Bracketology is Back!

Anyone remember the bracketology post I did a long while back that pitted Tom Hanks movie characters against each other in a 16 man bracket? No, well, check it out. Either way, it's March, lots of bracketology all around. I'd thought I'd try my hand at it again.

Today's bracket.......Morgan Freeman.

1. Red - The Shawshank Redemption vs. 16. Frederick Douglass (voice) The Civil War PBS
Match: This is a tough opening round for the top seed. Red again misplaces his bet, going for the "tall drink of water" Abe Lincoln instead of Frederick Douglass. Soon, though, Red realizes that despite Douglass's great voice, imposing hair, and large size, he is only a collection of still photographs and narration, not a real character. Red simply tapes Douglas to the wall where he remains for years and years until the Warden throws rocks at him.
Winner: Red

8. Scrap Iron Dupree (Million Dollar Baby) vs. 9. Hoke Colburn (Driving Miss Daisy)
Match: These guys might not have the best pedigrees. One is blind in one eye, sleeps on a dirty old mattress in a gym. The other and illiterate old black man who drives around an old Jewish woman. Both very good characters, but Scrap Iron wins due to his great name.
Winner: Scrap Iron

5. Lucius Fox (Batman Begins, the Dark Knight) vs. 12. John Rawlins (Glory)
Match: Tough match here for Fox. He'll start out well with lots of weapons, but he cannot put away the Civil War vet. Bruce Wayne does not show up and we have an upset.
Winner: Glory

4. Azeem (Robin Hood) vs.13. President (Deep Impact)
Match: Large Sword
Winner: Azeem

3. Ned Logan (Unforgiven) vs. 14. Gen. Billy Ford (Outbreak)
Match: This is the Wild, Wild West son! Ain't no diseased monkeys out here. If you can't catch Dustin Hoffman, you ain't taking down Mr. Logan.
Winner: Ned Logan

6. Nelson Mandela (Invictus) vs. 11. Alex Cross (Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls)
Match: Morgan Freeman on Nelson Mandela "It was the part I was born to play!" But Nelson Mandela is old. It was nice when he put on that Springboks jersey, but Alex Cross was in two movies. A close battle. Cross calls in Ashley Judd to distract Mandela for the upset.
Winner: Alex Cross

7. God (Bruce Almighty) vs. 10. Mr. Clark (Lean on Me)
Match: Maybe God should really be the top seed. But true to form, God gives his power to Mr. Clark. Mr Clark uses it to clean up his school of gangs and drugs, pass the state tests, and shut up the woman from Carmen San Diego. After all that, he defeats God.
Winner: Mr. Clark

2. Detective William Somerset (Seven) vs. 15. Theodore Joadson (Amistad)
Match:Amistad is a great film with some great performances, but Freeman's was overshadowed. Seven was a great film with some great performances, and Freeman's was the best of the bunch.
Winner: Somerset

SECOND ROUND

1. Red vs. 8. Scrap Iron
Winner: Red, easy.

12. John Rawlins vs. 4. Azeem
Winner: English! English! Behold, Azeem Edin Bashir Al Bakir. I am not one of you, but I fight! I fight with Robin Hood. I fight against a tyrant who holds you under his boot! If you would be free men, then you must fight! Join us now, join Robin Hood!

3. Ned Logan vs. 10. Alex Cross
Winner: Ned

2. Somerset vs. 10. Mr. Clark
Winner: Mr. Clark - a big upset here. Mr. Clark gives up his God power to return to the school. Someone sends him Sams' head in a box, things get wild.

Morgan Freeman Final Four

1. Red vs. 4. Azeem
Match: Wow, this could be the final. Azeem is a lot like Xavier or maybe Boise State in football, a great team in a bad conference, or in this case, bad movie,who always gets ubderrated. Azeem is a great character, but not many people look back fondly on Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Red on the other hand is the best character in one of the best movies ever. Sorry Azeem, you are cool, albeit missed placed in Nottingham, but Red is a man who knows how to get things. In this case, he's getting the W.
Winner: Red

