u/R4cco0n

Hopefully, this will put an end to the market overload and the constant stream of new events every two weeks. Marvel is addicted to events and bombards the market with issues that end up in the bargain bin two weeks after release. Hopefully, this will all come to an end, and we can return to good storytelling and one annual event.

- https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2026/05/18/big-changes-in-marvel-leadership-buckley-out-winderbaum-and-abido-in/

With the line, "My God, I don't think I've ever felt a harder blow," Chip Zdarsky is clearly referencing "Fallen Son." When Steve says he's never taken a harder blow, it's a direct reference to all the old traumas from the past.

The power metaphor in Zdarsky's work.

I've taken a close look at Chip Zdarsky's work, and he doesn't show us the brutally mutilated Peter to say, "Hey, look, Spidey doesn't have enough armor points." Instead, he demonstrates that Ross is willing to literally strangle the most innocent and hopeful symbols of the Marvel Universe in their beds.

I love that Chip Zdarsky also shows us an unhinged Carol when Ross kills Tony. Kelly Thompson showed us that. Anger, grief, rage, and pain are elements that are repeatedly used to push explicitly female characters to their limits. These elements were previously used with Wanda in "House of M" and Jean Grey as Phoenix.

Carol's emotions are running high because she's lost a loved one, and I love it when the writers unleash all her emotions. In "Armageddon," available as part of this comic giveaway day, Chip Zdarsky presents, in an extremely compressed and explosive way, what's also a recurring theme in his other works: Ross as the ultimate, unstoppable machine of destruction, who can only be stopped by Carol's absolutely relentless barrage of attacks.

Steve's statement underscores the sheer brutality and ruthless, military precision that Ross displays in his Hulk form. Zdarsky uses this contrast perfectly to show us that Steve is being pushed to his absolute physical and mental limits. Chip Zdarsky delves deep into Marvel history to demonstrate that Ross is the most dangerous adversary the Avengers have ever faced.

He truly understands how to portray the characters' emotions. That much is undeniable.

The image is the perfect visual metaphor for what constantly happens in the powerscaling community, and it is often incredibly amusing to watch powerscalers attempt to squeeze the inherent narrative freedom of a comic book into the rigid, mathematical corset of a video game.

In doing so, two worlds constantly collide.

1. In a beat 'em up, there are strict rules. This means that every character has a fixed health bar (HP), as well as precise hitboxes, damage values ​​per frame, and clear limitations. The point is that a beat 'em up follows a mathematical logic dictated by the game code.

2. A comic panel is pure art and storytelling. Who wins? The honest answer is always, the one the writer wants to win in the script.

Powerscalers often take a panel and argue as if a comic book character had an invisible stamina bar like in Street Fighter. When creating a panel, writers and artists think about dynamism, drama, and emotion, not whether Hulk's muscle contraction defies thermodynamics. They're not drawing frame data; they're drawing a cool story.

When a power scaler enters these panels into their spreadsheet, they lose it. The panels perfectly illustrate how logic completely implodes when you try to account for comics like a video game.

- The power scaler logic. Look at the shockwave. It rips through dimensions and realities while creating rifts in the fabric of space-time. This means Hulk's punching power is at least multiverse-level+ at infinite speed.

- The writer's reality. It has to look incredibly epic because it's the furious finale of a gigantic crossover. The artist uses colorful lightning bolts and cracks, as well as powerful onomatopoeia like "STRAKKKT," to give the reader the feeling that creation itself is trembling.

And now comes the joke of it all. In a fighting game like Tekken or Street Fighter, something like this would trigger a huge patch announcement like, "Hulk has been crashed from S-tier to D-tier, please fix it." This kind of balancing doesn't exist in comics because characters don't have constant stats; they have narrative functions. In issue A, Hulk is a force of nature who eats gods for breakfast, and in issue B, he's stopped by a laser-guided special wall because he has to be captured so the story can progress.

The conclusion is this: Anyone who tries to derive a logical mathematical formula from comic panels will inevitably end up with a headache.

