Awesome Arena T.O.C. - Round 8
Despite an initially strong outing by Wolverine, Hulk managed to get the best of him which means he’ll be moving on to take on the winner of this week’s fight. Things are getting a little out of control this week as DC’s Man of Steel takes on Marvel’s Golden Guardian of Good. It’s Superman vs. Sentry in the final match before the quarterfinals! Who’re going to take home the glory and move on to battle the Hulk? Only your vote can decide! Wondering what the current ladder looks like? Here’s a peek. As for this week, we have a blockbuster match-up between Wolverine and The Hulk. Let’s take a look at this week’s competitors, shall we?
Combatant #1 - Superman
First Appearance:
Action Comics #1 (June 1938)
Background:
Born as Kal-El on the planet Krypton, Superman was sent to Earth by his parents in an attempt to save him from the doom which was befalling the planet. Landing on Earth, Superman is taken in by a farmer and his wife and raised as their own son, Clark Kent. Young Clark soon realizes that he’s not a normal teenage boy and as he grows older, he comes to the realization that he is in fact an alien with power far greater than any human being. He then takes on the identity of Superman and battles the forces of evil that plague not only Metropolis but, with the help of the JLA, the entire world.
Powers & Abilities:
- Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, senses, intelligence, regeneration, and longevity
- Super breath
- Heat vision
- Flight
Combatant #2 - The Sentry
First Appearance:
The Sentry #1 (September 2000)
Background:
While most of Sentry’s origin remains somewhat of a mystery, the most commonly told story is that Robert Reynolds, The Sentry’s alter-ego, ingested a super-saturated, exponentially more potent version of the Super-Soldier formula that created Captain America. Sentry suffers from constant psychological issues such as his fear of The Void, his polar opposite that actually lives within his mind. Sentry is currently a member of Tony Stark’s Mighty Avengers.
Powers & Abilities:
- Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, senses, and durability
- Light and radiation manipulation
- Telepathy
- Flight
The Fight:
Popular vote aside, these two heroes would probably have one of the closest most intense battles of the entire tournament. Their powers, as you can see from the information gathered above, are almost identical and would make for a near-stalemate of a contest. In the end though, I’m sure one of the two would provide an opening for the other to capitalize on. Regardless of what I say, this battle comes down to you! Make sure you cast your vote and see to it that only the best of the best is crowned arena champion!
As always, if you’re a part of the Awesome Arena pool, make sure you head on over to For The Love of Comics and let CrackerBob know who you’ve got your money on this week. In order to successfully keep track of the points, he’ll need to know who you’re picking! Good luck everyone!
Result: Superman…ugh…defeats The Sentry and moves on to the next round.
Voting is currently closed!
[...] again, don’t forget to vote in the poll and tell us who you think will win and why in the comments either there or here! And don’t [...]
April 28th, 2008 at 3:40 pm[...] again, don’t forget to vote in the poll and tell us who you think will win and why in the comments either there or here! And don’t [...]
April 28th, 2008 at 3:47 pmI agree - this would actually be an incredibly close fight, IF THE CURRENT SENTRY WASN”T A SKRULL!!!!
Seriously, the real Sentry vs Superman would actually be a close fight with Superman’s experience giving him the edge, but I predict a blowout in the popular vote.
Superman wins.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:52 pmI am going with the Super-Skrull… I mean Sentry for this week!
April 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pmHmm…my gut reaction says Sentry might take it, but common sense (aka, whoever Robert isn’t choosing, =P) tells me Supes has the fight won.
I can’t decide just yet. I’ll be back later with a decision.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:58 pm[...] Click here to cast your vote! Amazon.com Widgets [...]
April 28th, 2008 at 6:08 pmIn a vote that should shock nobody, I pick Sentry. He’s the young gun and would out maneuver Supes and blast him with the power of a million exploding suns.
On a sidenote, I know that sun is what gives Supes his power. I just think a million of them might short out his fuses a little bit.
Sentry wins.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:23 pmDooood, Robert, you gonna let AJ punk you like that? =op
Also, since the Super Skrull is apparently obsolete now, what do they call the current crop?
Supa Dupa Skrulls?
Fun Fact! The real reason that everyone forgot about Sentry is because Superman punched him that. damn. hard. last time Sentry got uppity.
It happened before, it’ll happen again.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:39 pmLike my main Competitor, AJ. I’m on the fence about this one too. But Mike actually did give me something to think about. If Superman draws his power from the sun, and Sentry has the power of a million exploding suns, then what exactly would that do to Superman? I am tossing 2 possibilities around in my mind here. One; It overloads Superman and he blows out like a bad lightbulb. Or two; It increases Superman’s strength beyond what is even imaginable and he destroys Sentry. Either way this is going to be good. I’ll be back with Predictions, Pimpage, and what I think will happen.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:59 amThe power of a million suns doesn’t mean he gives OFF the power of the million suns, I mean he could but if he realizes that Supes is based on a yellow sun then he could use the power of a thousand RED SUNS to blast at Supes and take him down.
Also Sentry has that calming effect power he uses on the Hulk which he can use to make Supes curl up, grab his stuffed Krypto and suck his thumb.
Sentry. No question. Even if AJ is a fence sitter and won’t man up and make a stand. :P
April 29th, 2008 at 7:52 pmDamnit, Robert, occasionally your crackhead logic actually makes some sort of twisted sense…
I still think you’re wrong, though.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:11 pmNa, he’s right.
Sentry takes it. :P
April 30th, 2008 at 5:55 pmAlso Superman really doesn’t have a dark side whereas the Sentry is also The Void and can tap a dark side so he can do the nasty, evil things as “The Void/Sentry” whereas Superman would need to smoke some red kryptonite crack to become all dark and brooding like a good friend of his then tap into some dark side nasty!
