THE CONTEST: GREEN LANTERN versus DARKSTAR
It had to happen! The Grandmaster has watched the Secret Wars on
Infinite Earths for many years and now he comes with a challenge: I must
select 12 heroes & villains from the DC Universe to do battle
against his Champions of the Marvel Universe! Grandmaster's team
competed in the first Contest of Champions and set an allowance of 5000pts based on fixed Fight Club Rankings. Each battle will be decided by you in fantasy fight polls held on Twitter, Facebook and Patreon!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 2 (Average)Intelligence: Draw 2 (Average)
Speed: Darkstar 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 3 (Strong Willed)
Agility: Darkstar 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Draw 4 (Trained)
Energy: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Draw 22 (Champion)
The last battle flipped the lead in my favour, but The Grandmaster still has a lot more spending power for the battles ahead. Today he's got another strong 0pt selection on his team, but unlike the battle with Blitzkrieg, this time I'm conserving points with an equal challenger I think is a perfect match!
The Grandmaster didn't go for one of Russia's well known physical power-houses when he recruited for the original Contest of Champions. Instead, he chose the complex personal ethos and versatile super-powers of Laynia Petrovna: better known to the world as Darkstar!
She was raised from childhood to harness her mutant ability to wield the other-dimensional energies of the Darkforce for the Soviet Union. This is the same power connected to Cloak, but her expertise allows her to fly, teleport, and project large solid objects. We haven't yet documented these powers in action, but she's used them to go toe-to-toe with Magneto, Doctor Doom, Hulk, and Sentinels!
Darkstar and energy constructs? That sounds like something right up the Green Lantern's alley!
In the DC Universe the Darkstars are a rival organization of intergalactic lawmen. We caught a brief glimpse of Hal Jordan butting heads with one in Green Lantern #40, but to match The Grandmaster's unranked bargain recruit, I'm looking to a Green Lantern we haven't yet featured on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: Jessica Cruz!
Before she became a charter member of the Green Lantern Corps, Cruz had the unusual distinction of wearing the Ring of Volthoom: an interdimensional ring possessed with an entity that fed on the wearer's internalized anxiety and fears. Fear was something Jessica had plenty of, having escaped killers who murdered he friends when they stumbled upon them disposing of bodies.
Darkstar's darkforce energy can absorb light into its dimensional void -- which could be a problem even for a Green Lantern. Encounters with the New Gods and Darkseid have only increased Jessica's powers, which is why I think she could be perfectly suited to match and destroy the shadowy constructs of Darkstar. They've both faced the other side of death. I think Jessica Cruz is the one who came back stronger!
The Verdict (Updated May 11th)...
It boiled down to a battle of light against darkness. I put my chips on the light, hoping Green Lantern's willpower could outshine the abysmal constructs of Darkstar's dark force power.
Green Lantern started strong, no doubt benefitting from strong brand recognition -- but the battle soon heated up, to become one of the closest match-ups The Contest has seen so far!
Nazar Talk Comics jumped in early to advocate for Green Lantern. Jessica Cruz is still a relatively new ringslinger, but the anxious temperament that defined her early appearances has been offset by newer adventures. A temporarily fatal encounter with Darkseid left her able to project Omega Beams from her hands -- a unique ability that may've be on the minds of people voting for her!
Writer David Gallaher knows a bit about both characters, having written Convergence: Green Lantern Corps and Darkstar and The Winter Guard. It was exciting to hear his perspective, which came down to one simple deciding factor "by a hair": Darkstar absorbs light!
During the week we saw Darkstar's light absorption give Sunfire trouble in a spotlight on Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions #2. Sunfire was able to burn his way out of the black void with his atomic flame, but there's no guarantee a Green Lantern would do the same.
With Facebook polls still not functioning,, it was looking like it might end in a split draw -- until the Twitter vote was broken at the eleventh hour! In blackest night Darkstar took victory with 54.2%!
That means Round 4 goes to The Grandmaster in another nail biter!
We'll be back for Round 5 later this month! Keep your eyes on The Contest for the latest battles and past results. Hit up Twitter, Facebook, and Patreon for regular updates and new voting polls. You can also let me know what you think about the result in the comments or on social media!
Winner: Darkstar
The Grandmaster: - 2
Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: - 2
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