Physical strength, or power, doesn't exist in a fictional world, and that's the most fundamental truth one can utter about fiction. And that's precisely the concept where the entire powerscaling community falls short.

In a fictional world, nothing is real—neither mass, nor energy, nor the laws of thermodynamics, and certainly not "power levels." This means that if Hulk smashes a universe in one comic and is knocked unconscious by an electric shock in the next, it's not because he has inconsistent stats. It's because ink on paper doesn't have muscles. And why is that? Quite simply, because a character's strength isn't a metric, but a stylistic device.

Powerscalers often confuse two completely different things.

• Powerscaler mindset: "Hulk has infinite strength."

• reality: Hulk has exactly as much strength as the artist needs to make the panel look cool.

• Powerscaler mindset: "Thor flies at 10 times the speed of light."

• reality: Thor moves as fast as the scene's drama requires to arrive on time.

• Powerscaler mindset: "That's an illogical scaling error!"

• reality: That's a deliberate choice by the writer to tell a compelling story.

Power in a story is nothing more than a metaphor.

• This means that when Spider-Man is buried under tons of rubble and fights his way free, it's not about his leg strength, but about his indomitable will and his love for his Aunt May.

Anyone attempting to measure these emotional and narrative tools with a calculator and physics textbook is essentially trying to calculate the temperature of a poem.

​"The person who'd win in a fight is the person that the scriptwriter wants to win!" - Stan Lee

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- This is a classic situation where the narrative context is often completely overlooked or ignored. In Jonathan Hickman's Avengers, and specifically in this storyline, the confrontation between Carol and Hulk is less about a classic showdown and much more about tactical necessity and character dynamics.

- In the panel, we see that Hulk is under extreme stress, and this is the crucial factor that everyone is overlooking. Carol and Clint's task is to stall Hulk long enough or calm him down until the Avengers' plan takes effect.

- Carol doesn't fly into the fight with the intention of killing Hulk, but rather to control the situation, while Rhody's "Incoming, you monster" is more of a friendly taunt than genuine hostility. Carol lands blows that keep the Hulk, one of the physically strongest beings in the Marvel Universe, on the ground. The panel where Carol takes a deep breath ("Phew") shows that she's fighting hard, but she's by no means defeated. She's the one in control of the fight, while Clint merely watches.

- And now comes what was Carol's task: "victory" through tactics. Hulk says, "Feel better?", which shows that she has physically exhausted him to the point where he is responsive again. However, when Hulk pushes her away, Hickman uses this to showcase Carol's speed and versatility. She is thrown into the atmosphere, which isn't a death sentence for her, but merely takes her out of the action for a short time ("We just lost Carol").

- The Hulk is then "calm" enough for Black Panther and the others to continue their plan. Powerscalers often use the moment Carol is thrown to say, "Look, the Hulk is stronger." But that was never the point. Hickman's goal was to show that Carol is a heavyweight and one of the few who dares to punch the Hulk directly in the face to "shake him up." Powerscalers never understood that. Hickman's Avengers operate like a paramilitary special forces unit, while Carol perfectly fulfills her role as a "tank" and distraction.

- In New Avengers Vol. 3 #28, the strategic resolution of the fight against the Hulk is further revealed, further weakening the powerscaling argument against Carol. Here, Hickman clarifies that Carol's deployment was part of a larger plan. While Rhodey reports that he has used up his last wave of War Machines against the Hulk, Maria Hill initiates the next step: the drop of the package.

- And the package is Bruce Banner, who is dropped from a Helicarrier. Steve makes it pretty clear here that he has no problem unleashing an "emotionally neutralized sociopath Banner" on his friends, the Illuminati, by activating its implanted control node. The Avengers' plan was never for Carol to defeat the Illuminati Hulk alone. Their fight was merely to keep the opposing Illuminati Hulk in place and occupied until the Avengers could deploy their own Hulk.

