Batman Battle of the Month: Batman vs. Winter Soldier

Who's ready for another Batman battle? If you are: huzzah! If you're not: start studying the characters or read the debate before casting your vote! You may not think so, but every single vote matters, so make sure you have all of the facts before selecting your choice. If you don't, Galactus will destroy our planet because of you, and you don't want that to happen, do you?

This month, the Winter Soldier (James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes) squares off against the Dark Knight (Bruce Wayne). Will the man who once wielded the shield and has a cybernetic arm defeat Gotham's iconic hero? Or, will the Caped Crusader end up taking the victory? Read on to get all of the details surrounding the match and when you can check back for the results (and more).

Match Rules

• Combatants are in character.
• This is a random encounter.
• They're fighting in a generic downtown city setting. It's unpopulated, at night and all standard city lights remain on. Assume they start roughly 30 feet apart and visible. There's a fair amount of cover between them (parked vehicles, bus stops and such). The entire area is on limits. This means alleys, rooftops, building interiors, etc..
• All characters have standard gear.
• Incapacitation, knockout or death all count as elimination.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!

Viners, you have the week to research, debate and vote! This means there's no reason to vote right away if you don't have all of the info you need to make an educated decision. Check the homepage Friday for an updated article with the following:

• My extended thoughts on the match.
• A Viner Argument in favor of the poll's winner (can't include scans and must be in the poll thread).
• Extra thoughts from other Comic Vine staffers.
• If we're lucky, blurbs from industry talent.

If you have a moment, please vote in this poll and speak your mind. I'm always looking to keep this segment fun and I have plenty of ideas for it that I'd like to propose over time. Your input is greatly appreciated. Seriously, I mean that.

Also, feel free to make future match suggestions in the comments below or via Gregg's Twitter page.

Not even going to try to explain it and win user argument or whatever but I know Batman wins.

Id say Batman would win this one but WS would give him hell before going down.

Batman wins the poll, SPITESTOMP, but Winter Soldier could truly win in a fight IMO.

Great enthusiasm. Come on, don't just throw in the towel like that!

How about instead of giving up and saying "BATMAN OBVIOUSLY WINS THE POLL BUT HE SHOULDN'T," you make a case and sway potential voters? Seems like a far more productive way to post, no? ;)

Edit: Just saw you did indeed state your opinion in the poll thread.

Thanks. :D

@k4tzm4n: its all good. but I hate that batman wins on popularity, He could win or take a majority over Bucky I guess. but its gonna look like a stomp because not a lot of people know bucky that well.

Batman...there is no way WS could win here

..and so it begins.

Bucky is almost as good as Cap and in the Avengers/JLA crossover Cap and Bats fought to a stand still, so this will be extremely close but we all know Batman is gonna win lol

Bucky is gonna put in a darn awesome fight but tell me this. How well would Bucky perform compared to Jason? Is he above Todd or below him? I am comparing him to Jason because the both of them have more or less the same M.O.
And Bruce owned Jason pretty fast when he got serious in Under the Hood, when he got serious. I don't know much about Winter Soldier at the moment so I'm just speaking my mind.
*runs off to do research*

Winter Soldier is leagues above Red Hood. Not even close. He's sort of like Captain America using guns, with assassination training ect.

I have read a few issues with him that doesn't involve him wearing red pants. I've also read quite a few issues of him during the 'Heroic Age' as Captain America. But those were a long time ago and I forgot some of em'.
Do you have any good scans of his feats?

@i_like_swords: agreed

I want to say wintwr soldier, but I THINK batman takes a majority.

But bucky is miles above Jason.

But most people may say batman rather than WS since they are unfamiliar with the latter and assume Batman wins.

Bucky would beat red hood pretty easily.

@veshark is probably better for that, I only have what I found off a respect thread.

Speaking of which - http://www.comicvine.com/bucky-barnes/4005-40470/forums/bucky-barnes-respect-thread-662398/

Hopefully people make good cases for both characters. I think it's a really even fight.

its 71 percent for batman so just go ahead and close the poll.

@noahmcnasty: even though in a random encounter Winter Solider would win more often than not!

no you have it wrong ....Red Hood is leagues above Winter Soldier Not even close. He's sort of like Batman using guns, with league of assassins training ect. ......anyway batman beats winter soldier hands down....BATMAN WINS AGAIN !.... BATMAN IS THE BEST

He's nowhere near Batmans level. He's still his junior by far. He has all the "training", but in terms of actual feats he's not done anything that puts him close to Batman or Winter Solider. Winter Soldier stopped being Captain Americas sidekick once the Russians found and trained him. He's now top tier in the Marvel universe, whereas Red Hood is 3rd rate former sidekick barely worth a mention.

Batman has just as good a chance of winning as Bucky. Don't let popularity cloud your judgement before you vote.

This hurts my head. If another Batman army of biased noobs overload the poll then there really is no point in using him in battles.

Bucky is a highly skilled human fighter with large amounts of war-time and assassination experience, and has a superhuman arm that can release an electrical charge and an EMP as well as being superstrong. And Batman is Batman.

I think Bats takes this, but I'm going to want to do a bit of research first. Bucky's cybernetic arm is a wild card.

WS vs Nightwing maybe, or vs red Hood it's OK... But vs Batman? Really??

*Which is why he has 70% of the vote right now*

Except Winter Soldier stopped being a sidekick after World War 2, and is actually on Captain Americas level now. Nightwing and Red Hood aren't close to him yet.

