Eyes applies a clotting spray and gauss. He's bloodied and every movement hurts.

He tries the manhole cover again but there's no give once it gets to the trigger angle. He jumps up and hits the manhole cover hard, but it's solid and the angle doesn't allow him to fit through. He attaches a small explosive to the hinge, moves further back down the tunnel and detonates by remote. Snake Eyes uses the mirror again and looks carefully at the room above. It's just an empty maintenance section with nothing but smaller pipes connecting with it, none large enough for a man. He pulls himself up, pain shooting through his arms from the many puncture wounds. He looks around the room and feels anger rise as he confirms his first observation: There's nowhere for The Punisher to go.

Back in the tunnel he looks at the boot marks... in hindsight they could have been made days before, probably when the trap was being set, or maybe they were part of the trap. He heads to the main sewer tunnel and wearily continues on his way. His determination is lessened but he shakes himself mentally and carries on. There's no way some lunatic is going to get the better of him.

He's avoiding tripwires but he doesn't even know if they're connected to anything, they could just be fishing line going into the sewers. He hears a noise up ahead and starts seeing debris in the tunnel... he reasons there must be a storm drain or some other sort of inflow. Soon he finds the source of the noise and the sewer gets deeper as a large pipe deposits a mixture of sewage and debris from the western district.

Snake Eyes steps over another tripwire, focusing on where he places his foot next. He stops just before he walks into a chest height wire. He's holding his breath, the sound of the running sewage the only noise. He ducks under the wire, releasing his breath. With the noise of the sewer he doesn't notice a pile of debris move slowly to one side as a dark figure moves slowly through the water. Snake Eyes hears a noise too late as he turns and gets knocked back against the way with the force of the shotgun buck. His armor has saved his life again but he's wounded. The Punisher grabs Snake Eyes and pulls him hard into the water before he recovers. A solid punch to the face and Snake Eyes' head snaps back and the Punisher pushes on his shoulders and suddenly thick brown water rushes into Snake Eyes' visor and mask. Snake Eyes is being held under water but his advanced military training kicks in on automatic. He reaches to his nearest combat knife and stabs in the general direction of the Punisher. He hits meat and the force on his shoulders is removed. Snake Eyes can't see anything and still in a dazed state rips off his face mask letting the rancid sewage air touch his badly scarred face.

Snake Eyes stares down the black clad figure moving towards him. The figure had black camo paint on his face and he held his left side. Looking at Snake Eyes face the Punisher only says "You're an ugly son of a bitch, even for a sewer." Snake Eyes tries to strike out with his combat knife but The Punisher manages to grab his wrist. They start to grapple but Snake Eyes doesn't have the muscle strength after the nail bomb ripped through parts of his tendons and soon Frank has the upper hand and forces Snake Eyes to drop the blade or break his wrist. The Punisher forces Snake Eyes back against the wall of the sewer but there's little damage as the water slows everything down. Snake Eyes uses the wall as a staging platform and launches an attack, getting an expertly planted fist into the Punisher's face which knocks him back, but the water slows down any combos and every move has to be carefully planned.

The Punisher has his hands under the water and suddenly jumps back onto the narrow walkway. Snake Eyes tries to move further down the tunnel in an attempt to get onto the walkway without having to face The Punisher while still disadvantaged by the water, but before he gets too far there's an explosion of water and he's knocked off his feet and under the water.

Everything is quiet for Snake Eyes, it's like he's floating in a dream. In perfect peace he realises The Punisher had everything perfectly planned. The constant traps to keep him focused knowing it would take a toll on his mental strength and knowing he'd get cocky, missing the trap in the dead end. The trap wouldn't kill him but would hurt like hell and slowly sap his strength. Fighting in the sewer water stopped Snake Eyes from using his superior speed and fighting skill. A ringing came to his ears and suddenly he was back in the world, his body now desperate for air. The bastard set off a grenade underwater knowing the blast would be more powerful in the water and shield him. Snake Eyes found his footing and gasped as he found air.

The oxygen just hit his blood supply as a knife was thrust through his wind pipe, obliterating his long inactive vocal chords. He heard the gurgling noise he made as he tried to breath, he grabbed his throat but in his mouth he could only taste blood and he began to black out as he drowned on his own blood. As he sunk beneath the water the last thing he saw was a white skull on a black background and he heard the words "No Mercy"

Batman vs Punisher (MAX)

LZ5by5 wrote: »

Bruce Wayne's curiosity gets the better of him, instead of initiating combat with the Punisher, he asks him why he believes in a punishment state. Bruce sits down with his kindred spirit in Frank Castle. Both men talk about their tragic past. Frank having lost his wife and child. Bruce having lost his parents as well as Jason Todd. Bruce talks to Frank about the Punisher's willingness to kill, he asks Frank if he thinks this makes him any different than the criminals that he hunts. Frank responds that he isn't concerned with having the moral high ground when it comes to the murderers, gangsters and rapists of the world.