3. Ned Logan vs. 10. Mr. Clark
Match: Mr. Clark has come a long way from Eastside High, but does he have what it takes to survive in the Wild, Wild West? Things heat up when Mr. Clark learns "some guy is beating up Kid Ray". Logan rolls in with some guns and the fight is pretty much over before it began. No contest.
Winner: Ned Logan

Final

1. Red vs. 3. Ned Logan
Match: One thing is for sure, Ned Logan's portly Native American wife is going to be pissed! These characters are actual pretty similar. Both make mistakes as young men and mature as they grow older. Both are the moral compass of their respective films without being the main characters. Both bring compassion and goodness to places it is often times lacking. In the end, though, Red uses his roof tarring skills, his getting things skills, his library experience, and his map of Zihuatanejo and defeats the reluctant outlaw.
Winner: Red. There really was no other way anyone else was going to win.

Get busy living or get busy dying.

Winner

What's longer - the NBA playoffs or Big Dunc's Comic Book Bracket Madness?
I'll go with the NBA playoffs, but not by much.
In the end, Dr. Doom beat out the Silver Surfer 9-7 in the final round. Voting decreased after some of the most popular characters were out, but in the end, Doom was victorious.
I have to think that one-on-one matchups really helped Doom. He is used to fighting at least 4 super powered characters at a time. Before the much anticipated final, Doom stated about the Surfer

"time is endless...as is my hatred! When he least expects it, when he's most unprepared; Doom will strike again!!"

And after the hard fought victory Doom threatened the life of a few reporters who asked him if he was feeling the effects of the hard fought match

"Pain? Pain is like love . . . like compassion! It is a thing only for lesser men. What is pain to Doom?"

Each person celebrates victory in their own way. However angry and hateful he remains, Doom was the last character standing in the 2010 Comic Book Character Bracket. Congratulations Victor von Doom

P.S. I found this great shoes while looking for Dr. Doom pictures. Pretty fly.

Comic Bracket Final Analysis

A pretty special tournament has made it to the final round. Two contestants remain.
Doctor Doom and the Silver Surfer.
Both contestants have long histories. Both were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four. Both has some of the most impressive arsenals in the comic book world. Both have some amazing victories and some devastating loses.
It is the alien power cosmic versus the human pushing the limits of technology and sorcery, the villain versus the hero.

Let's take a look at history.
Being key members of the Fantastic Four world, these two have crossed paths in the past a good number of times. The first, and maybe the best example of a one-on-one battle is in Fantastic Four #57. Doctor Doom tricks the Silver Surfer and steals his power cosmic.
It will be a great battle. Please vote.

So who do I think will win? Well, there are a few ways to look at it.
In a straight up one-on-one battle the Surfer would definitely have the edge. His power cosmic would be too much for Doom, despite the fact that Doom has defeated him in the past and even taken the powers of the godlike Beyonder. Doom has a pretty poor track record as far as won-loss record goes, but he is usually fighting solo against 4 or more.
But, if Doom again had the element of secrecy, and could get an early leg up, he would have a strong chance.
Also, Doom is a much better character. He has much more depth than the Surfer. Despite his many faults he is human. He is way more creative. In a battle he could transport the Surfer to Hell, he could use his time machine, he could force the Surfer to encounter the refugees of all the planets he destroyed. Doom really has nothing you could use against him as leverage. He is arrogant, yet uncompromising.
Well, that's about all I got. Vote for who you think will win. Vote for who you like better. Enjoy.

Comic Book Bracket Final

Silver Surfer vs. Dr. Doom.
You decide the winner. Voting on the right hand side.
More analysis to follow soon.

Comic Book Bracket Final Four

Well, we are on to the Final Four. We had some very close matchups in the previous round. Spider-Man dominated the Invisible Woman 24-11. Thanos started slow, but came back in the end, but Dr. Doom was just too strong, winning 20 -14.

Thor overcame the Thing 19-17 in a great match. I was hoping for the upset. And Silver Surfer beat Batman with the buzzer beater.

Vote for who you want to make the championship.

Who Will Win this Battle?
	Spider-Man
	Silver Surfer
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Who will win this battle?
	Dr. Doom
	Thor
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Comic Book Bracket - Elite Eight

We made it to the final 8. We have a few surprises, but as you can see by the field, all contestants are worthy of being here, and any of them can win it all. Let's get to the matchups.
Now it is your turn to decide the winners!