- The most important panel can be found here. Carol returns from orbit. Natasha reports to Roberto da Costa that Captain Marvel has returned from low orbit. Despite the blow that sent her flying into space, she is immediately ready for battle and stands resolutely by her teammates. Hickman shows Carol here who survived a blow from the Hulk that sent her into space virtually unscathed and perfectly fulfilled her role as a tactical stand-in to enable the Banner drop. She is thus one of the strongest and most formidable presences on Hickman's battlefield, a fact underscored by her determined expression upon her return.

- Hickman portrays Carol as a leader. Her physical confrontation with Hulk underscores her position as one of the most powerful Avengers, not her weakness. The bottom line is this: Anyone claiming Carol was weak here ignores the fact that she single-handedly dominated and occupied Hulk for several minutes so the rest of the team could complete the mission. In Hickman's world, efficiency is more important than who can "hit harder." And when powerscalers claim Carol is weak because she was thrown back, they're ignoring this preparation.

- It was her job. She's the backup, explicitly there to absorb the Hulk's physical violence. Carol knew exactly what she was getting herself into. The fact that she actually manages to keep Hulk on the ground and is out of breath at the end shows that she largely delivered on her promise ("knock his ass out"). Hickman presents a Carol who takes on the burden of the most dangerous task to protect her friends like Rhodey, and that is a demonstration of heroism and power, not inferiority. It was never about who was the strongest, because Carol enters this fight fully aware that she is facing a force of nature, and she does so with a smile. This makes her, narratively speaking, one of the strongest characters in Hickman's run.

- The panels before the fight are the ultimate proof that Hickman is never concerned with a simple comparison of strength, but rather with strategic warfare. If power scalers label Carol "weak" here, they are missing the entire intellectual core of the story. The fact that she is even able to physically challenge Hulk to the point where he is "distracted" enough for the rest of the plan places her on a level of power that few heroes reach, and anyone who sees her as weak here has never understood that she is up against the personified force of nature of the Marvel Universe and has perfectly fulfilled her task.

When you consider how many horror characters Marvel actually has and that they don't utilize this potential, simply rehashing their standard heroes, I understand why many fans are disappointed by the reveal. Because Marvel has frighteningly confirmed its fear of venturing down new paths and making creative decisions.

Marvel is afraid to truly try something new and bold. They have so many characters that they could create a completely separate horror universe, isolated from the main universe, using only these characters. But somehow they lack the courage to do it.

- I'm addressing the tension between Watsonian and Doylist analysis. These are two terms that originally come from Sherlock Holmes fandom, but they apply perfectly to comics.

- Watsonian (In-Universe): The world is treated as if it were real.

- Doylistic (Out-of-Universe): The work is viewed as a construct.

- It almost seems to me as if people forget that someone is sitting at a desk pulling the strings. I understand that for many fans, the appeal of a medium lies in completely immersing themselves in a fictional world and maintaining the illusion that the Joker is truly unpredictable. I personally prefer the Doylist approach and much prefer to foreground the author's intention, because that's how I recognize the true quality or message of a work, since authors use characters as symbols, tools, or metaphors.

- The issue of powerscaling is essentially the tip of the iceberg, because it's where the two worlds—internal logic and external authorial intent—clash most sharply. When fans argue about whether Goku or Superman wins, they often ignore the fact that these characters follow completely different narrative rules.

- Goku is a vehicle for the enhancement of martial arts skills and the breaking of boundaries. That's the logic of shonen manga.

- Superman is often a modern mythological figure whose strength is precisely as great as the moral weight of the story demands.

- The real problem arises when you realize that the artist probably just thought, "This looks cool and impressive." But anyone who truly wants to understand why a story works or fails must look beyond the confines of the fictional world and take the author seriously as the creator.

- Another problem is that for many, powerscaling is less a literary analysis and more a competition for identification. When a fan argues that their character is stronger, it feels like a personal victory. The Doylist approach, which I prefer, would instead ask, "What significance does it have for the story that this character loses this fight?" because a defeat is often narratively far more valuable than a victory, but for a power scaler, this is simply an anti-feat that diminishes the character.

