Welcome to Contest of Champions (CoC) Podcast, Episode #7! CoC is an interactive player vs. player game where your favorite Marvel characters go head to head to answer the eternal question of “who can beat whom in a fight?”
Join Jeff Jackson and Ian Johnson every week as they welcome two team managers who have a stable of five characters each ready to blast, zap, snikt, thwip, and smash their way to be the last one standing! It’s a little bit fan fiction, a little bit debate, a little bit role playing, and a whole bunch of fun! It’s an interactive adventure for the managers, and for the ComicAttack.net community.
This week, we’re joined by Eli Anthony and…no Andy Liegl??
First, we want to remind you, if you are a comic artist, and you would like to provide a sketch or drawing of the characters battling this week, please send a link to your sketch to jeff@comicattack.net. We would love to spotlight your stuff!
Next, on this episode we shared our weekly Fights of the Week! Eli, ever the Iron Fist fanboy, goes to the back issue bin and picks Immortal Iron Fist #14 by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja, where the Immortal Weapons put the kung-fu magic on some HYDRA goons. Ian once again highlights the awesomeness that is Uncanny X-Force #15 by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena, where Psylocke jabs an umbrella into Pestilence’s mouth and Blob drops the hammer on her. Finally, Jeff picks a different X-book with X-Men Legacy #255 by Mike Carey and Steve Kurth, where Rogue pulls a fast one on Horse and Sovel Redhand.
Most importantly, here’s the show:
Episode #7
(You can click the link to listen to the podcast or right click “save link as” to download it.)
This week, we have the most mysterious Marvel character around and the one with the biggest libido! You can click on the images to find out the characters’ power sets and history.
Prince of Orphans
vs.
Hercules
-
Hercules by Roger Cruz
at the Sand Dunes of Death Valley, CA
Here are the rules for the managers, check ’em out.
Here’s how CoC works for you folks at home:
1. Listen to the podcast.
2. Come back here to Comicattack.net to this very post. Share your opinion, comment below, and help sway the public opinion. Even comments provided by the Comicattack.net fans will be considered by Jeff & Ian in their decisions.
3. VOTE on the poll below! You have until Sunday night, September 25 at 9:00pm EST to vote. That’s when we record the show. Votes at the time of recording will be the only ones that will count.
4. E-mail us at jeff@comicattack.net or leave us a voicemail at 706 761-0115 with your questions, comments, or rationales. You may make it on the show!
5. Listen to the next episode to see who wins! The winner will be announced at the beginning of the show.
6. One small disclaimer: This is all subjective. Have fun with it and if your favorite character doesn’t win, laugh it off and keep on listening!
Don’t forget to leave us an iTunes Review by clicking here. Follow us on Twitter @CoCComicattack, or Like us on Facebook. To listen to previous episodes and battles, visit this link.
Next week: Dan Briand vs. Eli Anthony.
CoC Standings
Eli Anthony 1-0-1
Beta Ray Bill
Dr. Doom
Red Hulk
Invisible Woman
Prince of Orphans
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 1
Dan Briand 2-1-0
Thor
Black Bolt
Skaar
Annihilus
Protector (Noh-Varr)
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 1
Andy Liegl 1-1-0
Ms. Marvel
Magneto
Volstagg
Exodus
Hercules
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 1
Tom McNeely 0-2-1
Gladiator
Dr. Strange
Thor Girl
Quasar
Wonder Man
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 1
Current Environments in Play:
Golden Gate Bridge
The Limmat River, Switzerland
Sand Dunes, Death Valley, California
This week’s music is brought to you by Spin Doctors, Two Princes.
Jeff Jackson
jeff@comicattack.net
Too bad Andy wasn’t on the show. I’ll be the nice guy and help out his camp a little, lol.
The Mystic Weapons that Herc is currently in posession of are as follows:
The Sword of Peleus (Similar to the Muramasa Blade, it can cut through anything)
The Shield of Perseus (an unbreakable shield that turns anyone who looks at it to stone)
Arrows that can penetrate through anything
The Helm of Hades (a helmet of invisibility)
As mentioned, although he has lost his demi-god power, Hercules still posesses all of the knowledge and Skill as a fighter that he’s always had.
As of Herc #7, Hercules now posesses the powers of Spider-Man. Super Humans are immune to the bed bug’s bite, but since Herc has lost his powers, he is considered a mortal Human.
