Who is the greatest superhero of all time? This month, we’re going to settle the age-old debate once and for all! Here at PopWatch, we’re taking 32 seeded contestants and pitting them against each other in a superpowered bracket game. Everything is on the table: The heroes’ costumes, their superpowers, the number of actual great stories they inspired. To level the playing field, we’ve separated the heroes into nine different groups for the first round of match-ups. Today, we’re featuring four essential face-offs: Batman vs. Rorschach; Storm vs. Jean Grey; Wonder Woman vs. Black Panther; and Deadpool vs. The Tick.

And check out our handy video introduction to all this superhero madness here.

Streetwise Crimefighter Showdown, Round One: Batman vs. Rorschach

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Name: Batman

Origin Story: After watching a thug named Joe Chill kill his parents in cold blood in Crime Alley, Bruce Wayne devoted his life and considerable fortune to the cause of justice – and vengeance – in perilously bleak Gotham City by becoming the caped crusader known as Batman. To some, the dark knight is a criminal vigilante, just as gonzo wrong as the baddies he fights (and inspires). To others, the hero is an aspirational icon, bringing hope to a hopelessly corrupt world.

Costume: The model for all masked avengers. Sporting a black hooded cape and gray body armor with his ominous insignia square on his chest, Batman dresses for effect – that effect being terror. Inspired by the fearsome flying rodents that live in the cave underneath Wayne Manor, Bruce plays the part of mythical bogeyman to Gotham’s underworld – part Dracula, part Jungian shadow.

Coolest power: What makes Batman so cool is that he has no powers, save his smarts, brawn, and the array of gadgets and tools (but no gun) on his utility belt.

Defining stories: Detective Comics Nos. 27-33 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger; Batman Nos. 1-18 by Kane, Finger, various; “Strange Apparitions” (aka Detective Comics Nos. 469-476) by Steve Englehart and various artists, most notably Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin; Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller; Batman: Year One by Miller and David Mazzucchelli; “No Man’s Land” written and drawn by many; “Hush” by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee.

Cultural Legacy: Been to a movie theater lately? Batman was created in response to the success of Superman, but also represented a philosophical rejoinder to the Man of Steel, a mythic do-gooder devoid of super powers (besides the extraordinary wealth) and whose idealism was shaded with troubling anger. Still, until Spider-Man came along in the early sixties, Batman best represented one of the basic appeals of the genre: He made the whole superhero thing look like nifty-cool fun – Sherlock Holmes in a cowl. Since the seventies, Batman has darkened and coarsened as the culture as darkened and coarsened. Indeed, his indisputable greatness lies in the elasticity of his symbolic value, in his ability to reflect changing notions of good and evil, of heroism itself.—Jeff Jensen

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Name: Rorschach

Origin Story: Not pleasant. Walter Kovacs was the son of an emotionally and physically abusive mother who lived in a tenement slum and turned tricks for unhappy middle class scuzzballs to make money. He grew up furious and violent and ultimately found purpose and an outlet for those energies by becoming a brutal vigilante. He called his crime-fighting alter-ego “Rorschach” and partnered with Nite Owl, a lighter, larkier brand of costumed do-gooder. But after a traumatic experience with a child killer, Kovacs – whose psyche was already precariously fragile – went solo and weirdly schizoid; he adopted Rorschach as his base identity, and made “Kovacs” his alter-ego, the guise he wears to hide and protect his self-made self. (Yes, all quite murky.) He was guided by a severe view of justice that refused to acknowledge shades of gray and allowed for little mercy. He would call himself a realist. Others would call him cynicism incarnate.

Costume: Fedora, blood-splashed trenchcoat (that crimson stain a token-totem of his life-changing, life-taking encounter with that aforementioned child killer), and the face-obscuring mask that inspired his professional moniker, made from an experimental material that contains a pressure-sensitive black fluid between layers of super-thin latex. In other words: the mask morphs, and can present abstracted, ink blot articulations of Kovacs’ facial expressions.

Coolest power/ability: His disturbing genius for turning almost anything into a weapon.

Defining stories: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, especially issue number 6, devoted to Rorschach’s backstory.

