Sunday, July 1, 2012

SurVILEvor Island: Doomsday



Despero grinned as the Last Czarnian left SurVILEvor Island. Lobo was immediately disliked, and spent half of the voting period without any support. I mild rally offered 22% favorability out of a total of 23 votes.

Doomsday is a Superman villain. We all know that. He "killed" Superman in the comics, which were adapted to a rather shoddy direct-to-DVD cartoon, and a live action match was an ongoing thread for a full season of Smallville. Acknowledging all of this, let me ask a question: who has fought Doomsday the second most often?



The big fight that everyone remember was the first Doomsday arc, which sprawled across numerous titles. Superman, some supporting Metropolis heroes, and the Justice League were in that mix, but the last rounds really came down to Maxima, Guy Gardner, Bloodwynd, and the Man of Steel. Around that time, everybody wondered who that Bloodwynd guy was and why he was turning up in all those Death of Superman comics. The least complicated answer is that it was a mind-controlled Martian Manhunter. So J'Onn J'Onzz, while not in his right mind, was one of Doomsday's first and most steadfast opponents (relatively speaking, since Bloodwynd bugged out before the final two-man brawl, like everybody else.) Plus, this battle has been referenced God knows how many times in later comics, and "Bloodwynd" is still right there.



Doomsday fought other folks on the way, of course. He dealt Darkseid some damage, another villain who seems to have spent a little extra time against the Manhunter while hassling the greater DC Universe. The whole Superman family has had its turns, though Steel especially seems to have gotten the worst of his swift, brutal batterings from Doomsday. Wonder Woman fought a simulacrum in her own book, then some inferior clones in Superman/Batman. He's plowed through a lesser line-up of the Justice League, and a decent set of Outsiders. These were all pretty darned sporadic, though, and some exemptions apply.



During Joker's Last Laugh, in an anniversary issue of Superman, it was Martian Manhunter that Doomsday had to go through before Superman stopped him. In an Action Comics arc involving three major (for the time) villains including Doomsday, only J'Onn J'Onzz had a significant presence outside of the Last Son of Krypton. In his alternate universe Justice Lords incarnation, the Manhunter fought Doomsday on the animate Justice League TV show. J'Onn J'Onzz may not be able to take Doomsday in any kind of fight, but he's fairly consistent in showing up to help try, which is all most anyone can do. Doomsday may not rank high amongst the Manhunter from Mars most common foes, but I'm pretty sure J'Onzz would rank in Doomsday's top ten, and that ought to be worth something.

3 comments:

will_in_chicago said...

You actually convinced me. Mind you, I think no single hero in the DCnU is a match for Doomsday at his prime. So, I think J'Onn can count him as a foe. Mind you, if Doomsday is made sentient, J'Onn can hurt him in lots of ways on the mental plane.

will_in_chicago said...

I also commented on the Motivating the Manhunter from Mars post. (I have been busy of late, so I am catching up.)

Also, here is a thought. A good tactic for J'Onn and other heroes to play with the environment around Doomsday. A case in point where heroes went up against someone and did not do direct damage until they softened a foe up was in the Dark Knight Returns, when a trap, some bombs planted by the Flash and the Atom jumping in Superman's inner ear softened up the Man of Steel.

Diabolu Frank said...

I lost track of Doomsday even before the New 52. I don't think J'Onn was around for his last decade of appearances, and who knows what the deal is now.