It's the king of the seven seas against the heavy hitter from Marvel's first family! I really wanted to use Aquaman in this segment (because he more than deserves attention), but finding a proper character to give him a good fight was proving difficult. I considered Red Hulk, but honestly, I thought that may make the match a bit too one-sided since his initial run gave him a plethora of high-end feats. So, I opted for a step below Rulk's rank: Thing. He's never had what it takes to earn a majority over the true powerhouses in his universe, but he has the drive, physicals and talent to give them at least a few clean hits before going down. The same could be said for New 52 Aquaman, so I figured at the very least, this battle could be entertaining to think about.
While one character took a massive lead, I was happy to see many thought it was still a good fight and, at the end of the day, that's really what this segment is all about. Even if the winner is obvious in your eyes, my goal is just to provide you with a brawl that's fun to think about and hopefully you'll also learn more about the characters involved (or have the opportunity to share knowledge). After leaving the poll open for five days, a whopping 70% thought Arthur Curry would eventually defeat Ben Grimm.
Ben earned 27% of the votes and 4% thought it was too close to call. I find myself with the majority this time around. While Aquaman is disputably stronger and faster (he lifted a cruise ship, tossed a submarine, sent Superman flying with a strike), Thing is one tough dude and keeping him down won't be easy thanks to his high durability to blunt force trauma. I think if they decide to duke it out, this could be a fight that would do loads of damage to the surrounding area (fret not, it's unpopulated). But ultimately, I see no reason to believe why the member of the Fantastic Four would be safe from Arthur's trident (breached Darkseid's armor, after all) and that could be a massive factor. After thinking it over all week, I imagine Arthur is left battered and bruised, but ultimately he's the one left standing and clearly most of you think so as well.
Viner Argument of the Week for Aquaman is by Lvenger
"After much deliberation, I think this is going to be quite the battle. Definitely the closest fight of this feature yet even if the votes don't show that. However, I feel that the most likely character to win this fight would be Aquaman. In the New 52, we've seen Arthur lift cruise ships, tug boats and toss 100+ton submarines through the air. If cruise ships really do weigh in the average of the mid 100,000 tonnes, then this beats the Thing's 30,000 weight lifting feat. Of course, it's not about physical strength but striking power in a fight. Aquaman has shown to be able to sucker punch Superman quite a way although this hardly counts as a viable win or KO of Superman. Also he's carved massive holes in mountains and torn open submarines quite handily. To be honest, not many noteworthy Thing striking feats spring to mind after my research, not even his Sunday punch lol. Although Arthur's armour can be easily destroyed and his forehead chipped by a bullet, he did endure Wonder Woman's blow with a bloody lip. And his bullrush of Wonder Woman may come in handy against the Thing but Aquaman hasn't displayed any combat or reaction feats that show he can dance around the Thing. Thus it'll be a long slog between the two fighters.
Finally, Aquaman has one advantage over the Thing that the Thing cannot claim to also have. If Aquaman can get move the battle to the Hudson River, it's game over. Aquaman can outmaneuver the Thing in water as well as being the more experienced combatant underwater. The Thing's fight with Namor in AvX was poorly written IMO. Ben should not have been able to get the better of Namor on his home turf. Without story constraints in this fight, Aquaman should take the edge if the battle is moved near water. And the trident gives Aquaman another avenue of hurting the Thing. It's extremely durable and has pierced many foes in fights so far. This fight would be close and the Thing does have a chance of winning. But as much as I love Ben Grimm, I have to give the edge to Aquaman in this fight."
Mat 'Inferiorego' Elfring, Comic Vine staff writer
"What are you doing to me, Gregg? My favorite super-hero, of all time, vs a man made of orange rock? I'm not breaking out of fanboy mode for this one. Aquaman is stronger, without a doubt. However, the Thing may be a bit more invulnerable. Aquaman doesn't need to be sitting in the ocean to be a formidable opponent. He's super-strong and can take the punches and sharp rocky edges from the Thing. Worse comes to worse, Aquaman can call upon some flying killer whales to eat Thing. Better yet, he calls upon Topo, his Krakken-esque friend to strangle Thing. That's right, Aquaman delegates to beat Thing because this fight is a waste of his time!"
Last but definitely not least, here's a tease for next week's fight. Be sure to check the homepage on Monday to see who the combatants are.
Previous 'Comic Vine Battle of the Week' results
- Daredevil vs. Nightwing (Winner: Daredevil)
- Ultimate Captain America vs. Deathstroke (Winner: Deathstroke)
- Arkillo vs. Hulk (Winner: Hulk)
- Snake Eyes vs. X-23 (Winner: X-23)
- Moon Knight vs. Red Hood (Winner: Moon Knight)
- Catman/Deadshot vs. Bullseye/Punisher: (Bullseye/Punisher)
Want to suggest a battle? Feel free to comment below or send it to Gregg via Twitter.
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