Posted at 4:00 p.m. - Thursday, July 3

In the RedEye's Best Superhero Tourney, 32 of comics' best and brightest go at it to see who's the King (or Queen) of the Capes.  In Part 1 of my analysis, I gave a run-down on the match-ups in the Stan Lee Region.  Now, we move on to the Kevin Smith Region (don't look at me fanboys and girls, I didn't name 'em.)  This region sees two iconic characters go head-to-head, a vampire slayer get dealt a bad hand and two 'flashes' in the proverbial pan.

The Kevin Smith Region

• Batman (No. 1 seed) vs The Spirit (No. 8 seed) - Now this is a match-up that could/should have occurred later in the tournament, but again, the seeding just fell the way it did.  These two characters share many similarities: both play on the fears and superstitions of criminal-types and have created 'spooky' personas to help them in their crusades against evil.
  
  Batman holds the edge in that he's gone through several re-inventions over the years to make him into a near-unstoppable force of nature (a bit of a stretch from his early years) and is held in the highest esteem among fanboys.
  
  The Spirit, for all his heritage and moxie, just doesn't have the comic-geek cred that Frank Miller, Denny O'Neil, Tim Burton & Chris Nolan (among many others) have instilled in the Batman.
  
  Perhaps when Miller's Spirit movie comes out next year that will start to change, but this is today and The Dark Knight returns to kick some butt.
  
  My Prediction: The Batman by a knock-out.

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• Thor (No. 4 seed) vs Buffy The Vampire Slayer (No. 5 seed) -Man, am I torn over this one.  On the one hand, you've got Thor the God of Thunder who is going through a sort of renaissance in his title, currently written by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracinsky.
  
  On the other you have Buffy Summers who's not only survived death but also the cancellation of her television series via the magic of comic books and Dark Horse's Buffy: Season Eight, written by Joss Whedon himself and a number of the show's writers.  Plus my heart goes pitter-patter at the thought of SMG and those midriffs, so I'm gonna pull a John Kerry here, flip-flop on my 'America's not ready for a female Top Superhero' prediction from the Stan Lee Region, and pull for The Chosen One to at least make the regional final against The Batman.
  
  My Prediction: Slayers Unite! Buffy by an eyelash.

• Silver Surfer (No. 3 seed) vs Popeye (No. 6 seed) - This is a squash match if I've ever seen one.  Popeye may be 'strong to da finich cuz he eats his spinach', but the Surfer is a former Herald of Galactus and just too-darn-cool.  C'mon, the dude SURFS THROUGH SPACE!  And in space, no one can hear you mutter obscenities under your breath (yeah, I'm lookin' at you Robin Williams).
  
  My Prediction: The Surfer feeds The Sailor to Galactus as a snack.

• The Flash (No. 2 seed) vs Flash Gordon (No. 7 seed) - Nostalgia reigns in this match-up as The Silver Age Scarlet Speedster goes up against Buster Crabbe's best known alter-ego.  The key is how many geeks credit Flash Gordon for inspiring the Holy Trinity which is the Classic Star Wars Trilogy. (Don't.  Mention.  Prequels.)
  
  Then again, Barry Allen - the Silver Age Flash who died saving the universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths - is back in DC's Final Crisis and there's nothing like saying hello again to a good friend you haven't seen in a really long time.
  
  My Prediction: The Flash in a photo-finish.

Next Up: The Nicholas Cage Region

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