Tag Archives: Sun-Eater

DC vs. Marvel: Big Monsters

What is a monster?  According to the online version of Merriam-Webster:

“1 a: an animal or plant of abnormal form or structure b: one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior or character. “

Using definition (b), then just about every super villain would be a monster.  If you add (a) then you still have super villains like Doctor Doom who are deformed.  IGN already wrote an excellent article about DC versus Marvel super villains and I do not want to go over ground already covered.  This article instead will focus on big monsters.  The ultimate archetype of the big monster would be Godzilla.  There is even a particular word in Japanese for this sort of monster: daikaijū.  Monsters generally are big but how big does a monster have to be a daijuku?  I think over 20 feet and if the monster can wrap his/her hand around your waist with one hand like King Kong picking up a damsel in distress then that’s the clincher.

DC

The Silver age was all about big monsters and although Kirby’s Silver age monsters over at Marvel get all the attention, you can actually find a ton of big monsters at DC if you know where to look.

Major Heroes

Aquaman, Aquaman #7, The Creatures from Atlantis, Aquaman #20, Two-Headed Beast, Aquaman #56, The Creature that Devoured Detroit

Aquaman faced three major giant sea monsters during the Silver age.  The following Aquaman, volume 1, issues have a giant monster: #7- The Creatures from Atlantis, #20 – Two-Headed Beast, and #56 – The Creature that Devoured Detroit.  All the monsters are one-shots and not memorable.  Aquaman is often fighting a whale, giant jellyfish or giant shark or whatever but these are little two panel exercises not even worth mentioning.  The author looked at 61 issues.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 61 / 3 = 20.3

Batman, Batman #75, Gorilla Boss, Batman #104, The Creature from 20,000 Fathoms, Batman #134, Rainbow Creature, Batman #138, Sea Beast, #142-Tezcatlipoca, #143 – Bat-Hound and the Creature, and #162 – The Batman Creature.

Batman has faced at least 20 giant monsters.  In Batman volume 1, Batman fought: #75 – Gorilla Boss, #104 the Creature from 20,000 Fathoms, #134 – Rainbow Creature, #138 – Sea Beast, #142-Tezcatlipoca, #143 – Bat-Hound and the Creature, and #162 – The Batman Creature.

Detective Comics, Detective Comics #252, Creature from the Green Lagoon, Detective Comics #255, Robot Dinosaurs, Detective Comics #270, Creature from Planet X, Detective Comics #272, Menace of the Crystal Creature, Detective Comics #277, Jigsaw Creature from Space, Detective Comics #278, Detective Comics # 279, Creatures that Stalked Batman, Detective Comics #282, Cave Eel, Detective Comics #288, The Multiple Creature, Detective Comics # 291, Creature of the Bat Cave, Detective Comics # 295, Secret of the Beast Painting, Detective Comics # 297 – Beast of Koba Bay, Detective Comics #303, Murder in Skyland

In Detective Comics, Batman fought giant monsters in #252-Creature from the Green Lagoon, #255 – Robot Dinosaurs, #270 – Creature from Planet X, #272 – Menace of the Crystal Creature, #277 – Jigsaw Creature from Space, #278 – Giant, # 279 – Creatures that Stalked Batman, #282 – Cave Eel, #288 – the Multiple Creature, # 291 – Creature of the Bat Cave, # 295 – Secret of the Beast Painting, # 297 – Beast of Koba Bay, and #303 – Murder in Skyland.  The author looked at 667 Batman issues and 800 Detective Comics issues for a total of 1,467.   The ratio of issues to monsters is 1467 / 20 = 73.35

Green Lantern, Green Lantern #6, Giant monster on Xudar, Green Lantern #8, Giant Gila Monster from the Future, Green Lantern #30, Dinosaurs, Green Lantern #34, Giant Iguana, Green Lantern #53, Giant Alien

Green Lantern faced four monsters in the Silver age in Green Lantern, volume 1, in issues: #6 – Giant monster on Xudar, #8 – Giant Gila Monster from the Future, #30 – Dinosaurs, #34 – Giant Iguana, #53 – Giant Alien.  All the monsters are one-shots and not memorable.  The author looked at 201 issues to find these four giants monsters.  The ratio of issues to giant monsters is 201 / 4 = 50.25

Legion of Super-Heroes, Monster Master, Legion of Super Monster’s, Earthquake Beast, Eye Monster, Mirror Monster, Drill Beast, Omnibeast, Computo, Braniac 5, Triplicate Girl, Sun-Eater , Galactus, Controllers, Super-Moby Dick of Space, Action Comics #332, Superboy, Validus

The Legion of Super-Heroes deals with several alien and interstellar monsters in volume 1.  The Monster Master even created the Legion of Super Monster’s which includes: the earthquake beast that can cause earthquakes, the eye monster can shoot lightning, heat-vision, x-rays, and blinding light, the mirror monster can reflect any energy force off its shiny armor-plated hide, the drill beast can drill through anything.  Finally, the omnibeast can travel in space, air, land, or sea.  Computo is yet another giant robot conqueror created by Braniac 5 who kills one of the bodies of Triplicate Girl in the Silver age and death in the Silver age is rare and special plot wise.  The Sun-Eater is probably the biggest, baddest, giant monster in the DC universe.  Galactus is the devourer of worlds but the Sun-Eater is a devourer of suns!  The Sun-Eater is a weapon created by the Controllers, a super race in the DC universe and is generally mindless.  Lighting Lad loses his arm to the Super-Moby Dick of Space in Action Comics #332.  Any sort of permanent injury was almost unheard of in the Silver age so the giant monster is an integral part of an important story.

Superboy faced Validus when he was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.  Validus is actually stronger than Superboy and it took the combined might of Superboy, Mon-El and Ultraboy to defeat Validus.  The Silver age Superman and Superboy are much much stronger than the Modern Age Superman.  Validus is probably the second most powerful giant monster in the DC universe after the Sun-Eater which did defeat Validus (Adventure Comics #353).  Three important, powerful, giant monsters come out of the Legion of Super-Heroes including Computo, the Sun-Eater and Validus.  The Legion of Super-Heroes breaks the pattern of many one-shot monsters that are not memorable in order to create monsters of great power that are memorable and an important part of the DC Universe history.

Superboy, Adventure Comics #30, Jimmy Olsen, Giant Turtle Man, Jimmy Olsen, Thought Monster of Krypton, Superboy #87, Superboy #102, Adventure Comics #185, Griffin, Adventure Comics #196, Kingorilla, Giant Ape.

