Saturday, July 13, 2013

The Mercurian vs. Sonar


The Mercurian Renegade
Debut: 1966
Nemesis: Martian Manhunter
Other Major Foes: None
Appearances: One comic story.
Powers: Super-strength, invulnerability, a disintegrator gun, and a small spaceship.

Bio: The Mercurian Renegade landed his one-man ship in France, and decided Earth was as good as any planet to conquer. He was aided by the super-powers he developed in Earth's atmosphere, but the similarly empowered Martian Manhunter showed up to send him packing back to the stars.

Vile Menagerie Stats
Win: 0
Lose: The Saturnian Criminal (1-?); The Invaders from the Space Warp (4-7)
Draw: 0



sonar photo: Sonar sonar.jpg

Sonar
Debut: 1962
Nemesis: Green Lantern
Other Major Foes: The JLA.
Appearances: 60+ comics and an episode of Justice League Unlimited
Powers: The Sonic Sceptre allows Sonar to lift and carry objects (including himself,) project a force field, absorb & weaponize sonic emissions, as well as create illusions.

Bio: Bito Wladon was born to deaf parents in the minuscule European nation of Modora. A backwards, superstitious people, the Modorans shunned the deaf, inspiring the unimpaired Wladon to pursue inventions related to sound. Bound to prove both his self-worth and the greatness of his country, Wladon became "The Sultan of Super-Sonic Sound," using specialized weaponry in pursuit of crime and international conflict.

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




Idol Speculation:
Sonar is one of those harmless Silver Age megalomaniacs that DC has of course tried to turn into Magneto/Dr. Doom or replace with a more gnarly successor, but it won't take. He dresses like Napoleon and plays with a tuning fork gun. That'd how he rolls. He's fought virtually every earthbound Green Lantern except maybe Kyle Rayner (who tangled with two short-lived revision attempts instead,) and that deserves respect. The Mercurian is one of the cooler looking alien bad guys to fistfight the Alien Atlas, which is nothing to sneeze at, either. This could go either way, depending on circumstances, but I lean toward Sonar's versatility. Plus, I keep forgetting that the Mercurian didn't have the air-bubble-trap-rifle-thingee in his one story, which would have been a more formidable gimmick than a garden variety ray gun. If the Renegade ever comes back, I hope he steals that dealy from Vulture. I'd like the poor alien to win at least one of these matches someday.

4 comments:

will_in_chicago said...

I updated my browser, so I was able to vote for the Mercurian over Sonar and the Lizard Men over the Gordanians. Sonar is just a minor villain who looks like he can be taken down by a well placed Batarang or arrow.

Diabolu Frank said...

Will, I'm really glad the browser update worked, since I still haven't looked into alternative poll sources, for which I apologize. Gerard Jones was to Sonar as Gretchen Wieners was to "fetch." Gerry-- stop trying to make Sonar happen. He's dressed like Napoleon and waves a tuning fork at people. Just quit pretending this is going to be a thing.

Diabolu Frank said...

I was looking at the stats the other day, and saw that Android phones are obviously becoming a greater access point to the blog's readers. The mobile version of the blog cuts out the sidebar, and by extension access to voting on these polls. It also occurred to me that unlike the old Blogger-powered polls, I can send a Survey Monkey up any tree I like, and embedding the poll in the body of the post would have been a great service while I was gone for a few weeks there. Light dawns on marble head.

Anyhow, all this and a lack of knowledge/interest in the participants likely contributed to The Mercurian Renegade receiving 100% of a measly three total votes against Sonar. Win's a win, I suppose.

Diabolu Frank said...

Oh, and I'll try to remember to include the less embarrassing/dumb poll titles when I post results from now on, like "Ultrasonic Quicksilver."