Originally posted by Prep-Man
Some of those guys are just scientifically smart. I want ones that are good with prep. Chess type of war. For example, JSA Kobra, where Jason Burr and Mr. Terrific were trying to out prep each other. Manipulation, cunning, etc...John Constantine would be another example.
Thanos is both, I mean he orchestrated the greatest heist in the universe more than once. I see what you mean about Doom. Batman though, is on the money.
The best prep master is probably Constantine. That guy could take on God with preparation.
Otherwise Doctor Doom and Reed Richards are insane with a good amount of prep time. Batman isn't bad either, but he preps mostly for taking down regular heralds, by exploiting their weaknesses. Even Batman has limits.
Here's the thing: about 75% of either universe can do awesome things with prep, and they have. But to be the best you have to go well above that. So Sinister, for example, good prep guy. Nowhere near on the level of, say, Reed or Doom though.
Thanos ranks pretty high, as does Reed/Doom.
Doctor Who is weird. He doesn't really prep...he wrecks brilliant peoples' prep with 5 minutes of improvisation. He obviously can prep, and has with great affect, but usually doesn't because it's not in his nature.
Not sure I'd rank Batman for a similar reason. He's prepped before, of course, but most times he's just being smart enough to foil the plans of others who have actually prepped. Bad guys generally do much more legit prepping. The heroes just react 90% of the time. Batman Inc. is a good rebuttal to this, but for much of his history it was a big computer, MA skill, and detective skills, which isn't technically prepping for a villain, just a set of skills and resources to deal with them.