- The real problem with the Watsonian approach is that in the fictional world, one far too often loses touch with reality. If a writer makes a mistake and forgets a character or an ability they had three issues earlier, the Watsonian fan tries to explain it away with a complex theory like, "He must have been weakened by interdimensional radiation!" In reality, the writer probably just had a deadline and forgot.

- And what many too often forget is that comics are modern myths or political parables. A good example of this is that the X-Men were originally a metaphor for the civil rights movement and discrimination. People who view it purely from a Watsonian perspective instead spend hours discussing the biology of the X-gene or the efficiency of Sentinels as a weapons system. And the result is that the social relevance and the human message are completely lost because the arguments are solely about fictional genetics.

- I've learned that a healthy approach to fiction involves viewing the work as a dialogue between author and reader, and that the characters aren't autonomous beings in a parallel world, but rather tools with which the author conveys feelings, ideas, or warnings into our world. It's almost ironic that people try to make fiction more realistic by justifying everything internally, but achieve the exact opposite because they completely distance themselves from the reality of the creative process, such as deadlines, editorial guidelines, and creative visions.

- The two panels featuring Carol and Hulk perfectly illustrate the core of my critique. The panel in which Hulk smashes a black hole has a clear narrative purpose: isolation. The writer uses the black hole as the ultimate prison to show that Hulk's rage is the only thing that endures, even as the universe around him dies. The real question, in essence, is: Why a black hole? Quite simply, because in our reality it symbolizes finality. By having Hulk destroy a black hole, the writer is saying, "There is no end to this pain and this rage." It's a hyperbole of inexorability.

- In Jed MacKay's Avengers Vol. 9, we often see Carol in extreme situations. That MacKay depicts her at the center of a singularity or intercepting it serves a completely different purpose. First and foremost, it's about the message. And that message is that Carol is the anchor of the Avengers. While characters like Tony or T'Challa think strategically, Carol is the one who physically throws herself between the end of the world and her team. Jed Mackay isn't saying Carol can withstand X tons of pressure, but rather that Carol will never budge, no matter how great the pressure. The panels below are meant to inspire awe for her will, not rewrite a physics textbook.

- The respective writer uses the black hole because it's the most powerful object we can imagine. And defeating it is a visual shorthand for "This character has transcended all human capabilities at this point in their journey."

- The bottom line is that the Doylist approach is the healthier one. It's the cure for fan mania, restoring perspective and treating art like art, not like a technical data sheet. There are also three key benefits for mental hygiene and understanding media when adopting the Doylist approach:

1. An end to toxic debates.

2. Appreciation of creativity.

3. Return to Reality.

- Those who think only in Watsonian terms build themselves a cage of fictional facts, while those who think in Doylist terms see the architect, the materials, and the intention behind the structure.

What truly sets her apart from other heroes is the way her powers actually work. It's not simply a blunt force like physical strength, which every Superman clone possesses. Sailor Moon's powers are based on cleansing and healing, which emphasizes her angelic wings and divinity. The nature of her powers is unique in fiction, and there is no other character who is even remotely similar.

- In the world of Sailor Moon, every living being in the universe possesses a Star Seed. These crystals are the physical manifestation of the power of a planet or an entire galaxy.

- Usagi is the reincarnation of an entity whose soul is the Silver Crystal. From the Transformation's Brooch to the Eternal Article, these artifacts trigger her metamorphosis. They envelop Usagi in her Sailor Armor. This isn't a fashion statement, but rather a protective shield. In this state, her body can withstand the immense energy of her Star Seed, the Silver Crystal, without being consumed.

- From the Moon Stick to the Eternal Tiara, Usagi's power would be like an uncontrolled explosion without these rods; they function as a kind of focusing lens. They concentrate the diffuse energy of the Silver Crystal into a focused beam or a purifying wave.

