• Mail Bag: January 4th, 2009

  

  Written by Zeromage 9 Comments
  Last Updated:: January 4, 2009

  This week we answer an email from Dave, who was writing in response to our Top 10 Most Powerful Superheroes of all time list.

  Hey guys just wanted to say i really enjoy your site and i love the Fact you put THOR my favorite hero as The # 1 most powerful Hero, you used Logic instead of who’s your favorite or whom has beaten whom, now you guys Really need to do a reasons why THOR can beat HULK, as we all know Hulk has beaten THOR on 2 separate occasions and THOR has never really beaten HULK, we also know that Logically that just shouldn’t be possible THORS powers are just too numerous, and his experience to vast, in one instance the reason HULK won was because he was able to land more blows, REALLY? a rage feuled monster landed more blows then a Thousands of years old well trained warrior god? gimme a break, i need you guys to do this so i can finally put to rest on facebook, that THOR is the most powerfull and no way HULK should ever be able to defeat him:P anyway thanks guys and take care.

  David(Berserkr)

  

  Thanks for the email, Dave. Although I don’t understand your seemingly random capitalization of words I do completely agree with what you said. Is the Hulk really that powerful?  Considering there are a lot of other heroes in his same strength class, and a lot who start out right near his peak strength without having to get ultra angry to build up to it, why is he written like he is the most powerful superhero in the Marvel Universe?  For some reason Marvel refuses to let the Hulk be defeated by any other superhero, even when he is completely out-classed.

  The best example of this is when the Hulk fought the Sentry in WWH #5. For four issues we see everyone from Tony Stark to the President of the United States try to convince the Sentry to fight the Hulk and unleash his incredible power of “a million exploding suns” on his old friend. Then finally in issue #5 he decides its time to fight the Hulk, saying “Its time to play god”.

  The Sentry unleashes his full power and the ensuing battle causes both characters to revert back to their human forms. Bruce Banner then defeats Robert Reynolds in combat. This was infuriating. For the power of a “million exploding suns” out of control I was expecting something more out of the Sentry. Back when the Sentry was fighting Genis they were worried that he would destroy the planet, but when he fights the Hulk, and unleashes his full powers he doesn’t even destroy Manhattan? What’s wrong with this picture? The Sentry never even used his super speed or half of his other powers during the fight. Eventually Earth’s heroes take the Hulk down with some random satellite that we never even knew they had access to until the end of the last issue. Why couldn’t the Sentry have been the one to defeat the Hulk? Is it so unthinkable that another hero brings the Hulk down? Why did it have to be a satellite?

  Now I know you asked me about the Hulk vs Thor, but first I have to highlight how poor the writing has been when it comes to the Hulk. For some reason writers like Jeph Loeb and Greg Pak think the Hulk is the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe, with Loeb even going so far as to have the red Hulk knock out the Watcher! One reason the Hulk always wins when he fights other superheroes is that whenever another hero fights the Hulk in a Marvel comic they only use their super strength powers and ignore any other powers they have. That’s because no one wants the Hulk to lose. This is the reason the Hulk has defeated Thor in the past.

  

  Assume for the moment that the Hulk is physically stronger than Thor (even though they both have displayed almost equal strength in the comics when it comes to feats). Even if you think the Hulk is stronger than Thor, Thor still has so many more powers than the Hulk that a fight between the two should be as one-sided as Desert Storm. He’s faster, he can fly, he can control weather, he can manipulate space and time, and he even has mastery over the earth now! Even if the Hulk is a little stronger than Thor, something which I don’t concede, why doesn’t Thor simply warp the Hulk into the middle of the sun? Or run circles around him and bash him with his hammer until he’s unconscious? The answer is simple: Marvel’s current writers are idiots.

9 Comments

1. #1 David says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

   Hey thanks Zeromage for posting my letter and responding so well! i capitalize THORS and HULKS name because that’s how its laid out on the comics and it just doesn’t seem natural to write these too monsters names in small letters:P and now begins the talkback, even with this their will still be people that believe Hulk can beat Thor, oh well, not everyone in the world can be a smart thinking individual:P
2. #2 David says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

   Oh and yes A lot of Marvels Current writers are idiots but also some from the past as that’s when Most of Hulk and Thors battles have taken place.
3. #3 David says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 10:01 pm

   Oh and my Fiance pointed out to me you were not talking about my capitalization of Thor and Hulk, i don’t know why i do it, bad habit i guess:P
4. #4 George says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 11:15 am

   Nothing sucks the life out of a comic quite like incompetent writers. If you don’t have appropriate sequential panel’s and proper scripting, the best artwork in the world won’t save your comic. Just look at All Star Batman as the best example, I still don’t get how Frank Miller fucked up Batman when he had such prowess in Batman before.

   On the other hand, a good comic like Persepolis, thought it doesn’t have flashy artwork, manages to keep brilliant writing, thus making the comic great.

   Wake up comic writers, you’re readers aren’t retarded apes, we have a desire for respect. Throw us a fucking bone.
5. #5 David says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

   On All Star Batman, it may be nothing like what we know as Batman, BUT i actually enjoy it, i think its hilarious:P
6. #6 Marvel Man says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 9:59 pm

   I agree.
   Thor should rightfully defeat Hulk, as should’ve the Sentry.

   But aside from that, I must thank you for putting Thor above Superman in your top 10 list.

   While reading it, I was very glad that you used proof and facts. But then, as I scrolled through the comments, I saw the horrible face of fanboys! A guy said Superman could beat God! Another, that Superman had an advantage since Thor might actually kill.

   Utter madness. Well, aside from that, thanks for the proof.
7. #7 Delta says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 4:41 pm

   Hulk generally is stronger than Thor when the two fight. Hulk’s highest strength feats are greater and more numerous than Thor’s, but generally he’s just a fair bit stronger than his opponent. Thor doesn’t use his other abilities, because he’s not as bright, great a hand-to-hand combatant, or strategist as he is on paper. He fights like that all the time. Thor/Juggernaut fights are another example.
8. #8 Austin M. says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 3:09 pm

   This is a very interesting topic, because in Journey into Mystery #112, and Thor #385, he fights the Hulk without his hammer and it’s pretty even, until Hulk starts getting angrier and angrier. It’s all about the writers, if someone who loved Thor and wrote his stories, and then made him fight the Hulk. I’m pretty sure the writer would let Thor win. You can only trust Stan Lee, to make an accurate fight of them. Since he’s the one who created the characters!! The funny thing is he wrote Journey #112 and Thor #385. So those would probably be the most accurate fights of them on paper. Thor is very missused in comics, and is a bit underrated. My opinion is that when they fight it should be a draw.
9. #9 Delta says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

   Yes Austin, because Stan Lee still writes Hulk and Thor regularly and has been their main writers for the past 4 decades. Oh wait, it’s been tons of other writers who’ve done most of the establishment of their powers and continuities.

   And I don’t see why it should be a draw unless Thor keeps it to mostly, or entirely, strength. If that’s the case, Hulk should win more often than not, unless Thor goes all-out from the beginning and Hulk starts out relatively calm. But if Thor’s using his other powers intelligently, he should win the majority of the time.

   Hell, he out-right owned Hulk with a lightning bolt before. Then there’s various other energy attacks, teleportation for Battle-Field Removal, and potentially messing with Hulk’s gamma radiation it’s self.