Superboy faced a few giant monsters as well.  In Adventure Comics #30 there is a creature quite similar to Jimmy Olsen’s transformation into a Giant Turtle Man in Jimmy Olsen #53.  Superboy fought a giant Thought Monster of Krypton as a baby and a boy in Superboy #87 and #102 respectively.  In Adventure Comics #185, Superboy fought a Griffin.  In Adventure Comics #196, Superboy fought Kingorilla, a giant ape.

Superman’s most famous giant monster is Titano the Super-Ape who was like King Kong with Green Kryptonite vision. In Adventure #295, the world is introduced to Bizzaro Titano that has Blue Kryptonite vision which is deadly to Bizzaros. Superman has also faced 17 other giant monsters in the pages of Superman including: #78- The Beast from Krypton, #86 – The Dragon from King Arthur’s Court, #110 – Giant Ant, the Flame Dragon of Krypton, #127 – Titano, #138-Titano, # 151-Child of the Beast from Krypton from issue #78, #246 Danger Monster at Work, #324 Titano Returns, #348 Storm God, #357- Cosmic Monster, #379 – Chemo.

Superman’s most famous giant monster is Titano the Super-Ape who was like King Kong with Green Kryptonite vision.  In Adventure #295, the world is introduced to Bizzaro Titano that has Blue Kryptonite vision which is deadly to Bizzaros.  Superman has also faced 17 other giant monsters in the pages of Superman including: #78- The Beast from Krypton, #86 – The Dragon from King Arthur’s Court, #110 – Giant Ant, the Flame Dragon of Krypton, #127 – Titano, #138-Titano, # 151-Child of the Beast from Krypton from issue #78, #246 Danger Monster at Work, #324 Titano Returns, #348 Storm God, #357- Cosmic Monster, #379 – Chemo.

Action Comics, Legion of Super-Creatures, Action Comics #347, Eterno, Action Comics #502, Galactic Golem, Action Comics #516, Army of Dinosaurs, Action Comics #519, Cosmic Creature, Action Comics #664, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Action Comics # 671, Sea Serpent, Action Comics #758, Rock Lobster

In Action Comics, Superman faced monsters in #326 – Legion of Super-Creatures, #343 – Eterno, #502 – Galactic Golem, #516 – Army of Dinosaurs, #519 – Cosmic Creature, #664 – Tyrannosaurus Rex, # 671 – Sea Serpent, and #758 – Rock Lobster. The author looked at 666 Superman issues and 873 Action Comics for a total of 1539 to find the 18 monsters mentioned.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 1539 / 18 = 85.5.

Wonder Woman Monsters

Wonder Woman faces 36 giant monsters in Wonder Woman volume 1 during the Silver age including #64 – The 3-D Terror, #66, #87 – Island of Giants, #91 – The Eagle Who Caged People, #97 – Dinosaur, #100 – The Forest of Giants, #105 – The Eagle of Space, #106 – Giants Olympic Contest, #109 – Wonder Girl in Giant Land, #112 – Chest of Monsters, #113 – Invasion of the Sphinx Creatures, #114 – The Monster Express, #116 – Cave of Secret Creatures, #119 – Sea Serpent, #120 – Secret of the Volcano Mt., #121 – The Island-Eater, #123 – Giant Cobra, #128 – Living Seaweed, #135 – The Attack of the Human Iceberg, #138 – Stone Giant, #143 – Fire Breathing Dragon, #145 – Phantom Sea-Beast, #146 – War of the Underwater Giants, #147 – Griffin & Giant Centipede, #148 – Dinosaur in a Department Store, #149 – Giant Flame Creature, #150 – The Phantom Fisher-Bird, #151 – Gooey Monster, #152 – Ice Bird, #154 – Boiling Man, #171 – Trap of the Demon Fish-Man, #233 – Jaws of the Leviathan, #239 – Animated Statue of Liberty, #257 – Dinosaur, #265 – Dinosaurs, and #284 – A Dragon Stalks the Streets.  The author looked at 327 issues.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 327 / 36 = 9.083.  Wonder woman has the highest number of monsters among major heroes!

Justice League Monsters

The Justice League of America had two memorable giant monsters including Starro and the Shaggy Man.  Starro first appeared in Brave and Bold #28 and was the very first super villain that the Justice League of America faced!  Starro has reappeared many times since then.  The Shaggy Man first appeared in JLA #45 and is another giant monster that reappears several times albeit different persons assume the identity of the Shaggy Man.  The Justice League had plenty of one shot monsters as well.  The Justice League fought several Dungeons and Dragons type of giant monsters in JLA #2.  In JLA #15 the Justice League fights an Easter Island sort of monster.  Superman fights a giant purple roman robot in JLA #34.  There are also one shot monsters that don’t even rate a proper name in JLA #36, #40, and #52.   If you don’t count reappearances of Starro or the Shaggy Man then the Justice League fought eight monsters in 261 issues looked at (261/8 = 32.6).

The Second Tier Heroes

Challengers of the Unknown Monsters

Jack Kirby’s contribution to monsters in the Marvel universe will be discussed in that section of the article but Jack Kirby also created a large number of monsters for the silver age Challengers of the Unknown.  The tone was set in one of their earliest adventures in Showcase #7 when they fought a giant robot called Ultivac.  In Challengers of the Unknown volume 1 there are giant robots 13 in the following issues:  #16 -the Incredible Metal Monster, #18 – Invincible Beast of Tomorrow, #19 Beasts of Tomorrow, #20 Cosmic Powered Creatures, #22 the Creature Challenger Mountain, #26 – Aqua Beast, #27-Volcano Man, # 32 Volcano Man returns, #35 – Moon-Beast, #41 – Quadruple Man, #47 – Sponge Man, #51-Sponge Man returns, and #59-The Petrified Giant.  The author looked at 91 issues to find the 13 giant monsters.  The ratio of monsters to issues is 91 /13 = 7.

Doom Patrol Monsters

The Silver age Doom Patrol had one giant monster they fought more than once and that was the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral ManDoom Patrol ,volume 1, had the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man in #89, #93 – Giant Robot, #95 Return of the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, #96 – Giant Jukebox, #97 – Elasti-Girl Transforms to Crystal Giant Menace, #100 – Dinosaur, #103 – Meteor Man, #105 – Mr. 103, #106 – Mr. 103 returns looking like the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, #109 – Mandred the Executioner, #111-Zarox 13 King of the Criminal Cosmos, #113 – Arsenal, #114 – Kor the Conqueror, #115 – The Mutant Master, and #116 – The Galactic Gladiator.  The Doom Patrol fought 14 monsters in 39 issues.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 39 / 14 = 2.7.