In the previously mentioned issue, Herc had a little tussle with the X-Men in New York (Storm, Gambit, Emma & Wolverine.. shortly after their own battle with The Lizard).
Thanks for adding some much needed info about Herc, Dan.
So, since Hercules is now just a mortal with spider powers, he’ll have the stamina/endurance/strength/etc of someone like Spider-Man… this is going to end badly for Hercules.
Prince of Orphans could probably take the now mortal Hercules in good ole hand to hand combat, but he’ll take to his mist form for good measure. Hercules cannot make contact with him in this form, he’ll just be swinging at the air. This will both tire him out, and frustrate him. All of this will make it that much easier for Prince of Orphans to deliver one crushing blow after another until Hercules is lying on the dirt, unconscious.
Hercules won’t be able to withstand the hurricane of attacks coming from all sides, front and back, as this green mist that is his opponent engulfs him.
Hey, where’s Andy?
Really bummed I missed this- sorry guys. Sometimes life gives you a swift kick to the nuts.
Anyway, I have LOTS to say on this fight, and I was really pumped to debate it with Eli live. Since it’s Tuesday and new books come out tomorrow, I’m super swamped at work.
I plan to type out everything I planned to say on the podcast, but won’t get to it until tonight. Bear with me!
And thanks Dan for the assist above. I picked Herc solely because of his arsenal and I knew he was getting Spider’ed in Spider Island. But a quick counter point to Eli- Orphans has been fighting hand to hand for about 200 years. Herc? More like 1,000+. If Orphans were to turn into mist, one of two things would happen 1) Herc’s Spidey sense alerts him to where Orphans is misting, then with a swipe of the Sword of Peleus, which can cut through anything, he hacks him up. Although, if Herc was invisible because of his Helm, misty Orphan wouldn’t find him anyway. OR B) The cutting wind in the open desert blows the good misty Prince all the way to Agrabah.
More to come…
Andy, how can one cut mist? It isn’t like with someone who goes intangible by shifting their molecules or something like Shadowcat. Prince of Orphans becomes mist. So what if a sword passes through it, even if Herc did swing wildly through the mist, he wouldn’t do any more damage than if Prince of Orphans flew through a a bunch of tree branches.
Also shown in Herc #7 is confirmation that he definitely does have Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense. Even inexperienced with the Spider-Powers, Herc was able to react fast enough to swipe his sword and cut a hand full of bullets in mid-trajectory when a Barrie shot a gun at him.
Also I’d argue that mist is still a “substance” that occupies a physical space, therefore, theoretically, Herc’s sword could “cut” mist. If Orphan was actually intangible like Shadowcat or Iron Man 2.0, he might not be able to harm them, but I’m not convinced Prince of Orphans cannot be injured in mist form, unless this was specifically addressed in one of his appearances.
Discuss. Lol
BTW, loved the use of Two Princes for the fight song, lol. Prince of Orphans vs (former) Prince of Power.
Thanks, Dan. I was proud of myself for being so clever.
Dan, mist isn’t cohesive, if a sword runs through it, whats it gonna do? Its like trying to cut water, after the sword passes through, the mist is still just swirling around. Herc using his sword won’t do a thing.
And his not being able to be harmed has been brought up by Iron Fist, who said that while in his mist form Prince of Orphans can’t be harmed.
Face it, my Prince can’t be touched, he can fly, teleport, and attack Hercules from all sides at once. Spider-sense or no, he’s done for.
I don’t see the Helm of Hades being used successfully in this fight. The sand dunes would render it useless as finding an invisible Hercules would be as easy as looking for footprints in the sand. And while Herc’s new spider senses and spider agility would help allow him to avoid Price of Orphans attacks, if Herc has no offensive attacks that are capable of hurting Prince of Orphans, he would eventually tire and succumb to fatigue, especially in the middle of a desert.
I would think that the Perseus Shield would be Herc’s biggest weapon in this fight. He could turn Prince of Orphans to Stone and then slice him in two with the Peleus Sword. I’m not quite sure how the Prince of Orphans “sees” while in his mist form, but I could possible even see the shield working while Prince of Orphans was in his mist form.
My big question is if the shield or sword would work on Prince of Orphans while he is in his mist form. Since the mist form and both weapons are mystic based, I guess it could be argued either way. Good fight (although I would have rather seen Prince of Orphans versus Prince of Orphans Girl).
I’m the Prince of Orphaned Girls!