Sentry. No contest. Superman still in the corner crying to his stuffed Mxyzptlk.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:19 am[...] To continue the fun of the Awesome Arena, this week it is the power of a million suns in The Sentry vs Superman, the alien who has super powers only under a yellow sun! Check out the Awesome Arena. Vote then post your comment and collect points to WIN! All the gruesome action is here: http://www.panelsofawesome.com/awesomearena/2008/04/awesome-arena-toc-round-8/ [...]
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:39 amIt’s interesting how you feel that one has to “go dark” in order to win a fight.
Superman beats the crap out of Sentry Skrull, smiling and singing “I’m Walking on Sunshine” the whole time.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:15 amYeah I kinda wanna see Sentry Skrull go all dark and brooding like thinking he’s an X-Men or such. :P
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:42 pmI want Sentry to just blow up the Earth destroying the Awesome Arena and all the participants in the tournament.
That’d be funny….
…and sad.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:21 pmMatch up their powers and then add Sentry’s telepathic voodoo, and Superman is toast.
Though a lot of people mentioned Sentry overloading Supes with the power of a million suns or what not. Wasn’t there a Superman story in which someone tried that — overloading him, thinking he’d burn out, when all it did was make him stronger?
Well, that was SOME story about SOMEONE.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:01 pmI know man, it was crazy.
Anyway, heres my breakdown, and at the end you’ll see my pick for the week (with the breakdown explaining why)
Superman and Sentry…the two powerhouses. The one that started it all, and the counterpart that appeared sixty-odd years later. The two goliaths step in to the ring. Both of them look uneasy at having to battle a fellow hero. When finally the match begins, they stalk around for a moment, exchanging words, before finally Sentry flies towards Superman.
Its on.
They battle furiously, matching one another punch for punch, kick for kick, inch for inch. They whiz around the arena, a blur of violent motion. Superman tries to break his opponent’s fighting spirit and play a mental game, but The Sentry won’t have it (maybe Superman killed his wife or something, since I don’t think she can go more than four issues without dying and then being brought back). The battle rages for close to an hour before finally Superman grabs the Sentry and they fly out of the arena, out of the atmosphere, up up and away in to space. The fight continues all the way up, and now Superman is gaining the edge, as he is closer to the Sun, drawing more power from it. The Sentry, panicking a little and not realizing what is giving Superman the upperhand, angrily grabs Clark and tosses him in to the sun (as he had done to his arch-nemisis, the Void). Reynolds catches his breath, thinking for a moment he has defeated a legend.
That is, until Superman rises from the sun, and stands on its surface. This is Superman as we’ve never seen him before. Superman at the highest level of power he has ever experienced. He is surrounded by flames, his eyes completely red. He stares at The Sentry, and the Sentry knows he fucked up.
And then Supes is impaled from behind by…you guessed it…THE VOID! The Void has speared Clark Kent with an “infini-tendril”, forcing Clark to relive terrible experiences from his past, present, and future. Sentry takes this oppourtunity to charge back in to the fray and attack Superman, who manages to pull himself lose of the tendril, only to now face two opponents. Still, he is jacked from the Sun’s energy, and now the furious battle resumes. As the fight continues, each opponent begins drawing more and more power from the sun.
Eventually, the Void and the Sentry combine in to one massivly powered being, with the Sentry showing willingness to embrase his darkside to win this fight. The now two combatants plunge in to the Sun’s core, battling to a standstill once again.
A climax is only reached when Superman realizes that the strain of their battle and amount of energy they are absorbing and releasing has begun to overload the sun. Realizing that if they keep fighting, it will cause a cataclysmic supernova, destroying the Earth. The Big Boyscout explains this to Sentry, only to realize that the Void is in complete control now. Superman uses as much power as he can muster to fling Sentry/Void out of the Sun. Then, realizing that all the power they had absorbed has still left the sun damaged from the fight, Superman selflessly sacrifices himself to restore the Sun to its glory.
Sentry, witnessing this noble act, manages to overcome the Void and once again banish him. He then stands the victor, but a victor who must carry the burden of everything he has cost the world.
There ya go, I took the Sentry this week, but only after realizing that the Sentry would call out the Void sooner or later, and Superman is a sucker for the whole sacrificing himself deal, which I think would happen during this even match.
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:48 pmGoin with Supes on this one. I didn’t have time to do a write up and i don’t have much time so i’ll give you this:
The bell sounds as the Man of Steel enters the arena slowly floating down from the skylight. He glances down to see that Sentry has yet to show so he takes the time to mentally prepare and stretch a bit. You don’t want to pull a hammy ya know? Half an hour passes by and still no sign of Sentry. The audience looks around at each other confused. A little while longer passes by and a scrawny referee enters the ring with a cell phone is his hand. A microphone is lowered and the referee puts the cell phone on speaker and holds it up to the mic. It’s Sentry calling to forfeit the match because he’s afraid of leaving his house and blames it all on agorophobia. Superman shrugs and celebrates.
Pimpage: http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/MidKnight/blog/&blogId=28821#blog29219
Pimpage 2: http://facelessesoteric.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/round-8/ (yeah the blog looks shitty i just started making it then forgot about it)
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 pmI’m with Robert on this one. I say despite Supes experience. Sentry has an advantage in power If he uses the right tactics. Both are evenly matched physically. So it comes down to the use of their other abilities. Supes has his Super Breath and heat vision and Sentry has his telepathy and Light and Heat manipulation. I’d take telepathy over super breath and since Supes is weakned by the ligh of a red son, it wouldnt take much to manipulate that weakness.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:03 pm