Manic Expression

Hello and welcome to In Too Deep, where I over-analyse a certain section of pop culture.

Fear Itself. Last year Marvel's Crisis Crossover. The idea basically is that 7 powerful hammers land on Earth and, co-ordinated by the Red Skulls daughter, revive the Serpent. During this time fear gripes the planet and drives people crazy. Finally Tony Stark gets seven powerful weapons to fight against the Worthy and save the day. Not a bad crisis crossover all up.

But what if it had gone a different way? What if the Serpent had rose up in a different universe. The DC universe for example. What would have happened in the hammers had landed their instead.

First off, lets find a villain to replace the Red Skull's daughter. The one that seeks out the first hammer. I'd say, top of my head, Lex Luthor. He wants power badly enough to go seeking for it. Once he finds the hammer what about the other 7 that land. Who'd have got what?

Firstly we have Kuurth, Breaker of Stone. In the Marvel universe it's Juggernaut, in the DC universe it's Bane. They're both big and both are quite similar in small ways. Plus putting that genius with a hammer is pretty awesome.

Secondly we have Nul, Breaker of Worlds. In the Marvel universe it's Hulk, in the DC universe it's Doomsday, if only because he once killed Superman so he could easily destroy worlds.

Thirdly we have Skirn, Breaker of Men. In the Marvel universe it's Titania, in the DC universe it's Talia al Ghul. She seduces Batman, she'd be good at wielding the hammer.

Fourthly we have Nerkkod, Breaker of Oceans. In the Marvel universe it's Attuma, in the DC universe it's Black Manta. If for no better reason then he's Aquaman's arch foe (hell he's probably Aquaman's only foe that anyone could guess exists).

Fifthly we have Mokk, Breaker of Faith. In the Marvel universe it's Grey Gargoyle, in the DC universe it's Sinestro. His entire superpower is the fact that he can make people so scared that they lose their faith, so he'd be perfect wielding a hammer and wing.

Sixthly we have Greithoth, Breaker of Wills. In the Marvel universe it's Absorbing Man, in the DC universe it's the Joker. If for no other reason then because seeing the Joker with a kick-ass hammer would be too awesome to miss.

Finally we have Angir, Breaker of Souls. In the Marvel universe it's Thing, in the DC universe it's Solomon Grundy. Why? Well because he's a big guy that doesn't seem to die, so he probably doesn't have a soul to begin with. So it'd work since he'd have no soul.

So imagine these seven bad guys given hammers with enough power to make them capable of standing toe to toe with the likes of Superman. Can you imagine Batman trying to battle the hammer-weilding Joker. It'd be awesome. If I could draw I'd show it.

But how would it end? Who'd be the Serpent? My money is that it'd be Darksied being his usual evil self, using the spreading fear to totally conquer the Earth. So how would he be stopped? Well I can imagine that Green Lantern would be the one leading the charge, being the man without fear. All the superheroes would have to confront their fears (Superman's him going crazy and killing; Flash's moving too fast and becoming isolated from society; Batman's him crossing the line and becoming a killer etc). Once the Justice League are capable of overcoming their fears they'd be able to counter the Worthy (the supervillains with the hammers) and finally defeat them, before the humans shake off their fear and believe in their heroes. Darksied is defeated and the Earth is saved.

So there you have it. A very brief look at what would have happened if one story was in another universe. If people like it I might write a few more of theses. If you disagree with anything, or have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment. Till next time.