- The Silver Crystal is the core. All other rods and brooches act as casings or tools for this single crystal. Only through the crystal can the wands unleash their full, space-time-altering power across a multiversal range. It is considered a source of infinite power, capable of purifying matter, dissolving enemies, and bestowing life.

- In the distant future, all the Sailor Crystals of the galaxy merge to form the Cosmos Crystal. The resulting Lambda Power is the ultimate force of order and the primal energy from which the entire universe is composed. This allows her to rearrange the fundamental particles of existence. Lambda Power should not be confused with an ordinary attack. It is more accurately described as a state of total control over the fundamental structure of the multiverse. When Usagi activates Lambda Power, she operates on a plane that transcends space and time. To use Lambda Power is to bear the weight of all existence, as it is the power of complete self-surrender for the greater good.

- The Holy Grail is particularly fascinating. It allows Usagi to absorb and harmonize the energies of the other Sailor Guardians. It serves as an amplifier, temporarily raising her power to a level she could not yet sustain on her own.

- Instead of fighting with physical strength, she uses these instruments to restore harmony to the cosmos.

I love that because it's not a mindless superpower based solely on raw violence.

On free TV, we couldn't press pause like we can today with streaming services. As a child, you learned to follow the plot while simultaneously watching the screen attentively. That's a really ingenious trick. Today we can press pause and calmly scan the screen. That wasn't as easy back then.

- Carol and Hal Jordan have far more in common than Carol and Superman. Both are Air Force test pilots. Hal Jordan is known as the "Man Without Fear." Carol is known as the woman who "always gets back up," and both have a serious problem with authority.

- Both Carol and Hal serve as the link between Earth and space. The visual representation of their powers is also very similar.

- Both Carol and Hal inherited their titles from an alien. For Hal, willpower is the fuel for his ring. Carol's sheer willpower is often emphasized, allowing her to push her energy beyond human limits. Both Carol and Hal define themselves by their rank and function within a larger, universal system.

- While Carol is portrayed as physically as strong as Superman, this doesn't make her an equivalent to him, as they convey completely different messages. Superman's core message is inspiration through kindness, while Carol's message is empowerment through resilience.

- A perfect keyword for this is "Higher, Further, Faster." Carol's message isn't about perfection, but about ambition. It's about pushing boundaries.

Carol is the woman who breaks through the ceiling built for her, while Superman shows us what the world could be. Superman stands above us as a role model, while Carol fights alongside us. This is why Carol's message to readers is, "No one has the right to tell you who you are or how strong you are allowed to be." Superman is a symbol of hope; his mere presence is meant to tell people that everything will be alright.

- In many fandom discussions, Carol is often criticized for not being as "likable" or "approachable" as Superman, but that's not her job. She's not meant to be the friendly neighbor, but the woman who breaks through all the barriers erected for her.

- It's essentially the classic "God vs. Mirror" example. Superman is what we want to be, Carol is what we are. As a god, Superman has to be "approachable" for the reader, otherwise he'd come across like Omni-Man or Homelander. Carol is human reality. People who have to assert themselves in a harsh world or in a male-dominated field like the military can't afford to be constantly "sympathetic."

- The expectation that Carol has to be as radiant as Superman misses the point entirely. Superman is the inspiration, Carol is the representation. We don't need to sympathize with Carol because we can identify with her. We can't identify with Superman because he's a god. That's why he has to be sympathetic to us. Carol, however, embodies us humans and all our weaknesses and flaws. That's why she doesn't have to come across as sympathetic, but rather as someone we can identify with. That's why Carol's stories are about how she, as a human, tries to cope with the burden of being a goddess. While Superman's stories are about how he, as a god, learns to be human.

- Carol often acts according to the principle, "The good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one." In the trolley problem, she would pull the lever without hesitation, calculating, "Five lives against one. I'll save the five." She accepts that in that instant, she becomes an aggressor to avert a greater catastrophe.

- Superman operates according to a morality where there are no acceptable losses. Carol is willing to make a difficult decision and get her hands dirty to prevent a greater catastrophe. Superman would desperately try to save both sides or risk putting himself in the line of fire.

