What are good examples of villain/hero swapping, and which pair-ups would you like to see?

[Lightning Rider]

It's always interesting when a big name hero has one of their main villains cross paths with a different hero. Which swaps have you enjoyed in the past, and which would you like to see?

I'd be interested in seeing stories about:

Green Arrow vs. Black Manta
Green Lantern vs. Scarecrow
Batman vs. The Flash's Rogues
Superman vs. Reverse Flash/Zoom
Martian Manhunter vs. Gorilla Grodd (got a tease of this in "Justice" by Alex Ross)
Wonder Woman vs. Ra's Al Ghul (more than that swordfight)
Hawkman & Girl vs. Black Adam (more than that fight)
Captain Marvel vs. Ares
Aquaman vs. Vandal Savage
Zatanna/Canary/Vixen/The Atom vs. Sinestro

I like the first match-up because there's good potential for philosophical searching. Both characters center their mission on combating oppression, but Manta recreates it while Ollie seeks to combat it. How far is too far? Is Ollie sympathetic at all to Manta's motivations? Could Manta challenge Ollie's qualification to judge him? Some people may not like that kind of story, but I think both characters are political enough that it would do them justice.

The second one is interesting because it pits a Green Lantern against fear, but in a different context. And one thing I haven't seen is a ring wearer having their mind affected, and that manifesting itself in the constructs

Batman vs The Flash's rogues would be cool, because while Batman is used to dealing with organized and often high-powered street level criminals, his often leave a trace or a calling card out of hubris, and operate in his comfort zone. Here he'd be facing an organized group without the gimmicks and the lofty aspirations, led by someone just as cool-headed and methodical as he is.

Superman vs. Reverse Flash/Zoom would be great. The former because I would be really interested in seeing Thawne try to time travel and prevent him from becoming Superman, creating a type of Flashpoint story in which Clark reflects on what good a childhood and upbringing he had. Zoom would also be interesting because he wants to cause tragedy to make heroes better, and Superman, like I feel the Flash is supposed to be, is the epitome of good without traumatizing tragedy (discounting the removed loss of his home world). And in each one, there's an element of just not being good enough that Superman would have to overcome. Whether its raw speed like Thawne, or the split-second time travel of Zolomon, Superman would be a step behind in combat and in saving those in danger. He'd have to find away around that and be clever & creative with his powers.

MM vs. Grodd has obvious intrigue, because they are both telepaths. But there is more to explore there, such as the fact neither is human, and the fact Grodd belonged to an advanced civilization that perhaps reminds J'onn of Mars. And of course, J'onn would likely see the white martians or Ma'alefa'ak in Grodd's greed and hunger for power.

WW vs. Ra's is cool, because each of the civilizations they represent are kind of juxtaposed, mirrored but contrary. The league of assassins is meant to purify decadent and corrupt human populations, while Themyscira is a retreated paradise. One of them plagues humanity when it is in crisis, but the other gave rise to a heroin who took a risk to lend man's world a hand. Each is also tied to history and war in a unique way.

The Hawks vs. Adam is great because of the mystic and Egyptian themes that they share. They're also just baddass. I'd love to see a chapter in history that intertwines their past that parallels a conflict they have in the present. Some interesting personal interactions there. Hawkman hates tyrants, but wasn't he simply a benevolent one in his origin?

Captain Marvel vs. Ares would allow him to really interact with the realm from which he derives his powers. Perhaps the gods are jealous of his tap into their abilities; the Greek gods were often jealous, and maybe Adam exploits that.

Aquaman vs. Vandal Savage is cool for a few reasons. They're both very masculine characters (nothing like a chest-beating brawl), and both have experience as leaders of nations and armies. It would be interesting to see Savage make a play for Atlantis; he's not Orm, it wouldn't be a coup from within, but something more sophisticated. Maybe he gets an army somehow? And how does his immortality complicate Aquaman's apprehension of him? Does he bring him back to the surface dwellers (where he may escape again), or does he try Atlantis, where his people might fear his presence?

