Versus # 1 - The Atom vs. Ant-Man

The Battle of the Puny Pugilists...



The year is 1996, and times are kind of rough in the comic industry. With low sales and comics bogged down by moderate to lame crossovers (Onslaught), bad art driven by plot less stories (Spider-Man’s Clone Saga, anything with Rob Liefeld), foil bagged chromium cover marketing mumbo that worked for X-Men #1 and then got old real fast. It all lead to what could only be the next logical step for two delusional comic companies…

Marvel and DC crossed over in a way that hadn’t been attempted, pitting our fav heroes against each other. They had met before in many non-canon versus stories. Superman vs. Spider-Man and New Teen Titans vs. Uncanny X-Men were a few that came out in the ‘70’s, but didn’t really match up to the versus theme, as they always ended up working together to fight a couple of combined enemies. The point of all this, is it led to Marvel vs. DC, the inspiration for this latest feature.

The only problem is, Marvel vs. DC, or DC vs. Marvel, whatever you decide to go with… kind of sucked. Yea, we got to vote for the winner, and during my youth, it was a dream come true seeing it happen. But it was predictable, bland, and thankfully short. The only real good thing to come out of it was Dark Claw, who’s with me? You know what I’m talking about. So we are going to do it the way we do, and find our own winners. Dr. Kronner and I (Supascoot) will each choose a winner, sometimes we may agree, sometimes not. Every new versus we’ll have a guest writer giving us their thoughts as well. So first off, let’s start small.

 Ant-Man (Hank Pym) vs. The Atom (Ray Palmer)
Now as we get started, all 3 writers where just given the matchup, no one conferred with one and other, they just submitted their pick without knowing who everyone else picked…

SUPASCOOT:
Ant-Man can control his size on the subatomic level using Pym Particles, which transfer mass to another dimension, enabling him to change size at will through constant exposure to the particles. He also wears a cybernetic helmet allowing him to control ants. Brilliant Biochemist and robotics genius.

The Atom can also control his size on the subatomic level, with technology using white dwarf energy that reacts uniquely to his body chemistry allowing him to change size and alter his molecular density. This allows him to retain his power levels even at the smallest size. Brilliant Physicist.

Now in my opinion a battle can be won in a couple of ways. One of course, is who is the better character? Who do I get the best stories from; who do I follow throughout their history and get to know them as a character through and through? Well I have to give it to Ant-Man in the character department. Yes, he can be a crazy wife beating, evil robot building, dirty venereal disease carrying street walking whore, but isn’t that what makes an interesting character? Not to say that Palmer doesn’t have his flaws or insecurities that make it so easy to relate to a character, but he is a little more reliable in his strengths. Pym can be all over the place, all the time, and you can love him or hate him, but keep on reading about him.

However, the most important part of any versus match has to be the battle. Who will win in a battle between titans…or little dude’s. Both have similar powers, the ability to shrink to subatomic particles, and a brilliant mind to build stuff with that I never fully understand. Yet the differences are what will decide the fight in my opinion. At first I was leaning towards Ant-Man, simply with his ability to grow and become Giant Man, squish, problem solved. Sure, Atom could shrink so small that a giant boot wouldn’t affect him, but Ant-Man could counter this easily, maybe throw some ants his way, not that anybody is afraid of ants after Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. Here’s the thing about the Atom that puts him ahead in this match for me. He can control his molecular density, shifting his molecules to be as small as an atom but as strong as he wanted to be, to a degree, I suppose. He could easily beat Pym in a hand to hand fight at ant-level, or shrink smaller and ride the frequencies to Ant-Man’s helmet, disabling it and Pym at the same time. Simply rearrange some molecules in Giant Man’s heart if he needed to bring the big guy down. Or in the middle of the fight Pym would just break down and start weeping, allowing the Atom to deliver the final, more than likely honorable blow. 


It really boils down to the Atom just having more options to take on Ant-man with, I mean, the Atom single handedly killed Darkseid in the alternate reality JLA: Rock of Ages by blowing his brain up with white dwarf radiation. That’s bad ass. Pym can usually talk his way out of a situation, but Palmer is just too smart for that, and he’s about to make Pym his Janet.

SupaScoot’s Winner: Ray Palmer, The Atom

---

DR. KRONNER:
First off, let’s discuss who’s the better character. In this case, as much as it pains me to do, I’d have to say Hank Pym. He seems to be the deeper of the 2. Even though THE ATOM came out first, ANT-MAN has certainly done more. He is a founding member of THE AVENGERS, he created one of his own worst enemies in Ultron, and he beats his wife. Talk about a nosedive. Start out as a respected scientist on Marvel’s premiere Superhero Team (Suck it FF) and then go on to create Ultron, one of the Avenger’s deadliest foes. After which becoming and addicted to Prozac and slapping his wife around, his fragile ego is then handed another blow in THE ULTIMATES when Cap beats the fuck out of him and he gets tossed off the team. That’s about as low as you can get. I mean The Atom really doesn’t get the respect he deserves in DCU, but at least he isn’t despised…

So Henry is the better, more dynamic character in my mind, but Ray Palmer is the more capable superhero. Maybe it stems from the underlying differences between Marvel and DC, where it seems like DC heroes are harder to defeat ,and Marvel’s heroes have more practice getting their asses handed to them, but I can’t see Ant-Man really putting up much of a fight here. Especially if it turned into a Tag-Team where Pym brings Wasp, and Palmer brings his boy Hawkman. Anyhow, I see Palmer winning out over Pym and thus delivering one more blow to the Giantman-Sized, yet fragile ego on Hank…

Doc’s Winner: Ray Palmer, The Atom

---

TONI SMITH:
The more I think about it, the tougher it seems. Sure, Pym can grow up wards of sixty feet and crush Pym, but Palmer can shrink down to a goddamn molecular level. However, Pym isn’t afraid to put you up his butt.

Think about that for a second, Hank could have eaten like four cans of beans before this showdown, and a whole head of cabbage, would you want to go toe to toe with a guy like that knowing where you might end up? I’d throw in the towel.

The win however is going to Palmer, strictly because that dude is probably the most lethal sumbitch in the DCU, no joke. Dude could kill Superman if he wanted, but doesn’t, if anyone here has passed up on Identity Crisisplease get it now, it’s a gut wrenching story, but without giving too much away, the story displays the danger the Atom can bring. All he has to do is get small enough and then grow on the right spot in your skull, BAM! Brain implodes, homeboy could slowly get into Superman’s spinal base with filament after filament of kryptonite until Superman is dying in agony. Atom-no contest.

Toni’s Winner: Ray Palmer, The Atom

Winner: THE ATOM with a 3-0 victory over ANT-MAN

Kronner’s Closing Statement:
Wow, ok. The votes are tallied and THE ATOM takes it in a clean sweep. I’m kind of surprised Hank didn’t get a vote here, but how often is the Wife-Beater really gonna beat out the tortured Superhero with the crazy ex? 

                                            Versus # 2 --->