Saturday, October 6, 2012

B'rett versus Black Manta


B'rett
Debut: 1959
Nemesis: Martian Manhunter
Other Major Foes: None
Appearances: 1 comic story
Powers: Super strength, speed, breath, intangibility, and invisibility

The yellow-skinned Martian thug B'rett hitched a ride aboard a rocket that misfired to land on Earth. After a rampage of robbery and destruction, B'rett was confronted by the Martian Manhunter, whom he exposed to a gas that robbed J'onn J'onzz of his ability to use any of his powers while invisible. The Manhunter was forced to expose his existence to the world in order to stop B'rett from murdering innocent policemen, employing their mutual weakness against fire.
Vile Menagerie Stats
Win: Kanto (9-5,) B'enn B'urnzz (12-7,) Tybalt Bak'sar (+1,) King Zeus (12-5,) The Martian Criminal (10-6,) The Bloodworms of Mars (12-2)
Lose: Mongul (4-7,) Commander Blanx (2-11)
Draw: 0




Black Manta
Debut: 1967
Nemesis: Aquaman
Other Major Foes: None
Appearances: 200+ comics, as well as cartoons & video games
Powers: Armor provides enhanced strength & durability, ocular energy beams, sealed underwater system, and wrist mounted mini-harpoon

Black Manta has had several origins, arriving late in his life and shifting often. What is consistent is that Manta is a total murderous nutjob who suffered abuse growing up. Tragedies associated with the sea or Aquaman himself made him the best known foe of the ocean's heroes. Getting away with murdering Aquaman's son as a toddler elevated his evil, but even before that he was Aquaman villain #1. He's been transformed into a were-stingray, returned to normal, allowed to breathe underwater and so on, but it pretty much always comes back to a crazy black dude with a laser cannon on his head.

Vile Menagerie Stats:
Win: 0
Lose: 0
Draw: 0




Idol Speculation:
I feel guilty over this match, as it is rather lopsided. Black Manta is the Aquaman villain, and a reasonably big name because of it. However, he's just a good fighter with some nasty gadgets and augmented strength. B'rett is basically the Martian version of a Phantom Zone Criminal. That means a power set near comparable to Superman's throttling a dude out of his weight class. I want to get name villains in these matches, among which Manta qualifies. Ideally, the Vile Menagerie would beat some of these names to elevate their own. Lacking aquatic foes, it seemed to me that B'rett was one of the most compatible Manhunter for Black Manta, and the xanthic bandit's raw power had the best hope of taking Manta down. Not to pick on Aquaman villains, but Manta is way out of his league in this match. While popularity may sustain him, Manta is simply outclassed by B'rett. His best hope is to use fire in the fight, but B'rett is plenty capable of taking the row into the depths, as needed. As I said, I feel a little bit bad, because Manta came into this match doomed.

8 comments:

Anj said...

I'm all about B'rett in this fight.

He'd take out Manta like yesterday's trash.

will_in_chicago said...

B'rett would defeat Black Manta without much of a worry and might wonder why Aquaman had such a hard time with him.

mathematicscore said...

And then Brett would steal a bunch of undersea treasure.

Omega Agent1 said...

B'rett? Who is this yellow clown that you guys think can beat Black Manta? The wise always beat the physical, and Manta is a scheming highly advanced killer.

I reject all those old so called origins, they don't even make sense at all, so therefore it's a lie and only a fool would rationally except em.

What it really comes down to is the best character, and we all know this guy is nothing compared to the Black Manta.

Diabolu Frank said...

They're Always After Me Undersea Treasure!

OM1, I became an Aquaman fan in the early '90s, reading back to the Skeates/Aparo stuff. I also used to watch Aquaman in his cartoon days. Black Manta may be Aquaman's best villain, but I don't think that necessarily makes him a good villain. Ocean Master was always inferior to Aquaman, but at least he strives. Manta consistently victimizes characters weaker than himself, murdering a child and tormenting wimps like Aqualad. Aquaman consistently defeats Manta, but lacks the spine to execute the sick mother, which Manta depends on. Black Manta in nearly fifty years has hardly ever strayed outside of Aquafamily feuding, in which case he got his ass kicked by dudes like Captain Atom and Green Arrow. Losing to Ollie alone should pretty much disqualify Manta against anyone in the upper echelons of the Vile Menagerie.

will_in_chicago said...

If Green Arrow, a man with no special powers, can defeat Black Manta, then a Martian with powers in the same general neighborhood as the Martian Manhunter should be able to turn Black Manta into something resembling gumbo.

Diabolu Frank said...

As far as I know, New 52 Black Manta has no special powers, either. He's all tech, and not even hardly Stark Industries. That was true of Pre-OYL Manta, as well.

Diabolu Frank said...

B'rett ultimately defeated Black Manta by 67% of 18 votes.