Metal Men Monsters

The Metal Men battled several giant robots that fit the giant monster definition but one of the more famous giant monsters of DC is not a robot: Chemo.  Chemo is a collection of chemicals that comes to life.   Chemo is vaguely malevolent but mostly mindless.  Unlike the giant robots that the Metal Men fought, Chemo survived past the Silver age and made it to the Modern Age.  Chemo was a major character in the Infinite Crisis series (2005).  Some of the giant robots the Metal Men fought include the Skyscraper Robot, Torgola, the Rebel Robot, Robot Juggernauts, and Volcano Man, who is not a robot.  The Doom Patrol and Challengers of the Unknown also fight a Volcano Man but I don’t think this is the same one.  The author looked at 56 issues.  The Metal Men battled 6 big monsters.  The ratio of issues to monster is 56 / 6 = 9.3.

Rip Hunter Time Master Monsters

Rip Hunter Time Master in the Silver age is another “B” title that has more than its share of big monsters.  Ripe Hunter is a time traveler that seems to find big monsters in every age not just the prehistoric ones.  Rip Hunter and his time traveling team fought ten giant monsters.  Big monsters are in #1 – 1,000 Year Old Curse, the volcano Creature, #2 – The Alien Beasts from 500 BC, #3 – Giant Octopus sort of creature, #5 – Alien Beast, #7 – Dinosaurs in the past, #8 – Giant Genie, #9 – Alien Flying Creature, #18 – Dinosaur but in the future, 2550 AD, #28 – Rip is turned into a giant monster, and #29 – Giant insects in the present.  The author looked at 30 issues.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 30 / 10 = 3.

Teen Titans Monsters

The Silver age Teen Titans were a second tier super hero team.  In the Modern age the Teen Titans became a first tier super hero team and giant monsters disappeared from their pages.  In volume 1, the Silver age, Teen Titans giant monsters appeared in the following issues: #1 – The Beast-God of Xochatan, #2 – The Million Year Old Teenager (Giant Caveman), #8 – A Killer Called Honey Bun (Giant Robot), and #32 – A World Gone Mad (Sea Monster).  There were four monsters.  The author looked at 53 issues of volume 1 of the Teen Titans. The ratio of issues to monsters is 53 / 4 = 13.

Tomahawk Monsters

Tomahawk is an especially odd Silver age second tier hero in an era of odd heroes.  Tomahawk is an American Revolution hero who fights British redcoats and their Native American allies except they are definitely called American Indians in these pre-PC comic books.  Tomahawk has the distinction of fighting lots of giant American Indians during the Silver age.  Tomahawk fights giant monsters in the following Issues: #46 – The Valley of Giant Warriors (Giant Indians), #58 – The Frontier Dinosaur, #64 – Mystery of the Giant Warrior (Giant Indian), #67 – The Beast from the Deep, #70 – Secret of the Iron Chief (Giant Indian Robot), #73 – Secret of the Indian Sorceress (Giant Sea Serpent), #74 – The Beast from the Labyrinth (Pink Stegosaurus), #75 Master of the Legendary Warrior (Giant Indian with fangs), #78 – Legend of the Sea Beast (Sea Serpent), #82 – Lost Land of the Pale-Face Tribe (Dinosaur), #86 – Tomahawk vs. King Colosso (Giant Ape), #89 – The Terrible Tree Man (Giant Tree Man), #90 – The Ranger vs. the Prisoner in the Pit (Giant Reptile), #91 – The Indian Tribe Below the Earth (Giant Salamander), #92 – The Petrified Sentry of Peaceful Valley (Giant Petrified Indian), The Return of King Colosso (Giant Ape returns), #94 – Rip Van Ranger (Giant Bird), #95 – Tribe Beneath the Sea (Giant Fish), #99 – King Cobweb and his Giant Insects (Giant Insects controlled by Indian), #100 – The Weird Water-Tomahawk (Giant Water Creature), #102 – The Dragon Killers (Dragon), #103 – The Frontier Frankenstein (Giant Frankenstein), #104 – The Fearful Freaks of Dunham’s Dungeon, #105 – Attack of the Gator God (Giant Reptile), #107 – Double-Cross of the Gorilla-Ranger (Giant Ape), #109 – The Caveman Ranger (Dinosaurs), and #115 – The Deadly Flaming Ranger (Giant Flame Creature).  The author looked at a 129 issues of Tomahawk.  Tomahawk fights giant monsters in 27 issues. The ratio of issues to monsters is 129 / 27 = 4.7.  Tomahawk also has the honor of having fought four giant Indians!  I think this has to be some sort of hero record.

Blackhawk Monsters

Blackhawk had several one-shot monsters including Blackhawk #120 (Metal Cyclops), #140 (Tyrannosaurus Rex), #146 (Giant Mechanical Scorpion), #148 (Flying Serpent), #150 (Giant Eagle), #152 (Octi-Ape, Ape with eight limbs), #154 (Beast that Time Forgot), #164 (Twin Creatures of Blackhawk Island), #193 (Valley of the Angry Giants, Giant Mesoamerican Indians), #198 (Giant Nazi Robot), and #226 (Secret Monster of Blackhawk Island).  The author looked at 96 issues and found monsters in 11 of them.  The ratio of monsters to issues is 8.7.

Speculative Fiction Anthologies

In the Silver age both DC and Marvel had speculative fiction anthologies and these were the true homes of monsters and big monsters in general.  The vast majority of monsters in both the DC and Marvel universes were created in these speculative fiction anthologies.

