Originally posted by Pillow Biter
Hmm...Superman is typically advantaged over Surfer to varying degrees.
However, in combat terms, Mjolnir is a much bigger upgrade than a Mother Box.
I am not sure about that.
It largely depends on the depiction of Mjolnir and the Mother Box that one decides to use.
My favorite depictions of Mjolnir is the hammer as the best energy device this side of a 1970s green lantern ring (another item that has been largely nerfed). Mjolnir could do ANYTHING, and was truly a potent weapon/artifact. The only problem is in more recent decades it’s been used simply as a bludgeoning object ...the metallic equivalent to the Hulk, only being used to smash, with writers forgetting the damn thing can shake things like crazy.
Then there’s the Mother Box (MB). Recent depictions are something that goes ‘ping’ and opens a boom tube, but the damn thing is even crazier than Mjolnir and GL rings combined It connects its wearer to the Source itself, can channel all sorts of energies, heal any wound (including death), put up unstoppable shields, throw off crazy energies, technopathy, telepathy, you name it.
Thus, in the same way you claim Mjolnir (properly written, and it as the mallet version of the Hulk only useful for smashing) is an absolute beast - which it absolutely is - a MB is also a similar beast.
In my opinion:
- Surfer should bear Superman (not assuming the versions of Superman where he goes batgod on people and throws off limits like old socks). Average Surfer should beat average Superman in my book.
- However, when it comes to Mjolnir vs MB ...easy, MB. Why? While both have similar range and breadth of different powers, the MB is directly connected to the Source. More importantly, the MB is fully sentient while Mjolnir is semi-sentient.
I never subscribe to any kind of 'as properly written' interpretations of comics. I just go by what I see in the books.
Mother Boxes have rarely seemed to be huge assets in combat, regardless of their power source or how they sometimes get talked up.
I think Superman would have done better vs HP Doomsday with either GL ring or Mjolnir than he did with a Mother Box.
Then I would recommend reading the series that mother boxes were originally written for. Namely, the New Gods, Mister Miracle and the Forever People. Not just Kirby's original versions but also the later volumes. The MB was diluted when DC began using it outside the Fourth World story line, pretty much like Sin said.
Yeah. But they remain confusing. New Gods tech is still given a lot of lip service by reliable sources; they just rarely seem to perform that well in actual combat. In DC 1 Million, New Gods tech was basically unchanged still 'said' to be ahead of Galactic and Earth tech 80,000+ in the future.
I take reliable comments seriously, but when a pattern emerges that strongly I'm forced to choose the results over the talk.
The MB is connected to the Source, and if a writer remembers that, treats it as the representation of the ultimate computer of creation, it has great potential as seen with Cyborg as it gives him access to the Multiverse.
However, even then, Mother Boxes can be powerful tools but they are often used indirectly to combat a threat by supplementing an action or plan.
When someone like Superman or Surfer gain Mjolnir momentarily, it is a HUGE combat upgrade, to a degree that it completely changes the field of power they are operating in and changes the tide that I do not see a MB doing.
That's my two cents. That Orion/Thor crossover is the perfect example imo.
Originally posted by Pillow Biter
Though to be fair, sometimes the hammer is just a ...hammer.
Well, ya, obviously. Even when Surfer had it, all he used it for was smashing and lightning. I meant when the hammer is just a hammer, and the MB is just a fancy computer, I'd prefer the hammer in combat, because it's still a big f*cking hammer.
I think you and I agree on the fact that in comics, might makes right the majority of the time, and symbolism has a huge part to play in that.
As seen when Hal Jordan was transformed into the God of Light, a current MotherBox can *poof* you into a full-fledged universal force. Even a 'classic' MB brought Superman's stats up to a level where he could actually do *something* against H/P Doomsday(who fodderized Darkseid shortly beforehand.) So yeah...
I'm with Spetznaz and Galan, a mother box is a small scale reality manipulator, not even sure it's small-scale tbh, it is a direct link to the source and therefore almost limitless in scope, bandwidth being perhaps it's only issue. If you want a mother box ensure you don't go through AT&T or you may find you keep having to switch it off and on again.