I really want Andy to chime in before I come to a conclusion here.
Leaning Prince of Orphans, but I could be swayed! 😀
No Billy! Don’t get swayed by Herc’s womanizing powers! Jeff said that they even worked on some men, but not you man.
I asked writer Fred Van Lente on Twitter what his thoughts were on this fight, particularly in regards to whether or not Herc could cut Prince of Orphans in mist form. This is what he had to say….
@fredvanlente: Sword of Peleus cuts thru molecules. If PoO retains molecular damage rec’d in mist form when he turns human: Yes. #nerd
Thanks, Fred, for responding!
Discuss!
Note that Fred said “IF”
And even IF it would damage him when he changed back to human form, it wouldn’t help Hercules in this fight. Prince of Orphans would defeat Herc while in his mist form, thus winning before ever returning to his human form.
No matter how you slice it, this fight boils down to Hercules swinging away at the air. Fighting a guy who can’t really be harmed, can fly, and can teleport. Hercules is outmatched.
How long can PoO stay in mist form? I don’t see him using it heavily when he does fight though I’m not discounting it’s benefit. Also, since not everyone knows that Herc is packing these weapons how would PoO defend himself against the shield that can turn him to stone if he looks at it? Even in mist form he has to look where he’s going right?
This is a pretty interesting fight and the enviroment works well and against both fighters. Can’t wait to see how it goes.
I’ve seen him not only fight in mist form for a while, but stay in it as he traveled over some distance.
All this talk about a mist form.
We’re in the middle of the windy desert people. Orphans is going to get blown away before he could do squat.
The Sword of Perseus:
http://i.newsarama.com/images/herc007_int_lr_0006.jpg
Check this out:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UptfR0OebTI/TWWMWYLJKoI/AAAAAAAAEU8/J9zg8NefkZA/s1600/prv7867_pg3.jpg
Metal breaks against the Shield of Perseus! So how is Mr. Kung Fu going to land a hit on Herc who has thousands of years more combat experience under his belt and a defense that can not only turn his opponent to stone, but steel breaks against it!
This is just awesome:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Gd8NBIma-zo/SfMRijZa8bI/AAAAAAAAIN4/AvhtCXIGkcM/s400/Incredible+Hercules+128+-+hercbeatssentrywithvenom.jpg
Herc punches Sentry (who feels it) through Venom’s face. Granted he doesn’t have this strength anymore, but it’s still awesome.
Hmmm…
Wind
1. He is sentient mist who can fly and teleport, wind won’t hurt him, AND…
2. Current conditions at Death Valley have a wind speed of “calm” courtesy of weather underground, and weather.com says that its only 3mph. So no, wind ain’t doing a thing here.
Shield
1. Prince of Orphans is a mist that will be engulfing Herc, and the attack can come from anywhere, all 360 degrees around Herc. His shield can only be in one spot at a time. Whats more, the shield isn’t plastered to Herc’s face, so the mist can just go around the shield, and strike Herc in his big dumb face.
2. It doesn’t turn to stone those who look at it, as evidenced by that pic Andy posted of the guy with a knife, he doesn’t look like stone to me, nor does the other guy in the first panel. The Marvel wiki says that someone must look into the sword’s eyes to be turned to stone. I doubt that Prince of Orphans will be looking longfully into the eyes of Herc’s shield, especially since he doesn’t have eyes in his mist form.
That last pic Andy showed is irrelevant, as that isn’t who Herc is anymore, he is now no more powerful than Spider-Man.
Nice move on getting current weather conditions…
More important: If he turns into a MIST in a desert, he may not get blown away, but in 110 degree weather, he sure as hell is getting EVAPORATED.
Misty PoO will be in a cloud in the sky before this fight even begins.
Even more so, Misty PoO can’t really teleport or whatever behind Herc because Herc has Spider-Sense and will tell him where PoO is landing. Herc also has Spidey reflexes so not only will he be able to dodge the PoO coming at him, he’ll be able to cut the PoO as he’s materializing.
This PoO will be turned into poo.
Andy, quit with the mist stuff, he’s a mystical mist, who can control where he flies.
Herc’s “Herc-sense” won’t help him when the attack’s are coming from any and all directions as he will be engulfed in the mist. As in the mist, Prince of Orphans, will be all around him, coming at him from 360 degrees.
Conventional attacks come from one direction. Prince of Orphans will be coming from many directions.
hmmmmmmmm…..