House of Mystery Monsters

House of Mystery, volume 1, has big monsters in the following issues:  #41 – Brontosaurus, #53 – Forbidden Statues, #70 – The Creatures from Nowhere, #71 – Moon Goddess, #74 – Dragon of Time Square, #79 – Creature of Inner Space, #80 – Earth’s Super Prisoner, #85 – Easter Island Monsters and similar to Marvel’s the Things on Easter Island, #86 – The Beast that Slept 1,000 Years, #87 – The Menacing Pet from Pluto, #89 – Secret of the Cave Light, #90 – The Runaway Bronc from Venus, #91 – The Forbidden Face of Fa-San, #96 – Pirate Brain, #99 – The Beast with Three Lives, #101 – The Magnificent Monster, #102 – Cellmate to a Monster, #104 – The Seeing Eye Man, #107 – Captives of the Alien Fishermen, #109 – Secret of the Hybrid Creatures, #110 – The Beast that Stalked Through Time, #111 – Operation Beast-Slayer, #112 – The Menace of Craven’s Creatures, #113 – Prisoners of Beast Asteroid, #114 – The Movies from Nowhere, #118 – Secret of the Super-Gorillas, #119 – The Deadly Gift from the Stars, #120 – The Cat-Man of Kanga Peak, #123 – Lure of the Decoy Creature, #125 – The Fantastic Camera Creature, #130 – Alien Creature Hunt, #131 – Vengeance of the Geyser God, #132 – Beware the Invisible Master, #133 – The Captive Queen of Beast Island, #134 – The Secret Prisoner of Darkmoor Dungeon, #138 – The Creature Must Die, #140 – Giant Alien, #141 – The Alien Gladiator, #143 Martian Manhunter’s sidekick Zook becomes a giant monster, #149 – Giant Insects, #152 Martian Manhunter fights a giant alien named the Creature King, #153 – Martian Manhunter fights the Giants who slept 1,000 years, and #154 – Prisoner of the Purple Demon.   House of Mystery had 46 giant monsters.  The author looked at 300 issues.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 300 / 46 = 6.5.

House of Secrets Monsters

House of Secrets, volume 1, had monsters in the following issues: #1 – House of Doom, #11 – The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Growing, #19 – Lair of the Dragonfly, #24 – Beast from the Box, #25 – Secret of the Sea Monsters, #26 – Menace of the Alien Ape, #27 – Secret of the Fossil Egg, #28 – Horse like Monster, #29 – Queen of the Beasts, #30 – Creature City, #31 – Hybrid Monster, #34 – Puzzle of the Plundering Creatures, #37 – Secret of the Captive Creature, #38 – The Fantastic Flower Creatures, #39 – Alien Bird of Prey, #40 – Master of the Space Beasts, #41 – Dinosaur in Times Square, #44 – Valley of Doomed Creatures, #45 – Destiny of Dooms, #47 – Creatures of Camouflage Forest, #48 – Beware the Guardian Beast, #51 – Mystery of the Stolen Creatures, #53 – Mark Merlin’s Giant Double, #55 – Battle of the Titans, #63 – Cave filled with various giant monsters, #69 – Kill the Giant Cats, #71 – Giant Who Once Ruled Earth, #72 – Revolt of the Morloo, and #73 – Eclipso Battles the Sea Titan.  House of Secrets had 29 big monsters.  The author looked at 153 issues.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 153 / 29 = 5.2.

Strange Adventures Monsters

Strange Adventures did “spawn” one memorable giant amphibian and that is the giant frogs.  The frogs appeared in issues #130 and # 155.  The giant frogs are pictured below:

Also the Faceless Hunter from Saturn first appeared in issues #124, #142, and #153.  The Faceless Hunter from Saturn has made several appearances in the Modern age and even was in a cartoon episode of Batman: Brave and Bold (Siege of Starro! Part Two, Season 2, Episode 15).  Also yellow giants with ears shaped like butterflies who collected humans like humans collect butterflies appeared in issues #119 and #159.  Giant monsters that appeared in volume one of Strange Adventures include: #7 – Giant Ants, #11 – Serpent, #21 – The Monster that Fished Men, #28 – Indestructible Giant, #30 – The Great Ant Circus, #41 – Dinosaurs, #44 – Giant Plant, #50 – World Wrecker Robot, #52 – Prisoner of the Parakeets, #72 – The Skyscraper came to Life, #76 – The Tallest Man on Earth, #82 – Giants of the Cosmic Ray, #91 – Giant from Jupiter, #97 – Secret of the Space – Giant, #101 – Giant from Stalk, #104 – World of Doomed Spacemen, #112 – Menace of the Size-Changing Spaceman, #113 – Deluge from Space, #118 – The Turtle Men from Space, #119 – Raiders from the Giant World, #120 – Attack of the Oil Demons, #122 – David and the Space Goliath, #123 – Secret of the Rocket-Destroyer, #124 – The Face-Hunter from Saturn, #125 – The Flying Gorilla Menace, #127 – Menace from the Earth Globe, #129 – The Giant Who Stole Mountains, #130 – War with Giant Frogs, #133 – Invisible Dinosaurs, #139 – The Space Roots of Evil, #142 – Return of the Faceless Creature, #151 – Invasion via Radio-Telescope, #153 – Threat of the Faceless Creature, # 155 – Return of the Giants Frogs, #157 -Plight of the Human Cocoons, #159 – The Maze of Time, #165 – Secret of the Insect Men, #167 – Gorko the Night Creature, #168 – The Hand that Erased Earth, #170 – The Creature from Strange Adventures (Infinity Cover), #193 – Zomzu the Living Colossus, and #194 – The Bracelet of Deadly Charms.  Some of the monsters already identified were reprinted in later issues of Strange AdventuresStrange Adventures yields 42 giant monsters!  The author looked at 232 issues for this article.  The ratio of issues to big monster is 232 / 42 = 5.5.

Tales of the Unexpected Monsters

Tales of the Unexpected had big monsters in issues  #17 – Moon Beast, #20 – You Stole Our Planet, #36 – Prisoners’ of the Lighthouse Creatures, #40 – Battle of the Colossal Creatures, #48 – The Beast from the Invisible World, #50 – Sun-Creature, #51 – Mercurian Quill Thrower, #52-Guardian Beasts of the Life Stone, #53 – Creature in the Glass Ball, # 54 – Dinosaurs of Space, #55 – Ghost Creatures of Phobos, #57 – The Jungle Beasts of Jupiter, #59-Org, #60-The Beasts from Space Seeds, #61 – Guardians of the Moon Emperor’s Treasure, #63 – Secret of the Space Circus, #65 – The Alien Brat from Planet Byra, #67 – The Beast that Space Ranger Protected, #68 – Prisoner of the Giant Robot, and #70 – Xorog, #201 – Giant Rabbit!  Tales of the Unexpected has 21 big monsters.  The author looked at 208 issues.  The ratio of issues to monsters is 208 / 21 = 9.9.

Conclusion

Overall, the secret to finding big monsters in the DC universe is to focus on the Silver age.  Also do not to look in the mainstream hero comics like Aquaman, Batman, Green Lantern and Superman.  The range of ratios for first tier heroes is 20.3-90.5.

However, every other issue in the second tier comics hero comics like the Doom Patrol, Metal Men, Rip Hunter Time Master, Teen Titans, Tomahawk, Challengers of the Unknown, and the Sea Devils has big monsters.  The range of ratios was 2.7-9.3.  So a big monster is more or less ten times more likely to show up in a second tier hero adventure than a first tier hero adventure.