Cultural Legacy: Rorschach either recast the superhero archetype as a fundamentalist-terrorist (sans religious underpinnings) – or exposed it as such. He’s Batman with ideology; Dexter without the ritualized killing. Moore’s specific inspiration for Rorschach was The Question, a faceless street vigilante guided by rigid code derived from Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Kovacs/Rorschach – the breakout character in a book that represented a heady summary statement of the superhero genre — was heartbreaking, even sympathetic, but Moore never intended him to be inspiring, worthy of emulation, “cool.” Yet together with Frank Miller’s “Dark Knight” take on Batman, Rorschach spurred the superhero factory to go “grim and gritty” with varying degrees of success and grotesque. Thanks to Rorschach and his edgy kin, today’s superhero stories – in comics and other media – must be shaded with skepticism about the very idea of heroism. Thanks to Rorschach and his amazingly jaundiced friends, we ask: Can anyone believe in Superman anymore?—Jeff Jensen

Special X-Men Showdown, Round One: Storm vs. Jean Grey

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Name: Storm

Origin Story: Ororo Munroe once believed she was the latest in a long line of “witch-priestesses” capable of manipulating the weather via natural magic. In fact, after a tumultuous childhood that included a stint as a homeless thief, the white haired, blue-eyed Kenyan found her way back to her ancestral homeland on the Serengeti Plain and was worshipped by various tribes as an earth goddess. That all changed when Professor X showed up and said: “Nope, you’re just a mutant. Will you help me fight a sentient island that’s kidnapped some of my students?” She did, then joined his school for gifted youngsters, where she blossomed into one of Xavier’s most extraordinary of X-people and one of the X-Men’s most respected leaders.

Costume: Her signature look includes a majestic black cape, regal headdress, halter-top and black leather pants. There was a period of time where she went punk… and we shall not speak of it any further.

Coolest Power/Ability: Storm – who lives in constant communion with nature — can whip up hurricanes, hurl lightning and break wind, so to speak. Pretty good with switchblades and lock picks, too.

Defining Stories: “Life-Death” from Uncanny X-Men #186 by Chris Claremont and Barry Windsor-Smith; “Life-Death II” from Uncanny X-Men #198 by Claremont and Windsor-Smith; Storm: World’s Apart by Chris Yost and Diogenes Neves.

Cultural legacy: Since her debut in 1975,Storm has been one of the most popular, inspiring characters in superhero comics. An admirably strong woman (rare); an admirably strong black woman (more rare). She has allowed comic book writers to expand the thematic, metaphorical concerns of X-Men comics and tackle tricky issues like multiculturalism and feminism (admittedly, with varying degrees of success). During her “Life-Death” era, Claremont took away her powers, but kept Storm front and center of the X-Men narrative, and challenged himself to write a deeper, richer adult female – and challenged his mostly young, mostly male readership to go there with him. She’s a character that must be taken seriously, and while that obligation sometimes produces a character that’s too self-serious, comics are better for it.—Jeff Jensen

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Name: Jean Grey

Origin Story: Like every member of The X-Men, Jean Grey is a mutant – accepted if reductive jargon for a new kind of human being that represents the next stage of human evolution, i.e. what comes after the current homo sapien era. (Some mutants – especially the snooty, self-righteous, or slightly sinister ones – prefer the term homo superior.) The fair-skinned, red-haired Grey was born with two abilities — telekinesis and telepathy – that began to manifest during early adolescence, after she witnessed the death of her best friend. Years later, Jean began a tumultuous relationship with an alien entity known as The Phoenix Force that imbued her with awesome psionic powers — and engendered frightening appetites. This has not always been a good thing. Just ask the dead denizens of the planet D’Bari. She literally ate a star and destroyed their solar system.

Costume: As Marvel Girl, she’s had a few, including a saggy blue and yellow spandex body suit – her school-issued workout wear/fighting togs – and a go-go girl mini-dress that she designed herself. As Phoenix, she wore electric green and gold when good, fiery crimson and black when Dark Phoenix bad.

