We recently came home from holiday on an overnight ferry. Once on board we, of course, wandered around, found the bar, the restaurant and the shop. What most adult couples probably don’t do is buy two packets of Top Trumps to play. Of course Scifi hubby couldn’t resist when he saw both Marvel and DC Top Trumps for sale. So we spent the evening sat in the bar arguing about who is stronger Batman or Superman, the Thing or Hulk and whether Batman/Bruce Wayne and Superman/Clerk Kent should have the same scores as their alter egos.

The DC set uses some really nice art by an artist called Ariel Olivetti who we actually met at New York Comic Con last year and have a Batman/Joker commission from on our wall. So whilst we argued about whether Lois Lane really only scores 5/10 for intelligence I could at least admire Superman.

It’s amazing how detailed, and passionate some of the debates became with the DC set. According to the cards Harley Quinn is the same (low) intelligence level as Lois. Ok so Lois is sooooo stupid she can’t work out that Clark is Superman but she’s also an award winning journalist so surely not that stupid. Harley Quinn was a psychiatrist before she went loony, so again, not so stupid really. The Riddler scores 6/10 yet designs puzzles that confound Batman. Commissioner Gordon is smarter than the lot of them – a little unlikely.

I managed to prove that can’t tell the different Robins apart so got a long lecture on who they all are and how to tell at a glance – apparently the clue is in the cloak. They are: Dick Grayson (who becomes Knightwing), Jason Todd (murdered by the Joker but resurrected by Ra’s Al Ghul and becomes the Red Hood), Timothy Drake, Stephanie Brown (yes Stephanie – a blonde and female Robin), Damian Wayne (the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Ghul) and Carrie Kelly (also female and this time ginger). I include this level of detail as writing it down will hopefully (?) make me remember it. Apparently these are crucial facts that everyone should know.

The Marvel art wasn’t as nice but I did get a crash course into the Marvel Universe which I don’t know at all beyond Spider-Man and the Avengers. It seems to me that almost every character has a matching DC character but I still have no idea of which came first and who copied who. Scifi hubby has only recently started reading Marvel stuff in any great quantity so I finally found things he doesn’t know. For example I still don’t have a clue who Luke Cage is. I got the full back story on the movie that now isn’t being made but no backstory for the guy himself. Also discovered my hubby has a love of Antman. Yes you read that right, there’s a character who can go from the size of an ant to the size of a giant. Interesting superpower…

By the end of the evening I held a hand with Batman, Superman, Joker, Bane and Commissioner Gordon so winning became a forgone conclusion. *Victory was mine mwhahaha…*

———————–
When we got home and emptied the coolbox I discovered it had Han Solo and a Tauntaun hiding at the bottom. Just a guess but I think I might find them in the fridge soon joining Luke and the Wampa…