My theory is that the editors felt that if the hero could not sell the magazine then maybe a giant monster plastered on the cover could.  Also, one of the defining flaws of the second tier heroes is a lack of a roster of strong recurring super villains.  Big monsters were used as a substitute for strong villains and this strategy in hindsight was not very successful.

The speculative fiction anthologies: House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Tales of the Unexpected, and Strange Adventures are the place to find the vast majority of DC monsters.  The speculative fiction anthologies are generally called science fiction comic books but I think this is a misclassification.  These Silver Age anthologies spanned the spectrum of horror to fantasy to science fiction and actually quite a bit of supernatural fiction.  They were the comic book equivalent of the Twilight Zone, definitely speculative fiction rather than the Outer Limits, a more narrowly science fiction show.  The monsters in these anthologies span the gamut of supernatural to horror to science fiction monsters.  The Vertigo Modern Age reboots of the House of Mystery and Strange Adventures stay far away from giant monsters that are still popular but considered cheesy and not up to the artistic standards of the Vertigo press.  The range of ratios for the speculative fiction anthologies was from 5.2-9.9.  This range of ratios is similar to the range of second tier heroes.  However the range is greater for second tier heroes.

Wonder Woman (9.083 ratio) is an exception to the first tier hero rule.  In particular, the Silver age, Wonder Woman was fighting giant men in a large number of issues.  More detailed analysis shows that these giants often treat Wonder Woman like a plaything or even jewelry of the giants.  All the giants in Wonder Woman probably reflect some weird psychosexual dynamic at work as is often the case with the Wonder Woman title from the Golden age all the way the way to the present.  Could some sort of role reversal be at work?  Young boys who are sick of being pushed around by their giant mothers derive vicarious pleasure from seeing Wonder Woman being played with by giant men?  Or did Wonder Woman just attract the weirdos of the comic book industry?

MARVEL

First of all I want to give special thanks to the Monster Blog!  This website is the ultimate online resource for anyone who is interested in the vast number of monsters that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created.  These monsters are often referred to as Kirby monsters.  The blog lists 210 monsters and almost all of them fit the big monster definition.  If you remove all human monsters, monsters that are too small, and imaginary monsters, then are still left with the following list of big monsters:

Back From the Dead, Bombu, Bruttu, Colossus, Cyclops, Diablo, Don Russell, Dragoom, Elektro, Fin Fang Foom, Gargantus, Goliath, Gomdulla, Googam, Goom, Gorgilla, Gorgolla, Gor-Kill, Grogg, Groot, Grottu, Gruto, Gxenu and MARK VIII, I Dream of Doom, It Crawls By Night, Jason Wilkes, Klagg, Korilla, Kraggoom, Kraa, Krang, Kurrgo, Lo-Karr, Magneto, Manoo, Mechano, Metallo, Mister Morgan’s Monster, Mongu, Monsteroso, Monstro, Monstrollo, Monstrom, Moomba, OOG, Orrgo, Paul Marshall, Pildorr, Robot X, ROE, Rommbu, Rorgg, Shagg, Shangri-La, Sporr, Spragg, Sserpo, Taboo, Temujai, the Abominable Snowman, the Alien Gladiator, the Alien Observer, the Aliens from Dead Storage, the Aliens from the Wax Museum, the Blip, the Brute That Walks, the Chamber of Fear, the Changeling, the Crawling Creature, the Creature From Krangro, the Creature From Krogarr, the Creature From Planet X, the Dragon, the Flying Saucer, the Forbidden World, the Genie, the Genie With the Light Brown Hair, the Glob, the Gorilla Man, the Green Thing, the Hypnomonster, the Impossible Tunnel, the Insect Man, the Invaders, the Leader, the Living Totem, the Living Trees,the Lizard Men, the Luna Lizards, the Martian, the Martian Plant Creature, the Martian Who Stole a City, the Martians, the Midnight Monster, the Miracle Man’s Monster, the Mole Man’s Monster, the Molten Man-Thing, the Monster At the Window, the Monster Escapes, the Monster In the Iron Mask, the Mummy, the Ninth Wonder of the World, the Other Cyclops, the Robot Colossus, the Roc, the Sandman, the Scarecrow, the Scarlet Beetle, the Scorpion, the Screemies, the Seeds of Doom, the Space Beasts, the Space Dragon, the Spider, the Statue Gods, the Statue Maker, the Stone Men From Saturn, the Swamp Aliens, the Thing, the Thing Called It, the Thing From the Hidden Swamp, the Thing Hunts For Me, the Thing in the Black Box, the Things on Easter Island, the Tree Alien, the Twilight World, the Two-Headed Thing, the Warriors from Igneous Rex, the Weed, the World Below, Thorr, Titan, Titano, Torr, Trull, Vandoom’s Creature, Wilbur Fiske, Xemnu the Titan, X, X-13, Zemu and Zetora the Martian

However, as much fun as all those monster were for me growing up, they are all one-hit wonders with the exception of the Fin Fang Four that includes Googam, Elektro, Gorgilla and of course Fin Fang Foom.  Xemnu cloned five Kirby monster’s including Groot, Goom, Taboo, Diablo, and The Blip in order to fight the incredible Hulk.  The Hulk is kind of a Kirby monster magnet.  The Hulk also fights It the Living Colossus.  The Hulk along with the Beast, Giant Man and the Thing fought Tragg , Groot , Taboo, Grottu , Droom , Vandoom , Gargantus , Rommbu , Grogg , Moloids , Fin Fang Foom , Mole Man  and the Collector in the 2005 one-shot Monsters on the Prowl.  The Hulk has fought a couple of modern age big monsters including the Bi-Beast and Umbu the Unliving (Hulk #110).  Some other modern age big monsters include the Devil Dinosaur, Dragon Man, Giganto , Midgard Serpent, the Moles Man’s monsters and Wendigo.   Marvel has a universe style guide of their monsters: Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters.

I have not included Godzilla in the list of giant monsters at Marvel!  Godzilla is a Toho Studios monster and his foray into the Marvel universe was poor fit.  Marvel no longer has the licensing rights to Godzilla and hopefully this sorry episode in the Marvel Universe is dead, dead, dead, forever.  Godzilla could lift 20,000 tons with ease.  Thor and the Hulk are 100 ton lifters!  So this interloper is about 200 times stronger than the heavyweights of the Marvel Universe!  How can Marvel superheroes fight this guy at all?  Yet they do rather than being squashed like ants!  Suspension of belief is a delicate thing that Godzilla in the Marvel Universe practically destroyed.  Just a poor fit on every level.  Keep in mind I am the author of Hello Kitty vs. Godzilla so when I find a story to be over the top then that’s saying a lot.