- Unfortunately, in reality, life is rarely so clean that everyone can be saved, while Superman's "humanity" and unwavering belief in goodness sometimes blind him to harsh realities. Superman is an inspiration, but Carol is an identification. Carol represents the painful reality of having to choose between the lesser of two evils.

- To put it simply, Superman saves people, but Carol saves the world and accepts the hatred of people for doing so. Superman is a monument, while Carol and Hal are engines.

- And now you know that Carol has absolutely nothing in common with Superman and isn't someone we're meant to sympathize with. She's a tough-as-nails US Air Force pilot who tells us, damn it, to get back up when we're down and doubting ourselves. She's the power center around which all the other heroes rally when even godlike beings fail.

- No, this isn't about power scaling, but about morality and ethics. I find a discussion about the moral values ​​of the heroes far more interesting than pitting them against each other in hypothetical battles. Besides, it says a lot about ourselves. I have researched all the information to the best of my ability and hope it is sufficient for a good discussion.

- In fact, Peter and Carol represent the two major poles of moral philosophy.

- Carol often acts according to the principle, "The good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one." Peter often acts according to, "No one dies if I can prevent it." Carol is willing to make a difficult decision and get her hands dirty to prevent a greater catastrophe, while Peter would desperately try to save both sides or risk his own life.

- Unfortunately, in reality, life is rarely so clean that you can save everyone. Peter often represents the wishful thinking that you never have to choose between two evils if you fight hard enough for it. Carol represents the painful reality of having to choose between the lesser of two evils.

- When Carol pulls the lever, she's called "cold" or "heartless." But in reality, it's a form of extreme empathy, taking the blame to prevent something worse. Peter gets to remain the hero because he doesn't even touch the lever, while the dead on the tracks are often forgotten as long as he puts on a sad face, and everything is forgiven.

- Carol holds the title of Captain Marvel and takes the responsibilities that come with it very seriously, which means she can't afford the luxury of washing her hands of the matter.

- Bruce is a pacifist. He often sees himself as the flaw in the system and tries to shape his existence in a way that doesn't harm others.

- Wanda's morality is closely tied to her grief and love. Her moral value is the longing for belonging, but her flaw is often a loss of touch with reality when her pain becomes too much.

- Jennifer Walters is the bridge between the wild world of superheroes and civilized society. As a lawyer, she champions the value of justice within the system.

- Ororo sees the world as a balance. She intervenes when the balance is disrupted but remains deeply connected to nature and life, making her powers a metaphor for her own values.

- Tony is the epitome of "I'll solve the problem." His value is progress at any cost.

- Strange sees the "big picture." He is willing to sacrifice lives if mathematical probability dictates it's the only chance for the universe.

- For Steve, the journey is more important than the destination. His value lies in his unwavering commitment to injustice, regardless of the cost.

- As a god and king, Thor's value lies in his duty of care for those weaker than himself. This often puts him in conflict between divine pride and human humility.

- The moral values ​​of the F4 are actually quite complex, as they make decisions as a family, and each individual's moral values ​​are of great importance. Reed represents the value of curiosity and logic, while Sue constantly has to remind him that people aren't mathematical variables. Ben is the human heart, and Johnny is reckless, making mistakes but learning from them.

- As ruler of Wakanda, T'Challa would adopt a stance in the Trolley Problem characterized by a sense of duty, strategic responsibility, and the protection of life.

- The one closest to Carol is actually Scott Summers. Both of them get their hands dirty so that others like Miles or Peter can maintain their moral innocence. Scott is definitely the ultimate pragmatist. He sacrifices his own moral purity without hesitation to save his people. He's the general who makes the decisions no one else wants to make.

- You are welcome to discuss, but please keep it objective. Every hero has their own moral values, just like us. Just because we disagree with someone else's values ​​doesn't mean they're wrong. Remember, it's about identification and better understanding the hero we love, or even the moral values ​​of other heroes.