I needed to include Sinestro here and wanted to use someone different, but I couldn't choose. But I think a team dynamic would work great, since Sinestro is pretty powerful. I think the Atom is an important element here as Sinestro is so haughty that he'd never consider something so small a threat.

[Buried Alien]

The Flash (Barry Allen) vs. Superboy-Prime: these two characters represent two extreme opposite ends of the comic book fan spectrum. On the one hand, you have Superboy-Prime: the character who represents the worst of fandom: jaded, malcontent, unreasonable, and narrow-minded. Barry, on the other hand, represents the fan for whom the gee-whiz wonderment of comic books never ever got old. Both characters are capable of warping the reality of the DC Universe...one often bringing death and destruction through his own selfishness, and the other bringing salvation through his heroic capacity for self-sacrifice.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Lightning Rider]

The Flash (Barry Allen) vs. Superboy-Prime: these two characters represent two extreme opposite ends of the comic book fan spectrum. On the one hand, you have Superboy-Prime: the character who represents the worst of fandom: jaded, malcontent, unreasonable, and narrow-minded. Barry, on the other hand, represents the fan for whom the gee-whiz wonderment of comic books never ever got old. Both characters are capable of warping the reality of the DC Universe...one often bringing death and destruction through his own selfishness, and the other bringing salvation through his heroic capacity for self-sacrifice.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I love it. Totally forgot about Superboy Prime! And I can't believe I didn't include any Flash in my list. What is wrong with me.

To add to what you put so well, Barry, like Superman, knows that being a hero is about action rather than prestige and ability. So Barry would no doubt be able to use Prime's hubris against him and eventually school him in the final confrontation, man to boy. Plus, Prime probably still has Flash phobia.

How crazy would it be if Barry traveled back in time with Prime at the end to before COIE (or just after), giving him a second chance? Would he do it the same way all over again?

[Outside_85]

I am thinking that as things are right now, Sinestro could actually be used as a general villain for the DCU/Earth where he can move from book to book to test the fears and bravery of various characters, especially since he (last I looked) was still in control of Parallax. Like, he could go to Gotham and test out Batman, whom he's probably heard a word or two about. He could venture to Metropolis to test out if the Man of Steel is really as fearless as people claim. And you can even have him seek out not as obvious characters that he believes might have potential.
Note: I have no idea if he's already done something like this in his own book...

Wonder Woman vs Black Adam: I think this is a sort of no-brainer, the Amazons are old enough to have been around the same time Adam was around, and it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to think Hippolyta, the first Wonder Woman, had fought and defeated him in the past, and now he's back and going to get even by attacking Diana.

Trigon vs Dr. Fate: Not particular which Dr. Fate it is, since Trigon is an interdimensional demon and likely not all that bothered about which Earth he takes over. Going up against Dr. Fate however should be interesting due to Fate normally being the premier mystical defender. If it's Giffen's it could simply be a test from Trigon to see if there's some sport to be had in him. If it's the Earth-2 Fate... well that could serve as an introduction to an Earth-2 Raven while finally getting some use out of Dr. Fate thats been completely sidelined by Green Lantern.

Wonder Woman foes vs the Justice League: It's struck me that Diana's foes usually aren't depicted as being big enough to call in the League. But I think if they team up, they could probably cause all kinds of trouble for them. Something like; Circe, Dr. Psycho, Cheetah and perhaps Strife, team up and first captures Diana, leading the League to come and rescue her, only to find out the reason Strife was in it all was to dupe Circe into pulling the First Born out of the pit.

Olympians vs Apokolips: This is another thing I'd love to see, since in the past and even now, the encounters between New and Old gods tends to happen off page. We dont see Darkseid's forces invade Olympus, we just see Diana finding the place empty and later learn who the culprit was. The idea I have is that Olympus and the other Earthly gods come together in an effort to destroy Darkseid, who is a legitimate threat to them all. New Genesis will ofc tell them to leave it to them, and they will just point out how long High Father has been at this and not amounted to anything but a cold war. To add a bit more of a connection to the normal superheroes, they could do a Reign in Hell kind of thing, where various heroes are drafted into the fight because their powers are somehow an extension of a god somewhere. If you wanted to, you could even go into how callous the earthly gods can also be and what they are prepared to do to win.