There is a misconception that Marvel has more monsters, especially giant monsters, than DC.  DC actually created more monsters during the Silver age than Marvel but they were much less memorable and spread across many titles as one-shots and many of the monsters did not even have names.  Ironically, Kirby did have a monster comic book at DC, Challengers of the Unknown, but the fact that this comic book was filled with monsters has been totally ignored until now.

Fing Fang Foom is easily the premiere giant monster at Marvel.  Fing Fang Foom has appeared in over 20 issues across the spectrum of Marvel titles.  Fing Fang Foom appears in toy form in Iron Man 2008.  Fing Fang Foom in the only Kirby monster to be made into a HeroClix giant figure!  Fing Fang Foom is arguably one of the more interesting Kirby monsters visually as you can see from the HeroClix figure picture below:

Validus faces off against Fing Fang Foom.  Fing Fang Foom can sense that Validus has a the mind of a child and tries to communicate with Validus but Validus is immune to telepathy.  Validus rips off one of Fing Fang Foom’s arms with ease.  Fing Fang Foom is a genius level strategist and decides it.s time to run for the hills.  Fing Fang Foom starts to fly away.  Validus does not have the power of flight.  Validus zaps Fing Fang Foom from the sky with his unique mental lightning which can even knock out the Silver Age Superboy.  Fing Fang Foom decides to die ironically, and as Validus cradles the dying Fing Fang Foom, Fing Fang Foom says, “Rosebud” with his dying breath.  Validus doesn’t get the joke and looks for something else to smash.

Other articles in the DC vs. Marvel Series:

Big Monsters

Fourth Wall Heroes

Funny Animals

Horror Hosts

Kids

Robots

Sidekicks

Spacemen

Super pets

Teenagers

Transportation

War Heroes

Weapons

WesternHeroes

Women in Refrigerators

WorkingWomen

My other website at:

Fox Superpower List

More comic book articles on this blog at:

http://foxhugh.com/?s=comic

WereVerse Universe Baby!

WereVerse Universe at Google Drive Link

DC vs. Marvel: Weapons

In this installment of DC vs. Marvel, I compare the weapons of the DC universe with the weapons of the Marvel universe.  The weapons are broken into three power levels.  Each universe will have a winner declared in each category and the universe that wins in the most categories is the overall winner.  The weapons will be judged in the areas of aesthetic, conceptual and/or utilitarian design.  In other words, which universe has the coolest weapon in each category?  This is not a “which weapon is more powerful” contest.

The weapons in the top power category are called (1) Cosmic Weapons. These are the really powerful weapons of the DC or Marvel universe.  A person with this sort of weapon can take on a team of superheroes such as the Justice League or the Avengers or perhaps even shake the foundations of the universe.  A good example on the high end of a cosmic weapon would be the Infinity Gauntlet of the Marvel universe.  With the Infinity Gauntlet you can take on an army of superheroes and more.  Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to challenge the combined might of Galactus, the Stranger, the titan Epoch, Love and Hate, two Celestials, Master Order, Lord Chaos, Kronos, Death and Epoch.  An upper end Cosmic Weapon can alter reality.  The range of the weapon can vary from global, at least, to galactic.  A cosmic weapon is even difficult to conceptualize using pseudo science.  This is part of the attraction of a cosmic weapon.

A good example of a weapon on the low end of this category would be the Sun Eater used in the DC Universe.  The Sun Eater can give the Legion of Superheroes a hard time but it will take forever to eat enough suns to change the foundations of the universe.  I wouldn’t try to take on even Galactus alone with a Sun Eater.  Galactus might eat the Sun Eater!

The next power level would be (2) Super Weapons. These weapons enable the wielder to take on a heavy duty superhero such as Superman on the upper end of the power scale.  Green Lantern’s ring would be a good example of a super weapon on the upper end.  You might be able to defeat Superman with a Green Lantern ring, probably not, but you would have a chance at least.  On the low end, Captain Cold’s cold gun can let a super villain take on a hero like the Flash.  I would strongly urge any potential super villains out there not to try to take on Superman with something like a cold gun.  A Super Weapon cannot be constructed in the real world but can be conceptualized with pseudo science.

The last level is what I call (3) Street Weapons because they are the type of weapons you see used on the streets.  Often they are normal weapons that have been enhanced with some tinkering. On a good day, you might be able to take on a half a dozen street crooks with one of these weapons but you probably need some special martial arts skill to do this.  A good example of this type of weapon would be Daredevil’s Billy Club or Batman’s Batarang.  A street weapon could be constructed in the real world but probably would have to be adapted considerably due to real life technical constraints.

1.0) COSMIC WEAPONS

1.1) Cosmic Weapons – DC

Some of the cosmic weapons in the DC universe include the

Anti-Life Equation

Book of Eternity

Miracle Machine

Spear of Destiny

Sun-Eater

Warworld

The Spear of Destiny is the spear used to pierce the side of Jesus Christ.  Hitler used the Spear of Destiny in the DC Universe to keep the American superheroes from liberating Europe.  Superman was given the task of killing the Spectre with the Spear of Destiny in one issue.  The Spectre is the most powerful being in the DC Universe and anything that can kill him has to be pretty powerful.  The Spear of Destiny gives the wielder the ability to control the minds of super powered individuals, massive reality warping and extremely powerful holy abilities

The Book of Eternity is a book that contains the story of existence.  If absolute knowledge can lead to absolute power then does absolute corruption follow…?  The wielder of the book also is granted vast magical powers.

This idea that knowledge is power is also explored in the concept of the Anti-Life Equation that will destroy all life. Darkseid is obsessed with the equation and according to him in one issue the equation is:

loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side

If Darkseid says the equation then the victim has mathematical certainty that all life and existence are futile and that serving Darkseid is the only point in existence.  This is mind control but mind control that can be shared via the internet and presumably even intergalactic communication systems that advanced races would possess.  A master of this equation could rule the cosmos with but a sentence and a good media outlet.  Those controlled could be asked to repeat the message to even more beings so the equation would spread exponentially.  In short, the equation has metamemetic properties.  For a definition of metamemetics please read:

http://foxhugh.com/2008/03/

Someday I will master the science of metamemetics and use this blog to rule the world!

Bwa-ha-ha-haaaa!