Coolest Power: Jean once established an intimate “psychic rapport” with her true love, Scott Summers, so they could always be connected. In other words: Non-stop brain sex! Now that’s a girlfriend!

Defining Stories: “The Dark Phoenix Saga” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

Cultural Legacy: Jean Grey was the central figure in arguably the greatest single storyline in the history of superhero comics. Her sacrificial suicide in Uncanny X-Men #137 was a landmark event that marked and defined an entire generation of comic book readers. If only her story could have ended there. Revived and killed and revived several times over the past 30 years, Jean Grey has been rebooted into near meaninglessness. But hey: Non-stop brain sex!—Jeff Jensen

Visiting Dignitary Showdown, Round One: Wonder Woman vs. The Black Panther

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Name: Wonder Woman

Origin Story: Born and raised on Themyscira, an all-female island nation populated by a race of mythological Amazons, Princess Diana was sent to the outside world to fight evil as a warrior for peace. Over the years, Marston’s character’s mission statement has shifted, but her original creator William Moulton Martson imagined her as a representative for proto-feminist liberation – an inspiration and example for women.

Costume: Despite a few questionable updates over the years, Wonder Woman’s star-spangled costume still reflects the character’s origin as a Nazi-thumping heroine of the early ’40s. The red boots, the golden-eagle bodice, the indestructible bracelets, the tiara: It’s one of the most iconic looks in comics history

Coolest Power/Ability: Sure, she’s superstrong and superfast. But perhaps befitting her royal background, Wonder Woman also has access to a couple of key accessories that really set her apart from her fellow DC superheroes. For one thing, there’s that invisible airplane. But more importantly, Wonder Woman carries with her the golden Lasso of Truth, a mythological polygraph test which doubles as an Indiana Jones-worthy weapon.

Defining Stories: The very early Marston stories collected in The Wonder Woman Chronicles series can seem almost impenetrably weird to modern eyes (although modern comics icon Grant Morrison is an avowed fan, and has long promised his own Marston-influenced take on Wonder Woman.) The big fan complaint about Wonder Woman tends to be that, unlike Superman and Batman, the character hasn’t had any truly defining story arcs in the modern era. But the 1987 “Gods and Mortals” saga is a visual delight thanks to artist George Pérez. And the current series by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang is a standout in DC’s rebooted post-“New 52” universe – it’s arguably the best run of Wonder Woman comics in decades.

Cultural legacy: The most famous female superhero in the world, Wonder Woman has consistently found herself at the focal point of many of the great gender debates in the comic book medium. Is she an inspiring figure– a strong woman who can play with the boys? Or is she another skimpily-dressed object of fanboy desire? That dichotomy has arguably affected Wonder Woman’s ability to cross over during this period of blockbuster superherodom. Warner Bros. has been developing a film without any luck for over a decade, while a much-hyped NBC Wonder Woman pilot failed to get picked up in 2011. —Darren Franich

Image zoom “Who Is Black Panther?” was the subtitle for filmmaker Reginald Hudlin’s first story arc on the series, done in collaboration with artist John Romita Jr. This run reintroduced the Wakandan leader as a new threat was amassing on the nation’s borders, with Klaw, the killer of T’Challa’s father, and Rhino, Spider-Man’s old foe, among the horde. This series also saw him marry X-Men mainstay Storm.

Name: Black Panther

Origin Story: The son of King T’Chaka, T’Challa was heir to the throne of Wakanda, an African nation that is home to mystical ore called Vibranium. When T’Challa ascended to the throne, he also adopted the traditional title “Black Panther.” But the Black Panther is more than just a title: By eating a heart-shaped herb, T’Challa’s abilities were pushed to the superhuman level. He isn’t violent by nature, but he can back up his words with superstrength – a monarch who more than lives up to Teddy Roosevelt’s “Speak softly and carry a big stick” paradigm.

Costume: Classically, the Panther’s outfit was the essence of ninja simplicity: A jet-black bodysuit topped with miniscule Panther ears. The Panther’s outfit is occasionally embroidered with symbolic wear befitting a king – a gold necklace here, a flowing cape there.