Bruce then brings up his friend, Jim Gordon. Bruce talks about how Jim Gordon witnessed his daughter being shot and crippled by a madman known as The Joker. About how that same madman murdered his wife. About how that same madman tortured Jim Gordon with the images of what he had done to his daughter, Barbara Gordon. About how that madman was driven by a bloody thirsty obsession to prove that even the sanest of men can be driven to insanity and to violence if he is pushed hard enough. However, Jim never broke, and always wanted things to be done by the book. The reason Jim refused to break is because he knew that if he was going to stop the horrific behaviour of such madmen, that he needed to show them that his "way" works. Bruce points out that this is exactly what madmen want, for you to come down to their level. They want chaos, it's what makes them keep coming back for more and more, getting more twisted as each scheme is thrwarted. Bruce asks Frank if he ever asks himself why the population of sick individuals never seems to subside. Frank begins to wilt.

Bruce says that Frank needs to hand himself over to the proper authorities, that if he truly wants to make a difference then he has to put his hands up and admit that his way of doing things was wrong. Frank counters with the point that it will leave New York open to chaos if he is behind bars. Bruce points out that he's not the only superhero who is currently residing in New York and that if anything, it will make their job easier if there isn't someone seemingly on the same side of them murdering people. Bruce asks Frank if he truly feels his way of doing things helps his fellow superheroes in reaching their common goal; making the streets safer. Frank thinks back to the beating he received at the hands of one of the few men he looks up to, Steve Rogers. Frank remembers the disgust in the eyes of Captain America. In that moment, Frank realises that he has failed in his mission to make the streets safer.

The Punisher makes his location known to S.H.I.E.L.D. Upon being arrested, an agent asks Frank what has finally made him come to his senses. Frank simply says "A man that I should have been."

Batman wins.

koth wrote: »

Night has come to San Francisco and with the events that fate has set in motion it will be a truly dark one.

The sound of a busy city fills the air, so much that any sound that might be made by the shadowy form gliding out from the city would be almost inaudible.

As we look closer at this mysterious object, it resolves into the shape of batman in his bat-glider. The glider continues it silent flight out to the ominious island overlooking the city.

Alcatraz, former prison island for villains of days past, now a fortress for the punisher to create his punishment state.

As the glider approaches the island, batman engages his infra-red visor. "It looks like he has a small army spread throughout the island."

With that, batman descends to part of the fortress that looks to be with possible sentries.

Batman enters the fortress but is unaware of a thin layer of metallic powder on the entrance. With the fair charge disrupted in the powder a signal is activated on a console somewhere on the island.

Punisher steps forward and activates a monitor, he manages to catch a glimpse of a form moving out of the range of the camera. "So now it begins." He collects a variety of weaponary from a table in the centre of the room and continues into the centre of the island.

Batman meanwhile has discovered the true identity of the 'army'. Punisher had set up piles of heated biological material in an attempt to confuse anyone who hoped to navigate the island by infra-red. "Clever."

The PA system slowly crackles to life. "Hello 911? I need help, theres some in my house. I think he has a weapon" *sound of door breaking open followed by sounds of gunfire*"

Punishers voice comes onto the speaker, "the scum that killed that woman didn't even serve time, due to compromised evidence. Justice seems to have no time for the families that are left behind. I, on the other hand. have time to kill."

PA crackles and then goes silent.

"so much for the element of surprise."

A explosion rips through the room that batman just left. "I guess he isn't down that way."

Batman makes his way down the unexplored hallway. The end of the hallway leads into an open area with a large number of cells on either side. "Going to be exposed if I enter through this door."

He opts to use the open in the roof to exit the hallway and make his way onto the roof above the cells.

From that vantage point he spots that the punisher has set up a snipers nest above the top row of cells. Batman fires a batarang to remove the threat of the sniper rifle and quickly follows to tackle punisher.

The few seconds of an interval between projectile and the thrower gives punisher enough time to unholster his handgun. Luckily for batman that didn't include getting a shot out.

punishers experience enables him to avoid being defeated instantly by the momentum of batmans attack. Punisher justs the force of the attack to throw batman past him.

"You can't do this Frank. It's not up to you to decide the punishment that is measured out to criminals. You broke a mans arm for steal a mobile phone."

