Planet Busting vs Super Speed

These are two of the most hotly debated talking points in the battle forums.

"(insert Marvel Characters name here) is a planet buster! i have scans to prove it! (Character X) would only need to land one planet busting (attack) and its allover!"

"Well he would never be able to hit (insert DC character;'s name here) because they are too slow and would be a statue! Thus allowing (Character X) to pummel them into oblivion!"

We've all seen these and lets be honest we've all used these at some point or another. But I believe that this discrepancy is where one of the fundamental differences in Marvel and DC lies. Lets put this in boxing terms; Marvel is to Mike Tyson what DC is to Flloyd Mayweather. The two companies seem, at least in my eyes, to have two different ways of showing power. Judging by Thor's recent exploits he should never have a fight on a planet he cares about because he may well destroy it and everyone on it. I think we would all agree that Superman, Black Adam, Thor and Hyperion are all on a similar level of strength correct? not the exact same level but theyre all in the same league right? So why is it that when Superman fights BA, or when WW fights Superman AND Hal Jordan or when Superman fights someone that dwarfs him in power (He'l or Wraith) Dc's planet earth is left completely unharmed save a few craters and toppled buildings? Thor hits a guy in space and busts an adjacent world. Superman punches He'l while pinned on the ground and merely shakes the world. I say that only two logical conclusions can be drawn:

a) Marvel planets are less durable than DC planets ( i kid i kid)

or

b) The two companies have different ideas of what should be done to display power.

The big fight between Superman and Wraith isn't for another two months but i guarantee you no planets will be destroyed. Because thats just not how DC does things. But you wait and see. whenever Marvel really wants to establish a character as a heavy hitter, they will have he/she destroy some nameless planet that we dont care about (dont worry itll be empty). Im not saying one way is better than the other or that one way is wrong and one way is right but i am saying that one thing we need to take into the battle forums with us is this: Perspective. simply put you cant use a ruler to measure wind speed.

So thats my take on this topic. hopefully you will see something you deem debate worthy. cheers.

any thoughts? lol

Eh i agree with your points, but in reality super speed(at extremes like flash) can easily dispatch a plabet buster before he could even think to do anything.

I think the planet busting thing is all dependent on the writer. As for the speed argument I'm not touching that one cause a flamewar will commence (ex:16 pages of rage in the Wally vs Thanos thread)

Planet buster hits the planet, busting it. Then there is nowhere for the speedster to run.

@mikex20: i think youre missing the entire point of my post.

@sog7dc: Planet busters are usually invulnerable, so a speedster would probably break their hands throwing a million punches in under a second.

@mikex20: yeah you definitely missed the point of this

Speedforce says your argument is invalid.

@onemoreposter: Being a fanboy makes that statement invalid.

i expected more debate than this :/

I dont know that it can be compartmentalized in terms of companies, I think it is dependant upon writer. In turn, what one writer thinks is an amazing feat of strength might actually not be that impressive compared to things the same character has done years prior.

Thor, mentioned earlier, has done things like fight the Midgard Serpent. Years later, we see him reqire assistance to lift Asgard overhead.

I actually believe DC is more careful about presentation of strength feats, although inconsistencies exist. I think you would be surprised how little writers at Marvel put into researching a character they have never written before. Some do, and I applaud them (thank you Jason Aaron and J Michael Stracynski!).

@captnmcdeadpool: I see where you're coming from but I just notice Alot of planet busting in marvel whereas I can only recall one happening in DC (John Stewart)

@sog7dc: Im curious, where does Speed factor in this short write up? All you mention was Planet Busting, nothing on Speed which Marvel lacks.

Planet Busting is what some Marvle cats can do. However Speed of Light speed and Planet Busting is DC. They are outright superior in high tier on both accounts.

It comes down to who can land their hit first. In which case, I might favor the guy with super speed.

@indiecomicsftw: Speed is always the argument for DC fans. The argument being:

A) the guy could never be touched

B) the guy with speed to blitz the opponent without speed

And I think that marvel adopts the thinking that they want the emphasis on raw power whereas DC seems to favor a combo of both with a strong emphasis on speed

The IMP is a planet busting move that requires super speed, old sport.

Cool thread. Not so much companies though to me, too broad, I'd say its a writer thing. Well and a fan thing. Fans try and insist way to much when talking about an inherently subjective and inconsistent medium thats ongoing, has multiple writers using multiple characters that overlap and have different ideas objectives and goals. Thor has been in plenty of fights that were very serious and no planets or even near surrounding buildings were damaged. Ditto Hulk, ditto Gladiator, ditto Superman, and Wonder Woman. Different writers have different ideas about powers and abilities. Some might conclude that some characters are so strong and durable they don't need to be fast, or some can hit very hard but hardly any collateral damage would happen. Some writers have characters shockwaves potentially create as much destruction as an unfortunate side effect.

DC seems to have more moments where a character punches is hit to another state country or off a celestial sphere, but doesn't mean Marvel characters can't do that either or on occasion have. Up until Aaron's Thor run I can't remember another instance where Thor's collateral damage was causing that much destruction.

DC do tend to make their more powerful characters incredibly versatile in their power sets. They're incredibly strong albeit not usually busting planets, very fast, have quick reactions, durability, energy projection etc. Marvel do tend to favour visual displays of raw strength and power though the speed DC characters have gives them an edge in fights on the battle forums usually.

Good points

@sc: it just seemed to me that there was alot more super speed in DC and alot more planet destruction in Marvel