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Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Sunday Supervillainy - Namor vs. The Thing

Damn, this is a tough one. I love The Thing, but, let's face it, Namor is going to cream him. He's faster, stronger, probably smarter, a lot more villainous, and better looking can fly. I think The Thing is in real trouble here, as shown in the illo. I'd totally put my money on Namor.

As a matter of fact, I'm betting on all the supervillains (I'm not the first to notice that the X-Men ranks are full of supervillains these days: when I write my book on villain theory, I'll absolutely be spending a chapter on supervillains who cunningly choose to operate within teams of (basically) superheroes).

Oh well, Namor is a great villain cum anti-hero, and a great role model for men who hang around in ... let's not go there and teenage boys ... so let's support him. I'm guessing that the X-Men are going to win a few of these early fights, even if the Avengers ultimately emerge as the victors in whatever the hell they're fighting over (what is it again?).

More generally, I'm still hanging out for this Avengers vs. X-Men series that's coming up. Go, X-Men!

3 comments:

Russell Blackford said...

I have a good thread on Facebook about this - I especially like the person who suggested, "I'd have Ben pick the fight by making fun of Namor's little ankle wings."

Max said...

If the fight is in water, as the cover illustrates. You are right. If the fight leaves the water, then I pick Ben. Ben is actually one of the better fighters in the Marvel universe. Good boxer, great wrestler, and durable, oh so durable. Also out of the water Namor quickly loses his strength. If memory serves, when not dehydrated he hovers around the 70 ton class, and rapidly diminishes the more dehydrated he gets. Ben hovers around the 70-80 ton class.
Here endeth the nerd.
-Max

v said...

Since the Thing has long been established as The Determinator, if the Thing needs to win the fight he'll win the fight, and if he doesn't he'll lose.

Speaking of the Thing, I think one of my absolute favourite stories with him was the one where he went off to Paris in the Civil War. It was funny and yet a great comment on that whole storyline.