radioboy121
Senior Member
Note: I bear no grudge on any member, but I continue to participate as I see this far more plausible than a farfetched Silver Surfer vs. Batman thread.
Originally posted by whobdamandog
Once again, I think your forgetting the two most important variables in this battle when comparing Elastic Lad/Plastic Man to Reed...those two variables being intelligence & tactical skill in battle. Neither Plastic man nor Elastic Lad possess a fraction of abilities that Reed has demonstrated in these two areas.
Reed's intelligence is being highly overrated in this battle. Just due to the reason his intelligence may be overall better than Batman does not exempt Batman's own. The pre Alpha Flight had a genius that was supposedly on rival of Reed's, yet he was still useless on certain factors, this including fighting.
Second, tactical skills? As said, he's by himself and when fighting on his own, he's been stampeded, rolled up in a basketball, airplaned, etc. Batman will not do any of these of course, but Mr. Fantastic doesn't whip up an invention or create his own Arcadeworld everytime he goes to battle. In the most base of tactics, he fights with the abilities granted to him.
I agree with you in Reed relying more heavily on his teamates to support him in battle. But you also have to take into account the quality & level of opponents Reed faces as opposed to Batman. Two Face, Penguin, Joker, and Bane would barely be able to withstand the farts of Doom, Galactus, Annihlus, or the Frightful Four.Whenever Batman goes against opponents on the level of Reed's mentioned above, he almost always has assistance from the JLA. During these battles against these foes of awsome powers and intelligence, Batman fulfills a more tactical planning role much like Mr. Fantastic.
Reed has trouble with Doom, since they share a history with each together and know each other. Players like Galactus and Annihilus are huge power players that would intimidate most mortals, so of course he's not going to duke against them directly if he can help it. But if he's going to face Batman, do you think he will be intimidated by the skin-tight costume fighter? Will he create a contraption to ensnarl Batman because his eyes and speech emphasize too much wisdom, that he is afraid of the Dark Knight's menacing presence, or that he is paranoid the utility belt might have a Ultimate Nullifier stashed in there? First encounter - Reed uses his elasticity abilities to try and subdue Batman.
Sure some of Batman's foes appear to be two-bit thugs that I don't know why should even be considered a comparison to Reed's specified foes, but not all should be discounted either (i.e. Joker was once clever enough to outwit Mr. Mxyzptlk's of his powers).
Lastly, I thought Batman was a reserved JLA anyway? He was once discredited from the rank because he didn't have actual superpowers, but later showed his worth regardless.
Well Im going to have to disagree with you here. I hardly believe a punch or kick from Batman will disorient someone whose elasticity has been known to aborb the impacts of Hulk, Wolverine, and Thing to name a few. Richards has even been able to repel missles on a number of occassions.
Of all his enhanced durability, Mr. Fantastic has shown to be quite vulnerable to the face (much like Blob his). Regardless of how elastically durable he's shown, he still eats, breaths, etc. Sure Hulk can launch an uppercut on Reed and he might recover, but why does he always groan when he's punched in the face? If he was defined so durable here as the rest of his body, he would probably be almost impossible to knock unconscious. In this fight, Batman probably wouldn't even need to necessarily hit him anyway.
Batman is a character who greatly relies on knowing every intimate detail of his foes before battle. In a random confrontation with Reed he's going to know very little about him, which would leave him with a more than slight disadvantage as the battle begins. It will be difficult for Batman to find out what techniques do and don't work against Reed, and the split second it takes him to figure out what to do could easily be the second where he meets defeat at the hands of the FF's leader.
Elastic characters are not a new thing to Batman. There is no doubt he will be surprised at first of his power, but that applies in every respect for Reed. He doesn't know if he's powered enhanced or a just a human in a costume. Batman's mind is quick and unless he's facing a Flash, then he could manage to manuever from Reed's normal attacks enough to figure at least at a primordial level how to approach him.
One must also take into consideration that Batman may not have everything in his utility belt to take Reed out in a Random encounter. In conclusion, I'd give Reed the advantage in their initial encounter.. and give the advantage to the Bat in any fights that preceeded he original.
Granted, as Batman doesn't have boundless room down there (stop thinking nasty). I have to give him the benefit of the doubt that he has his required tools, otherwise it would be martial arts MacGuyver against Mr. Fantastic.