Stark isn't really that specialized. He's shown mastery of all sciences, including resurrecting himself and Rhodey, and genetically modifying an entire city. He's an omnidisciplinary scientist. Not sure where this idea that Stark only knows "tech" comes from. That's like saying that Doctor Who only knows the science of sonics. Sure, his signature tool is tech, but he's not even close to being limited to tech.
Originally posted by RealityWarper
They are different...Tony is an engineer, he is very specialised.
Bruce has different fields of expertise.
Both are top tiers in their disciplines.
Who is smarter: Thomas Edison or Alexander the Great?
No one would ever put the greatest tactical/strategic/military genius on Earth in a toplist of brain trusts, but wouldn't you need to be pretty damned smart to do it well? Would you want Albert Einstein planning a war for you?
P.S., Reed beating Cap at his own game was total BS. He should have considered the possibility Sue might defect, or have been playing them.
One of the best Batman Stories I've ever read.
Like all good DC Stories = You actually do have to read the story
In this one the writer and the artists get togther on panel to tell the reader to = read the story
When you're reading DC I quess you could just ogle the feats or you could slow down and see all the little things they put in the background.
That is Bruce Wayne
You can see the feats all the batarang throws the fighting the Deductive Work where the writers and the artists show BW on panel very obviously deducing things...
But in the background. It will be mentioned casually on panel that all those times BW pretended to be sleeping through his lectures and asking ridiculous questions he was paying more attention than anyone else + after those lectures he was spending more time studying, reading ahead, doing practical experiments than anyone else. 80% of the time you'll see some Wayne Enterprises Geologist or Biological Expert Or Someone who Bruce Wayne employs just to do 1 single thing that seems completely useless - who's scared of being pulled in to report on a commercial application for their project... This Will be 'The Cherkov's Gun' of the story. It will be shown that Bruce Wayne was reading every single useless little thing they were recording and you'll see him in some impossible situation apply some useless piece of information from column a and some more from column b and and deduce x. You'll see Wayne at the end of the story 'casually' bump into the world's foremost expert on slate grey anaerobic mosses native to some place no one has ever heard of and give the expert a friendly smile, and reinforce his reputation as an outrageous idiot by giving them a raise and throwing even more company money into their ten year long and counting eccentric research project with no commercial applications.
Tony Stark doesn't do this. About the only person who does this in Marvel is Reed Richards.
This kind of stuff it doesnt make exciting visuals occasionally they will go on panel to some scientist standing in a field somewhere to give a face to the world's no 1 expert on french maritime pine bark standing in a forest in france but who reallly wants to pay attention to that when you can pay attention to the fun action and cool gadgets instead.
Its all there on panel.
Read 500 Batman Stories and you will see what spetznaz and everyone else sees.
They don't even need to be in Batman Books.
Just on Pure Science - Pure Empirical Scientific Fact = Batman is The smartest Human On DC Earth
If we're just focused on say Biology = Swamp Thing and Poison Ivy = On another level.
If its tech - and commercial applications of tech = Lex Luthor
But if its = Total Science = The answer is Batman.
Batman thanks to all the Meditation Techniques he learnt and mastered from the best Sensei's on DC Earth can make his mind super perform.
There are people who know Batman can do this: Ra's is often shown on panel saying.... Seriously Stop. When Batman is Motivated... Just Stop.
Unmotivated Bruce Wayne has been called out numerous times for blatant jobbing / holding back / pretending he's less than the sum of his parts.
He's a magic user - he's been shown on panel - caught red handed - in detective using a blood spell taught to him by the Homo Magi - (Wayne is a student of the Homo Magi)
Batman is a character Bruce Wayne plays
When in character as Batman he has a tightly defined purpose with preset parameters - putting people away with solid evidence and only with solid evidence = which can be accpted / used to prosecute or detain people in the courts or some other legal form of 'due process'.
When people who really know Bruce Wayne - want something of him
They might approach him when he is in costume as Batman - but they won't call him by that nickname.
You'll often see them on panel calling him by the exact thing that he is.
Remember when I said.... read the story.
Bruce Wayne knows more about how to kill people than Tony Stark or Lex Luthor with Tech and without Tech Could.
You'll notice while playing Batman Bruce Wayne is a thousand percent committed to the ideal of not killing.
As Bruce Wayne he gave absolutely 0 Fuchs to the death of those people in a [s]fire[/s] flood who broke into the catacombs beneath Wayne Manor.
People who know Bruce Wayne as Bruce Wayne often get a free pass in Gotham / through Gotham to go about their business to rule the world, assassinate someone, evade justice, etc as long as they don't kill anyone while they're in Gotham.
In each of these cases Bruce Wayne would have a truly uncomfortable time explaining to Interpol or to anyone how and why he knows them and they know him and why he shouldn't be on every law enforcement watch list on the earth.
Seriously. After the 50th story you've read of Batman + Some Being of Pure Magic eg: The Demon Etrigan, Batman and some Sprit / Enchanted Being eg: Deadman, Batman and some God >Insert Name Of God Here< and seen the 100th flashback to this one time when Bruce Wayne was training in some obscure non combat martial art discipline using 'earth power' to tank or to read fate (fortune telling)
If you read the stories... you'll read the character of Bruce Wayne and understand why Ra's Al Ghul asks.... not how did you... why did you... but.... who motivated you? and tells his people... all of them.. stop.. stand aside... you can't live with him whenhe's motivated.
