#MakeThisBattle Feedback - June 2nd

The Brothers Grimm vs Aesop [submitted by TinyKoala]

Well, we are off to a nice start here, aren’t we? I didn’t know how to write an introduction to this edition of Make This Battle, as we’re in the middle of an American Pre-Apocalypse as I write this. It didn’t feel like the time for banter. That’s why I love this suggestion. No banter.  There need be no discussion about what this battle could be. As it could be awesome.  Aesop is such an interesting question mark of a character, you could interpret him in so many ways. The colors and set design and costumes could be water-colors or a children’s stage play or something like Lion King the Musical. How exciting. Add in the macabre emo Grimm Bros, and you have a stylistic stew! Contrast abounds, everyone knows something about these people, but there’s also a lot to learn. In these challenging times, this is a rap battle we could all enjoy. A+

Doctor Faustus vs Robert Johnson [submitted by Evan Powell]

Well you can’t start high without the possibility of coming down. Who are these two? Do you mean Robert Johnson the guitar player & blues musician? Is that who we’re talking about here? Is this some sort of "sold-my-soul" thing? What does that have to do with Coronavirus? And are you sure that’s how you spell his name? I thought the “ch” sound came from a C at the end. Fauci. Just kidding. Well, sort of. I do hate the suggestion, but it’s mostly because it reflects my own ignorance back at me. Who is Doctor Faustus? Google..  Oh right, the Faust dude. Unlimited knowledge from a deal with the devil. I still hate it. Well, sort of. Mostly because it reflects my own shame. The one and only time I’ve listened to Robert Johnson music, I remember buying a CD of his recordings at a 'Wegmans' grocery store in Upstate New York during college. I was very much into learning blues guitar at the time, and I heard he was the legend, the originator. I listened with zeal, and I was very underwhelmed.  I just didn’t get it.

J. Edgar Hoover vs Dick Tracy [submitted by JustGamer]

Well, I’m certainly loving J Edgar Hoover. What an actual cartoon character of American history that dude was. Which I think is what makes Dick Tracy less appealing to me as his opponent. That’s just a bit too much cartoon cops and politics right now for my taste buds. That said, I loved, really loved the Dick Tracy movie as a kid. I wanted to be that dude for a solid month. It’s a cool suggestion, and I’m glad to have J Edgar on my mental radar. BTW have you watched the Dick Tracy movie recently? It does not hold up very well.

Lex Luthor vs Jeff Bezos [submitted by James A. Whitney & David]

This suggestion will not die. So, let’s do it. Let’s try to make this battle. I’ll start looking for a beat.

Homer Simpson vs Vince McMahon [submitted by OmgWtfLolFtwBrb]

Interesting. Two megaliths who both have their own popular suggestion pairing, paired together. I don’t understand the connection, but it makes me laugh. It certainly takes a lot of the impression pressure off of Homer. If he’s in contrast to a real person instead of say… Peter Griffin or Rick Sanchez, something about it makes it easier to pull off. I’ve always liked Vince McMahon - what a huge character, tons of material to pull from, stories from wrestling and tons of controversy. Juicy!   

Davy Crockett vs Captain America [submitted by Tony Rigatoni]

This is cool. A little sleepy, but cool. I don’t think many people know too much about Davy Crockett except that little ditty about him, and I believe his real stories are interesting. Although truthfully I don’t know any except that little ditty. It would be fun to research and teach people about his actual story. Captain America is loaded with material, old and new, lots to rip apart, similar to Thanos that way. Huge movie icon with colorful backstory.  B+ suggestion, in a C- world.

Quincy Jones vs George Martin [submitted by The Craptain]

Now this is an A+ suggestion in an B+ world! What a difference a line break can make. Isn’t that interesting? Captain America and Davy Crockett made me subconsciously sad. But a Black American icon and a British genius made me feel hopeful again. This is a really creative suggestion. I wonder how much people know about the impact that both these men made on our entire sphere of modern music. It’s tremendous. Quincy Jones is responsible for the sound of Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson. Right there spans three generations of artistic influence; heavy artistic influence. Toss in George Martin and I think you’ve covered pretty much every “western” music lover on earth. I think this would make for an awesome battle. It’s like Beatles vs NWA but grounded down into something resembling a classic ERB. Lovely.  

======

"Lloyd's Hot Takes!" - Lloyd picks out one battle that he liked best!

Lex Luthor vs Jeff Bezos is really interesting to me. The match up makes a ton of sense and it ticks a lot of success boxes. Good name recognition. Some easy ties to historical relevance. Tons of fun jokes come to mind right away. Also the hairstyles are just perfect. I can see these characters trying to outsmart each other the whole time and setting verbal traps and then working their way out of them. Fun stuff. 

"Monk's Hot Takes!" - our manager HeadMonk offers his thoughts!

Aesop vs Brothers Grimm feels like something we could do really well in an ERB. There's often a debate about authors like Twain, Wilde, etc etc; but Aesop and Grimm seem to get overlooked considering their stories are known by people of all generations and there is just a bountiful supply of material to work with. Always been a huge fan of the Lex Luthor character since Gene Hackman's portrayal in the 70's/80's movies. I think he's the only opponent that could get me excited for a Jeff Bezos appearance. When I was compiling this feedback I did wonder whether Lex Luthor vs Vince McMahon might be fun. In terms of Dick Tracy I have thought a detective / cop based royale might be cool. There's loads of options... Columbo, Tintin, Rorschach, Clouseau, Tracy, Miss Marple etc. Buffy could maybe fit in somewhere too. 

======

A new round of makethisbattle is now open!!

The theme this time is 'Season 1'. I figured in these fairly dark times with recent world events; that it might be nice to kick back and try to look for a few match-ups that are a bit wacky / off the wall like can often be found in ERB Season 1 e.g. Norris vs Lincoln or Khan vs Easter Bunny. Where the connection is either thin, or non-existent.

At least two of the selected match-ups for feedback will fit that theme. But you can obviously choose to ignore the theme and submit anything you like. (Some of you submit pretty wacky match-ups normally anyway so you could be in your element haha!)

Same rules apply. Three suggestions per person. You can post them in the comments below, email them to erbpatreon@gmail.com or post them on the Discord server in the dedicated '#make-this-battle' channel.

Deadline for submissions is... 9am PT on Sunday 14th June.