Two of the DC Cosmic Weapons are from the Legion of Superheroes storyline.  The Sun-Eater is a living nebula with the ability to snuff out whole stars.  The Sun-Eater was created by the Controllers to destroy unworthy worlds.  The Miracle Machine was also created by the Controllers.  The machine can convert thoughts into reality and was given to the Legion of Superheroes as a reward for destroying the Sun-Eater controlled by a renegade Controller.  Braniac 5 used the machine to repel an alien invasion of Earth.  The combined armed forces of Earth and the Legion of Superheroes were losing the war so this is a good weapon to have on your side.  Warworld is a whole world filled with weapons not just on the surface but from the surface to the core.  Superman was barely able to stop even one skyscraper sized missile launched at Earth and the Warworld presumably has countless missiles and all sorts of weapons.  Presumably even a team of superheroes could not even begin to shield Earth from an attack from Warworld but I doubt you could change the cosmos with this weapon.

1.2) Cosmic Weapons – Marvel

Some of the cosmic weapons in the Marvel universe include

Casket of Ancient Winters

Cosmic Cube

Evil Eye of Avalon

Infinity Gauntlet

Serpent Crown

Odinsword

Ultimate Nullifier

Wand of Watoomb

The most powerful weapon in the Marvel universe is probably the Ultimate Nullifier.  The Ultimate Nullifier is generally in the possession of Galactus.  Korvac used the Ultimate Nullifier to destroy a universe in the multiverse.  The drawback is that use of the weapon is suicidal.  Whoever wields the Ultimate Nullifier is also destroyed!

A close second in the Marvel universe in terms of power might be the Infinity Gauntlet.  You can take over the universe with the Infinity Gauntlet.  Whether or not you could destroy a universe with the Infinity Gauntlet has not been determined.  The cosmic cube was the most powerful weapon in Marvel universe for years and years since it could alter reality with a thought but later the range of this weapon was set at a global level.

Before the appearance of the cosmic cube the most powerful weapon in the Marvel universe was the largely forgotten Odinsword that even graced the cover of Thor #156.  The Odinsword was supposed to end the universe if drawn from its scabbard and this idea really struck my imagination when I was a youth in the sixties.  Later, Odin absorbed the life force of all Asgardians, blew up the enchanted armor known as the Destroyer, to gigantic size, and grabbed the Odinsword to take on the Celestials and got blown up for his troubles so this event shows this sword is not in the same league as the Ultimate Nullifier or the Infinity Gauntlet.   Thanos was able to defeat two celestials and heavy-duty company with the Infinity Gauntlet.   Korvac was able to destroy a whole universe despite the Celestials.

Dormammu once used the Evil Eye of Avalon to merge his dimension with that of Earth.  The Eye of Avalon was hexed by the Scarlet Witch and the ensuing energy disaster temporarily destroyed Dormammu and drove Loki mad.  Maybe the Evil Eye of Avalon is third in terms of power in the Marvel Universe.

Cosmic weapons in the Marvel Universe that allow you to take on a band of superheroes, but probably not take over the cosmos directly, include the Wand of Watoomb and the Serprent Crown.  The Wand of Watoomb enables the wielder to mentally project and absorb mystical energy, create force fields, control weather, open dimensional portals, observe events in other locations, and heal wounds.  The Serpent Crown gives the user superhuman strength, telepathy, mind control, telekinesis, the ability to cast illusions, the power to project destructive bolts of mystical energy and even the mental ability to manipulate matter and energy.  The Casket of Ancient Winters is Asgardian and allows the wielder to control infinite cold.  A very specialized weapon but anything of infinite power belongs in the cosmic range.

1.3) Winner

For sheer originality the Anti-Life Equation wins!  The ultimate cosmic weapon would not be concrete but abstract.   This confirms what you always knew in your heart, algebra can end all life in the universe!  E=MC2  is an equation that has changed the world more than just about anything.  I think of the Anti-Life Equation as a super advanced version of E=MC2. I am sure just such an equation is just around the corner in real life.

2.0) SUPER WEAPONS

2.1) Super Weapons – DC 

Adam Strange’s Ray Gun

Aquaman’s Hook

Black Lantern Ring

Black Manta’s Battlesuit

Blue Beetle’s Scarab

Blue Devil’s Trident of Lucifer

Blue Lantern Ring

Braniac’s Space Ships

Braniac’s Force Field

Calculator Battlesuit

Captain Boomerang’s Trick Boomerangs

Captain Cold’s Cold Gun

Copperhead’s Armor

Deadshot’s Wrist Mounted Firearms

Disintegrator Sphere

Dr. Fate’s Helm of Nabu

Emerald Eye of Ekron – Emerald Empress

Entropy Aegis Armor

Exectutioner’s Atomic Axe

Fiddler’s Fiddle

Golden Girdle of Gaea

Golden Glider’s Iceskates

Green Lantern Power Ring

Hawkgirl’s Dart Gun

Hawkman’s Protonic Lance

Hawkgirl’s Wings

Hawkman’s Wings

Heat Wave’s Gun

HERO Dial

Icicle’s Cold Gun

Indigo Power Ring

Kanjar Ro’s Gamma Gong

Kinetic Hammer

Lasso of Lightning

Mageddon

Mega-Rod

Mirror Master’s Trick Mirrors

Mr. Freeze Cold Gun

Orange Lantern Ring

Orb of Ra

Orion’s Astro-Harness

Phantom Zone Projector

Piped Pipers flute

Psi-Scimitar

Psycho Pirate’s Medusa Mask

Qwa-Bolts

Red Power Ring

Sandman’s Sand of Sleep

Sandman’s Dreamstone

Sandman’s Helm of Dreams

Sargon the Sorcerer’s Ruby of Life

Sonigun

Soultaker Sword

Spear of Lonea

Star Man’s Cosmic Rod

Star Sapphire

Steel’s Apokolips Armor

Toastmasters

Trident of Neptune

Trident of Poseidon

Trident of Triton

Weather Wizard’s Wand

Webgun

Wonder Woman’s Bracelets of the Aegis

Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth

Xantha Charge

Yellow Power Ring

The two most famous weapons in the DC list are probably Green Lantern’s power ring and Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth.  Recently, DC decided to add a whole rainbow of power rings to their universe and I think this is diluting the brand.  What’s next a purple Hulk?  The creator of Wonder Woman also invented the lie detector!  The Lasso of Truth is the ultimate lie detector!  I think both weapons are great but slightly prefer the Lasso of Truth due to its interesting origins.