"At least that way he won't be stealing any more phones for a while.", punisher retorts.

punisher presses a button on a small remote control.

The PA crackles back into life and a young boys voice comes across the speakers. "Hello? I need help, my parents have been hurt and they're losing a lot of blood."

In the moment that batman is distracted, punisher launches himself at batman. The two engage in battle. A fluid fight containing many styles of combat ensues.

"It looks like I'm not the only one to suffer a loss due to criminals. But for some reason you seem unwilling to commit yourself entirely to ridding the world of the problem."

batman connects with punishers ribs, "but then how would I be any different from them? how are you any different from them?"

Punisher repays batman with a kick to the chest. "I can't afford to show restraint, because thats when they'll take me out of the fight."

Punisher connects with another kick, which causes batman to break yet another thin layer of the metallic powder. This time though the charge causes a series of micro-explosions in the part of the platform under batman.
Unfortunately for batman, punisher had anticpated exactly that response. he throws himself at batman as he is thrown through the air and manages to connect with a hay-maker to the head. And just to be totally sure, he uses batmans body as a landing pad.

As punisher stands over his fallen foe, he is unable to take a killing shot.

"Lucky for you. I only punish the guilty."

Punisher

Fewcifur wrote: »

Frank Castle looks out over the water towards San Francisco and then surveys his high-powered gun emplacements, the hum of their standby mode just audible between each wave breaking against the solid stone of Alcatraz.
The night seems to grow darker as a black cloud grows over the city. The Punisher uses a sniper-rifle scope to get a better view, but all he can see is a moving darkness in the distance. As he takes the scope from his eye he sees a dark shape cut silently through the clouds. Frank looks at the gun emplacements but as he suspected they stay motionless as the shape gained ground. Frank moves off the wall and backs into the shadows as the aircraft lands on the East shore. The Punisher knows the night is about to get a whole lot darker, and he cracks a slight smile in anticipation.

The Punisher knows not to rush into a trap, but when none of his sensors are triggered he moves along a planned route in the prison to a vantage point in the East. With an endoscope pushed through a drilled hole no bigger than a dime the Punisher surveys the landing zone below the East wall. There was no movement around the aircraft as it sat on the heli-pad. The endoscope moved around 360degrees. No sign of an intruder. Frank flips open a touchscreen pad attached to his arm. He double taps the screen. The helipad explodes at multiple points and collapses into the sea, the black winged aircraft disappears under the water without a sound. Disconcerted, the Punisher checks his status screen: nothing tripped. He pauses for a moment until an explosion on the other side of the prison shakes the stone walls and causes the Punisher to break into a sprint, knocking the safety off an assault rifle as he runs.

From the second floor The Punisher sees a hole blasted through the outer west wall and as he looks on a projectile flies through the breach and destroys an inner wall, punching a hole into an inner courtyard. Now that the Punisher knew where his enemy was he was more comfortable and withdrew to a northwest corner stairwell and made his way up to a pre-prepared sniper's vantage point.

He moves slowly in the prone position and cocks his rifle before looking in the scope. A quick scan of the water and he finds his prey, a sleek black boat lying low in the water, a launcher protruding from a rear slot. As he looked another projectile launched, punching a hole into another inner wall. There was no sign of a pilot and the whole boat looked bullet proof. With a grunt the Punisher takes his eye from the scope and reaches for a long cylinder. With a quick click of a button in the middle a rear section comes away, a handle folds down and a scope flicks out. Appearing just above the turret Frank looks down the scope as the infrared beam lights up the craft. A press of a red button and a rocket jets out of the launcher towards the craft. As the rocket flares from the muzzle the craft launches a small pod in the direction of the heat signature. The Punisher dives backwards from the front of the tower and falls into the stairwell, tumbling down a few flights only to steady himself. He's prepared for a boom but nothing happens. He counts to 30 and moves cautiously back up the tower.

There's no flaming wreckage in the water, the craft has completely disappeared, but without warning there's a flash and Frank is blinded. From the top of the tower a black shape swings down and kicks The Punisher off the tower. Blinded, Frank falls onto the cage covering the inner courtyard and as trained he rolls with the fall to lessen the impact. His armor takes much of the force but he's completely disorientated. As his vision slowly returns he sees four black images slowly resolve into one figure gliding towards the cage top. Frank pulls a pistol and gets off a shot, but the figure in black dives to one side, the bullet ripping through a cape. The Punisher gets to his feet, unsteady on the creaking cage top. The black figure is nowhere to be seen.

