The question of the week this time is:
Discussion after the jump.
I started wondering about this as I was pondering how you balance out the good someone does with the evil that comes with them. Don't ask why I was pondering that, let's just say I was armed with a mattock and a field of stubborn tree weeds and let it go at that.
(Funny story aside here, I was talking to my sister once about political signs in our yard, and I joked that instead of putting out signs for my friends, I'd put one out for each of my enemies. She was very quiet for a second and then said "You're gonna need a bigger yard.")
Back on target here, the point is that you have to wonder how much good your preferred character could do, compared to the bad his enemies would perpetrate. With that in mind, I'll run down my thoughts on each choice.
- Superman: Obviously, Superman could do the greatest good of the five names on this list, as his power is truly epic in nature. The others might clean up a city, but Superman has the power to change the whole world. However, so do the villains in his rogues gallery. Lex Luthor hatches plots to take over whole countries, and has the kind of mind that could bring catastrophic changes to the world through technology. Brainiac has literally destroyed planets before, and you're dealing with truly powerful potential evil no matter who you round the list out with. This choice is definitely fraught with both danger and potential.
- Batman: Batman's nemeses are also quite lethal. I don't think there's any doubt the Joker could put bin Laden's body count to shame, and he'd definitely be a terror. However, Batman himself is a hero for a dark time, and might be able to inspire the kind of bare-knuckled, no-holds-barred defense we need.
- Spider-Man: His opponents have always been city-wide in scope, so both his and their impact would be more localized. He'd sure be fun to have around your town, though.
- Wolverine: This is a tough call, because most of Wolverine's villains are actually part of the opposition for the entire X-Men. If you included Magneto in his set of five, that's definitely a losing proposition for the real world, because Magneto's a bad-ass. Logan doesn't inspire the same kind of admiration as Batman, or the same fun as Spider-Man, so I'd have a hard time picking him.
- Flash: Flash's rogues gallery is too silly to get overly worked up about. Come on, is Captain Boomerang really a threat we need to be leery of? Gorilla Grodd, on the other hand, that's a scary individual. So I think this one would depend on who exactly his top five are.
Having said all that, I think I'd probably go with Superman. His upside is so big, I think the risk of global annihilation is worth it. Let me know who'd you choose, and why, in the comments!
