Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Capsule Master vs. Ocean Master


Vulkor
Debut: 1963
Nemesis: Martian Manhunter
Other Major Foes: Green Arrow & Speedy
Appearances: One comic story.
Powers: Super-strength, flight, and other typical Martian abilities. Brainwave Energizer helmet capable of controlling humans. Atom-powered flying capsule with a force field and powerful mechanical arm.

Bio: Vulkor was an arch-criminal on Mars who twice attempted to use a stolen planetary defensive weapon for his own plots. The Capsule Master was eventually defeated through the combined efforts of three super-heroes and returned to prison.

Vile Menagerie Stats
Win: None Recorded
Lose: The Martian Criminal (4-8), the Martian Marauders (4-9)
Draw: 0




Orm Marius
Debut: 1966
Nemesis: Aquaman
Other Major Foes: Mera, Aqualad, and Aquagirl.
Appearances: 125+ comics; animation and video games.
Powers: Superhuman strength, ability to survive underwater at tremendous pressure, control of sealife, and a magical trident capable of projecting energy blasts.

Bio: Orm Marius is the half-brother of Aquaman, and has sought the throne of Atlantis for himself at great personal price. As Ocean Master, Marius has dealt with devils and worked alongside the most nefarious villains in the DC Universe.

Vile Menagerie Stats:
Win: 0
Lose: 0
Draw: 0




Idol Speculation:
So here's the deal-- Vulkor the Capsule Master is not getting the love and respect he's owed around here. He was the villain of the first ever Brave and the Bold team-up, and the first Martian Manhunter-specific villain powerful enough to require outside heroes to defeat. Vulkor is admittedly silly looking, but his debut was important enough to warrant reprinting at least three times to date, and he's way more competent than a lot of better regarded Vile Menagerie members. Vulkor has yet to make it out of the first round in one of our March Madness contests (though he probably defeated someone in the unrecorded qualifying rounds in their initial year.) I hope this match will be an opportunity to rebuild his reputation.

I've never been impressed with Ocean Master. Aquaman still has only two villains that most folks can be bothered to remember, and Orm is the other one... the one who wasn't in the Super Friends Legion of Doom; the one who didn't murder Aquaman's son; the one who didn't turn up until Geoff Johns' third year writing Aquaman, after he'd already done two extended Black Manta arcs. The recent "Throne of Atlantis" crossover arc was probably the biggest story of Ocean Master's career, but he still got beat down like a punk in the span of a few pages. Vulkor's a Martian, he's got Martian henchman, and I'll pit his capsule against any of Orm's silly fish-ships.

2 comments:

will_in_chicago said...

I voted for Vulkor, as he alone would beat Orm Marius.

Diabolu Frank said...

The Master Masters:
Vulkor the Capsule Master took 66.67% over Ocean Master's 33.33% of 6 votes.