Fixed.

@i_like_swords: it really hurts my head how high some people place batman. I have heard many of people say Bruce can beat Iron Fist, or Luke Cage or well you get the point and i just stop and think

@ancient_0f_days:

Well if you want to go into details, fine. I don't think not having the shield is a disadvantage, since it isn't exactly fundamental to his character anyway. And actually he is "nearly" as skilled as Cap. He's no longer a sidekick.

Just as Batman would beat Captain America due to them being equal in physicals (where it counts) but having a far greater degree of skill and experience, he would also beat Bucky.

His arm ups the game a bit, but not enough to make a significant difference.

I'd say this goes down with Bucky firing, Batman hiding...waiting for his oppurtunity, maybe some smoke bombs, then a swift few kicks to the head, taking a bewildered Bucky by surprise...

People have said Batman can take Galactus. Some of his fanboys bias knows absolutely no bounds.

@i_like_swords: really Galactus? i havent seen that yet! must be those batrangs

this is completely wrong. Captain America is way stronger than Bats, Much Faster. Captain America by all means should crush Batman. And Cap isnt exactly unskilled i mean the guy has fought Iron Fist and such.

- Captain America has better physicals than Batman, and they are equal in skill. Batman has gadgets, Cap has his shield. It goes either way 50/50. It's debatable if he'd beat Bucky.

- His arm is an important factor. He's been able to deflect bullets with it, can discharge EMPs, electrocute people and it gives him 2 ton striking strength, as well as the strength to rip off Iron Man face plate.

- Bucky can fight in the dark, and has even defeated a group of ninjas with Wolverine in a forest at night. If you think a smoke grenade would throw Bucky off you're horribly mistaken.

Nah, it's his anti-Galactus spray that he keeps in his utility belt.

@i_like_swords: he is not nearly as skilled as cap, and his bionic arm gives him nothing of an advantage besides strength and reaction speed which may or may not be equal to or greater than Batman's. The Bat-Suit is completely insulated, EMP's and electricity don't even phase Batman unless it is of extreme voltage or magical. Batman's suit is almost completely bullet proof as shown in some recent issues, Bucky has no real advantages over Batman that are game breaking in any way and as such he shouldn't get more than 3 wins tops...unless you got feats to post that would prove me wrong.

I chose the one with the gunner.

Well he is. He's got a lot of impressive feats to put him on Cap's level, and I feel like his bionic arm makes up for the small lapse in skill (this is in comparison to Cap, btw, not Batman).

And I don't remember calling a verdict on the fight, I was just saying that to compare Bucky to Red Hood is ludicrous, seeing as Bucky isn't far off Cap.

I don't have many feats to post because I'm not an expert on Bucky (or Batman). Was just making an observation. You make a good case for Batman, but we'll have to wait and see what Bucky's fans can share.

@i_like_swords: I know, I'm just making it clear...he isn't just as skilled as Cap and as many skill feats as Bucky may have Steve's are better and there are more of them, and Batman isn't going to win cus a bunch of fans think he can beat galactus. I simply made a verdict cus i felt like it.

got to say Batman, more experience, more skilled and way smarter than Bucky...

but it's close, Bucky does has his Cybernetic arm which potentially increases his strength. Close, very close, but Batman takes it.

@ancient_0f_days said:

lol.

Captain America has lived longer than Batman, and has more experience. He also isn't that less skilled than Batman, and they aren't physically equals.................................................................................................

He shared a diffrint opinion thts so funnay! lolllz!1!

@i_like_swords said:

You've said that you are not an expert on Bucky, yet you seem pretty confident that Bucky is far superior to Red Hood. Would you mind elaborating on this stance a little bit more? I've seen what you have said about Bucky not being a sidekick anymore and whatnot... but I am looking for something a little more. Thanks.

If you don't feel like it, no worries.

Batman

@i_like_swords: that wasn't a different opinion ... it was completely factual

Everything I'm saying is based off of Bucky's respect thread and what someone said about Bucky in a CAV against me. He's taken down an enhanced version of Captain America in a few panels, taken down Wolverine (as well as tracked him for months without being spotted). He's got plenty of marksmanship feats like shooting Crossbones while falling out a window, sniping Madam Masque, shooting Hawkeyes arrows midair.. I'll just link you to it. http://www.comicvine.com/bucky-barnes/4005-40470/forums/bucky-barnes-respect-thread-662398/

And also, apparently there are very little feats for Red Hood. I've asked around and people have been saying that in his new series he hasn't done anything impressive. I'm not going to go and buy the whole series myself so I can only assume what the majority agree on.

What's Red Hood done in comparison?

When debating comic characters, saying who you think would win is never "factual". Every conclusion we draw is our own opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

However, we use facts to come to those conclusions. An opinion backed up by facts (like yours), makes what you're saying more credible, but it never makes the opinion itself factual. I'm not even disagreeing with you, all I did was correct someone about Red Hood. I'm just waiting to see what others have to say before making my vote.

@i_like_swords: Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

@omnicrono: No problemo

@i_like_swords: he wasn't commenting on who i thought would win.....if you were paying any attention

I would like to say Winter Soldier, but it's anybody's match. Both characters are skilled in their own rights and have been able to hold their own against creditable characters.

I say it's a draw!

@ancient_0f_days: Well it was in regards to us disagreeing about how skilled Bucky is compared to Cap. I don't really know what you're trying to prove at this point anyway, but I'll leave you to it.

is it really that complicated