[Güicho]

Green Lantern and the Light Brigade* vs. Roy G. Bivolo Rainbow Raider and The Raider(s).
*Jordan, Sinestro, Sapphire(Ferris), Arkillo, Saint Walker, Indigo, Larlfleeze.


I've always wanted to see Batman(Bruce Wayne) vs Kanto (master of weapons, gentleman assassin.)
A specific one on one arc with these two, ending with absolute recognition and respect for each other would be great.
And really draw some attention to the character.



As Kirby envisioned him, he's one of the greatest thing to come from Apokolips.
He's a freakin alien/other demensional Micheletto Corella!
And with the popularity of assassin's creed, DC has just been siting on this mostlly untapped character for over 40 years.
He's so under used, against Mr. Miracle is his obvious milieu, but never enough to draw attention to him. Where he most often shows is pitted against Superman where his skills and M.O. are wasted.
Yet an arc with him targeted against Bruce Wayne specific he could really shine.

[CRaymond]

Bruce Wayne versus Lex Luthor seems obvious.

[Atlanta96]

How about the Question (Vic Sage) vs the Riddler? More of a battle of wits than a real fight though.
Power Girl vs SuperWoman (Crime Syndicate). Similar power level, interesting clash of personalities.
Impulse vs Black Adam. An extremely serious villain fighting an extremely un-serious hero might be amusing.

[CaptCleghorn]

A JLA story from the 100 page 50 cent days had the team about to split up and go after the villains with someone saying "Of course, X will go after Y" Another Leaguer interrupted and said "I don't know about you, but I'm tired of gpoing after the same villains all the time. Let's switch it up" And they did.

Please, someone back me up on this.

[Lightning Rider]

A JLA story from the 100 page 50 cent days had the team about to split up and go after the villains with someone saying "Of course, X will go after Y" Another Leaguer interrupted and said "I don't know about you, but I'm tired of gpoing after the same villains all the time. Let's switch it up" And they did.

Please, someone back me up on this.

Haha that is great.

[Zero Hunter]

That is one of the sad things about the way comics have become over the last few decades. Back in the day you would see villains crossover all the time and it made for some great stories. Then somewhere along the way group editors became very possesive of their characters villains and the crossovers stopped.

[Incognito]

Superman vs. Scarecrow - Could the man of steel be shattered by fears from the Scarecrow?

Trigon vs. Justice League - The JL has faced Anti-Monitor, Darksied and other cosmic threats but they never fought Trigon so I think it would be interesting for them to take on an ultra-powerful demon.

The Teen Titans vs. Vandal Savage - Why not? Titans' villains were Trigon, Deathstroke and evil organizations. It will be old vs. young.

Blue Beetle (Reyes) vs. Sinestro or Atroticus - The Reach has a history with lanterns.

The Flash vs. Rogue time masters

[Claude]

How about the Question (Vic Sage) vs the Riddler? More of a battle of wits than a real fight though.

This actually happened back in the O'Neill run - I remember being thrilled by the idea, then disappointed that it was during the "punish the Riddler for being in the Adam West show" era, and the character is a weak, incompetent sad-sack.


Would love to see it done properly.

[Zero Hunter]

You want a good example that most people would never have thought of that worked? DnA using Ra's Al Ghul in The Legion series. It seems like a crazy idea but it was a great story.

[Robotman]

Batman vs Lex Luthor is always fun because they're so similar. One uses his genius and tech to help others, the other uses it for his own selfish reasons.

I enjoyed how the Cyborg-Superman became a Green Lantern foe. He destroyed Coast City so it made sense.

Would love to see Batman take on The Rogues. Or Flash's Rogues take on Batman's villains.

Superman vs Black Adam is always awesome.

[j9ac9k]

Question/Riddler does seem like a natural. And yes, a more traditional hero vs villain storyline where they match wits would be cool.

Green Lantern (Hal)/ Brainiac. Heck get the whole GLC involved since Brainiac can lend himself to being that level a threat if they wanted.

Cyborg/Toy Man

Shazam/Myxzpyxtlk (sp)