4. The Invisible Woman
Greatest Hits: Fantastic Four 245, 259-261, 280-284 (Malice)
Weaknesses: Power's still unexploited, Jessica Alba, lets teammates do lots of the work

vs.

2. Spider-Man
Greatest Hits: Amazing Spider Man 31-33, 121-122 (Death of Gwen Stacy and Green Goblin), 229-230 (Juggernaut)
Weaknesses: Women, can't eat with his costume on, kissing Kirsten Dunst

Who will win this battle?
	The Invisible Woman
	Spider-Man
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1.Batman
Greatest Hits: Year One, The Long Halloween, No Man's Land
Weaknesses: wussy as a young boy, hangs out with boys

vs.

2. The Silver Surfer
Great Hits: Silver Surfer #1, Fantastic Four 121-123, Fantastic Four 55
Weaknesses: Girl he is looking for most likely died hundreds of years ago, guilt, loads and loads of guilt, Silver genitalia (Maybe that is a strength)

Who will win this battle?
	Batman
	Silver Surfer
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5. Dr. Doom
Greatest Hits: Fantastic Four 236, 246-247. 257, 67 (new series), Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom: Triumph and Torment
Weaknesses: hubris, no friends, family hates him

vs.

3. Thanos
Greatest Hits: Thanos Guest, Infinity Gauntlet, Captain Marvel 25-33
Weaknesses: Loves Death, ability to steal defeat from the clutches of victory

Who will win this battle?
	Dr. Doom
	Thanos
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1. Thor
Greatest Hits: Thor 165-169, 337-340 (Beta Ray Bill), 380-385 (Ragnarok)
Weaknesses: Split ends, Kenneth Branagh

vs.

3. Thing
Greatest Hits: Fantastic Four 40, 51, 236, 274
Weakness: propensity to get seasick, love of catch-phrases, easily revolts and terrifies women and children

Who will win this battle
	Thor
	The Thing
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Comic Book Bracket - Metropolis Region

Metropolis Region

This region does not look quite as daunting as the last two, but certainly promises some great battles. I'm looking forward to second round match-ups Thing/Rouge and Blackbolt/Captain Marvel. Woo!

Round 1

1. Thor vs. 16. Deadpool

Deadpool is a likable character and may be under-seeded, but Thor will blow him out of the water.

Winner: Thor

8. Colossus vs. 9. Nightwing

Another interesting 8/9 match-up here, one that could go either way, and again, a nice DC/Marvel Battle. We have already seen in this tournament that power isn't everything, and I question whether Colossus would be willing to deliver the killing blow. Dick Grayson is one of the best characters in comics, at the very least, one of the most underrated. He learned from Batman, so there is no way he is going down in the first round, c'mon people.

Winner: Nightwing

5. Blackbolt vs. 12. Hawkman

The 5/12 upset? Nope. We already had that one. Blackbolt is only a 5 seed because he lives on the moon. Media has a huge earth bias, never stays up to watch battles on the moon.

Winner: Blackbolt

4. Captain Marvel vs. 13 Black Panther

Captain Marvel may not be too well known, but he is a powerful cat, think of him as maybe a Keith Van Horn led Utah. The wisdom of Solomon; the strength of Hercules; the stamina of Atlas; the power of Zeus; the courage of Achilles; and the speed of Mercury. The Black Panther is the first black superhero, so you know he has come out on top against some incredible odds. I'm pretty sure Captain Marvel has beaten Superman in the past, so…

Winner: Captain Whitebread

3. Thing vs. 14. Cable

An interesting match here. We know the Thing will win, but Cable will inflict some pain before all is said and done. Lots of guns. Lots of punches.

Winner: Thing

6. Rogue vs. 11. Nightcrawler

I like the X-man vs. X-man battles. Some feel Rogue is a sleeper at 6, but she has never really showed anything else but brute power. Her skill set – super strength, flight, and power draining – is impressive, but does she have the brains to excel in this tournament? Not sure. I do like Nightcrawler, but I much more like the prospect of Rogue absorbing his powers, turning blue and some crazy flying, teleporting, punching action.

