Marvel's Superman analogs: Which is your favorite?

[Michael Watkins]

Vance Astrovik

[mace11]

Sunspot is a mutant superman.
He could fly,has energy projection,recently increase strength(hulk level now),durability and invulnerability.
Roberto da Costa (Earth-616)

Enhanced Strength: When Sunspots cells are powered by solar energy he has the superhuman ability to augment his physical strength. The original limits of his strength was that of 2 tons.Since then however his strength level increased to 50 tons.
Presently, Sunspot's strength has increased to uncontrollable levels as a side effect of his M-Pox infection. During the game between the Grandmaster and the Challenger, Sunspot considered himself to be the strongest mutant on Earth (but using at much power to be eventually lethal to him).


Enhanced Durability: Sunspot is one of the interesting powerhouses of the Marvel Universe due to the fact that he is one of the only that does not have a heightened sense of invulnerability. During many of the comics that Sunspot was seen in his teammates would remind him that he was super strong but not super durable. Although Sunspot has not been seen able to deflect bullets his limited durability does provide his body the needed protection to be able to lift the massive weight that his super strength allows him to.
However, this recently appears to have been contradicted as he had taken a bomb blast from a device latched onto his side and come out of it unscathed.Taken blows from Smasher with some discomfort. Along with surviving a laser blast to the face from the A.I.M scientist supreme.

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Rober...ta_(Earth-616)

[PCN24454]

I always find it funny when people talk about rarity in comics since it’s only a matter of time before the copies show up.

[JudicatorPrime]

I always find it funny when people talk about rarity in comics since it’s only a matter of time before the copies show up.

That's just it: copies have been showing up since comics first began. This is nothing new. Whether we're talking about Golden Age Superman and Shazam/Captain Marvel, or The Shield (Pep Comics, circa 1940) and Captain America, comics publishers have been borrowing from one another as if it was the culture and imperative of the genre. As long as it doesn't end up in a lawsuit, it's fair game.

Love it, or hate it, I don't see it stopping any time soon. As much as we'd like to blame creators, the reality is that a good portion of the readership enjoys these analogs for one reason or another. Self included. I am not a Superman fan. There's nothing about his story that appeals to me. But Gladiator and Hyperion (depending on the version) are characters that I don't mind reading within the rich environs of Marvel lore.

[Sutekh]

Love it, or hate it, I don't see it stopping any time soon. As much as we'd like to blame creators, the reality is that a good portion of the readership enjoys these analogs for one reason or another.

The fascination with archers is one that surprises me. DC has their Green Arrow and Marvel has their Hawkeye. Even Image has Shaft (ugh). And yet swordsmen or knife-specialists, or shuriken-throwers, or baton-users, or even gunslingers (to say nothing of less common weapons like spears or axes or whips or flaming battle poi), are less ubiquitous. There might be a Black Knight or a Nightwing (with his escrima sticks), but they hardly occupy the same niche across companies.

Even various superhero games like Mutants & Masterminds always have the generic 'Weapon Master' archetype examples be an archer!

[JudicatorPrime]

The fascination with archers is one that surprises me. DC has their Green Arrow and Marvel has their Hawkeye. Even Image has Shaft (ugh). And yet swordsmen or knife-specialists, or shuriken-throwers, or baton-users, or even gunslingers (to say nothing of less common weapons like spears or axes or whips or flaming battle poi), are less ubiquitous. There might be a Black Knight or a Nightwing (with his escrima sticks), but they hardly occupy the same niche across companies.

Even various superhero games like Mutants & Masterminds always have the generic 'Weapon Master' archetype examples be an archer!

When I was a young child, I was told by my aunt, who was an astrology enthusiast, that I was born under the sign, Sagittarius. She explained to me what that entailed. I've had a soft spot for archers ever since. But that interest never extended to comic book archers, primarily because none of them had magic bows or shot energy arrows that could shatter stars. Conventional archers in comic books were just boring to me. I don't care how many trick arrows you give them.