2.2) Super Weapons – Marvel

Beetle’s Armor

Black Blade of Baghdad

Black Knight’s Ebony Blade

Black Knight’s Ebony Dagger

Black Knight’s Power Lance

Black Knight’s Shield of Night

Blacklash’s Whip

Blizzard’s Suit

Bloodaxe

Big Wheel

Caliburn

Captain America’s Shield

Chorus Sentry

Cobalt Bomb

Controller’s Slave Discs

Convincer

Cosmic Control Rod

Crimson Dynamo’s Armor

Crimson Gem of Cyttorak

Cyclone’s Suit

Destroyer (Enchanted Armor)

Doctor Octopus Tentacles

Dr. Doom’s Armor

Dragonfang Sword

Eagle Shield

Electroplasmic Wand

Energy Shield

Excalibur

Exorcist Gun

Eye of Agamotto

Firebrand Suit

Firepower’s Armor

Firesword

Fiver Fingers of Annilation

Gamma Bomb

Ghost Rider’s Chain

Ghost’s Battlesuit

Golden Mace of Hercules

Grim Reaper’s Scythe

Guantlets of Ares

Hofund

Hurricane’s Wings

Iron Man Armor (Earth-200151)

Iron Man’s Armor

Iron Monger’s Armor

Jet Parlyzer

Justiciar

Kurokaze

Mandarin’s Ten Rings

Mandroid Armor

Megingjord

Mirage’s Holographic Suit

Mysterio’s Helmet with Holographic Projector

Mysterio’s Gloves and Boots that Emit Hallucinogenic Gas

Odin’s Thrudstok

Polestar’s Magnetic Gauntlets

Pyro’s Battlesuit and Flamethrowers

Quantum Bands

Ringmaster’s Top Hat with Portable Mind-control Device

Rhino’s Polymer Armor

Ronan the Accuser’s Universal Weapon

Sakki

Scell

Scorcher’s Suit and Flamethrowers

Shocker’s Gauntlets

Silver Surfer’s Surfboard

Son of Satan’s Trident

Spymater’s Battlesuit

Staff of Polar Power

Star-Blazer

Star Shield

Stilt-Man’s Armor

Stormbreaker

Streamsword

Sun Shredder

Sunbeam Ray Gun

Surtur’s Twilight Sword

Sword of Bone

Sword of Fangs

Sword of Frey

Sword of Kamnu

Sword of Light

Sword of Might

Sword of Night

Sword of Ultimate Shadow

Swordman’s Sword

Taskmaster’s Solid Energy Weapon

Thor’s Hammer Mjolnir

Titanium Man’s Armor

Ulik’s Pounders

Ultra-Diode Ray

Unicorn’s Power Horn

Vulture’s Wings

Whiplash’s Gauntlets and Battlesuit

Wizard’s Power Gloves

Wrecker’s Crowbar

The three most famous weapons in the Marvel list are Thor’s hammer, Captain America’s shield and Iron Man’s armor.  Captain America, Iron Man and Thor are all members of the Avengers so you often get to see these incredible weapons together in one great comic book.

2.3) Winner

I loved Iron Man the movie!  One of the major subplots of the movie is the creation of Iron Man’s armor.  Could you do this with any other weapon in the DC or Marvel universe?  I don’t think so.  Iron Man’s armor is the coolest super weapon because of its story line and plausibility.  DC and Marvel are tied at this point and the next weapon decides which universe has the coolest super weapons.

3.0) STREET LEVEL WEAPONS

3.1) Street Level – DC

Azrael’s Armor

Batman’s Batarang

Batman’s Utility Belt

Catwoman’s Cat o Nine Tails Whip

Catwoman’s Retractable Claws

Deathstroke’s Staff

Green Arrow’s Trick Arrows

Hawkman’s Claw of Horus

Huntress’ Crossbow

Joker’s Acid Squirting Flower

Joker’s Cyanide Pies

Joker’s Electrified Joy Buzzer

Joker’s Exploding Cigars with Nitroglycerine

Joker’s Razor Sharp Throwing Cards

Lobo’s Chain and Hook

Penguin’s Trick Umbrellas

Robin’s Battle Staff

Sandman’s Gas Gun

The three coolest street level weapons in the DC universe all come from the Batman family and include the batarang, utility belt and the Joker’s squirting flower. Joker’s Squirting flower doesn’t squirt water but squirts Joker venom or acid.

3.2) Street Level – Marvel

Black Widow’s Gauntlets

Boomerang’s Trick Boomerangs

Daredevil’s Billy Club

Jester’s Trick Artificial Hands

Jester’s Ball Bearing Marbles

Jester’s Exploding Popcorn

Jester’s Flying Discs

Jester’s Explosive Rubber Balls

Jester’s Yo-Yo

Gladiator’s Wrist Mounted Rotating Circular Blades

Green Goblin’s Glider

Green Goblin’s Pumpkin Bombs

Hawkeye’s Trick Arrows

Paladin’s Armor

Mockingbird’s Battle Stave

Moon Knight’s Boomerang

Moon Knight’s Golden Ankh

Moon Knight’s Throwing Irons

The coolest street level weapon in the Marvel universe is Daredevil’s Billy club.  A close second might be the Green Goblin’s equipment that led to the Hobgoblin who used the same equipment.  The Green Goblin glider probably belongs in the super weapons category.  The pumpkin bombs definitely belong in the street level category since they are basically grenades with a gimmick.

3.3) Winner

The Batman family sets the standard for street weapons in comic books!  The difficult choice is trying to decide which Batman family weapon is the coolest.  I actually created a utility belt!  I was living in Taiwan at the time and Taiwan is beset with typhoons, earthquakes and the threat of invasion from mainland China.  More as a conceptual exercise than anything else, I made a utility belt designed to facilitate survival in all three of Taiwan’s scenarios.  My buddies got a real kick out of the belt and made various suggestions.  The emphasis of the belt was survival rather than military usage so my belt had totally different stuff than Batman’s belt.  I actually think the belt I created would be semi useful.  I vote Batman’s utility belt as the coolest street weapon since it is actually possible to create to some extent.

Conclusion

The Anti-Life Equation is the best cosmic weapon.  Iron Man’s Armor is the best super weapon.  Batman’s utility belt is the coolest street level weapon.  DC wins two out of three categories.

DC wins!

My other website at:

Fox Superpower List

Other DC vs. Marvel Posts

Big Monsters

Fourth Wall Heroes

Funny Animals

Horror Hosts

Kids

Robots

Sidekicks

Spacemen

Superpets

Teenagers

Transportation

War Heroes

Weapons

Western Heroes

Women in Refrigerators

Working Women

WereVerse Universe Baby!