The Punisher looks around trying to figure his next move. From the darkness below he hears a sinister voice "How many men have you killed Frank?!" The Punisher tries to place the location. From the opposite corner the voice continued "Your crimes outweigh those you seek to kill!" The Punisher lets shot off into the darkness below. The voice returns "Who made you judge jury and executioner?!" Two more shots as the Punisher spins around. The darkness gives up nothing. A high pitched noise begins and the voice begins again, louder this time "You've gone wrong Frank, you've become no better than the criminals you hunt!" The high pitched noise continues, and another growing noise causes The Punisher to look up and see a dark cloud descending on him from the sky. Thousands of bats, every single creature for a hundred miles, marshalled over San Fransisco to be unleashed at a call.

The Punisher starts to run for cover, desperate to get off the cage and down to his enemy, but with a pop the supports of the cage explode and give way, sending Frank tumbling down into the darkness. "NOW YOU'RE MINE FRANK!" shouts the voice as utter confusion follows as thousands of bats dive into the dark courtyard with Frank and the figure in black.

"HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU MURDERED FRANK!?!" shouted the voice, coming from everywhere in the madness. The Punisher, covering his face from the bats while holding his weapon waiting for a target, shouts back into the darkness "THEY ALL DESERVED TO DIE!"
The Punisher regains some control. He's faced worse than this before. He pulls out two flares and throws them down. He sees a shape disappear into the shadows as bats continue to fly through the air, now frantic to escape the bright green light of the flares. "COME OUT AND FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!" This shadow was as much a criminal as anyone Frank had come across before, he deserved to die, they all deserve to die. From his combat webbing he pulls out an explosive charge and rolls it into the shadows. The explosion lights up the corner of the courtyard where the figure had disappeared but all it destroyed were some old benches and some scaffolding. The Punisher lets loose a burst of semi automatic fire into the darkness around the room. He hears nothing but the burning flares and the screeching bats.

A stabbing pain cuts into his hand and he drops his guns, a bat shaped blade dug into his gloved hand. The Punisher rips it out as a black shape descends into the eerie green glow. There are no words this time, only ninja fast movements. Frank tries to counter but he's too slow and outclassed, the punches come hard and fast, a punch thrown by the Punisher is caught and an arm broken in two places. A sweep to the legs and Frank is on his back but with a combat knife gripped in his bleeding hand. He lashes out with animal speed and draws blood from the darkness. Frank is on his own again. He stands ready to fight, legs spread apart and knees bent, his broken arm lying limp by his side and his other hand gripping the bloody combat knife tight. He moves around in a circle, staring into the darkness, waiting for the next attack. He considers changing his weapon, taking out his gun. He knows his enemy is too fast and skilled for him, but he's never met a better shot. He drops the knife and takes a powerful handgun from a holster.

"Your first mistake was always relying on guns... I hate guns" again the direction of the voice was deflected by the screeching bats. "BRING IT!" shouted the Punisher and as if in one motion the darkness came to life, disarmed him in one motion, jerked his hands hard behind his back, the pain of the broken arm tearing through Frank, his arms cuffed he suddenly feels his legs fly out from under him as he's jerked skywards.

As the blood rushes to his head he finds hard to focus, the bats are dispersing and the glow of the flares is dimming. Out of the darkness comes the shape of something nearly human but more than human. Frank tries to focus on the shape but a head wound makes it hard "Who are you?! " he shouts, blood spluttering down his mouth from a burst lip. As Frank begins to faint and the lights begin to dim he hears the voice of the darkness...

"I'm Batman"




+ 1 Batman

Batman vs. Bullseye

Deki wrote: »

Well since Wolf says I better have a good reason, I will give him 10 reasons why Batman will be the winner...
1. Batman's costume is much cooler.- Batman wins.
2. Batman has a lot more money so can put his crime fighting ideas to
use- Batman wins.
3. Batman has a neat cave to retreat to and plan his assault on crime.- Batman wins.
4. Batman has a handy dandy utility belt with handy dandy tools and
weapons.- Batman wins.
5. Batman has a Batmobile, a Batcopter, a Batboat etc. He's equipped
with everything.- Batman wins.
6. Batman has beaten countless criminals. He's experienced.- Batman wins.
7. Batman has dedicated his life to fighting crime. He's in it for the long
haul.- Batman wins.
8. Batman is in terrific shape, trained to fight, skilled in weaponry.-Batman
wins.
9. Batman never gives up. He belives in himself. He doesn't quit.- Batman
wins.
10. Lastly and perhaps most importantly Batman met up with
Bullseye in one of those DC/Marvel crossover deals and guess
what? Not only did Bullseye fail to take Batman out with a
thrown batarang, Batman knocked Bullseye out with one
punch. Just One Punch- Batman wins.:D