Superman could not explain why or how, with absolutely no distraction he could not feel or hear batman steal a piece of organic matter
Batman without tech can completely shield his mind from J'onn.
Could Tony Stark completely w/o tech... sneak up on Oracle of The Shi'ar?
Detective-wise and tactical-wise, Bruce. Didn't Superman once call him the most dangerous man on (DC) Earth?
Tech-wise, Tony ... though I don't recall anyone ever calling him the most dangerous man on (Marvel) Earth.
Also, KMC's almost-tagline was never "Iron Man with prep."
Ergo -- I'm Wayning on this one.
Originally posted by VanMae
That wasn't done using Wayne's own invention, nor would using a lazarus pit. Stark INVENTED a way to ressurect Rhodey.
But that's the point.
He doesn't need to.
It's like saying 'call me when Tony invente the wheel', lol. It's already there. It's a common enough device in the DCU that he actually says no when Ra's wants to use it, lol.
Originally posted by spetznaz
Agreed 100% it is not a fair comparison, but that is exactly as it is unfortunately. Those are the vagaries of comic book writing, which is often never linear (nor logical). Characters such as Batman, which get more writing than Lex and Mr Terrific, will have feats across multiple disciplines that over the years will build a resume of Uber-polymathism that is insanely deep and wide. This is why, for example, Bruce is considered the second best escape artist after Mr Miracle. Yet there are others that just focus on that, and should be better, such as that Talon who was an escape specialist.But because of the LONG record of writing for Batman, Bruce will end up with all sort of stories on (say) escapism. From being able to even go into a Thogal state and appear dead, to having alter-egos that can take over if his mind is damaged. (This is why I honestly prefer not to debate people like Batman, Superman, Flash, Mr Fantastic, Dr Doom and others of that ilk ...there’s a lot of record of them doing crazy things). This is also why I said Tony is a really really super smart super-genius, but that he’s unfortunately not a god. Because that is the hax level DC has made Bruce. That man has had super powers for decades!
Based on actual written feats, Bruce is a character that is a jack-of-all-trades while being a master of them all, including tech, while Tony is shown as primarily a master of tech (and specifically tech, although I loved how the Ultimate Marvel version of Tony was a mutant of sort, with brain tissue all over his body, and was a master of ALL sciences and not just a subset called ‘tech’).
That by the way is a key difference between DC and Marvel. Marvel tends to striate it’s characters ...eg Colossus is super strong/durable and nothing else. Cyclops can shoot energy from his eyes and nothing else. Iceman can make things cold. Quicksilver can run really fast. Professor X can read minds. Kylie Pride can phase through things. Mystique can change her form. Etc etc.
In DC, that’s basically the Martian Manhunter!!!!
DC tends to use a Swiss Army knife approach, while Marvel will (usually, but not always) split powers. Most of the JLA is multi-tooled ...even Aquaman has high level strength, can jump high, can speed blitz, has high level telepathy, is durable, has heightened senses (allegedly from being in the deep), and depending on version even has access to high level magic!!!!!
But I digress.
That’s why Batman, following DC’s multi tool approach, will be an insanely high-level polymath across ALL segments, while Tony, following Marvel’s specificity of powers, will go deep in one!
Which equals ...Batman IS smarter, unless we want to limit this to ‘just’ tech.
So that would basically be saying, Bruce wayne is the smartest man on DC Earth, because of the amount of different things he knows. Tony's fields of expertise is pretty much the same as the likes of Doom, Reed or Lex. What makes THEM different? Bruce is mostly considered a child in comparisson to Reed's intelligence.
Originally posted by Putinbot1
Bruce and Spetz, is right it's not close. I far prefer Tony as a character though and always will.
Lol at not close. You realize Reed richards admitted he's only MARGINALLY smarter than Stark right? And that Stark's mind outclasses Reed's in multitasking? I don't know if I can see him saying any of that about Bruce.
Originally posted by DarkSaint85
He's second to Lex.Who cured cancer in his sister's kitchen.
Then created an antidote to it, lol.Then on top of that, his usual tech stuff.
Then he's cunning/smart enough to be a successful businessman (something Reed isn't lol) and the President (take that what you will lol).
Lots of the top guys have feats like that. Reed Richards broke into heaven with tech. Stark made multiple suits capable of interstellar flight etc
Tbf, Batman also built a spaceship. Or at least, a rocket ship.
But it's not a tech thing....Tony is far superior in that respect.
Batman is also able to speak multiple languages, fluently, to the point where he can detect accents.
Knows enough about stagecraft and disguises to go live amongst criminals on a nightly basis.
Knows 127 bajillion martial arts, and actually mastered them (so not just what he saw on YouTube a couple of times).
Holds multiple degrees in multiple fields, from top universities.
Is an expert in lockpicking, Martian tech, Apokoliptian tech, Kryptonian etc.
Whilst being a successful CEO, with a sideline in some tech knowledge.