Originally posted by OneDumbG0
Yeah, I think Sodam Yat was doing alright. The lead wasn't shoved into him, you're right on that. But the lead was powering him down before he got stabbed. His shields tried to compensate, but like you said, the shields were breached. And I don't think Yat did as bad as you believe. They were fighting hard both before and right after the lead poisoning for pages, a time where Sodam Yat was still holding back. Eventually, in the last two pages, Prime completely overwhelmed him, but not before Yat put up a strong fight and drew his share of blood from Prime. Considering the fight he put up while holding back and even when he got poisoned, a healthy Sodam Yat is a notch or two below Superman Prime. Superman Prime unamped is below Monarch. I know this because Monarch beat the Guardian power out of an amped Superman Prime. The convenient containment suit rupture was Superman Prime's only chance, and he he undisputingly took it. Having the Guardian amp beaten out of him = significant damage which Monarch rendered. Prime's rampage against the ninjas heroes rivaled WWIII Black Adam's rampage. And Prime never reached a level where holding back, he was taking foosteps and wrecking continents.Monarch => Guardian-amped Superman Prime >>>>> Superman Prime >> healthy Ion Sodam Yat. I have no problem believing that and placing current Hulk right there with both Prime and Yat physically.
Fair enough, a lot of that is of your opinion of the events and they are logically sound. A couple things to clarify though...
There's nothing to say he beat the amp out of Prime, only mentioned that the amp was almost gone. And it could easily be because Prime was doing a lot of stuff on and off panel in between point A and B there. He was punching his way through dimensions, killing heros, etc.
It could also be just as easily dismissed as posturing, he was calling him a child in a man's body, saying he was running out of energy, saying he'd consider giving him a job, and that's just on that page.
Even seeing it as Monarch being more powerful and the amp putting him up on that level, he was on that level while still nearly running out and then ended up winning anyways. Both of them were teambusters.
As for the ninja effect? Superboy Prime was ninja effecting everyone from his first re-appearance onwards. It's clear what level he was meant to be on, and it was vastly over Earth's heros. Look at how many guys he defeated or killed, and how many teams of heros he clashed with. And that's the difference between Black Adam and Superboy Prime. Prime was never near Black Adam level, before or afterwards. It wasn't a one time deal. He -let- Black Adam level into him with his best shots, then smiled and said it tickled. Even the Guardians, with the heros, and the Corps were no match for him, even before his upgrade.
Sodam Yat going into a fight with Superboy Prime and surviving it was impressive, that was what it deliberately meaning to portray. That his heritage, ring, and ION power, put him on a level where he could contend with Superboy Prime for a short time, but still several notches below him. Prime was toying with him, was never really threatened by him, and was smashing him fairly easily. And then just looked around and said "Whos next?" at the end of it.