[Sutekh]

Conventional archers in comic books were just boring to me. I don't care how many trick arrows you give them.

There has been a surprising lack of archers with super-powers, for all the archers that DC and Marvel have pumped out. Artemis would be a fun character to take a turn at super-heroing, and put some oomph into the role, being a goddess who happens to use a bow, and probably being able to shoot fighter jets out of the sky, or hit satellites in orbit, or other superhuman feats of archery.

[JudicatorPrime]

There has been a surprising lack of archers with super-powers, for all the archers that DC and Marvel have pumped out. Artemis would be a fun character to take a turn at super-heroing, and put some oomph into the role, being a goddess who happens to use a bow, and probably being able to shoot fighter jets out of the sky, or hit satellites in orbit, or other superhuman feats of archery.

That's a great idea for Artemis. I wrote a fanfiction ages ago about an Avengers team that featured Apollo (the God of Archery) as Hawkeye's replacement. Apollo made use of a mystical bow that he carved from the spine of his ancient enemy, the immortal serpent Python (which in my telling was the mate of the Midgard Serpent). The quiver was made from the serpent's hide, the arrows from its rib cage. Due to the serpent's magical reinvigoration powers, the quiver was never empty, as the arrows always replenished themselves. And of course the "arrows" were charged by Apollo's mystical god-force energies, which meant that they looked more like bolts of lightning than arrows when in flight. Now that I think about it, I never did finish that story. My plan was to have the Midgard Serpent mortally wound Apollo in retaliation for killing Python. To have his final justice, Apollo would then pass on his mystical bow, the magical quiver of arrows and bracers that contained his god-force energies to someone else to avenge him. That's probably why I never finished. I couldn't figure out who to give Apollo's gifts to, since I had soured on Clint at that time.

[stingray]

Have Gladiator and Hyperion ever crossed paths?

Just re-read this. Yes, they fought each other in Quasar #54. Great fight scene, with Gladiator coming out on top when he stabbed Hyperion with his broken strands of his hair! I always thought of Gladiator as more of a Superboy knock-off though.

[Sutekh]

I always thought of Gladiator as more of a Superboy knock-off though.

That would make sense, since the Imperial Guard are a riff on the Legion of Super-Heroes. Looking at Gladiator, he occupies the Superboy/Mon-El niche (although visually looks more like Atmos).

[mace11]

Just re-read this. Yes, they fought each other in Quasar #54. Great fight scene, with Gladiator coming out on top when he stabbed Hyperion with his broken strands of his hair! I always thought of Gladiator as more of a Superboy knock-off though.

Of course there are different versions of hyperion that were in the 616 but most of them are not of 616 origin.
Hickmen's marvel now hyperion never fought gladiator for example but 712 hyperion did.
Hyperion has shown up in the new avengers book,but it's not clear yet if it's another new version or not.

[GrandEleven]

I voted Hyperion, however, there've been so many versions of the character that you'd need a pool just to determine which one was in the pool.

Which makes him the most like Superman of the bunch.

[Celgress]

Blue Marvel is my favorite.

[Killerbee911]

For me it is Sentry,He is only character that has gotten "the Big Dog" spot. Where he is easily the most powerful hero around they are other characters who get other aspects of superman better but Sentry is only one who has the "Superman is going to win this fight because he is Superman" thing. Also Sentry along with Silver Surfer are two Marvel heroes who regular beat DC superheroes in rumble/battle forums.

[JudicatorPrime]

That would make sense, since the Imperial Guard are a riff on the Legion of Super-Heroes. Looking at Gladiator, he occupies the Superboy/Mon-El niche (although visually looks more like Atmos).

Agreed, Gladiator was definitely Superboy. I don't recall if they had an actual Mon-El analogue, though. Ultra Boy, Timber Wolf and others, yes, but not sure about Mon-El. It would be nice to see them continue to update the Imperial Guard so that we do get to see someone that is undeniably Marvel's Mon-El. Maybe make him/her vulnerable to flerovium, or some other member of the carbon group family, which includes lead.