Coolest Power/Ability: As with most heroes, T’Challa’s coolest powers are also his most subtle ones. Lots of people in the Marvel universe are superstrong; not everybody is blessed with badass super-senses. On the other hand, does “good governance” count as a superpower? The Panther has to be one of the most successful political figures in the comic book world, handily juggling an adventurous lifestyle with the affairs of the state.

Defining Stories: Don McGregor’s “Panther’s Rage” was a 13-part panoramic epic tale which pitted the Panther against one of his worst enemies in a battle for the kingdom of Wakanda. (McGregor’s follow-up story – “Panther vs. the Klan” – was a controversial late-’70s rabble-rouser that actually ended mid-story.) In the late ’90s, writer Christopher Priest riffed on some elements of McGregor’s work and came up with the definitive Panther run, crafting a series that was equal-parts high-adventure and Game of Thrones-worthy politicking.

Cultural legacy: Like Wonder Woman, the Black Panther mere existence is incredibly influential. He was one of the first black superheroes, and his royal background makes him a regular power player in the comic book universe.—Darren Franich

Absurdist Psychopath Showdown, Single-Elimination Championship Bout: Deadpool vs. The Tick

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Name: Deadpool

Origin Story: Deadpool’s precise backstory changes frequently, but most experts agree that Deadpool used to be Wade Wilson, a heartless mercenary who went through the Weapon X program (which also created Wolverine). The program gave him a comically powerful special healing factor – he has survived decapitation. Unfortunately, it also covered his body in unsightly scar tissue.

Costume: A black-and-red full-body outfit, usually combined with a grenade belt, ammo packs, and a couple of swords.

Coolest Power/Ability: Sure, he’s got a groovy teleportation device. Sure, he basically can never die. But the coolest thing about Deadpool is the fact that, alone among all the characters on this list, he’s extremely aware of his existence as a comic book character, frequently breaking the fourth wall. In this sense, he’s probably the most beloved meta-superhero in mainstream comics.

Defining Stories: In the late ’90s, writer Joe Kelly and had a defining 33-issue run on a Deadpool solo comic that played like a freefloating parody of comic book tropes, even while it established Deadpool as a curiously endearing, oddly tragic, completely batcrap-crazy anti-hero. The peak of the run came in Deadpool #11, when Kelly and artist Joe McGuinness sent Deadpool back in time to an old Spider-Man story. (In the same run, it was established that Deadpool was in love with Death and might be the new Messiah.)

Cultural legacy: The character did appear, in a painfully vanilla form, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Ryan Reynolds has frequently discussed his hopes for spinning the character off into an appropriately insane standalone movie. But even if he isn’t well-known to the outside world, the character has become an important secret handshake for comic book fans. You could argue that Deadpool is to comics what Louis C.K. was to comedy about a decade ago. If Louis C.K. was a gun-toting sociopath.—Darren Franich

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Name: The Tick

Origin Story: No one really knows where The Tick came from, or where he got his powers, or who he really is, or why he thought it was a good idea to name himself after a disgusting Lyme Disease-delivering ectoparasite. In some tellings, The Tick was an escapee from the insane asylum. Or perhaps we are the crazy ones, and The Tick is the only sane man left in the world. Probably not, though. He’s bananas.

Costume: A skintight blue outfit which covers just about every part of The Tick’s body besides his wide grin. And don’t forget about those antennae!

Coolest Power/Ability: The Tick possesses an inexplicable “drama power,” which increases his abilities exponentially whenever The Tick finds himself in a dramatic situation. And he’s a big man in a blue costume, so things tend to get dramatic.

Defining Stories: Ben Edlund is now best-known as a genre TV writer who worked on Firefly, Angel, and now on Supernatural. But his geek bona fides were established when he created The Tick back in the ’80s, and his run is currently available in the collected edition The Tick: The Complete Edlund.

Cultural legacy: The greatest of all spoof superheroes had a minor rise to mainstream-ish thanks to a pair of Fox TV series: a Saturday morning cartoon that ran for three seasons, and a tragically short-lived series starring Patrick Warburton. The Tick will forever be a cult oddity, but he’s undoubtedly one of the most endearingly crazy comic book characters.—Darren Franich