Winner: Rogue

7. Storm vs. 10. Namor the Sub- Mariner

We have another king of the sea here against the weather controlling X-Man. I'm sure people have put Aquaman up against Namor before, but this may be a first time match up. Lots of variables. How does Lightning effect water? Will it hurt Namor? Will his control of water and the seas overpower Storm's? This is definitely a match-up I would like to see. In the end, Storm will come out on top because of her Mohawk and Namor's weird ankle wings.

Winner: Storm

2. Green Lantern vs. 15. Hawkeye

I don't know the full extent of Green Lantern's powers, but I know they are a bit stronger than Hawkeye's arrows.

Winner: Green Lantern

Round 2

1. Thor vs. 9. Nightwing

Well, this matchup could be a good rehearsal for Thor is indeed he makes it all the way to the final against Batman. Nightwing is a Batman Jr, but a little more in touch with humanity and normality. He will frustrate Thor for a good chunk of time. Thor will have to bust out Mjöllnir to settle things down. And yes, this is the first time (maybe surprisingly) that I have mention Mjöllnir in this blog. Grayson's savvy and tricks and traps will only work for so long.

Winner: Thor

4. Captain Marvel vs. 5. Blackbolt

Damn, this is hot second round matchup. Two participants that might not get enough love. This match actually starts with Shazam played by Shaq, or is that Kazam? Either Way Shaq is present and Blackbolt is confused. The battlebegins by Captain Marvel asking Blackbolt for the time. After asking a few times without answer, Marvel gets infuriated. Shazam, a punch-fest begins. These two are really going at it- on the ground, in the air, in the water. Shazam gets the upper hand, and Blackbolt finally says in his mountain shattering voice, "Time for you to die". The resulting force knocks both fighters out. Think WWF match when both wrestlers are unconscious and you are waiting for the first one to come to. This one will last as while. Blackbolt is the first to arwise, being a bit more acclimated to his voice. He is about to pin Marvel when Shaq comes in with a steel chair! Knocking out Blackbolt. The king of the Inhumans is laid out. Marvel places an arm on him. 1-2-3!

Winner: Captain Marvel

3. Thing vs. 6 Rogue

A slugfest indeed. But do to the grotesque nature of the Thing and his thick hide, Rogue will not absorb his powers. So it will just be a fist fight. Rogue will often times seem to have the upper hand, but the Thing will not go down. His resolve will win the day.

Winner: Thing

2. Green Lantern vs. 7. Storm

Storm has no yellow on her costume.

Winner: Green Lantern

Sweet Sixteen

1. Thor

Affiliation: Avengers, Norse gods

Big Wins: many times versus Loki, Ultron, Kang, Bet-Ray Bill

Bad Losses: Ragnarok

Claim to fame: Golden locks, impressive hammer, Olde English speech patterns

NCAA Equivalent: 2004 Duke

Vs.

2. Captain Marvel

Affiliation: Justice League, Justice Society

Big Wins: Superman in Kingdom Come

Bad Losses: Coolness over the years, many comic series

Claim to Fame: Shazam! Captain Whitebread

Battle: There is lots of fire power for these two, but Thor will have much more. Marvel is still beat up from Blackbolt, whereas Thor didn't expend too much energy in his first two matches. The crowd is pulling for the underdog Marvel, but he can't conjure up his future elseworlds Kingdom Come self.

Winner: Thor

3. Thing

Affiliation: Fantastic Four

Big Wins: Dr. Doom, Hulk, Galactus

Bad Losses: Human appearance, true love to the Human Torch then to the Silver Surfer, title of The Strongest Man in the Marvel Universe to the Hulk.

Claim to Fame: "The everloving blue-eyed Thing, idol of millions, 'nuff said"

NCAA Equivalent: 2002 Maryland

Vs.

2. Green Lantern

Affiliation: Justice League, Justice Society

Big Wins: Zero Hero?

Bad Losses: Zero Hour? Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner's haircut

Claim to fame: Power Ring

NCAA Equivalent: 2006 UCLA

Battle: The Green Lantern has never really lived up to his potential, even when Hal Jordan was the Spectre. His powers are inconsistent. The Thing is much smarter and crafty than he leads on. He will wear yellow and not allow himself to lose.

Winner: Thing